- 13 Oct 17, 10:24#443353
The guys at the top get most of the limelight in F1, but no one ever has anything to say about the backmarkers until they either crash spectacularly or block a faster car. They do all the hard work through practice and qualifying only to be left puttering around at the back of the field come race day, becoming simply another obstacle for the faster cars to pass when they're lapped. Their F1 careers are often short and unremarkable, their skill and physical ability sometimes far below what is required, and their wallets usually fat with cash - here's three of my favorite:
Giedo van der Garde:
Giedo never really got his chance to shine in F1, despite some decent finishes in other categories, he only ever got to actually race for Caterham in 2013 which also happened to be the year that the team happened to lose their best-of-the-worst status in the Constructors Championship to Marussia. Sadly the highlight of his career also happened to be the end of it, when he was forced out of a potential race seat at Sauber due to some very shady team management, bringing a lot of the wrong kind of attention towards him and basically destroying his chances of returning to F1 in the future. He still comments on social media about races - and he's actually quite a funny and likable guy. One can only wonder what could have been. He also has an incredible name that makes you think of fat nineteenth century men who have mutton chops and monocles and go "harumph" when they're surprised.
Will Stevens:
Stevens was the self appointed king of the Manor Marussia team during its transitional phase in 2014 - at least until Alexander Rossi appeared and showed actual potential. Famed for his accomplishment of never actually winning anything in the lower formulas before joining F1, he still managed to lose ground in the driver standings to his team mate Roberto Merhi -- who wasn't even in the car for five races in order to give Rossi a shot. The highlight of his career was him getting pissy at Grosjean for taking off his front wing at Canada, and publicly demanding more respect from the real F1 drivers.
Narain Karthikeyan:
Karthikeyan is the physical embodiment of a bad racing driver - the man doesn't even seem to understand the fundamentals of racing half the time - missing apexes, blocking cars that are trying to lap him, and sounding genuinely terrified and lost whenever he used the radio. He raced in two completely different eras of F1 - 2005 and 2011/12, and managed mediocre results each time. Despite this, he always seems to be a nice and cheerful guy who's always smiling at the camera and genuinely enjoying himself - an optimist if there ever was one. The highlight of his career was a fourth place finish in the 2005 USA Grand Prix. In a race with only six cars. Two of which were Minardis.
So that's it. Let me know some of your own favorite worst drivers in the comments
Giedo van der Garde:
Giedo never really got his chance to shine in F1, despite some decent finishes in other categories, he only ever got to actually race for Caterham in 2013 which also happened to be the year that the team happened to lose their best-of-the-worst status in the Constructors Championship to Marussia. Sadly the highlight of his career also happened to be the end of it, when he was forced out of a potential race seat at Sauber due to some very shady team management, bringing a lot of the wrong kind of attention towards him and basically destroying his chances of returning to F1 in the future. He still comments on social media about races - and he's actually quite a funny and likable guy. One can only wonder what could have been. He also has an incredible name that makes you think of fat nineteenth century men who have mutton chops and monocles and go "harumph" when they're surprised.
Will Stevens:
Stevens was the self appointed king of the Manor Marussia team during its transitional phase in 2014 - at least until Alexander Rossi appeared and showed actual potential. Famed for his accomplishment of never actually winning anything in the lower formulas before joining F1, he still managed to lose ground in the driver standings to his team mate Roberto Merhi -- who wasn't even in the car for five races in order to give Rossi a shot. The highlight of his career was him getting pissy at Grosjean for taking off his front wing at Canada, and publicly demanding more respect from the real F1 drivers.
Narain Karthikeyan:
Karthikeyan is the physical embodiment of a bad racing driver - the man doesn't even seem to understand the fundamentals of racing half the time - missing apexes, blocking cars that are trying to lap him, and sounding genuinely terrified and lost whenever he used the radio. He raced in two completely different eras of F1 - 2005 and 2011/12, and managed mediocre results each time. Despite this, he always seems to be a nice and cheerful guy who's always smiling at the camera and genuinely enjoying himself - an optimist if there ever was one. The highlight of his career was a fourth place finish in the 2005 USA Grand Prix. In a race with only six cars. Two of which were Minardis.
So that's it. Let me know some of your own favorite worst drivers in the comments
