Worst (relatively) F1 driver of the last 15 years

Haha that was a good read!!! Well written too. There is some decent talent in there though. Like you said Yoong was atrocious in F1, but went on to have some decent performances. Naoki Hattori isn't a bad wheelman, does quite well in Japanese GT racing (although that doesn't say much).

McCarthy was quick, just terribly unlucky with his career choices. As RoC showed though, the best drivers aren't necessarily the ones in F1.
 
McCarthy was quick, just terribly unlucky with his career choices. As RoC showed though, the best drivers aren't necessarily the ones in F1.
Now might be a good time to mention that an eight-hour flight to New York gave me a great chance to read Flat Out, Flat Broke. And my advice to everyone is: don't take a job on an oil rig!

Incidentally, I've also rehashed the original Formula None First XI if anyone's interested...
 
^ Pizzonia was the most useless driver during his time, infact I'd say Yuji Ide was better than him!!
 
I also think that Ralf is a good F1 driver, he had a couple of very good years in BMW with Montoya. Even in the last years, his driving was solid but the car kept breaking down or wasn't set up properly. Maybe he just isn't very good at setting up the car, but as far as driving goes, he was good.

Worst driver...I'll have to go with Katayama! Do any of you guys remember him? He used to race for quite a while 5 or 6 years and he managed to finish lots of races...on the last position or very close to it.
I know some of the other drivers that you all mentioned were even greater disasters, but they weren't really F1 drivers because they only raced a few races. Katayama had the time to prove that he really is the slowest F1 driver :D
 
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^ I think, by definition, the worst drivers in F1 ever need to have some ground rules, like:
a) not scored points
b) must have tried to race for a full year
 
Since I made this thread, I'm going to say that the only rule is... a driver must have tried to qualify for at least 3 races. And a points tally of under 20 points over his entire career.
 
^ Pizzonia was the most useless driver during his time, infact I'd say Yuji Ide was better than him!!

That Jaguar stunt was stupid, but saying Ide was better is a bit over harsh. When he had a few drives for Williams he proved he was decent, but nothing special.

Worst driver...I'll have to go with Katayama! Do any of you guys remember him? He used to race for quite a while 5 or 6 years and he managed to finish lots of races...on the last position or very close to it.
I know some of the other drivers that you all mentioned were even greater disasters, but they weren't really F1 drivers because they only raced a few races. Katayama had the time to prove that he really is the slowest F1 driver :D

He was good! Especially in 94, he actually drove better than Blundell but bad luck meant that MB got all the results. When he finished last all the time it was when he was in a poor Minardi (after they had started sliding towards the back) and I think he was also diagnosed with a disease, meaning he just wasn't up to the job any more.
 
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^ I have a massive dis-liking for Pizzonia.
 
There are some names mentioned here that IMO should not be in the category of 'worst' drivers in F1. It's quite easy to pick the worst by their F1 record, but statistics rarely tell the whole story on the drivers, especially with those who only had a few breaks with tail end teams. Still, these guys have some decent merit to themselves and have shown their capability to drive, unlike drivers like Langes, Deletraz and Inoue.

- Tarso Marques. He was a race winner in F3000, scored a ninth place finish in a one-off drive for Penske in CART and even in F1 managed to qualify a Minardi into 14th place on the grid on his second race (Argentina 1996). In his final F1 stint in 2001 he clearly wasn't given equal equipment with Alonso. That time he was only there to fill the seat until someone came along and brought the team cash, which is where Alex Yoong stepped into the picture. That's not a hugely impressive track record but personally I think he's far from the likes of Lavaggi and Deletraz.
- Marco Apicella. Again not a great track record, with one race that ended with a bang in the first corner, but Formula Nippon title and plenty of race wins indicate that he was far better than his F1 stats lead one to believe.
- Andrea Montermini. 2nd place in the International F3000 in 1992 and a few good finishes in CART back in it's glory days.
 
I will not accept the fact that his name has been said in this thread.

To make it fair:
Alonso, Raikkonen, Massa :p
 
HondaF1 and THE REAL STIG... you are DSQed for failing to obey the nomination rules:))

DSQ for only using this ) and not complementing it with a ( :p
 
To endorse the Deletraz problem, here's the quote from the normally rather calm Jonathan Palmer from Adelaide 1994:

"Yes, Deletraz really here having no business in Formula 1, and demonstrating it there; he's spending all of his modest effort, frankly, keeping the car on the road. He's holding up Gerhard Berger there, who has now lost a second on Nigel Mansell, in the Larrouse (JDD of course). This is, I'm afraid, one of the problems of the Grand Prix season: at the end of the year, we get one or two drives getting taken by people who have got more money than talent. And that's one example of it."
 
flippin heck, who'd let pizzonia in a f1 car after failing miserably on the first corner of sliverstone? in a family saloon car.

im guessing though, that he's used to taking that first turn somewhat flat out...which a F1 car can handle but which a jag S-type just cant
 
Dunno what track it was but it wasn't silverstone. But you are correct, he braked at his F1 car braking marker. What a fucking moron. Didn't he notice the fact it was quiet, he had a passenger, no helmet and oh I dunno a closed roof?
 
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