Champ Car to F1 or F1 to Champ Car ???

Question

Is Champ Car as a stepping stone to F1, is it a purgatory where they’re not ready for F1, or is it as a place to serve as a retirement from F1.

Answer 1

Champ Car has not proven effective as a means of reaching F1. The two best examples of this have been recent, with Sebastian Bourdais' success in Champ car having been unable to get him even an F1 test without ALOT of effort for a few years on his part... and all this happening when you have a French team with a competitive car and no top notch driver; a French driver would have proved a very popular point with French sponsors.

Second, you have Christen Klein having to decide if being completely fired from Red Bull or driving in Champ car was the better career move; he decided on being completely fired since the move to Champ would likely doom his ever returning to F1.

There are certainly talented drivers and good competition in Champ car, but the very few high profile drivers that have moved to F1 in the past have been anything but successful.

The opposite move has come about here and there, but has never involved true F1 stars, always people that have been struggling in the bottom half of the grid. Some of these have been talented enough to go further if the chance presented itself, but most were simply journeymen.

There may be a couple drivers in Champ that could be successful in F1. However, right now, it is not really viewed in a positive light by the team bosses in F1. Which makes it much more a purgatory than a stepping stone.

Answer 2

I think that Champ Car has become the road to nowhere. Not many have made the jump to F1 from Champ Car. Another answer already mentions Michael Andretti's disastrous half year at McLaren. Others that come to mind are Jacques Villeneuve and Juan Pablo Montoya. Sebastian Bourdais would be great in F1 but I believe he is probably doomed to finish his career in Champ Car.

I remember when Nigel Mansell came to Newman Haas the year after his last F1 title and beat up on everybody. He is one of those drivers that can drive any type car and win. He had success in touring cars in Europe after he "retired" from Champ Cars.

I love to watch the Champ Cars run. But, right now, the series is not a stepping stone in or out of F1.

Answer 3

I cannot recall too many champ car drivers going to f1 and being good. I think Mario Andretti.of course he could drive anything.
Jacque Villanueve...Most f1 drivers seem to look down on our racing .With the Indy 500 being the exception.The old F1 drivers seem to come over and at least try it once.Jimmy clark/emerson fittipaldi/graham hill/...many others.Ayrton Senna expressed interest before he passed on trying indy. We cant even unite our leagues..I think f1 is king Indy the best race.No f1 driver is hoping to come here for a full season.I think juan montoya was at the end of his f1 rope.And he went to Nascar!!

Answer 4

i think juan pablo montoya is likewise shown interior the action picture and so is tony kanaan. Montoya grew to become right into a formulation 1driver and that i comprehend tony kanaan is an indy driving force. i think of that action picture in simple terms picked a team of drivers from all the open wheel sequence and figured the commonplace viewer does not comprehend the version.