erwin greven wrote:Kai-Star wrote:Reutemann could have won in '82 too if hadn't quit the season early. So many 'what ifs' when it comes to '82. Probably the most crazy season there has been in F1.
Yes, many drivers that season scored only one or two victories. Keke won only at Dyon.
John Watson had a good first half of the season, but faded away in the second half. Rene Arnoux had a horrible start and Alain Prost had a bad mid season. And although Pironi had scored 7 points finishes in 10 races when coming to Hockenheim, he had only scored 39 points. At Hockenheim he had his career ending crash.
No one was dominating the whole season.
We also have to remember Brazil when discussing Keke. The whole water tank -scandal, and getting disqualified when many other teams were also using the same trick, cost him 6 points that day. Also, Brands Hatch, when his car failed on the grid probably cost him some points too.
Keke said himself that "That damn Interlagos fiasco was the only reason Watson was still in the hunt in Las Vegas."
It is true that 1982 was a weird season. Nobody was dominant. Turbos failed left, right and center. Pironi shattered his legs, and we all know what happened to Villeneuve. Still, I feel that Rosberg was a deserving champion. Maybe not that early, but definitely a deserving World Champion. He proved that in 1983, and was always fast when the machinery allowed him.
In 1986, he was badly outclassed by Prost. Of course, there are plenty of reasons why: Prost may have been the superior driver, but it was also their vastly different styles that led to the gap being so large. Rosberg attacked the corners hard, really drove the car and had this fighting style. It enabled him to shine on street circuits, but perhaps didn't suit the fuel economy era and growing need to be gentle on the car. Still, let's remember that he retired from the lead at Adelaide.
Keke Rosberg is a driver I grew to like the more I saw & read from him. His prime came before I was born, and as a kid, Häkkinen was the star. And they shared some of the same qualities. But Rosberg, his car control and that cold, honest and straightforward attitude is even more admirable.
Sorry to hijack the thread a little. Back to Andretti, I know far too little of him to give an educated opinion. However, just going off from what I've seen & read, he is one of the finest racing drivers ever. Perhaps not one of the finest F1 drivers, not one of the finest stock car drivers, but his versatility, pure speed and intelligence make him one of the all-time greats. You put that man in a racing car, and he will drive the wheels off it. That takes a special set of skills. And his story, moving from Italy to the US with his family, clawing his way through the local and national ranks and going on even after his brother Aldo was critically injured, is something to behold.
I wish there was a movie about him. Or even better, a miniseries. I don't think a 90-minute flick could do his career justice.