Piquet Jr wants to do Le Mans! :P!

Scott Speed for one thinks that NASCAR is a lot easier physically

[espn.go.com]

On the subject of doing F1 past 40, i have the impression that for whatever reason the drivers in the late 30's do seem to lose the edge.

Even Mansell, who had Patrese who was 1 year younger and Mario Andretti who was 13 years older is hardly an exception (he certainly wasn't that great vs Hill in 1994)

---

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2009 07:51PM by tripleM.

NASCAR is easier physically, but racing on ovals in single-seaters isn't as easy. It's a different kind of punishment of course, as you have to concentrate on hitting the right centimeter constantly, with cars everywhere, and all while being subjected to lots of G (5 at Texas MS for instance, and sustained G at that) and all on one side, so lap after lap you'd feel your organs constantly trying to escape out of the right of your body. I'd imagine it's awfully disorienting at first.

Mansell was never the fittest, but seeing him after Michigan in '93 stunned me. The bloke was barely alive.

With F1 you know what's going to happen 95% of the time. Concentration isn't quite so important, as there are some rather long straights on which you get a breather, as seldom is there another car in a critical relative position. The main problems come from with F1 are where they are used to certain corners - long left-handers being the obvious problem.

Fangio won his last race at 46 driving versus people with 20 (think they could be his sons if you see the age)

and going a little to topic, he was 44 when he was leading easily Le Mans 1955 but all Mercedes retired because the disaster with Pierre Levegh that killed nearly 90 guys...

tripleM Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------->
> On the subject of doing F1 past 40, i have the
> impression that for whatever reason the drivers in
> the late 30's do seem to lose the edge.
>

Schmacher was 36 when he retired wasnt he?

Its a shame he left because Brazil 2006 showed he lost non of his edge. Would have been interesting to see if he stayed how long it would take before his team-mates were outperforming him on a regular basis. Apart from that we missed an epic Hamilton v's Schmacher v's Alonso v's Kimi (prob would have been Schmachers team-mate) in 2007 . If only eh?!

---

"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

What better way for him to retire though? Just a few months earlier he had pulled that disgusting move in Monaco and his last season was an embarrassment. Then in the last race he tried all he could but just couldn't do it, even I had a soft spot for him for a few seconds. He made us forget for a little moment what he had done before and the way he lost was the best ending.

chet Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Schmacher was 36 when he retired wasnt he?

37. What other age do F1 drivers retire at these days? :P


> Its a shame he left because Brazil 2006 showed he
> lost non of his edge. Would have been interesting
> to see if he stayed how long it would take before
> his team-mates were outperforming him on a regular
> basis. Apart from that we missed an epic Hamilton
> v's Schmacher v's Alonso v's Kimi (prob would have
> been Schmachers team-mate) in 2007 . If only
> eh?!

It would've been awesome to see. For me Schumacher loses a lot of credibility for not wanting to stay on and race Kimi in the same car. He was undoubtedly a good enough driver to hold his own against Kimi, and as the results have turned out, he surely would've won the title in 2007 and 2008 had he stayed on.

Also, regarding MS's retirement, it was striking how much he suffered with reliability and other dramas during the last two race meetings; the engine at Suzuka, the gearbox in Interlagos quali, then that puncture in the race. Previously he'd gone through whole seasons without that many problems.


gav Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mansell was never the fittest, but seeing him
> after Michigan in '93 stunned me. The bloke was
> barely alive.

The main image I have of Nigel outside of the car is of him knackered after a race. Monaco '92 was another one - not as bad as Michigan '93 sounds, but he still couldn't even stand after getting out of the car and had to watch the podium ceremony from the parc ferme area while being held up by 3 marshals.

---

He couldn't get out of the car at Michigan. He was being held up in the car while they had to give him fluids.

So, similar to Senna at Interlagos in '91 and Imola in '92 then.
Always an extra problem for the driver in that situation, with the heat welling up in the car after it stops.

---

Going back on topic....

Piquet has already driven at Le Mans. In a GT1 Aston Martin in 2006. And he finished 4th in class. so there...........

---

Maybe he was better driver on those days..?

Kimi, so, Massa Fernando Sebastian is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?

Well Piquet has been performing better this season, especially the last few races. To me he's going against the best driver on the grid, not an easy task especially when you're just an average driver. Piquet hopefully is learning something from Alonso, like Massa with Schumacher, but his future will probably be somewhere in GT series or the occasional Le Mans entry. Still, I'd envy his life :P

Peat Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Going back on topic....
>
> Piquet has already driven at Le Mans. In a GT1
> Aston Martin in 2006. And he finished 4th in
> class. so there...........


That soon showed us then !

Why on earth would they let him loose on an Aston though?! Surley they recognized the consequences!

---

"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

Guimengo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well Piquet has been performing better this
> season, especially the last few races. To me he's
> going against the best driver on the grid, not an
> easy task especially when you're just an average
> driver. Piquet hopefully is learning something
> from Alonso, like Massa with Schumacher, but his
> future will probably be somewhere in GT series or
> the occasional Le Mans entry. Still, I'd envy his
> life :P


Spot on actually, Piquet is against the best consistent performer on the grid, AND has probably the most difficult boss, plus driving a dog of a car. While we all love to laugh at him, it can't be easy. The fact that he's still there with The Flav in charge is an achievement, considering what Flav did to Trulli after the Magny-Cours - Barrichello incident

Yeah, we can't deny Piquet has been improving and hanging around and must be very tough. HOWEVER, we mustn't forget his true level by taking it too easy on him . Sure in GP2 he beat Hamilton on occasion and was semi-close for a good part of the championship with an inferior team, but it's Formula 1 and you can't live off "what ifs" and excuses!

Perhaps Nelsion Pi"Quit" junior, wants to do alot of burn-outs again in the middle of the race in different racing category.haha

well the le mans 24 hour race is about the same distance (for LMP1 at least) as a full f1 season. so, based on his current record, that's at least 10 spins during the race

---

X (@ed24f1)

*Thread approved*

Thanks for bringing a smile to my face, Piquet Jr driving cars is one thing, taking the world record in the fastest crash at Le Mans next year would be something sensational......

Shinnbob Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> *Thread approved*
>
> Thanks for bringing a smile to my face, Piquet Jr
> driving cars is one thing, taking the world record
> in the fastest crash at Le Mans next year would be
> something sensational......


not sure if you mean fastest speed crash or quickest time to have first crash, but if its the latter, it will be hard to beat Premat in this year's race!

---

X (@ed24f1)