Can Americans only drive on ovals, yet another one has been shown the door.?

Question

Having driven in America, as soon as they get off the freeway their driving goes to pieces, hence the demise of Michael Andretti and Scott Speed and the success of Dario Franchetti.
Mario Andretti must have learnt to drive in Italy

Answer 1

Tell ya' what....... I run off road. Basically motocross in cars. Thus, we turn both directions, and we do it on (at best) dirt. Most of the time we run on (in) mud. JPM has enough trouble running in circles on dirt, and if he is "one of the best" F-1 has to offer, sounds like I could wax any one of them in a 100 lap race, without the benefit of tear-offs (meaning I wouldn't be able to see).

You know what, I'd really like to see Schumaker (or any of your other so-called "World Champions") come over here and get his @$$ handed to him in any one of our series. The only former "World Champ" to really do worth a crap was Nigel Mansell, and that was only for one year.

BTW....THANK GOD WE GOT RID OF F-1 IN THE UNITED STATES!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 2

Perhaps you've heard of Phil Hill, the only American-born F1 champion. He didn't do too badly off the freeway.

Mario Andretti was brought to the US at about the age of 8. Although he does retain a slight Italian accent, he is a naturalized citizen and considers himself to be American. He remains the only driver ever to win the F1 championship, the Indy 500, and the Daytona 500.

Formula One and sports-car racing get little press coverage in the US. The two domestic open-wheel series, both of which do race on road courses, are both struggling; outside of the Indianapolis 500, they don't get much attention either. A young would-be race driver is more likely to get involved in various sorts of oval racing, with NASCAR as the pinnacle, rather than any kind of open-wheel series that might lead to F1. Simply because ovals are dominant here.

It's a little like asking why American soccer (football) teams don't do better in international competition. Given the population base here, the US *could* dominate the sport if it were more popular. As it is the best young athletes go into American football, basketball, or baseball. Soccer is left with a minuscule talent base to draw upon and the result is a team that gets its tail waxed by Luxembourg.

Answer 3

I'm an American and I think that you are only partly corrrect. On the surface the statement makes sense, Michael and Scott have been complete failures in F1, (Dario comment doesn't make a lot of sense? assuming he is your counterpoint to say European dirvers do well in US style Racing? Take it one issue at a time! Michael and Scott (especially Scott!, who I could careless about!) were in terrible cars! The McLarens and the Toro Rosso in their respective seasons were pathetic cars! NOBODY can compete in a TORO ROSSO! To expect the US drivers to compete in those cars is silly! Further more kids don't grow up in the United States dreaming of F1 its all about NASCAR here (like it or not!)

Going the other way F1 to IRL is much easier!
1. The cars in IRL are all nearly identical! Most teams use the same engines and chassis, which means you have a shot at least! (There are no Toro Rosso's in the IRL)
2. When people leave F1 for a US series typically they join a top team (Dario is with 1 or 3 teams capable of winning any race! Penske and Ganassi others!)


A better example of what you are trying to say is Juan Pablo Montoya (average F1 dirver, won a few races!) In Nascar he has competed in a few races and even managed to win one! Montoya is with a average (at best) team, which suggests he has quite a bit of driving talent regardless or style of car!

Don't be so quick to slam US drivers because a few drivers in bad situations didn't win anything! Given equal equipment and some experience I'd think the best drivers in F1, Nascar and even IRL could compete with each other.

Answer 4

Are you kidding me? Scuderia Toro Rosso sucks!!! Since you seem to be so high on Dario Franchitti, put him in a Toro Rosso and see how he does. Yeah, I don't think he'd be a contender in that car. Hell, put a 7-time champion like Michael Schumacher in the car and I guarantee his driving would somehow suddenly be viewed as pedestrian and it certainly wouldn't be for lack of talent.

And that's the point. You have to have talent to even be considered to drive a car in any top level of racing. Alessandro Zanardi was hardly a contender driving for Jordan, Minardi and Lotus in his first stint in F1. So he came here and dominated CART while driving for Chip Ganassi. Then he went back and drove a horrible Williams car. What, did he suddenly forget how to drive?

Scott Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi are both back-markers for Toro Rosso. Is Liuzzi better than Speed? I don't know. I just know that dropping Scott Speed has a lot to do with no US Grand Prix on next year's schedule at this time (and Canada's tenative).

On a side note, ask the folks at Ferrari how they feel about the possibility of no Grands Prix in North America...guess where 80% of Ferraris are sold.

For an American driver, there is a lot more money to be made in NASCAR. It's just that simple. And, believe it or not, more and more of them are choosing to compete in the 24 Hours of Daytona and they're having a blast doing it.

As for Americans not being able to racing on road/street courses, well, the past results speak for themselves...

Mark Donohue, Dan Gurney (who started the tradition of spraying champagne), A.J. Foyt, Phil Hill, Hurley Haywood, Al Holbert, Davy Jones, Price Cobb, Masten Gregory, Carroll Shelby, Bill Whittington, Don Whittington, Boris Said, George Follmer, Parnelli Jones, Peter Revson, Swede Savage, Scott Pruett...no, Americans can't compete on anything but an oval track.

Hey, wasn't that Travis Pastrana who almost single-handedly beat the world at the 2006 Race of Champions?

Answer 5

I think it is a bit narrow-minded to imply Americans can only drive on ovals. Have you been out to an ALMS, Grand-AM, Speed GT, Champ Car, Formula Atlantic, or other road racing series race lately?

There are plenty of great American drivers out there who win races and excell on road courses. That Scott Speed could not do it in F1, and that he's been preceded by others who did poorly does not really represent the quality and capabilities of American drivers.

I'm Canadian, so maybe I've paid attention to the American racing scene more than, say, a European? But I have seen plenty of great American road racers in the 25 years since I started following racing.

How many times, for example, has Johnny O'Connell been in a winning car in ALMS and at LeMans? How many times has Butch Lietzinger won? A.J. Allmendinger--despite his presently misguided career choice--was and remains a hell of a good road racer.

Michael Andretti flopped in F1 because he didn't make the effort. He didn't test enough, he jumped on the Concorde after European races and was home to sleep in his bed on Sunday night! He just didn't try hard enough. Having Senna lead him around circuits on Friday mornings wasn't enough.

Scott Speed, well, he wasn't going to last, sorry to say. He managed to emerge from the Red Bull Driver Search program as the guy who they were going to make the next American in F1. They did that and it didn't work out. He was better at having a good time than at driving. He's a decent driver, but there are better drivers in America (hell, Red Bull sponsors Allmendinger, why wasn't he the one?).

The simple fact is that in America oval racing became popular. Once upon a time, road racing was it until someone got the idea to run cars on a horse racing oval. It stuck because spectators liked being able to see the cars more often (than say compared to a Vanderbilt Cup race on outrageously long courses that saw cars once every few minutes... and longer).

It is also a mentalité thing. Europeans are more able to look at something like a road race where they don't see the cars as often; just like they are ga-ga for the Tour de France where the peloton goes by and that's that.

So as a result, maybe fewer Americans even aspire to F1. But none of this means they can only drive on ovals. In sports cars there are plenty of very good Americans.

And there's my nickel ;)

RP

Answer 6

IMHO, there is very little corporate backing of F1 in the U.S. and this means few opportunities for an American who aspires to get into F1.

SCCA Club Racing, Pro Racing, etc offers road racing to various Formula classed cars. If F1 scouts would watch the careers of SCCA national champions, they may find a few F1 potential jems.

Having worked with the only nationally winning Formula SAE team at VA Tech, I met Todd Bowland before he was brought into Chip Ganassi's IndyCar team (around 1992). Todd is a Race Engineer and has also worked for Newman-Haas and is apparently switching to NASCAR. He races on the side in SCCA and has won at the National level. Todd has proven himself as a superb racer on the track and behind the scenes.

America has F1 potential, it just needs to be properly harvested.

Answer 7

I live in America and know exactly what you mean. However, I have driven in England and have known some in your country to do exactly the same thing. And I have driven in Bangkok, China and a few other Asian countries as well. They all drive like idiots there.
It seems that when someone leaves the road(masses), there tends to be a sense of freedom. I love driving country roads and do tend to speed. I think people just want to have their own space at times and leaving the madness of traffic gives one the sense of open-road freedom.
I hope you understand what I am saying here.

Answer 8

Its what most American race car drivers are raised on. Unlike European drivers, American drivers are more focused on NASCAR, though just because they run on ovals doesnt mean they suck on road courses. I guarentee you, you train Jeff Gordon, or Tony Stewart, or a few other NASCAR drivers on how to race a F1 car, and put them on at the very least, a decent team, and they can get results.

As long as NASCAR runs strong in the USA, and there still is a viable open wheel series running in the states as well, American drivers in F1 will be few and far between.

Answer 9

Yes, corners are very confusing for Americans. It also explains why their streets are designed as grids. If you require a street that runs East / West, you just drive along a North / South street until it comes to you. Any other type of route (bends etc.) confuse Americans and they lose their sense of direction.

Answer 10

Ive been to America, and it's true that their cars are generally speaking designed to go for a long time in a straight line.