Unworthy champions (except Raikkonen)

[DBSV8]

Jody Scheckter won in 79

failed to qualify and only gained 2 points in 80 .......then retired

[pugster]

LanCat said:

Both Prost and Senna could be classified as unworthy for their antics to settle title races by "unorthodox" means.

How about Keke Rosberg being champion but only winning one race that year? Was that worthy?

Nope, all worthy champions for one reason or another IMHO.

How about those that would have made worthy champions but didn't make it for some reason? Collins, Moss, Villeneuve, Petersen; all came close and no-one would have complained if they were the champ.

Nail on the head.

So many circumstances surround a championship that you can only say that the champion is a worthy winner.

The point about why some drivers would have been worthy champions is interesting.

Take Villeneuve for example. He was only interested in being the fastest each and every time he got in the car. He didn't concern himself with the glory of championships, G.V's logic was, be the quickest and you will win the races which will lead to the championship. Sheckter knew this and was happy to let G.V top the laptimes (or crash) whilst he consistently plugged away at the championship. Obviously it worked for Scheckter in 79. So does that make Scheckter a less worthy champion than GV? Not in my book.

Its easy to see how people think that so and so was fastest that year so surely he deserved to be champion.

Keke Rosbergs championship in 82 is a classic case of this. The bloke was driving a DFV against a load of other DFV and turbo cars for gawds sake!! He drove the arse off that car all year to not only be the quickest DFV car but also mix it with the turbo boys where he could. Additionally 82 had so many other factors in it:
1. GV dying.
2. Paletti dying.
3. The FOCA / FISA war.
4. Pironi's injuries.
However all people remember is the one race win.
What is forgetten is the above factors and that there were more different winners in one year (IIRC)than any other year of the championship.It was probably the most open championship ever.
Through it all Rosberg kept his head down and got the best possible results out of the car despite all the tragedy / turmoil and turbo's.
Despite this speculation still goes on to this day whether GV or Pironi would have won the championship.
So after all that did Rosberg "luck" into the championship? Did he b@llocks!!

[flemke]

The issue may be whether we do not place too much emphasis on winning a championship, to the exclusion of many other credible ways of judging achievement.

[DJC]

Rosberg is an F1 legend. A very worthy WC in my humble.
I think Kimi's victory this year was a little hollow to be honest, but then much of this year's championship has turned out to be hollow

Most championships and champions are well deserved though.

[rubystone]

flemke said:

The issue may be whether we do not place too much emphasis on winning a championship, to the exclusion of many other credible ways of judging achievement.

Absolutely. Was Lauda not the man of the year in 1976 for example? Or was he just a coward who parked his car after a couple of laps of the Japanese GP that year?

I thought that Jenson Button was a hero for what he did in his Honda this year, but I bet most people didn't even notice that.

[pugster]

flemke said:

The issue may be whether we do not place too much emphasis on winning a championship, to the exclusion of many other credible ways of judging achievement.

Flemke.

You said in one line what i was attempting to say in four paragraphs in my previous post.

Gilles Villeneuve was my boyhood idol.
I didn't care a jot that he didn't win the championship.
His sheer skill and commitment in driving mostly uncompetitive cars was all that was needed to get the apt attention of a then 8 year old.

After G.V's death there was only Rosberg (as a contemporary)that approached racing in anything approaching a similar vein to G.V imho.
The fact that Rosberg won the title in 82 only served to demonstrate that the "simplistic" view taken by G.V to winning had it's own merits when applied to WDC's.

The only time recently i've seen such resolve in a less competitive car was probably Ayrton Senna in 93.
Despite not winning the WDC in 93, that one season tested and demonstrated Senna's true attributes, skills and character more so than any of the previous years he won the WDC (for me anyhow).

Ultimately ,to the casual observer of any sport, i suppose the "best" will always be judged by the one who finished 1st in any given year?

Cheers.

[stephen300o]

D_Mike said:

MrKipling43 said:

D_Mike said:

Oh yeah, Damon Hill, he's even worse than Lewis Hamiliton.

What on earth do you mean by that?!

it was a dig at stephen3000ferrarigivemeahardon

I did post this too,

"Technically I should have put a winking smilie on the end because I think all the winners deserve the trophy, or maybe said Villeneuve, just that anyone in the fastest car has only one man to beat."

And no they don't, my NSX does