Piquet Sr sounds Fisi warning!

[Heikkirocks]

Here's the link...

http://www.homeofsport.com/f1/news/item.aspx?id=17576

[DaveKillens]

Although I have tons of respect for Fisi, and cheered for him during his Jordan days, I have to believe he peaked a few years ago, and cannot improve anymore. At times, he's quick and worthy of winning. But he's also very inconsistent in maintaining a consistent quick pace.
It's only a matter of time until the young blood like Piquet and the rest displace their elder peers.

[Tom]

I thought Nelson despised his sons racing career?

Am I thinking of someone else?

[Reca]

Although I have tons of respect for Fisi, and cheered for him during his Jordan days, I have to believe he peaked a few years ago, and cannot improve anymore. At times, he's quick and worthy of winning. But he's also very inconsistent in maintaining a consistent quick pace.

Even Fisichella acknowledges he was inconsistent at Renault, he said it in a recent interview on an Italian magazine, although he puts the blame on car’s and Michelin tyres characteristics, he said that both needed a style completely different from his own driving style and he was able to adapt and extract maximum performance for few laps but not for a whole stint.
Only time will tell if he’s right or is just an excuse, now he’s got Bridgestone tyres and a car that theoretically will be suited to him (and to Kovalainen who drives in the same way, he says).

I thought Nelson despised his sons racing career?

Am I thinking of someone else?

Probably you are thinking of Prost or possibly Lauda. Both were reluctant, the former because wanted the son to graduate, as he did. I don’t know or at least don’t remember the reason for Lauda, but given his son didn’t exactly set the world on fire, maybe it was just a premonition...

Piquet senior always helped his son’s career as much as he could, setting up a team exclusively for him since F3 up to GP2 and also adopting “creative” interpretations to make him test lot more in spite of the rules limitations. For example they mounted wheel covers on a F3 so that it wasn’t a F3 anymore... or used an old Nissan WS to make experience on GP2 tracks, I saw him twice doing private testing in Monza with it, once in December 2004 and another time this summer.
The test in 2004 was also the first time I saw him driving and without knowing it. I had a free day and just went to the park for a walk, then hearing engine sounds I decided to spend a bit of time on the Ascari grandstand. On the track there were couple of F3 and a WS. I ignored who was at the wheel but my first impression wasn’t good at all, he was erratic, not making the corners twice in the same way, it looked like the car was deciding where to go and he was little in control. Only the following week I discovered, from the magazines, that the driver of the WS was Nelsinho... Since then I saw many GP2 races and often he did very good things, but still, the memory of the first impression that day at the track somehow leaves me a bit perplexed about him, I fear that what he does of good only comes from lot of practice and not from natural talent, and practice, even if important, can carry you only up to a point, that last little bit that makes the difference, you either have it or you don’t.

[Tom]

It was in fact Lauda probably.

After his horror smash at the Nuirburgring he suddenly got a new sense of how dangerous racing was and was therefore worried about his son entering.

I haven't heard about Prost Jr. Any info?

[manchild]

I haven't heard about Prost Jr. Any info?

http://www.prostfan.com/nichome.htm

[Tom]

Nicolas Prost - Alain's son!

thats horrible, I'd hate to be known as the son of Alain, esspecially on my own website.
I'm glad my dad's crap at racing.

[vyselegend]

Giancarlo is a better pilot than most of people want to admit. Although I'm one of the first to laugh at him when he comes with his lame excuses, I'm convinced that there are some reasons behind such an inconsistance (I mean inconsistance between the laps of a same race, not the inconsistance in the results that can be explained by circumstances, bad luck, etc...)

Flavio isn't the type to keep an incompetent employee in his own structure, he's known as a particulary sharp talent finder. Renault certainly have put some pressure on him because of GF results, and Flavio always defend his protégé strongly. There HAVE to be a reason! I know they are friends or so, but one again, Flavio ain't a man to defend a friend that ruins his busyness, he's a busynessman before anything else.

So here's my point: Let's erase the black board, and give some credit to Fisi one more time. Those excuses about the michelins tyres were the last he can afford before losing all credibility... And Piquet is right behind waiting for the seat.

That's your year Giancarlo, don't miss it!

Nicolas Prost - Alain's son!

thats horrible, I'd hate to be known as the son of Alain, esspecially on my own website.
I'm glad my dad's crap at racing.

LOL! me too

[Reca]

I agree about the fact that Fisichella is far better driver than some people rate him now after the two years at Renault. I spoke with people who worked with him and all agree that in term of pure talent he’s second to no one. And pretty much all agree that his real problem is that probably he’s a too nice guy, in that world it’s a flaw. The typical example they gave me was comparing him with Trulli who has possibly less pure talent but is lot more determined and focused, has the balls to confront with people and take important decisions when situation doesn’t suit him, as for example in 2004 when he understood the situation at Renault and decided to leave. In similar situations Fisichella doesn’t react and loses motivation. In insight Trulli is now in worse situation than Fisichella since the latter now has the chance to be first driver in the team that won WDC and WCC the last two years, but, if condition doesn’t change and the season doesn’t start in the right way there’s the risk Giancarlo doesn’t deliver, in that case his career in F1 is doomed.

I don’t agree on the relationship between Briatore and Fisichella, they are not friends and I know from reliable sources that the last thing Flavio wanted was to take him back in 2005 and in fact many insiders rated the Giancarlo move at the time not very smart. That doesn’t mean that Flavio boycotts him, but certainly isn’t as helpful as he is with his golden boys. After the Australian 2005 race I spoke with a man who has contacts in F1 and he told me : “the worst thing Fisichella could do at Renault was to win the first race, I see troubles coming”. The least you can say is that he was prophetic.

At the end, just to complete the anecdote I posted in the thread about F1 drivers and managers, the driver was exactly Giancarlo Fisichella while the team owner was Frank Williams.

Nicolas Prost - Alain's son!

thats horrible, I'd hate to be known as the son of Alain, esspecially on my own website.
I'm glad my dad's crap at racing.

If he has It that will change soon.
Valentino Rossi for the first years of racing, in the paddock was simply known as Graziano’s son, now most of people don’t even know his dad raced in 500... although undoubtedly Nicolas has a lot more difficult task to have people “forget” about Alain...

A funny anecdote talking about Graziano Rossi. Last year during an interview in a local tv the host asked him the secret to make such good son, and he said :
“You know, considering that now Valentino’s mother is married with another man, that she had another son, that this kid started racing with mini bikes, and is apparently very fast, I think you’re asking the wrong person...”