The One That Never Was: Michel Ferte in Formula 1

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Vassago
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The One That Never Was: Michel Ferte in Formula 1

#1

Post by Vassago »

I recently re-watched ESPN's 30 for 30 about Marcus Dupree titled "The Best That Never Was". And I thought about revisiting the case of Michel Ferte and his F1 career... that obviously never was.

Other than being Alain's younger & seemingly more talented brother (happens often in racing when the younger sibling ends up with a better career) Michel Ferte finished 3rd in the 1984 Formula Two standings (his first full season there, run four races in '83 when he became French F3 champion full-time) and then finished 5th in both 1985 & 1986 Formula 3000 standings. That should have been more than enough to make the F1 grade before 1987 at the very least. But Ferte does another season of F3000 where the results start to go downhill (only one podium and 14th in standings). In 1988 and 1989 he does part-time duty with below par results and the F1 ship has obviously sailed by then.

Other than John Nielsen he's the only driver who finished Top 10 overall in '85 & '86 who never started an F1 race (and he had three straight Top 5 seasons in the ladder series to follow the '84 F2 campaign).

Between 1984 and 1986 he had 13 podiums in 33 F2/F3000 races he contested. Admittedly he never won a single race (5x second, 8x third). That's like the only knock I can find against him but it's still an extreme long shot to deny him an F1 shot.

French drivers were still in hot demand in late 80s. Philippe Alliot, Philippe Streiff and Olivier Grouillard enjoyed a lenghty if unspectacular F1 careers. Even the likes of Pascal Fabre and Pierre-Henri Raphanel got a small bite at the cherry (Fabre with AGS in 1987 and Raphanel with three(!) different backmarkers in 1988-89). Based on the ladder results Ferte was like way better than Fabre and Raphanel IMO.

He was a Ligier test driver between 1983-1985 (the latter season with Alliot and Streiff no less) but other than lack of sponsors I suppose there was more to him getting overlooked than just Alliot and Streiff crowding him out? Sure, getting a place at Ligier might have been too much (even with Rene Arnoux wasting everyone's time) but the likes of AGS or Larrousse should have been viable options? Eric Bernard and Yannick Dalmas seemed to get all the Larrousse love besides Alliot and if AGS ever run a second car Ferte would have been a shoe-in for that one? One might argue Bernard had the career that Ferte should have had starting literally two years before (since come 1989 Ferte's hot hand was gone).

In 1987 Ligier fielded the Arnoux/Ghinzani tandem, Ghinzani was there based on the fact they were set to use Alfa Romeo engines but Arnoux panned them in pre-testing and they switched to BMW Megatrons anyway. But Ghinzani somehow still survived the whole season. If there was ever a chance of Ferte getting a shot in F1 then maybe teaming up with Arnoux for 1987 would have been the perfect moment.

I still feel like I'm missing something but I don't know what it is? :dunno:

F3000 at Dijon 1985

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Testing for Ligier at Dijon 1984

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In Private (2012)

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#2

Post by Ruslan »

Vassago wrote: 3 years ago Between 1984 and 1986 he had 13 podiums in 33 F2/F3000 races he contested.
Yea, at that point lots of drivers were going directly from F3 to F1. Senna did in 1984, as did Brundle.

There was an article at that time (probably in Road and Track) about Ecclestone running across a driver and asking what he was doing. The driver told him he was going to do F2. Ecclestone asked why would he do that? (implying it is a waste of time and does not lead anywhere).

Thanks for the post.
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#3

Post by Vassago »

Ruslan wrote: 3 years ago
Vassago wrote: 3 years ago Between 1984 and 1986 he had 13 podiums in 33 F2/F3000 races he contested.
Yea, at that point lots of drivers were going directly from F3 to F1. Senna did in 1984, as did Brundle.

There was an article at that time (probably in Road and Track) about Ecclestone running across a driver and asking what he was doing. The driver told him he was going to do F2. Ecclestone asked why would he do that? (implying it is a waste of time and does not lead anywhere).

Thanks for the post.
You have to remember that in 1983 and 1984 Formula 2 basically became a single-spec series - something it was not since its inception in 1967. The last two seasons it was all BMW engines except for the works Ralt team that still used Honda. The Maurer chasis was gone come 1984 and besides Ralt and March they still had Spirit and Martini (whom failed in their 1978 F1 foray and went back to ladders). Most of the F1 junior teams were gone by this stage as well - March, Theodore or Toleman. Meanwhile Minardi, AGS and Onyx only made the F1 jump after F2 folded (Minardi straight away in 1985, AGS a year later and Onyx in 1989).

Most people forget Riccardo Paletti was the Onyx F2 driver in 1980 and 1981. He took the Pioneer money to Osella for the ill-fated 1982 F1 campaign but there's every chance Onyx would have been on F1 grid sooner had Paletti lived through 1982. Emilio de Villota's last true privateer F1 entries in 1982 were overseen by the Onyx F2 team using the March chassis and not by the March team itself.
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#4

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Paletti had not won a race in F2. He was 10th in the championship in 1981. Not sure why he was in F1.
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#5

Post by Vassago »

Ruslan wrote: 3 years ago Paletti had not won a race in F2. He was 10th in the championship in 1981. Not sure why he was in F1.
Why? Because Paletti's father imported Pioneer hi-fi equipment into Italy which led into Pioneer sponsorship money that fast-tracked him into F1. It's no different to Andrea de Cesaris landing with Marlboro-backed teams since his father was a major Philip Morris tobacco distributor in Italy :wink:
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#6

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Vassago wrote: 3 years ago
Ruslan wrote: 3 years ago Paletti had not won a race in F2. He was 10th in the championship in 1981. Not sure why he was in F1.
Why? Because Paletti's father imported Pioneer hi-fi equipment into Italy which led into Pioneer sponsorship money that fast-tracked him into F1. It's no different to Andrea de Cesaris landing with Marlboro-backed teams since his father was a major Philip Morris tobacco distributor in Italy :wink:
Yep, in both cases, neither of them were ready for F1 yet. It cost Paleitti his life. De Cesaris had some speed and it was only bad luck that he did not win a couple of GPs.
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#7

Post by PTRACER »

Ruslan wrote: 3 years ago
Vassago wrote: 3 years ago
Ruslan wrote: 3 years ago Paletti had not won a race in F2. He was 10th in the championship in 1981. Not sure why he was in F1.
Why? Because Paletti's father imported Pioneer hi-fi equipment into Italy which led into Pioneer sponsorship money that fast-tracked him into F1. It's no different to Andrea de Cesaris landing with Marlboro-backed teams since his father was a major Philip Morris tobacco distributor in Italy :wink:
Yep, in both cases, neither of them were ready for F1 yet. It cost Paleitti his life. De Cesaris had some speed and it was only bad luck that he did not win a couple of GPs.
Paletti's crash just seemed a tragic accident to me.
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#8

Post by Ruslan »

PTRACER wrote: 3 years ago
Ruslan wrote: 3 years ago
Vassago wrote: 3 years ago
Ruslan wrote: 3 years ago Paletti had not won a race in F2. He was 10th in the championship in 1981. Not sure why he was in F1.
Why? Because Paletti's father imported Pioneer hi-fi equipment into Italy which led into Pioneer sponsorship money that fast-tracked him into F1. It's no different to Andrea de Cesaris landing with Marlboro-backed teams since his father was a major Philip Morris tobacco distributor in Italy :wink:
Yep, in both cases, neither of them were ready for F1 yet. It cost Paleitti his life. De Cesaris had some speed and it was only bad luck that he did not win a couple of GPs.
Paletti's crash just seemed a tragic accident to me.
That is probably the case....but he was also clearly not ready yet for F1.

On the other hand, Niki Lauda did discuss in one of his books what not to do when starting in the back of the field. His advice was to do and go where everyone else is going, because if there is some place they are not going, there is probably a reason for it (like a stopped car).
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#9

Post by Nononsensecapeesh »

Didn't Ferte lose out to Francois Hesnault for the Ligier seat in 1984?
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#10

Post by Michael Ferner »

Yes, and that pretty much tells the story. Hesnault went nowhere pretty fast, and he was about equal or better than Ferté in F3. No reason to believe that F1 missed out on either Ferté (and I believe Alain was actually better).
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#11

Post by Nononsensecapeesh »

Michael Ferner wrote: 1 year ago Yes, and that pretty much tells the story. Hesnault went nowhere pretty fast, and he was about equal or better than Ferté in F3. No reason to believe that F1 missed out on either Ferté (and I believe Alain was actually better).
Alain dodged a bullet though as he could have been at Osella in the seat that went to Allen Berg (No offence to Berg, it was the car, not him).
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#12

Post by Nononsensecapeesh »

Rest in Peace Michel Ferte.
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