10 replies to this topic

[JR]

In a nutshell he's said that he think it's bad that F1 is becoming full of young kids with little experience. He think's that because of this soon there won't be many heroes left in F1 and that the audience will get the impression that any 16 year old can drive an F1 car. He also thinks Raikonnen has gone to McLaren too soon and that he needs a little more experience.

And this time I'm in complete agreement. I've felt that over the last few years the overall quality of the field of drivers in F1 is inferior to drivers of the past. You need only look back ten years ago when you had a field with the likes of Alain Prost, Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna, Ricardo Patrese, Gerhard Berger, the underrated Roberto Moreno, Martin Brundle, Christian Fittiapaldi, and my heroes Nigel Mansell and Jean Alesi.

I simply don't see the same level of quality in many of the new drivers entering F1. Why? Because they sorely lack experience and haven't had enough time to build and develop their skills. I certainly can't see any of the new drivers coming through being worthy of being my "hero."

[KenC]

Originally posted by JR
In a nutshell he's said that he think it's bad that F1 is becoming full of young kids with little experience. He think's that because of this soon there won't be many heroes left in F1 and that the audience will get the impression that any 16 year old can drive an F1 car. He also thinks Raikonnen has gone to McLaren too soon and that he needs a little more experience.

And this time I'm in complete agreement. I've felt that over the last few years the overall quality of the field of drivers in F1 is inferior to drivers of the past. You need only look back ten years ago when you had a field with the likes of Alain Prost, Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna, Ricardo Patrese, Gerhard Berger, the underrated Roberto Moreno, Martin Brundle, Christian Fittiapaldi, and my heroes Nigel Mansell and Jean Alesi.

I simply don't see the same level of quality in many of the new drivers entering F1. Why? Because they sorely lack experience and haven't had enough time to build and develop their skills. I certainly can't see any of the new drivers coming through being worthy of being my "hero."

I recall that Ralf said something about this topic, a while ago. Is this new? Second, how old was Ralf when he entered F1?

[bobchild]

For me, it's not an age issue - it's going through the ranks that's important. Why do we have to have drivers passing directly from FRenault into F1 ??? Next year, it will be a kid that's hot in Karts driving in Sauber !!! I guess that we can see this trend in most sports - but I think it's a wee bit more dangerous to have a 16 year old driving a F1.

[Menace]

This thread is hilarious. First of all, I beleive the competition in the grid talent wise is far greater then in the past....secondly, if the 16 year old is clearly good enough to compete with top of the cream with his experience, then there is no reason why he shouldnt drive F1?! Not everyone is created equal. How they manage to drive and cope themselves under pressure is the deciding factor! Now, if you are afraid (like Rsch) that you might be replaced by inexperienced youngster in the near future (maby Button will show his talent again), then this comment makes complete sense!! All in all, its just sour grapes!

If you are good enough, you are good enough period. Age and experience is not the only factor, talent counts as well. Heres for the success of KR and Massa!!

[BuonoBruttoCattivo]

I do not agree with Ralph (he seems to have nothing of his bro's intelligence poor guy) All sports need recycling of talents, including F1. I hope for one thing that EI and Jax do not stay for too long cuz they are rotting right now and there are hundreds of talents out there who and would do anything to replace them. Problem is that most of these young guns are no-personality, corporate-robot kids with nothing interesting to say and salivate over playstation games. For one thing I am sad to see MH leave but atleast it gave way to talents like Kimi (however ultra-boring and dull personality for now) which in turn opened up a space for Massa. Bring them on!, out with the underperforming geezers.

We also have to stop looking back at the past with rosy spectacles. "F1 is boring......No passing.....Schumi is evil....." blah, blah, blah. When the likes of Alain Prost, Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna, Ricardo Patrese, Gerhard Berger and Mansell were racing, I bet u that on more than one occassion observers and commentators expressed their nostalgia for the likes of Hill, Clark, Villeneuve etc, etc. during the aforementioned period. I still remember some of those races (circa 1984-1994) and I was in some cases just as bored sometimes as I get now with current races. That was then, this is now.

[jpv]

Like it or not, never again in history will anyone win five world championships ... all while being more than 40 years old.

It is easy to require additional credentials for entry into a group once you are in the group. Maybe RS now looks back at his start in F1 and has decided that he did not have the experience and should have gone elsewhere for a while. That does not have to be true for other drivers and I should think that KR's performance last year should be proof enough.

I would therefore have to disagree ... RS has, once again, spoken without sense.

JPV

[917k]

Hey,JR,your inclusion of that powerhouse trio..''Moreno,Brundle,Fittipaldi.''makes me CERTAIN that the talent of today is deeper than days of yore.

Seriously,it was Rory Byrne that said it was easier for Prost and Senna to do well than Schumacher to do the same,presently.His reasoning was that today's grid has a lot more parity than one 10 or 15 years ago.

You have to race against actual people,not ghosts from the past.It would be nice to have a fantasy grid,with 10 world-champions,but its fantasy,not reality.

[Bex37]

Originally posted by JR
In a nutshell he's said that he think it's bad that F1 is becoming full of young kids with little experience. He think's that because of this soon there won't be many heroes left in F1 and that the audience will get the impression that any 16 year old can drive an F1 car. He also thinks Raikonnen has gone to McLaren too soon and that he needs a little more experience.

Yeh, and Michael Schumacher advised Ralf not to enter F1 in the year that he did, and Ralf ignored him.

[flyer72]

IMO driving and understanding F1 takes time. Any new talent that is put in will have a pretty steep learning curve - some have done a great job, others have been crushed under the pressure.

In order to setup a car and give some feedback, surely there have to be better ways than to get someone with limited racing experience!

I think the new rookies Sato and Massa should be given a chance but don't expect miracles from these guys. Kimi Raikk will have to be strong this year, or his career might be over, also it will be interesting to see where Button will be...

I can understand Ralf's comments, he thinks there are too many "kids" in F1, why for instance are Marc Gene and Alexander Wurz out of racing? These guys know how to setup a car and are good drivers!

Honestly, do you want Alesi or Kimi to represent yr company? Unless you are sponsored by a teenmagazine...;)

I think for the sake of F3, F3000, one season should be mandatory before entering F1. Perhaps F3000 should be updated to be closer to F1.

I'm not saying that Massa shouldn't be given a chance, but why does it have to be that fast?
If Massa doesn't deliver, he will be rememebered as a failure - his is just a kid! He has all the time in the world to find his setups and technique! If Button doesn't get a contract next year, what is he to do? Compete for the FASTEST driving career?

[JR]

Originally posted by 917k
Hey,JR,your inclusion of that powerhouse trio..''Moreno,Brundle,Fittipaldi.''makes me CERTAIN that the talent of today is deeper than days of yore.

My point was about the depth of quality from the top to the bottom of the field. I'm not saying they were some of the best drivers of the 80's or 90's.

--

I think Ralf's point was about the drivers coming in who have hardly any experience. Just driving a few races in some junior division and getting snapped up almost straight away by an F1 team to ensure that no other team gets them. There are kids in F1 more and more learning on the job. ANd I certinaly don't think that the current F1 field is stronger than ever. In fact if you believe that then you're completely mad. A lot of the kids in F1 today couldn't race a milk cart nevermind each other so just because they are super fast does not make them great F1 drivers.

[917k]

JR,there are now more junior formulae,more diverse talent pool,more global opportunities for drivers,more technical and monetary support,why would you think that the talent pool was deeper way back when?

This is an honest question,because I don't claim to know which era had better talent.I would think that,statistically,today's grid has the widest and deepest talent pool to select from.

Ask any driver when the best driver's were out there and they would say''when I was racing.''
Not to many driver's will say,''disregard my accomplishments,I only raced wankers.''

If the talent pool of F1 has eroded so much,what does it say of lesser series?Are they all several steps below the''mega-wanker'' level?