Drivers you admire

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Star
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Drivers you admire

#1

Post by Star »

I haven't been here that long, I don't know who you all consider your favourite drivers, though some are listed on your profiles of course. That doesn't say why you like them. So I'm going to ask, who is your favourite driver and why do you like them?

For @Antonov I will admit I didn't like Jacques Villeneuve when he first came into F1 but his sense of humour and the fact he didn't conform like some other drivers got my attention. He was more inclinced to speak his mind and of course he did put in some good drives. That move in Estoril when he went around Michael Schumacher on the outside of the banking sticks in my memory. His determination to make Eau Rouge a flat corner even when it wasn't and the subsequent crashes...... I could go on but I won't. Oh and my ex husband (A Damon Hill fan) didn't like him at all, so that could have been a part of it ;)

I liked Vettel because he got my attention and he just had that something that said he was good. He looked about 12 when he started racing and maybe that was part of it, the aww factor at the kid who was showing how good he could be in the Toro Rosso when he got that unexpected win. He made some moves I was less keen on, especially in Turkey with Webber and I didn't actually see Malayasia with the multi 21, it's one of the few races I've missed since 1995. But on the whole I like his style and his sense of humour, that's somewhat rare in a German ;)

I am too loyal for my own good, once I become a fan of someone I find I tend to stick with them through the good times and the bad. I did have a short spell of being an Alonso fan but then the 'Piquet crashgate' affair happened and when he blatantly lied on camera about knowing nothing of the plan, any respect I had for him went out of the window. Shame as I have a beautiful personally signed to me picture of him that someone got for me.

Anyway, that's me, it's over to you guys :happy:
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#2

Post by White six »

We don't understand the German sense of humour in England :)
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#3

Post by Antonov »

in terms of fanboy-ism for me, two drivers:
- Mika Häkkinen (France '99 - Japan '01)
- Kimi Räikkönen (Australia '02 - Brazil '07)
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#4

Post by Michael Ferner »

Star wrote: 3 years ago But on the whole I like his style and his sense of humour, that's somewhat rare in a German ;)
Wot? :huh: :annoyed: :aggro:

I'll have you know I'll send the Humour Police!!

Harumph!
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#5

Post by PTRACER »

How does that joke go? A British guy's glass is half empty, an American's glass is half full, but in a German's glass, there is precisely 250ml of liquid at a temperature of 7 degrees Celsius :wink:

:topic:

Drivers I admire most are probably those who I never saw race, like James Hunt, Gilles Villeneuve, Jim Clark. These days I am not really a 'fan' of anyone, except perhaps Kimi. And of the current front-running drivers, I support Max more than anyone else. For some reason I was never a big fan of the best drivers of each era, but preferred to support those in 2nd instead.
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#6

Post by Star »

Michael Ferner wrote: 3 years ago
Star wrote: 3 years ago But on the whole I like his style and his sense of humour, that's somewhat rare in a German ;)
Wot? :huh: :annoyed: :aggro:

I'll have you know I'll send the Humour Police!!

Harumph!
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#7

Post by MonteCristo »

Clark stands out to me.

In times past, I generally admired the ones who came back from injury. Whether it was because they just loved what they did despite the risks, or they just needed to put food on the table for their families (or pay off gambling debts :P) and racing was the only thing they knew.

Otherwise, most of the current mob are knobs.

But admiring and supporting are different questions in my mind.
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#8

Post by Kai-Star »

Mansell was my boyhood hero. Watching him wrestle cars around the track and always being the bridesmaid was an enticing formula. Until '92 of course.

Being a fan of, or who you admire or who you would have a beer with are three very different qualities in my mind. I mean I can admire Hamilton's achievements but I am definitely not a fan. I'd like to have a beer with Jenson Button and I was a fan of Schumacher's driving ability for years.

I agree with other posters that the drivers of yesteryear were much more gentlemanly.
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#9

Post by XcraigX »

PTRACER wrote: 3 years ago How does that joke go?
How many Germans does it take to change a lightbulb?

One. Germans are very efficient and not often very funny.
PTRACER wrote: 3 years ago How does that joke go? A British guy's glass is half empty, an American's glass is half full...
and an Engineer comments that the glass is too large.

:topic:

The driver that I admire the most is Mario Andretti. Came from nothing and through tremendous talent won a ton of races in a variety of machinery. I also admired him for his variety, determination, and tenacity. He was constantly racing and rose to the top in just about every form he tried. It was so unfortunate that he never won at LeMans, but finishing 2nd is still an amazing feat. One item that I always thought odd was his knack for streaks of bad luck. Nobody's perfect. But he kept on going long into his 60s. A great man and a true American hero!
(And he's about the only person where the admiration of talent, personality, and the "I'd like to have a beer with the guy-ness" all converge.)
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#10

Post by Michael Ferner »

Star wrote: 3 years ago
Michael Ferner wrote: 3 years ago
Star wrote: 3 years ago But on the whole I like his style and his sense of humour, that's somewhat rare in a German ;)
Wot? :huh: :annoyed: :aggro:

I'll have you know I'll send the Humour Police!!

Harumph!
I apologise if I offended you, I didn't mean to :blush:
No probs. :wink:
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#11

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

Nuvolari. He was pretty handy.
Of the modern lot Clark and Lauda.
Of the current crop Raikkonen.

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#12

Post by erwin greven »

XcraigX wrote: 3 years ago
The driver that I admire the most is Mario Andretti. Came from nothing and through tremendous talent won a ton of races in a variety of machinery. I also admired him for his variety, determination, and tenacity. He was constantly racing and rose to the top in just about every form he tried. It was so unfortunate that he never won at LeMans, but finishing 2nd is still an amazing feat. One item that I always thought odd was his knack for streaks of bad luck. Nobody's perfect. But he kept on going long into his 60s. A great man and a true American hero!
(And he's about the only person where the admiration of talent, personality, and the "I'd like to have a beer with the guy-ness" all converge.)
:agreepost:

I could not describe it better.

And just like @Everso Biggyballies i admire Tazio Nuvolari a lot. His magnificent race at the German GP 1935 is often overlooked, in contrary to Fangio's race in 1955. And last but not least: Niki Lauda. He got Ferrari back on top again and then his coming back after first August 1st 1976 and later at McLaren in 1982.
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#13

Post by PTRACER »

MonteCristo wrote: 3 years ago Clark stands out to me.
I never realised how utterly special Clark was until I started researching performance data from the 1967 season, e.g. average laptimes, top speeds etc. When I really looked into it, and found that Clark was on pole at Spa by 3 seconds, as well as 5 seconds faster than his own team mate in the same car...That is absolutely astonishing on a track like the old Spa, where most of the time is won or lost on the 'straight' bits.

Perhaps I should also admit at this stage I don't rate Graham Hill very highly, even though I really like him...
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#14

Post by Cheeveer »

I admire Romain Grosjean because he likes Lego and has a cat.

Dale Earnhardt Jr is precious cargo also, he speaks the truth and hasn't let fame and fortune make him cynical. He's still a kid who loves it when race cars go vrrrooom.
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#15

Post by Antonov »

@Star - I have just the thing for you ;)

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