165 replies to this topic

[ElJefe]

Well, maybe not forgotten as such, but if I had to pick one decade, I'd pick the 70s. And I don't think it's anything to do with garagiste success with the DFV, because what engine is in a car isn't the memorable thing about a season. When you look back at the period post Stewart I also think that there is a slight lack of drivers that are now considered to be all-time greats. Obviously you have Lauda (and Fittipaldi etc.) but most periods have at least one driver who is generally rated above Lauda on all-time lists. For a best driver of an era (if you consider him the best anyway), he's probably one of the lowest rated, if that makes sense.

Which is unfair imo, Lauda was a brilliant driver. His only problem was that outside Italy he was generally loathed for his utterly ruthless and robotic character. In addition, the Hunt-Lauda rivalry exacerbated this image in the Anglophone press which is arguably why he is regarded less in the UK.

[Outsider]

have followed f1 since 2000 mid-season, so here goes mine:

2001 - RSC, Montoya first wins, Schumacher brothers 1-2 in Canada and France, Hockenheim start, Burti's crash, Montoya, Alonso and Räikkönen debut season

2002 - nothing special

2003 - a little more excitment in championship battle, Brazilian GP

2004 - Williams car, RSC crash in Indy

2005 - finally someone new winning the championship, quick but unreliable McLaren, Montoya's "tennis" injury, RSC and Indy again, 6 car race

2006 - Schumacher's final season before first retirement

2007 - Hamilton's debut season, McLaren

2008 - Massa's bad luck, Piquet crashing, Alonso's return to Renault

2009 - springs flying, crashgate, Grosjean crashing in Piquet corner

2010 - too many title contenders

2011 - kind of forgettable season

2012 - Alonso's unbelievable season

2013 - Multi-21, Massa finally let go from Ferrari and again Ferrari's unbelievable choice picking Raikkönen, mostly boring season

2014 - Bianchi, also marks first races i've missed during my time watching F1, Räikkönen being trashed by Alonso

2015 - gust winds in testing, Alonso's return to McLaren, which was unreliable and slow, GP2 engine, Räikkönen being trashed by Vettel, also kind of boring season

Edited by Outsider, 12 May 2016 - 18:39.

[BullHead]

Of the 70s.... 73 76 78... Stand out. I wasn't watching then but retrospective following of videos and reports make those years pretty remarkable . 73 especially, but then I'm a big Jackie fan....

[hyperbolica]

'73 was an awesome season. This talk about Lauda being "the" driver of the 70's is totally off the mark. There was Stewart, Cevert, the incomparable Peterson, Fittipaldi, and the sadly underrated Andretti.

 

People seem to forget a lot around here. Those of us who really went to the races back in the day know it was a good game back then. 

[H0R]

Fully agree on Lauda. Although I have to admit I was quite a fan of Emmo back then. I still remember how puzzled I was when he decided to join McLaren in 73 or 74. Still this made me a life long McLaren supporter. 75 is my forgotten season from this era, maybe 78 as well.

[scheivlak]

I can't remember a thing about the 1968 season.

I can. For me it's a pivotal year if only because of the sensational effect of cars suddenly sprouting wings everywhere. A year with terrible drama (For months, every month one F1 driver died) and completely unique performances (Stewart/Matra in Zandvoort and at the 'Ring, Jo Siffert at Brands Hatch). I can almost remember by heart at least the top 5 or 6 of every GP.

 

Now, 1952/1953 is another story as DarkMongoose mentioned 

 

For me personally, among the more forgotten seasons are 1974 (too many people died the year before, which cut my interest in motorsports in general) and 1995 (suddenly the general lack of top class driving - apart from MS - became too visible. The stupid refuelling format didn't help either).

[PlatenGlass]

'73 was an awesome season. This talk about Lauda being "the" driver of the 70's is totally off the mark. There was Stewart, Cevert, the incomparable Peterson, Fittipaldi, and the sadly underrated Andretti.

Well when I brought it up I did say post-Stewart, which also excludes Cevert - not sure I'd include Cevert anyway.

[scheivlak]

While I have a hard time completely 'forgetting' a whole season, I think 2007 probably had the most amount of boring races on average than any other I can remember.  

 

Without Lewis/Alonso, hardly anything exciting happened that year, racing-wise.  

There were a lot of boring races, but the last three GPs were all simply fantastic. Fuji 2007 is among my favourite races ever, if only because of Raikkonen's majestic passes on Fisi and Coulthard and the Massa/Kubica scrap at the end. Ron Dennis waving in despair at the screen when Hamilton got stuck in an almost microscopic gravel trap at the pit entrance in China is among my all time favourite moments as well.

[scheivlak]

I mean, sure.  But I think just about every season has its moments of drama and intrigue.  That's kinda why I just distilled it down to which season I thought had the most boring racing.  Does anybody remember what happened in Turkey 2007, apart from maybe who won it(if that)?  I kinda doubt it.  

I remember Lewis' puncture pretty well - it cost him some valuable points.... That said, I also remember that he was lucky that it occured at the end of a stint anyhow, and that he really tried to challenge the Ferraris - unlike Fernando.

[scheivlak]

Most forgotten? I'd probably have to say 2006. I can barely remember anything that happened that year, save for the tragic outcome of the Suzuka race.

 

 

You call that tragic? Then I wonder if you ever met a real tragedy in your life.

 

For me, 2006 was a great season with two top drivers fighting it all out until the last race while making unbelievably few mistakes all year through. IMHO, the 2006 Chinese GP is among the best ever performances by MS. Both he and Alonso can be proud of what they did that year. 

Talking about the few mistakes, of course Rascasse stands out. And MS of course stayed way too long on inters in Hungary - one other classic GP as well BTW.

[PlatenGlass]

Not very scientific I know, and the numbers seem far lower than they should (actually I think it's a limited time search - you get 1000 for everything if you go to advanced), but I typed all the years from 1950 to 2015 into the search box in Racing Comments, and here are the numbers of matches for each:

2000, 2005-2015 - 1000 (presumably the rev limit)

2004 - 931
2002 - 866
2003 - 830
2001 - 770
1994 - 689
1997 - 669
1998 - 661
1999 - 652
1996 - 563
1992 - 557
1995 - 548
1993 - 535
1991 - 480
1990 - 474
1988 - 443
1989 - 405
1982 - 359
1986 - 332
1984 - 322
1980 - 315
1985 - 310
1987 - 280
1983 - 264
1970 - 261
1981 - 256
1979 - 233
1967 - 199
1978 - 198
1950 - 195
1976 - 194
1973 - 189
1977 - 181
1968 - 175
1966 - 158
1974 - 158
1975 - 154
1972 - 153
1971 - 139
1955 - 119
1969 - 117
1961 - 115
1964 - 113
1965 - 113
1960 - 111
1958 - 102
1963 - 88
1957 - 83
1954 - 82
1959 - 76
1962 - 76
1952 - 75
1956 - 70
1953 - 67
1951 - 57

There is definitely a time effect. The more recent, the more matches. But the numbers don't lie. 1951 is the most forgotten year.

[PlatenGlass]

Now for a Google search - "xxxx F1 season" - in quotes:

2016 - 119000
2015 - 102000
2014 - 40400
2013 - 24600
2012 - 23900
1991 - 15600
2011 - 14700
1997 - 13800
2010 - 12000
1995 - 10900
1984 - 9660
1983 - 8710
2009 - 8170
2008 - 8070
1975 - 6640
1989 - 6530
1955 - 6000
1978 - 5560
1976 - 5450
2004 - 5390
2005 - 5130
1996 - 5020
2007 - 4630
1965 - 4120
1973 - 3880
1971 - 3640
1970 - 3550
1992 - 3410
2006 - 3360
1968 - 3280
1972 - 3270
1986 - 3070
1988 - 2870
1981 - 2850
2002 - 2800
1994 - 2710
1990 - 2690
2001 - 2560
1974 - 2520
1967 - 2330
2000 - 2270
1998 - 2230
1985 - 2170
1977 - 2080
1999 - 2080
1964 - 1920
1950 - 1840
2003 - 1840
1956 - 1820
1979 - 1740
1961 - 1730
1966 - 1650
1993 - 1580
1987 - 1150
1959 - 1090
1982 - 1060
1954 - 1040
1960 - 1030
1958 - 929
1963 - 927
1980 - 890
1952 - 836
1951 - 829
1953 - 799
1962 - 745
1969 - 535
1957 - 411

Some of these results are very strange. I think we can ignore this decade as the numbers go through the roof. Other than that, 1991 is surprisingly dominant. 1983 and 1984 are very strong, surprisingly way above a poorly performing 1982 and 1986. 1994 surprisingly low, with its neighbour 1995 very high. 1975 ahead of 1976.

But the most forgotten season? 1957.

But I'd take these numbers with a pinch of salt.

Taking into account the recentness effect, the years that positively stand out are 1991, 1997, 1995, 1984, 1983, 1975 and 1955.

Those that stand out negatively are 1957, 1969, 1962, 1980, 1982, 1987, 1993, and all of 1998 to 2003, particularly 2003.

Edited by PlatenGlass, 13 May 2016 - 18:41.

[djparky]

For me it's got to be 2004- it was so boring I gave up on it

That said 2015 was pretty forgettable as wrll

[BullHead]

2004 I can imagine was tedious for a fair few, but I was watching with intrigue the BAR surge under Dave Richards and Jensons run of success on podiums. Monaco was an outstanding race.

[OvDrone]

I've got to defend 1996 too. How anyone can call a season where a rookie challenged for the championship, where the champion was the first son of a champion to win it himself, where the season went down to the wire, where Schumacher's Spanish GP in the wet happened, where Panis won Monaco, forgettable is beyond me.

Yes! Thank you.

[sopa]

Well, PlatenGlass... I guess the "Racing Comments" search is more representative.

 

It looks like the most UNforgettable season from the 50s is 1955... But I guess that's because of... what happened at Le Mans... So it is still not completely representative, when we are talking about F1.