The most anonymous F1 stints

Post by **tommykl** » 26 Oct 2014, 13:25

This is a sort of extention of the "most forgettable F1 drivers" thread, but instead of just drivers you barely remember, this can be a widely-known driver who spent some time in a team, that time being remembered by pretty much no one. I'll start off with a couple of examples.

Martin Brundle - Williams, 1988: Aside from Jean-Louis Schlesser, Brundle was the other one who replaced the ill Nigel Mansell in mid-1988. Because he didn't spin a major title contender, he's not as well remembered.

Karun Chandhok - Lotus, 2011: Does anyone else remember when Trulli was benched for one race? Yeah, most of the time, me neither.

Olivier Panis - BAR, 2001-02: I easily remember his time at Ligier and Prost, and him ending his career at Toyota, and only then realise that he had that couple of years at BAR as well.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 26 Oct 2014, 13:38

Ricardo Zonta
Jordan 2001 & Toyota 2005

Most of Zonta's career is forgettable as a whole - when your career highlight is being lapped by two cars, it's not been a good innings. But it's easy to forget he subsequently made two appearances for Jordan the year after leaving BAR, firstly replacing Frentzen when he was injured, and then replacing him when driver and team suffered an acrimonious split. He spent the rest of his career as a TD, and was drafted in quickly to replace Ralf Schumacher after his practise accident at the 2005 US GP. While team-mate Trulli stuck the Toyota on pole, Zonta could only muster 13th. Then again, it made no difference in the end...

Post by **Londoner** » 26 Oct 2014, 13:44

Robert Doornbos - Red Bull, 2006 - Brought in as a replacement for Klien for the final few races of the year, he did the same as Klien, i.e. absolutely nothing.

Anthony Davidson, Minardi 2002 and BAR 2005 - Supersub for Alex Yoong and Takuma Sato respectively, the most notable thing about Davidson's first two stints in F1 was the BAR blowing up on his 2nd lap in Malaysia, at exactly the same time as Button's car blew up as well. What makes it doubly ironic is that BAR deliberately retired both cars in Australia to get fresh engines. Great fuggen job chaps. :lol:

Post by **Frogfoot9013** » 26 Oct 2014, 14:00

Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber-Ferrari, 2010 - Who remembers that Pedro de la Rosa was replaced by Heidfeld from the Singapore GP onward that year? I barely can, probably because Nick Heidfeld is slightly boring.

Post by **Ataxia** » 26 Oct 2014, 14:02

Frogfoot9013 wrote:Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber-Ferrari, 2010 - Who remembers that Pedro de la Rosa was replaced by Heidfeld from the Singapore GP onward that year? I barely can, probably because Nick Heidfeld is slightly boring.

I remembered. He was awesome and not boring in the slightest...and he should have had that Mercedes seat instead of Schumacher.

good_Ralf · Post by **good_Ralf** » 26 Oct 2014, 14:03

Jerome D'Ambrosio - Italy 2012

I think most of us will recall Romain Grosjean's ban for the Spa crash, but who replaced him at the next race? None other than... Jerome D'Ambrosio? Despite Jerome's inexperience with the car and a KERS issue I think no-one on here remembers it. Heikki Kovalainen's 2013 stint with Lotus also deserves a mention but he qualified well in both his two races (8th and 11th) despite some dreadful races afterwards.

Post by **Nuppiz** » 26 Oct 2014, 14:12

Toshio Suzuki - Larrousse 1993
Came in from nowhere to do two races for Larrousse, then vanished again.

Post by **Miguel98** » 26 Oct 2014, 14:21

Nuppiz wrote:Toshio Suzuki - Larrousse 1993
Came in from nowhere to do two races for Larrousse, then vanished again.

Actually, this might gain. This is the exact entry of Toshio Suzuki's Wikipedia page.

"Most recently,[when?] he worked for Nissan as a test driver to develop the R35 Nissan GT-R."

:lol:

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 26 Oct 2014, 14:35

In 2012 I often forgot that Petrov was driving for Caterham. I kept somehow thinking he was still at Lotus/Renault.

Normal32 · Post by **Normal32** » 26 Oct 2014, 15:05

Christian Klien -HRT '10

Who remembers his lasts races in F1? Me,at least,no.

Post by **Ataxia** » 26 Oct 2014, 16:43

Ralf Schumacher was surprisingly injury-prone. Even Marc Gene had a few races for Williams...which I completely forgot about.

andrew · Post by **andrew** » 26 Oct 2014, 16:47

Kovavlienen in the lotus in 2013, nowhere during the races
Ro gro in the Renualt 2009 crashing into everything
Finally De la rosa in Canada 2011, did not notice him although for very good reasons as the race was generally exciting

pasta_maldonado · Post by **pasta_maldonado** » 26 Oct 2014, 16:56

andrew wrote:Kovavlienen in the lotus in 2013, nowhere during the races
Ro gro in the Renualt 2009
Finally De la rosa in Canada 2011

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 26 Oct 2014, 16:59

I just remembered Jamie and Enoch's assessment of Charles Pic's 2013 season by questioning the very existence of a driver named Charles Pic, such was his anonymity last year. :lol:

Bleu · Post by **Bleu** » 26 Oct 2014, 17:02

One from legendary reject drivers:
Gabriele Tarquini - Tyrrell, European GP 1995

Some others:
Aguri Suzuki - Jordan, Pacific GP 1994
Yannick Dalmas - Larrousse, 1994
Eric Bernard - Lotus, European GP 1994
Eric van de Poele - Fondmetal, 1992
Olivier Grouillard - AGS, 1991

While team-driver combination is not anonymous, Pierluigi Martini is remembered mainly driving Minardi #23. But he had #24 for the second half of 1993 season.

Bleu · Post by **Bleu** » 26 Oct 2014, 17:06

Some probably forgotten Friday drivers:
Matteo Bobbi, San Marino 2003
Alexandre Premat, China 2006
Ernesto Viso, Brazil 2006
Jan Charouz, Brazil 2011

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 26 Oct 2014, 17:11

Karl Wendlinger - Leyton House - 1991

ibsey · Post by **ibsey** » 26 Oct 2014, 18:06

Mika Salo - Lotus - 1994

girry · Post by **girry** » 26 Oct 2014, 20:03

The list of Forgotten Friday Stints should include Kovalainen's 2013 efforts at Caterham....I'm still kinda unsure where they were and whether they actually happened or not.

Who remembers Quick Nick's Jordan stint in 2004? Indeed...me neither.

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 26 Oct 2014, 21:30

You could argue that anyone who did a few races in 94 are in this category

I can't believe no one has said Jacques Villeneuve in 2004 at Renault. Outclassed by Alonso in the inferior 2nd car and lapped in all 3 races which ironically gave his old team BAR who fired him last season 2nd in the title fight

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 26 Oct 2014, 21:35

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:You could argue that anyone who did a few races in 94 are in this category

I can't believe no one has said Jacques Villeneuve in 2004 at Renault. Outclassed by Alonso in the inferior 2nd car and lapped in all 3 races which ironically gave his old team BAR who fired him last season 2nd in the title fight

The very fact that nobody said Villeneuve's short Renault stint (it even slipped my mind!) surely speaks for itself!

On that note, I think it's often forgotten that Timo Glock drove a few races for Jordan that year...

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 26 Oct 2014, 21:38

Nicholas Kiesa (is that even how you spell his name?) - he did a few races for Minardi - was it in 2003? 2004?

Dj_bereta · Post by **Dj_bereta** » 26 Oct 2014, 21:40

East Londoner wrote:Robert Doornbos - Red Bull, 2006 - Brought in as a replacement for Klien for the final few races of the year, he did the same as Klien, i.e. absolutely nothing.

Well, at least Doornbos got involved in a feud with Alonso in free practice session in 2006 (and years late, with Bourdais in Champcar).

Post by **Ataxia** » 26 Oct 2014, 21:58

giraurd wrote:Who remembers Quick Nick's Jordan stint in 2004? Indeed...me neither.

Nick Heidfeld's stint at JORDAN GRAND PRIX™ was memorable for me, simply because I was a huge fan of the boys in yellow. He and Timo Glock memorably won out during a spate of disqualifications in the 2004 F1 CANADIAN GRAND PRIX™, since the PANASONIC TOYOTA RACING™ cars and the BMW WILLIAMSF1 TEAM™ both got pinged for brake irregularities.

AndreaModa wrote:Nicholas Kiesa (is that even how you spell his name?) - he did a few races for Minardi - was it in 2003? 2004?

Kiesa joined the MINARDI F1 TEAM™ mid-2003 when Justin Wilson replaced Pizzonia at JAGUAR RACING™.

Another one I thought of was Burti replacing Irvine at JAGUAR RACING™ for the 2000 F1 AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX™ at the A1™-Ring; I think Irvine was unwell, so Burti had to make do with a spare set of overalls with "L. BURTI" TIPP-EX™'d on the waist.

Post by **Miguel98** » 26 Oct 2014, 22:00

Taxi, Burti replaced Irvine in the 2000 Austrian Grand Prix, not the 2000 German Grand Prix. :mrgreen:

Post by **Londoner** » 26 Oct 2014, 22:01

I don't remember much about Burti driving for Jaguar in early 2001. When he moved to Prost and decided that writing off AP04s was a fun thing to do, everything changed for him.

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 26 Oct 2014, 22:02

Miguel98 wrote:Taxi, Burti replaced Irvine in the 2000 F1 AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX™, not the 2000 F1 GERMAN GRAND PRIX™.

Fixed

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 26 Oct 2014, 22:02

Miguel98 wrote:Taxi, Burti replaced Irvine in the 2000 Austrian Grand Prix, not the 2000 German Grand Prix.

You mean the 2000 Großer A1 Preis von Österreich™?

ibsey · Post by **ibsey** » 26 Oct 2014, 22:15

John Watson - McLaren - 1985

James1978 · Post by **James1978** » 26 Oct 2014, 22:30

One that only recently came to me when I was doing an alternative championship was HH Frentzen replacing Felipe Massa in the Sauber for the 2002 USA GP which I then thought was because Massa had been banned for a race, not the fact they did it to avoid the grid penalty!

Actually come to think of it, I can't remember anything HHF did in 2003 either save for the podium at the same venue!

James1978 · Post by **James1978** » 26 Oct 2014, 22:35

Also speaking of Mika Salo, I just remembered he did 3 races in a BAR in 1999 replacing Zonta - I know he's well remembered for driving the Ferrari while Schumi recovered but the BAR thing had slipped my mind.

andrew · Post by **andrew** » 26 Oct 2014, 22:40

Speaking of 1999, does anyone remember Stephan sarrizan? Fairly anonymous until his huge dramatic spin.
In 1997 norberto Fontano (SP?) entered 4 races for sauber scoring no points. The Sauber may not have been up for any points during 1997, but Norberto surely earned himself a f1 rejects profile with that!

Post by **Ataxia** » 26 Oct 2014, 22:45

andrew wrote:Speaking of 1999, anyone remember Stephan sarrizan?
In 1997 a argentine called norberto Fontana did 4 races

It's like you didn't read the F1™Rejects driver profiles at all...or you think that we didn't.

andrew · Post by **andrew** » 26 Oct 2014, 22:51

Ataxia wrote:
andrew wrote:Speaking of 1999, anyone remember Stephan sarrizan?
In 1997 a argentine called norberto Fontana did 4 races

It's like you didn't read the F1™Rejects driver profiles at all...or you think that we didn't.

If it weren't for celebrating rejects they would be fairly anonymous, otherwise you could claim mansell was anonymous when he entered 2 races in 1995. True he didn't like the seat, but he was a long way from Mika. (Yes I understand he was not used to the car).

Post by **Ataxia** » 26 Oct 2014, 22:56

andrew wrote:
Ataxia wrote:
andrew wrote:Speaking of 1999, anyone remember Stephan sarrizan?
In 1997 a argentine called norberto Fontana did 4 races

It's like you didn't read the F1™Rejects driver profiles at all...or you think that we didn't.

If it weren't for celebrating rejects they would be fairly anonymous, otherwise you could claim mansell was anonymous when he entered 2 races in 1995

But...he was?

It's not that I took issue with anyway, it's the fact that you said "a (sic) argentine called norberto Fontana" as if we had absolutely no idea who he was. The grammar as well was another issue, but that's a story for another day.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 26 Oct 2014, 22:57

andrew wrote:Speaking of 1999, anyone remember Stephan sarrizan?

How could one forget that epic spin?!?!?!

Simtek wrote:
Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:I can't believe no one has said Jacques Villeneuve in 2004 at Renault. Outclassed by Alonso in the inferior 2nd car and lapped in all 3 races which ironically gave his old team BAR who fired him last season 2nd in the title fight

The very fact that nobody said Villeneuve's short Renault stint (it even slipped my mind!) surely speaks for itself!

I often forget that he then actually drove for Sauber!

And while double-checking that Hill drove an Embassy Hill in 1975, I found out that Alan Jones scored 2 of the team's 3 points for 1975! And that Peter Gethin also did a race for the team (in 1974)!

Post by **tommykl** » 26 Oct 2014, 23:07

Speaking of the seventies, most of Brabham's drivers enter this category

pasta_maldonado · Post by **pasta_maldonado** » 26 Oct 2014, 23:07

andrew wrote:
Ataxia wrote:
andrew wrote:Speaking of 1999, anyone remember Stephan sarrizan?
In 1997 a argentine called norberto Fontana did 4 races

It's like you didn't read the F1™Rejects driver profiles at all...or you think that we didn't.

If it weren't for celebrating rejects they would be fairly anonymous, otherwise you could claim mansell was anonymous when he entered 2 races in 1995

Are you sure about that?

Wikipedia wrote:

Peteroli34 · Post by **Peteroli34** » 26 Oct 2014, 23:07

Biscione wrote:Ricardo Zonta
Jordan 2001 & Toyota 2005

Most of Zonta's career is forgettable as a whole - when your career highlight is being lapped by two cars, it's not been a good innings. But it's easy to forget he subsequently made two appearances for Jordan the year after leaving BAR, firstly replacing Frentzen when he was injured, and then replacing him when driver and team suffered an acrimonious split. He spent the rest of his career as a TD, and was drafted in quickly to replace Ralf Schumacher after his practise accident at the 2005 US GP. While team-mate Trulli stuck the Toyota on pole, Zonta could only muster 13th. Then again, it made no difference in the end...

He also raced for Toyota in 2004 first replacing Da Matta and then Olivier Panis. I often forget that Jarno Trulli also raced for Toyota in the final 2 races of 2004.

andrew · Post by **andrew** » 26 Oct 2014, 23:12

pasta_maldonado wrote:
If it weren't for celebrating rejects they would be fairly anonymous, otherwise you could claim mansell was anonymous when he entered 2 races in 1995

Wikipedia wrote:

Uhhh, I'm pretty sure that Johnny Herbert won the 1995 British gp and came 4th in the championship, not Nige.
Sorry about the bad quoting,