# Why do IndyCar/CART drivers fail in F1? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 12, 2014, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-indycar-cart-drivers-fail-in-f1/681170 "2014-02-12T18:16:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-indycar-cart-drivers-fail-in-f1/681170/21 "2014-02-13T20:49:06Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Not quite, he still had to prove himself in the lower formulas, that and the ability to bring sponsorship money. However, you prove yourself and the sponsorship money ceases to matter, people will crawl over broken glass to get you (as will the best teams). I think you’re being overly optimistic there. Sure, there’s a minimum competency requirement before people are going to look at you, but Maldanado is still in F1 because he’s Venezuelan and they’ll spend a ton of money just for the propaganda value alone. And it’s not coincidence that Russian drivers with huge bankrolls behind them start popping up as we get a Russian Grand Prix. Give, say, Will Power the funding for a halfway-decent seat, and maybe a little time to re-acclimate himself to Formula-type cars, and I suspect he’d do well. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-indycar-cart-drivers-fail-in-f1/681170/22 "2014-02-13T22:31:23Z")
> [@dzeiger](#): > > I think you’re being overly optimistic there. Sure, there’s a minimum competency requirement before people are going to look at you, He won the GP2 series, they don’t give that away no matter how much money is behind you. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-indycar-cart-drivers-fail-in-f1/681170/23 "2014-02-20T18:37:32Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > . > Of course it’s Mansell and not Checo Pérez, but still. Zanardi won 1 point in 4 years in F!, went to CART and won two titles. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-indycar-cart-drivers-fail-in-f1/681170/24 "2014-02-21T16:37:04Z")
> [@dzeiger](#): > > I think you’re being overly optimistic there. Sure, there’s a minimum competency requirement before people are going to look at you, but Maldanado is still in F1 because he’s Venezuelan and they’ll spend a ton of money just for the propaganda value alone. And it’s not coincidence that Russian drivers with huge bankrolls behind them start popping up as we get a Russian Grand Prix. > > Give, say, Will Power the funding for a halfway-decent seat, and maybe a little time to re-acclimate himself to Formula-type cars, and I suspect he’d do well. I agree. Of the current drivers, Power is the most likely to do well. I’d go with road and street drivers, as opposed to oval drivers. There’s just more to it when you have to navigate a street/road course. As an aside, as a huge IndyCar fan - I loathe ovals. Hates them. Boring, and just too hillbilly for me. I’d prefer no ovals in the series. On the other hand, I watch F1, and I get bored because all of the focus is on the cars - engines, companies, etc. I totally understand it, but I prefer paying attention to drivers as opposed to mechanics. Which is why IndyCar is my preferred series. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-indycar-cart-drivers-fail-in-f1/681170/25 "2014-03-04T01:53:13Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Jacques Villeneuve did win a title, but he was driving the [Williams Renault](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_F1#Renault_engines_.281989.E2.80.931997.29) probably in relative terms the best car ever, a which made champions out of lesser drivers (Damon Hill I am looking at you). ANd he never won another race after 1997, his championship year. The Williams-Renaults were superb in 1992 and 1993, but they did a _terrible_ job adapting to the 1994 rule changes. Hill might have won the 1995 championship because he had the best car, but his 1994 performance was one of the best seasons in the history of F1. Taking everything into account, that is - being the #2 driver for the first three races of the season, losing his team leader, and having a car that was almost undriveable at times. Despite all that, he only lost the championship because Schumacher drove into him. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-indycar-cart-drivers-fail-in-f1/681170/26 "2014-03-06T10:04:08Z")
Schumacher was banned from two races and had two races points taken from him. He still won. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-indycar-cart-drivers-fail-in-f1/681170/27 "2014-03-06T10:59:40Z")
Roman Grosjean failed at F1 the first time around, went off to Indycar, seasoned a bit, and is now a top F1 driver. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-indycar-cart-drivers-fail-in-f1/681170/28 "2014-03-06T11:48:16Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Roman Grosjean failed at F1 the first time around, went off to Indycar, seasoned a bit, and is now a top F1 driver. Looking at [his history on Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romain_Grosjean), It doesn’t mention Indycar at all. Are you thinking of a different driver? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-indycar-cart-drivers-fail-in-f1/681170/29 "2014-03-06T14:29:32Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Schumacher was banned from two races and had two races points taken from him. He still won. Yeah… because he cheated. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-indycar-cart-drivers-fail-in-f1/681170/30 "2014-03-06T14:34:25Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Looking at [his history on Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romain_Grosjean), It doesn’t mention Indycar at all. Are you thinking of a different driver? Quite probably mixing him up with Montoya. Call it a middle-age moment. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-indycar-cart-drivers-fail-in-f1/681170/31 "2014-03-06T14:37:00Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Yeah… because he cheated. In the eyes of some patriotic FIA officials. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-indycar-cart-drivers-fail-in-f1/681170/32 "2014-03-06T14:39:50Z")
Or anyone who watched the race. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-indycar-cart-drivers-fail-in-f1/681170/33 "2014-03-06T15:23:36Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Quite probably mixing him up with Montoya. Call it a middle-age moment. 🙂 No problem, I’m certainly in no position to be casting any stones. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-indycar-cart-drivers-fail-in-f1/681170/34 "2014-03-06T15:25:09Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Or anyone who watched the race. Quite, a brilliant racer but not above a shenanigan or two (e.g. the Monaco “parking” incident during qualifying) ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Bragg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4bbf92/32.png) [@Stealth\_Bragg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Bragg)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-indycar-cart-drivers-fail-in-f1/681170/35 "2014-03-10T16:49:09Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > They would all give their right nut to have an American driver who was capable and who could challenge. It would be exceptionally lucrative. Andretti’s complaints have always struck me as pathetic frankly. He was given a first rate drive and he got one podium for it. F1 is highly competitive and every driver has 2 official and about 20 other guys behind him clamouring for seats. If the bosses think the guy behind you is better, he gets it. David Coultard was winning races yet was replaced by Villeneuve. Damon Hill was dismissed while he was world champion in favour of Frentzen. Andretti has a guy breathing down his neck and when he underperformed that guy took his place. His name? Mikka Hakkinen? I heard that one of the major reasons Michael Andretti didn’t perform in F1 was because he flew to all the races out of the US, instead of relocating to the UK where the McLaren factory was. This limited his testing time and prevented him integrating into the team etc. ETA: By the end of 1993 though he did seem to be getting the hang of it and was showing improvement (instead of binning it at the start on the first corner) but his replacement was assured by then. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-indycar-cart-drivers-fail-in-f1/681170/36 "2014-03-10T17:12:41Z")
For the record, even the British drivers generally don’t live in the UK. They all live in Monaco. Commuting from the US was an awful idea though. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-indycar-cart-drivers-fail-in-f1/681170/37 "2014-03-29T09:54:14Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Put Schumacher in a NASCAR and would he do as good? How about an Indy car? Maybe, maybe not. NASCAR, I don’t know? But Indy/CART? He would have dominated. Schumacher was a driver who won titles with lesser cars (1994, 1995, 2000, 2003). [QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] Yeah… because he cheated. [/QUOTE] AT the British GP? How so? He passed Hill on the parade lap and was punished more heavily than others were. Its no longer even an offense. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-indycar-cart-drivers-fail-in-f1/681170.md?page=1)