Rubinho the Great!!!

[snailpace85]

Came acros this

http://www.itv-f1.com/news_article.aspx?id=48180

I always thought he'd be a multiple world champ after seeing him in F3 and F3000 and was pleased to see his new team rates him. But why didn't he become champ?

Snailpace

[Get Karter]

snailpace85 said:

But why didn't he become champ?

Snailpace

That's an unfortunate juxtaposition of question and your signature

[Rude-boy]

Same reason that many of the very good but not exceptional F1 drivers never win the WDC. Always in the right place at the wrong time or wrong place at the right time.

[profstoff]

snailpace85 said:

I always thought he'd be a multiple world champ after seeing him in F3 and F3000 and was pleased to see his new team rates him. But why didn't he become champ?

Rubens is a good driver but never a great one. He played second fiddle to Michael Schumacher at the wrong time in his career to really shine. The article does not actually say he is a fast driver, just that he has a lot of experience and gives good feedback.

Incidentally, it was interesting to note that after the problems he had getting the Brawn off the line last year, he had problems again in Malaysia. I'm not saying it's necessarily him doing anything wrong, it just seems a strange coincidence.

[Holst]

profstoff said:

snailpace85 said:

I always thought he'd be a multiple world champ after seeing him in F3 and F3000 and was pleased to see his new team rates him. But why didn't he become champ?

Rubens is a good driver but never a great one. He played second fiddle to Michael Schumacher at the wrong time in his career to really shine. The article does not actually say he is a fast driver, just that he has a lot of experience and gives good feedback.

Exactly.

The perfect choice for car development and reliable race finishes.

Although he never won any drivers champs, how many constructors champoinships has he been a part of?

[LocoBlade]

Holst said:

Exactly.

The perfect choice for car development and reliable race finishes.

Although he never won any drivers champs, how many constructors champoinships has he been a part of?

I do like Rubens and I think on his day he's as fast as anyone, but I'm not sure that last statement is necessarily a good thing to have on the CV is it? Basically it says to me that he was never really fast/consistent enough to bag a driver's title despite having very competitive cars at his disposal.

Edited by LocoBlade on Friday 9th April 18:59

[900T-R]

LocoBlade said:

Holst said:

Exactly.

The perfect choice for car development and reliable race finishes.

Although he never won any drivers champs, how many constructors champoinships has he been a part of?

I do like Rubens and I think on his day he's as fast as anyone, but I'm not sure that last statement is necessarily a good thing to have on the CV is it? Basically it says to me that he was never really fast/consistent enough to bag a driver's title despite having very competitive cars at his disposal.

Maybe, but if your mission is to drive a young(ish) backmarker/midfield team forward, having someone who has experienced and contributed to development at the pointy end of the grid for a multitude of teams is a rather valuable asset I'd think.

[LocoBlade]

Yep completely agree that he's the ideal driver for a team like Williams, Im just saying that having had competitive equipment for a larger proportion of his career than most other drivers and not having converted it into a championship, the superlatives being dished out by Sam Michael such as “The thing that's probably surprised us the most is that we think 'how's this guy not been a multiple world champion? Because he is better than some guys who are world champions." sound a bit silly IMHO.

[ajprice]

I'm not a fan. I think its the mime he did when he was on the podium pretending to lose his balance, every time he got up there. The "Blah, blah, blah" rant last year didn't help either, I'm secretly hoping Hulkenberg can beat him this year.

[Redlake27]

LocoBlade said:

Yep completely agree that he's the ideal driver for a team like Williams, Im just saying that having had competitive equipment for a larger proportion of his career than most other drivers and not having converted it into a championship, the superlatives being dished out by Sam Michael such as “The thing that's probably surprised us the most is that we think 'how's this guy not been a multiple world champion? Because he is better than some guys who are world champions." sound a bit silly IMHO.

Williams in their dominant years have delivered a lot of championships for the likes of Hill and Villeneuve; drivers who don't make most peoples top ten of all time, so perhaps they are in a position to compare talents. Maybe Williams would have been better off with Rubens from 1994 - 2005 rather than trying to deal with Montoya, Ralf, Frentzen etc etc?

[eps]

Redlake27 said:

LocoBlade said:

Yep completely agree that he's the ideal driver for a team like Williams, Im just saying that having had competitive equipment for a larger proportion of his career than most other drivers and not having converted it into a championship, the superlatives being dished out by Sam Michael such as “The thing that's probably surprised us the most is that we think 'how's this guy not been a multiple world champion? Because he is better than some guys who are world champions." sound a bit silly IMHO.

Williams in their dominant years have delivered a lot of championships for the likes of Hill and Villeneuve; drivers who don't make most peoples top ten of all time, so perhaps they are in a position to compare talents. Maybe Williams would have been better off with Rubens from 1994 - 2005 rather than trying to deal with Montoya, Ralf, Frentzen etc etc?

Indeed, they're comparing him to a lot of dross... and when I say dross it's all relative!!!

F1 is an absolute goldfish bowl on talent. You need 100% not 99.9%... The remaining .1% makes a huge difference.