I've read several accounts of what Jeff Gordon has said in recent weeks on F1... it's been quite clear that he has no intention, and knows quite well that he chose his career path long ago and that such a change is not feasable at this point. He's too polite to tell reporters they're morons when they keep resurecting the idea, so he jokes about it or tries to give them an explainatory answer as to why it's not possible. Then, in the great National Enquirer tradition, racing "news" websites sensationalize it with headlines that tease it as a real deal, followed by a small quote taken out of context, etc. I cannot find all the sources where I've read more complete accounts, but here are a couple of snips...
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Jeff Gordon said on Saturday that he is having discussions with Frank Williams, the owner of the Formula One car that he drove in an exhibition race last year.
“There is discussions going on with Frank Williams, because I’m going to the (Barcelona) Formula One race to watch it and I asked him if he could get me credentials,” Gordon said jokingly.
Gordon, who will start on the pole in today’s Nextel Cup event at Martinsville Speedway, said he has no plans to leave NASCAR on a part-time or full-time basis to drive for Williams.
“I say the same thing every time this question is brought to me,” he said. “I am very fortunate I got to drive that car last year. Had a blast.
“But my career is in Cup as far as a driver is concerned and I don’t plan on driving for my career toward anything different.”
Gordon disputed the suggestion that he could make more money in Formula One racing, where Michael Schumacher leads the series with a reported $45.5 million deal.
“I’ll make more money in Nextel Cup than I would if I went to Formula One,” Gordon said. “When you’re an established driver in this series with a top team and a top sponsor, the royalties from the endorsements and licensing is what it is.
“The only way you can exceed that is to be one of the top two or three drivers in Formula One.”
Gordon’s vacation didn’t make headlines the way Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s trip to Panama City did in the National Enquirer, but he wasn’t complaining.
Gordon started with a trip to the Bahamas, where he went on a shark dive. He spent some time in a casino playing blackjack, where he “won some money.”
He then went to Sunday’s final round of the Masters and was on the front row around the 18th green when Phil Mickelson sank the winning putt.
Then it was off to Hollywood to judge the Miss USA Pageant before coming to Martinsville to win the pole.... and...
Gordon's Indy-Formula One exhibition run with Williams has kept his name in the Formula One rumor mill, even though Gordon, 32, said he's too old for such a drastic career change.
Gordon said he seriously considered a jump to Formula One in 1997 when the BAR team made an offer. "To me the real opportunity was 1997 when the BAR team said they wanted me to go run CART for a year and be testing in an F1 car and then come be a driver for BAR. That's when I made the decision: 'Am I going take this step to change my life?' Had it been Ferrari or BMW or Williams or someone like that, I don't know if there'd have been a question. But BAR was a startup team.
"I was on the phone a lot with Jacques Villenuves, who was involved with that team. But I decided to stay with Rick Hendrick and won two or three more championships. And now changing is not even an option.
"Driving the (F1) car last year, I could tell the speed was there, even in just the 10 or 12 laps I ran (on the Indy road course). But that was just the one track. And I was still several seconds off what the pole was. So I don't keep myself up at night thinking about it.
"Still, I do think about what it might have been like to have done it. Driving an F1 car last year was about as much fun as I think I'll ever have in a race car, it's just that spectacular."As for those who poo-poo the idea that he
could have succeeded in F1, he's won multiple championships in racing as diverse as sprint cars, driving cars with the same power and weight as F1 cars sideways on dirt and pavement, and NASCAR. He was piling up trophys in TQs before he was ten, conquered the major midget and sprint car championships in his teens, and dominated NASCAR for much of his twenties, particularly unbeatable on their few road course races. I don't worship the guy or anything (my dad does), but clearly the natural talent, physical abilities, balls, and determination that have made him successful where he's been would serve him just as well in F1. Contrast to the accepted route to F1, a couple years in karts, a couple years in underpowered spec series open wheelers, and if your rich daddy or sugar daddy can buy you a seat in F3 or F3000, and buy you enough publicity, you're touted as the next F1 superstar.
That's a good one, but it's pure speculation.
, weighed about 3000? lbs and had more than 500 hp. If you're not driving in those things, then i don't know what driving is.
