but why?
OK, so it's all about marketing...........I'll concede that point for now. Is it a slam dunk corollary to that marketing argument that those karting kids are just as good or better than anyone coming from US racing series? Because the marketers want the maximum exposure, they want their cars at the front driven by the best. And if that is the case, a logical small step from the marketing argument, the question remains........
are they the best?but why?
Ding, ding, ding..... Ladies and gentlemen.......... welcome to the main event of the Prime F-1 discrimination debate........
in the "it's B.S. and Image" corner, wearing the Red White and Blue trunks, Mr. Sparrow contends it's all about image and perfectly capable and talented American kids and US series drivers can't get a break
and in the "Marketing is king and righteous" corner, wearing the camoflauge trunks so no one knows where he's coming from next, Hrant contends that that the principles of marketing are infallible and that, until you see Pepsi or Budweiser or U.S. Army on an F-1 car, you won't see any respect for an American driver.
Did I get that right?
Gentlemen, touch gloves and come out debating.
Well, it's all working; we're still talking about Virgin just as much as Kimi; he likes that. )
My 2 cents. (I can hear Hrant warming up his keyboard now.
Keeping up with the twists of this thread is becoming a nightmare :tongue:
Hrant, you're preaching to the choir. But you havent' answered the one question that I am trying to get Mr Sparrow to debate you on.........would those foreign F-1 sponsors rather have their local (German, Italian, French, Indian etc) boy driving their car in 15th place or an American boy driving their car at the front? That's the question I put in front of you two.
Let's hope. But it seems to me that those who defend the history of Americans not getting a fair chance in modern F-1 seem to say the reason is, largely, if not totally, that the U.S. market is small compared to the rest of the world. That is a difficult idea for most of us to wrap our heads around. Is it that we're preceived as "Ugly Americans" or is it a simple straightforward market analysis. Afterall, this is a stick and ball based sports market here and NASCAR is the 4 wheel extension of that attraction. Open wheel racing has been in trouble in the U.S. for what?? 15 years?
:tongue:
Mr. Sparrow's gonna jump all over that.........somehow.
So, you're saying it would make no difference, if ............just supposing for a minute, you know, hypothetically, that there was a talented, calm, articulate, hair-jelled, Nico-clone, good looking American? The F-1 sponsors would ignore him too?
While that's a good thought, the entire chassis design will be very different with huge gas tanks (no refueling), so I doubt anyone has a complete prototype ready to drive in anger.
Well, on another "testing" note, at least Jens will have the psychological advantage of a having a comfortable (8 mill lb) home at Brawn next year, so he should have the best possible mindset to "let 'er rip." Let's see what he can do with no pressure.
