In May of this year, Keith Collantine's F1 Fanatic asked the question Scott Speed Heading Out Of Toro Rosso?. As ever, I sprang to the American driver's defence, pointing out his improving record, particularly against his team mate, Vitantonio Liuzzi. Things have moved on a bit since then and now Sebastien Bourdais, hero of Champ Cars, has had a two-day test with the team at Spa, so it may be an opportune moment to have another look at Scott's chances of survival in F1.
Scott Speed at the British GP
Accepted wisdom in the paddock is that Bourdais will replace Speed at Toro Rosso next year. This fits well with the general assessment of Speed's abilities, that he is not doing a great job at TR and is expendable therefore. But this impression is a carry-over from last year, Scott's first season in F1, when he suffered many DNFs, some resulting from his inexperience and exuberance.
How easy it is to dismiss drivers in the poorer teams, assuming that others would do a better job were they given the chance. As I have pointed out many times before, Scott's record in the second half of 2006 is actually better than Liuzzi's and this has continued into this season. It is true that Liuzzi had a better qualifying record at the time of the F1 Fanatic post but that ignores those times when Scott has been powerless to do any better through mechanical breakdown or bad team strategy. Lately he has been qualifying ahead of his team mate anyway and his race performances, when reliability allows it, have been much better.
Liuzzi is no slouch and still enjoys the cachet of having passed Michael Schumacher a couple of times (although this is fading from memory now), so it is significant that Speed is beating him with regularity these days. If Liuzzi is good, Speed is better, must be the inescapable conclusion. So why is Scott still disregarded, even by his team?
I think the answer lies partly in his character. He comes across as light-hearted and not very serious about his job, ever ready to smile or crack a joke. For some reason, we expect F1 drivers to be more serious and grim than that. Even Gerhard Berger is clearly irritated by Scott's demeanor, forgetting that he was much the same when he was racing. A brief study of Speed's history will show that there is much more to him, his fight against ulcerative colitis, in particular, demonstrating a determination that we would not suspect from his cheerful manner.
But it is history that is against Scott too. His record before F1 is neither well known nor much trumpeted. He has won his series, most notably Red Bull's search for a talented American driver, but his battle against the debilitating and incurable disease interfered with much of his progress after that. Compared with Bourdais' three Champ Car championships, with perhaps another soon to be added, Speed's record looks pretty slim indeed.
As a result, Bourdais appears to be made for F1, a talent that has been overlooked in the past but is now finding its moment. It would be unkind for me to mention that previous champions from open wheel racing in the States have not fared particularly well in F1, but I will do it anyway. The proof of the pudding is in the eating and we will get our chance to see how good Bourdais is in due course, I'm sure.
Looking at Bourdais' times from the Spa test, we can note that he managed to be quicker than Liuzzi. But the test was disrupted by intermittent rain and is unreliable as an indicator therefore; and that also ignores the fact that Bourdais had two days to set a decent time while Liuzzi had only one. Speed was conspicuous by his absence, of course, and I am left wondering why the team did not give him a run for a day at least, particularly in view of his latest test performances, when he has been up amongst the really quick boys.
It all amounts to a team remaining blind to their best potential, ignoring a driver who is constantly improving while putting their hopes in a big reputation driver for next year. I have no doubt that Speed will be replaced next year, although he has a few races left to put in a performance that will force observers to sit up and take notice. The unreliability of the car does not bode well for him in this regard, however.
But that is F1 after all. Who knows how many drivers have come and gone without really having a reasonable chance to prove their worth? I suspect that the list is long indeed. And, for the rest of this season, I will continue to root for the sole American in F1 and leap to his defence when he is unfairly criticized.
So there.
Scott Speed at the British GP
Accepted wisdom in the paddock is that Bourdais will replace Speed at Toro Rosso next year. This fits well with the general assessment of Speed's abilities, that he is not doing a great job at TR and is expendable therefore. But this impression is a carry-over from last year, Scott's first season in F1, when he suffered many DNFs, some resulting from his inexperience and exuberance.
How easy it is to dismiss drivers in the poorer teams, assuming that others would do a better job were they given the chance. As I have pointed out many times before, Scott's record in the second half of 2006 is actually better than Liuzzi's and this has continued into this season. It is true that Liuzzi had a better qualifying record at the time of the F1 Fanatic post but that ignores those times when Scott has been powerless to do any better through mechanical breakdown or bad team strategy. Lately he has been qualifying ahead of his team mate anyway and his race performances, when reliability allows it, have been much better.
Liuzzi is no slouch and still enjoys the cachet of having passed Michael Schumacher a couple of times (although this is fading from memory now), so it is significant that Speed is beating him with regularity these days. If Liuzzi is good, Speed is better, must be the inescapable conclusion. So why is Scott still disregarded, even by his team?
I think the answer lies partly in his character. He comes across as light-hearted and not very serious about his job, ever ready to smile or crack a joke. For some reason, we expect F1 drivers to be more serious and grim than that. Even Gerhard Berger is clearly irritated by Scott's demeanor, forgetting that he was much the same when he was racing. A brief study of Speed's history will show that there is much more to him, his fight against ulcerative colitis, in particular, demonstrating a determination that we would not suspect from his cheerful manner.
But it is history that is against Scott too. His record before F1 is neither well known nor much trumpeted. He has won his series, most notably Red Bull's search for a talented American driver, but his battle against the debilitating and incurable disease interfered with much of his progress after that. Compared with Bourdais' three Champ Car championships, with perhaps another soon to be added, Speed's record looks pretty slim indeed.
As a result, Bourdais appears to be made for F1, a talent that has been overlooked in the past but is now finding its moment. It would be unkind for me to mention that previous champions from open wheel racing in the States have not fared particularly well in F1, but I will do it anyway. The proof of the pudding is in the eating and we will get our chance to see how good Bourdais is in due course, I'm sure.
Looking at Bourdais' times from the Spa test, we can note that he managed to be quicker than Liuzzi. But the test was disrupted by intermittent rain and is unreliable as an indicator therefore; and that also ignores the fact that Bourdais had two days to set a decent time while Liuzzi had only one. Speed was conspicuous by his absence, of course, and I am left wondering why the team did not give him a run for a day at least, particularly in view of his latest test performances, when he has been up amongst the really quick boys.
It all amounts to a team remaining blind to their best potential, ignoring a driver who is constantly improving while putting their hopes in a big reputation driver for next year. I have no doubt that Speed will be replaced next year, although he has a few races left to put in a performance that will force observers to sit up and take notice. The unreliability of the car does not bode well for him in this regard, however.
But that is F1 after all. Who knows how many drivers have come and gone without really having a reasonable chance to prove their worth? I suspect that the list is long indeed. And, for the rest of this season, I will continue to root for the sole American in F1 and leap to his defence when he is unfairly criticized.
So there.