Over at F1 Fanatic, Keith Collantine has encouraged debate about which drivers are likely to enter F1 next year, now that there will (theoretically) be six more seats available. All the usual favorites turn up, the Danica Patricks and Jacques Villeneuves, the rising young hopefuls and the fading warriors of yesteryear, and there are even some new names added to the mix.
Scott Speed
Two thoughts occurred to me as I was reading. The first was that there seems to be a dearth of obviously exceptional talent in other formulae at the moment and, secondly, who would want to take the poisoned chalice that is entry to F1 with a completely new and untried team?
No doubt we can all think of names that we would like to see in the game - we all have our preferred outsiders, after all. Personally, I think Gary Paffett and Paul di Resta deserve chances and my support for Scott Speed in F1 is well known. But my point is that none of the drivers mentioned stands out as an obvious choice. Who comes with the reputation of Hamilton, for instance, and who has a record that can compare with Kubica's? There are none that I can see.
All too often, this forces us to turn to the past, to take up the cudgels for heroes whose F1 career was cut short (I suppose I must include Scott amongst those) and the names of Villeneuve, Montoya, Klien, de la Rosa and even Schumacher are suggested. But who are we kidding? Whilst some like Villeneuve and Klien would be eager to return, their reputations are busted by too many poor performances against team mates and others such as Montoya and Schumacher are just not coming back - it is pointless to mention them.
Some of those names from the past may well get drives with new teams, thanks to their experience, but they are not going to set the world alight. At best, their return will be temporary, a journeyman's job of teaching the team about set up and strategy, helping a young team mate with the learning curve of F1, and they will be "let go" once their task is complete. Realistically and no matter how much we may hope for a miraculous rebirth of former glory, it is not going to happen.
There is competition for the old hands from within the sport anyway. Barrichello and Fisichella are reaching the end of their careers and must be much more attractive to a fledgling team than the rejects of former seasons.
No doubt there will be plenty of drivers so eager to get into the game that they will take any seat on offer. Yet history teaches that new drivers in new teams are little more than sacrificial lambs, destined never to be given cars worthy of their talents and to be cruelly thrown away at the end of the year. Who can forget, for instance, Perry McCarthy, ecstatic at entering the sport with Andrea Moda only to have his one opportunity wasted by a team that had problems qualifying, let alone racing? And Allan McNish, who did such a good job for Toyota in their first year only to be summarily ejected at the end of the year (yes, it still rankles).
Only the truly gifted, the Ayrtons and Fernandos, survive such a harsh introduction to the sport. And I see none amongst the candidates, even though one carries the glorious Senna name. Of all worlds, the F1 scene must be amongst the most cruel and unforgiving and I can only wish the successful applicants the best of luck and the chance to display their talents beyond a single season.
So it is with mixed feelings that I suggest that Scott Speed is the best candidate for a USF1 drive; the guy was given a terrible time in his sole F1 adventure and it is hard to wish anything similar on him again. He has the talent, of that I'm sure, but must admit that he may be right - there is more fun (and money) to be had in NASCAR...