Andretti: I Was as Quick as Senna

[BarbaricAvatar]

It's sad to know these things just pass by without notice. I'm sure these kind of stories will always pop up given the amount of drivers that drove in F1 never producing a win let alone a championship. F1 is a car thing nowadays. Gone are the days when a mediocre team or car can win races because of a great driver.

F1 has ALWAYS been about the car, the only thing that has changed is reliability so that the best car doesn't lose as many races as before. Besides, the midfield this year is brilliant.

 

[el_mattpro]

I don't know why drivers still doing this.. i saw an interview with hakkinen also, saying that in 1993 he was faster than Senna and etc etc etc... but after all, where are the achievements? i think that Andretti and Hakkinen were great drivers (specially Mika) but come on... the only one that was faster enough and faster than Senna on 1993+ was Michael Schumacher. Is funny that he never said "Oh hey, i'm faster than Senna" (driving skills, not the car) and he has a great respect to Ayrton no matter the fights on track, that we know how Ayrton was, and he never leave a space for the guy behind, it was a hard rival to compete with.

 

[Frosty]

F1 is if spelled backwards? ... Hmm, what if Michael would have had the simple good sense to remain in Indycar in '93 after enduring the Ford Cosworth's painful development year in '92 (remember '92 Indy 500, Michael?). If he had, Michael, not Mansell, may have been Indycar Champ in '93, and Michael certainly wouldn't have miffed the final restart in the '93 Indy 500 that Mansell blew from inexperience. Glad you enjoyed being Senna's friend for a year rather than seizing your best chance at that elusive 500 win (as a driver, at least). Given Andretti's opportunity to observe firsthand Senna's unquestionable mystic genius (obvious even before his martyrdom), who's to say which choice was the right one.

And I think we all know that Senna was always magnanimous with those teammates who never posed a threat on the racetrack.

SIMPLE ANSWER FOR U SENNA IS ALL ON HIS OWN WHEN IT COMES TO BEEN LEGEND

 

[mako_zero]

I dont think it was Michael Andretti's fault.

1977 Mario Andretti switched from top Indycar to top F1 and won 1978 the championship.
1992 Mansell won the F1 titel switched to top team NewmanHaas and won the Indycars.
1995 Villeneuve won the Indycars switched to top team Williams won the 1996 F1 title.
1993 Michael Andretti switched from top Indycar to a not so good Mclaren team and sucked.

Many F1 drivers with bad teams turned into heroes at the Indycar series.

Alex Zanardi, only 1 point in F1 and 2 times CART champion
Montoya, 6 season at F1 and only 5 wins but won 1999 the CART series.
Bourdais, 6 points with bad F1 teams and 4 championships in a row at the CART series.
Rossi, 0 points with bad F1 teams and one of the best drivers at Indycars.

In Indycars a top driver has always a chance to win even your team is not Penske.
In F1 today you can be Senna or Lauda and you will have zero chance with a bad team.

And that's the reason why Alonso will go to Indycar.

 

[EdwardFFS]

There were lots of fast drivers: both Andretti's, Villeneuve, Mansell... They were GOOD, fast.

Thing is, they were good from time to time. Senna was consistently good, always fast.

 

[Mike Kadlcak]

It's so embarassing. I've never seen bigger difference between team mates. It was really painful.
What he is doing now? Is he politician?

no he is just the guy who beat Mansells ass '94.

 

[mungopark]

I dont think it was Michael Andretti's fault.

1977 Mario Andretti switched from top Indycar to top F1 and won 1978 the championship.
1992 Mansell won the F1 titel switched to top team NewmanHaas and won the Indycars.
1995 Villeneuve won the Indycars switched to top team Williams won the 1996 F1 title.
1993 Michael Andretti switched from top Indycar to a not so good Mclaren team and sucked.

Many F1 drivers with bad teams turned into heroes at the Indycar series.

Alex Zanardi, only 1 point in F1 and 2 times CART champion
Montoya, 6 season at F1 and only 5 wins but won 1999 the CART series.
Bourdais, 6 points with bad F1 teams and 4 championships in a row at the CART series.
Rossi, 0 points with bad F1 teams and one of the best drivers at Indycars.

In Indycars a top driver has always a chance to win even your team is not Penske.
In F1 today you can be Senna or Lauda and you will have zero chance with a bad team.

And that's the reason why Alonso will go to Indycar.

Villeneuve did not win the title in 96, it was Hill. Jacques had to wait one more year.

You are right, there are decent drivers in every series. But just a few of them are extra class like Senna was. Competitive in every car, even with the horrible Toleman.

 

[123rem]

Senna's legendary status is not just based on his driving, it's also his status in Brazil and the huge amounts of money his foundation has contributed to their poorest children.

 

[Trezoitao38]

I don't know why drivers still doing this.. i saw an interview with hakkinen also, saying that in 1993 he was faster than Senna and etc etc etc... but after all, where are the achievements? i think that Andretti and Hakkinen were great drivers (specially Mika) but come on... the only one that was faster enough and faster than Senna on 1993+ was Michael Schumacher. Is funny that he never said "Oh hey, i'm faster than Senna" (driving skills, not the car) and he has a great respect to Ayrton no matter the fights on track, that we know how Ayrton was, and he never leave a space for the guy behind, it was a hard rival to compete with.

Well, he was faster than Senna on Portuguese GP qualify. But for a small difference.

Hakkinen trained more for that car that year. Senna just came to the Grand Prix.

Comparing to Schumacher is another history, because is another car.

 

[Trezoitao38]

Senna's legendary status is not just based on his driving, it's also his status in Brazil and the huge amounts of money his foundation has contributed to their poorest children.

It is important to say, the fondation was not Senna idea. Actually, he was against this, he always prefered anonymous donations.

 

[howitzer155mm]

Post '94 Senna maybe.

 

[Spinelli]

I don't even care about Michael's statements about his speed. Most racing drivers think they can hang with the best even if they can't.

What struck me was the courtesy and friendship Michael talked about. That touched me.

Senna would have done great things in life much beyond racing. He could have been a John F Kennedy, a Martin Luther King, a Malcolm X. He cared about the people, not the banksters, nor the corporations, nor the "elites," etc. I've read in the past that Senna was quite interested in politics and making changes. He could have had the power to do so. He had an entire country following him and is perhaps Brazil's most famous and loved person ever. Senna would have been one of the elites' biggest threats if he ever had the chance to really pursue politics.

 

[Andy_J]

“I was always quick, I was always right there with Ayrton in the canteen queue to get another steak pie, and it’s not like Ayrton was running slow.” "He was amazing. He knew how good those pies were, but I was still learning the limits of them, sometimes my eyes were bigger than my belly. We’d both be there until late at night.”

“He knew how quick I was when we were running in the canteen, so he knew what was going on. It was cool of him to do that. He was the first one to call me when I won the Australian Pie eating championship, he stayed up all night to watch it in Brazil."​

He was a dreamer alright. I think this is what the article should have said.

 

[123rem]

It is important to say, the fondation was not Senna idea. Actually, he was against this, he always prefered anonymous donations.

Didn't know that, I've even more respect for him now.

 

[Antony Snook]

Not as fast as Senna at all. not in the first season. He had a podeom at Italy. The big mistake was he wanted to live in the America and fly to Europe. This shows a desire not to commit to F1. He should have got a place in Europe like in Italy or England and commit more time to the team testing and preparing. The one Driver who was as fast as Senna was MIka Hakkinen who replaced Michael at McLaren. But the team worked in Favor of Ayerton. He was the man most people wanted to see. Mika was more experienced and the bridesmaid. Then he became champion later.