Ex F1 Rejects...

[IntegratorTypeR]

Question - Has any driver left F1 technically classified as a Reject and then returned season(s) later to absolve themselves of Reject status?

If not, could I possibly put forward Pantano as a candidate to be the first?

[rffp]

There were some that I can recall: Pierluigi Martini (hiatus from 1985 to 1988), Roberto Moreno (from 1982 to 1987 and then to 1989), Nicola Larini (1992 to 1994), Mark Blundell (1991 to 1993) and now Timo Glock (2004 to 2008).

I don't think Pantano is getting a F-1 drive so soon. Today there were rumours that Bourdais would get the boot, but his replacement would be Bruno Senna.

[Henrique]

Pantano is not coming back. It's sad, after he won GP2, but his run in F1 was a disappointment and he's 30 years old, which means he's no longer development material.

[eytl]

I think we may have done permanent damage to Pantano's career by awarding him Reject of the Year in 2004 ...

[jonnyeol]

Pantano is not coming back. It's sad, after he won GP2, but his run in F1 was a disappointment and he's 30 years old, which means he's no longer development material.

Yep - Pantano's career in F1 is pretty much over after that Jordan season (the few races Timo Glock did showed he should have raced all year, and he'd have probably got into F1 a lot quicker). It's strange that he went back to GP2, seen as a 'feeder' series, rather than try sports cars, tin-tops or US single seaters.

[Waris]

Pantano is not coming back. It's sad, after he won GP2, but his run in F1 was a disappointment and he's 30 years old, which means he's no longer development material.

Yep - Pantano's career in F1 is pretty much over after that Jordan season (the few races Timo Glock did showed he should have raced all year, and he'd have probably got into F1 a lot quicker). It's strange that he went back to GP2, seen as a 'feeder' series, rather than try sports cars, tin-tops or US single seaters.

But what about all those new teams submitting entries? Surely there aren't that much better drivers around, so I figure one of them could hire Pantano, maybe for one year or something.

[Irisado]

But what about all those new teams submitting entries? Surely there aren't that much better drivers around, so I figure one of them could hire Pantano, maybe for one year or something.

They are more likely to take on drivers racing in GP2 and F2 this year in my opinion.

Giorgio Pantano didn't impress in the Jordan in 2004. He made too many mistakes, was a lot slower than Nick Heidfeld, and Timo Glock was faster than him in the races where the German driver deputised for him, so I don't expect to see Pantano in an F1 car ever again.

[Yannick]

But what about all those new teams submitting entries? Surely there aren't that much better drivers around, so I figure one of them could hire Pantano, maybe for one year or something.

He would fit the pattern of Lola perfectly well. And if they indeed start out with a competent car, he could perform competently as well.

[FullMetalJack]

But what about all those new teams submitting entries? Surely there aren't that much better drivers around, so I figure one of them could hire Pantano, maybe for one year or something.

He would fit the pattern of Lola perfectly well. And if they indeed start out with a competent car, he could perform competently as well.

How about Robert Doornbos or Patrick Freisacher, Doornbos really isn't that bad. And who could forget Zsolt Baumgartner, I'm supporting F1 Rejects when they say he should be back in F1.

[crazydude1992]

Also Alfonso, sort of...

[Faustus]

Also Alfonso, sort of...

Sorry, who?

[Salamander]

Also Alfonso, sort of...

Sorry, who?

I think he means Alonso.

[Jack O Malley]

Marc Gene is a ex-reject, returning in 2003 as a substitute for Ralf, achieving a 5th (after he had a 6th with minardi).

[FullMetalJack]

Marc Gene is a ex-reject, returning in 2003 as a substitute for Ralf, achieving a 5th (after he had a 6th with minardi).

Beat me to it, I was going to say Gene. I can't think of anyone else.

[Alianora La Canta]

Giancarlo Fisichella is an ex-reject, though his hiatus may have been too short to count for the purposes of the question. He left F1 after 8 races with Minardi in 1996, having no result higher than an 8th.

He returned in 1997 with Jordan (after an 8-race gap) and took four races to escape Reject status.

[Henrique]

http://gp2.gpupdate.net/en/news/2009/06/15/pantano-to-join-campos/

[Pedro_Diniz]

http://gp2.gpupdate.net/en/news/2009/06/15/pantano-to-join-campos/

He'll apparently face competition from a previous "Ex F1 Reject", Marc Gene.

[Henrique]

Maybe Campos will sign both. Otherwise, Gené has the advantage. He scored more points in F1 than Pantano and has a lot of testing experience. Great for pre-season testing, at least.

[Jack O Malley]

Giancarlo Fisichella is an ex-reject, though his hiatus may have been too short to count for the purposes of the question. He left F1 after 8 races with Minardi in 1996, having no result higher than an 8th.

He returned in 1997 with Jordan (after an 8-race gap) and took four races to escape Reject status.

Pierluigi Martini had a similar hiatus, missing the first 5 races of 1988 season.

[Pedro_Diniz]

Maybe Campos will sign both. Otherwise, Gené has the advantage. He scored more points in F1 than Pantano and has a lot of testing experience. Great for pre-season testing, at least.

I'm imagining that Campos will want an all-Spanish line-up, therefore we could possibly see the return of Pedro De La Rosa, too!

[Popi_Larrauri]

Maybe Campos will sign both. Otherwise, Gené has the advantage. He scored more points in F1 than Pantano and has a lot of testing experience. Great for pre-season testing, at least.

I'm imagining that Campos will want an all-Spanish line-up, therefore we could possibly see the return of Pedro De La Rosa, too!

Personally I find it quiet reasonable, since I firmly believe De La Rosa is a very good driver that had not the proper opportunities (not even at McLaren). To place him along with (let's do the wrong numbers for a second) Alonso in an all Spanihs line up, would be far more interesting than anything USF1 could do (it would be a terrific beating, indeed). Anyways, the grapevine is saying everywhere that Pantano has a cockpit there.

[Yannick]

As far as driver lineups are concerned, this is the first thing I've heard so far about Marc Gene leaving Ferrari for Campos. But Pedro DLR has been rumored as their "experienced" driver fairly early on. Pantano would also be a good choice for Campos, I think.

That leads us to US F1. They will want to hire one experienced driver, maybe Fisico in case it should be his place that Liuzzi gets at Force 1ndia, or Barrichello if Brawn wants to enter Bruno Senna, or Kovalainen because Mercedes look interested in Nico Rosberg, or Heidfeld even in case BMW were to let him go for Alonso maybe. US F1 is Peter Windsor's team, who worked at Williams for a long time, so Heidfeld would seem like a natural choice.

As far as the 2nd seat is concerned, it will have to be a driver from the US of A. US F1 are in the unfortunate situation that they will have to pick a driver not on merit, but for nationalistic reasons - in short: they need the American version of Yuji Ide.
US F1 Idol anyone? *plays theme song*

No, it won't be Scott Speed. He's Red Bull's boy. It won't be AJ Allmendinger either, because he has finally settled into NASCAR mode and has got a contract for several years. The same goes for Sam Hornish, Jr. It won't be Ryan Hunter-Reay because his appearance in a TV commercial was so important to IRL officials that he got a drive in a 2nd Vision Racing car, just to be kept in the series.
It won't be Marco Andretti, because he's got a better option in his dad's team in IRL than to join F1 in an Ideesque capacity.
The same goes for most of the young hopefuls from IndyCar's feeder series, like JR Hildebrand or Jonathan Summerton, who actually won a race in A1GP for Team USA.

So that leaves all those US American drivers who have both single seater experience in European type series and in IndyCar, who are currently without a ride, for one reason or another. Townsend Bell came 4th at this year's Indy 500 as a 2nd week entrant even. He used to drive in F3000 for a while and even tested both a Jaguar and a BAR back in the day. The former Indy 500 winner Buddy Rice was fairly average in A1GP, but so was Phil Giebler, too.
As we all know, it will be the combination of just the right amount of sponsorship money and talent that decides who gets the drive.

As far as Manor is concerned, I don't have the slightest idea on who they intend to line up. Apparently, Anthony Davidson and Adam Carroll were mentioned in rumors with the team Lola, but Manor doesn't seem to have said anything so far.

I guess we must wait for the final version of the entry list to be able to wave the green flag on silly season.

[dr-baker]

Yannick has made no mention of Danica Patrick either way in connction with US F1's seat, but today on Autosport's website, she has been quoted as saying that she's more interested in NASCAR. And Natasha Gachnang, Buemi's cousin and F2 driver, is wanting a Campos test, having driven for them in Spanish F3 last year...

2 females in F1 next year? Improbable but...

[Python]

Yannick has made no mention of Danica Patrick either way in connction with US F1's seat, but today on Autosport's website, she has been quoted as saying that she's more interested in NASCAR. And Natasha Gachnang, Buemi's cousin and F2 driver, is wanting a Campos test, having driven for them in Spanish F3 last year...

2 females in F1 next year? Improbable but...

Danica said some time ago that she has no interest in F1.

[thehemogoblin]

Yannick has made no mention of Danica Patrick either way in connction with US F1's seat, but today on Autosport's website, she has been quoted as saying that she's more interested in NASCAR. And Natasha Gachnang, Buemi's cousin and F2 driver, is wanting a Campos test, having driven for them in Spanish F3 last year...

2 females in F1 next year? Improbable but...

Danica said some time ago that she has no interest in F1.

We've seen some of the ridiculous things she's done for money (Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, GoDaddy.com advertisements), and if the money is right for Formula One, she'd take it.

[Henrique]

It was confirmed yesterday that Pantano will drive for AC Milan at Superleague Formula. And Peter Windsor said that Danica Patrick is on the list of drivers they're considering, "because she's the best-placed American in the leading single-seater championship of the United States".