Buemi@ Suzuka/Villeneuve @Zandvoort '79: Real racers?
Discussion
Whilst watching the qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, I cursed and criticized Buemi (along with many others I suspect), for trying to drive his broken car back to the pits instead of parking it out of the way.
I realized the other day though that this has made Me a hypocrite!.Let Me explain:
I first became interested in formula 1 back in 1979 when I saw the Dutch Grand Prix from Zandvoort. I was 10 years old and was mesmerised by the site of Gilles Villeneuve dragging his Ferrari back to the pits on three wheels, determined to carry on racing. I loved that never say die attitude and Gilles became an instant Hero to Me (how I cried in '82 with the news from Zolder
, My Dad never understood!).
I still watch clips of Zandvoort '79 on Youtube with a smile on My face
(and clips of Zolder '82 still make Me cry! 
).
He had no idea how badly damaged the car was or the fact that in driving it back to the pits he'd ripped the entire left rear corner off. He sat there shouting "just put a f
ing wheel on it!" and refused to get out until the team manager convinced him that there was nothing left to bolt a wheel onto (even then he checked for himself before storming off!).
And there were other races too where little bits came loose and fell of the car, like the entire nose and front wing assembly in one race, and Gilles would just continue to drive the car as fast as it would go, regardless. To Me, that was a real racer, never give up!, not like todays "The tyres didn't feel right so I retired the car" drivers.
Now Buemi did the exact same sort of thing in qualifying in Japan and I slated him for it!. If you look at how he hit the barrier, it was feasible that the damage might not have been irreparable and like Gilles in '79, he tried to get it back to the pits to continue (yes, it was only qualifying, not the race like Gilles' was but there are similarities). Had that have been Gilles in Japan, I'm sure he would have done the exact same thing.
Don't get Me wrong, in no way, shape or form am I saying Buemi is the new Gilles Villeneuve or comparable in anyway (no one could ever compare to Gilles!, although Schuey comes closest in his own way). I'm just trying to figure out why it was great when Gilles did it but so wrong when Buemi did it
.
Gilles Villeneuve: Too young to die, Too fast to live!
I realized the other day though that this has made Me a hypocrite!.Let Me explain:
I first became interested in formula 1 back in 1979 when I saw the Dutch Grand Prix from Zandvoort. I was 10 years old and was mesmerised by the site of Gilles Villeneuve dragging his Ferrari back to the pits on three wheels, determined to carry on racing. I loved that never say die attitude and Gilles became an instant Hero to Me (how I cried in '82 with the news from Zolder
, My Dad never understood!).I still watch clips of Zandvoort '79 on Youtube with a smile on My face
(and clips of Zolder '82 still make Me cry! ).He had no idea how badly damaged the car was or the fact that in driving it back to the pits he'd ripped the entire left rear corner off. He sat there shouting "just put a f
ing wheel on it!" and refused to get out until the team manager convinced him that there was nothing left to bolt a wheel onto (even then he checked for himself before storming off!).And there were other races too where little bits came loose and fell of the car, like the entire nose and front wing assembly in one race, and Gilles would just continue to drive the car as fast as it would go, regardless. To Me, that was a real racer, never give up!, not like todays "The tyres didn't feel right so I retired the car" drivers.
Now Buemi did the exact same sort of thing in qualifying in Japan and I slated him for it!. If you look at how he hit the barrier, it was feasible that the damage might not have been irreparable and like Gilles in '79, he tried to get it back to the pits to continue (yes, it was only qualifying, not the race like Gilles' was but there are similarities). Had that have been Gilles in Japan, I'm sure he would have done the exact same thing.
Don't get Me wrong, in no way, shape or form am I saying Buemi is the new Gilles Villeneuve or comparable in anyway (no one could ever compare to Gilles!, although Schuey comes closest in his own way). I'm just trying to figure out why it was great when Gilles did it but so wrong when Buemi did it
.Gilles Villeneuve: Too young to die, Too fast to live!
Eric Mc said:
I remember watching Villeneuve driving his gradually disintegrating Ferrari back to the pits 30 years ago. Back then I was thinking "What a wally".
You must really like the modern drivers then who park it up at the slightest vibration Edited by Eric Mc on Thursday 15th October 13:47
The difference between a race and that qualifying session is everything in this to me.
In a race you do whatever you can to get the car to the end and if it holds a few people up for 1 or 2 seconds it's no big deal. Just part of the race. What he did in that qualifying was get in the way of lots of people trying to put in one good lap. The equivalent in a race would be driving around for say 1/3 of the race with 3 wheels only getting in the way of 1/2 of the cars.
In a race you do whatever you can to get the car to the end and if it holds a few people up for 1 or 2 seconds it's no big deal. Just part of the race. What he did in that qualifying was get in the way of lots of people trying to put in one good lap. The equivalent in a race would be driving around for say 1/3 of the race with 3 wheels only getting in the way of 1/2 of the cars.
Munter said:
The difference between a race and that qualifying session is everything in this to me.
In a race you do whatever you can to get the car to the end and if it holds a few people up for 1 or 2 seconds it's no big deal. Just part of the race. What he did in that qualifying was get in the way of lots of people trying to put in one good lap. The equivalent in a race would be driving around for say 1/3 of the race with 3 wheels only getting in the way of 1/2 of the cars.
I agree to a degree, but it was done with a determination to get the car into the next qualifying session. I do think that had it been Gilles, his sense of fair play would have mean't he would have made a much better effort to avoid wrecking other drivers laps and keeping out of the way (I couldn't understand why Buemi drove round the final chicane getting in the way of others when he could have used the service road before the chicane and not interfered with anyone In a race you do whatever you can to get the car to the end and if it holds a few people up for 1 or 2 seconds it's no big deal. Just part of the race. What he did in that qualifying was get in the way of lots of people trying to put in one good lap. The equivalent in a race would be driving around for say 1/3 of the race with 3 wheels only getting in the way of 1/2 of the cars.
).As for driving around for a 1/3 of a race with only 3 wheels only getting in the way of 1/2 the cars:
yeah, I can picture Buemi doing just that, oblivious to the problems it would be causing
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