What If?

[Enforcer]

3. What if Capelli took the Scuderia Italia drive instead of Ferrari, who would have taken the Ferrari seat?

Someone posted a tale on here that Capelli had actually signed with Scuderia Italia for 1992 and that Ferrari had signed Pierluigi Martini. But, Ferrari management decided Capelli was the better driver and as part of the deal for Scuderia to run Ferrari engines, they took Capelli and gave them Martini in return. So Pierluigi Martini is my answer.

Gary Paffett took the Mclaren seat alongside Fernando Alonso in 2007?

Paffett doesn't do as well as Hamilton and Alonso wins the 2007 WDC, most likely. Hamilton probably graduates to a race seat at McLaren in 2008 instead.

[Enforcer]

Here's an interesting one again involving the 1999 European Grand Prix. What if Frentzen's Jordan hadn't conked out after he left the pits? What effect would that have had on the race and the title?

It would've made things interesting - Unless Jordan cocked up his tire choice later in the race(although he was well ahead of Coulthard & Irvine and faster than both, so chances are he'd have had a sizeable advantage to play with when the rain came back), Frentzen probably would've won and just been 1 point behind Hakkinen post race - based on the assumption that the only change to the order is that Frentzen is placed in 1st and everyone else is bumped down one place, so Hakkinen would've been 6th instead of 5th.
So going into Malaysia:
Hakkinen - 61
Irvine - 60
Frentzen - 60

Frentzen didn't have a good weekend at Malaysia, he qualified in 14th more than 2 seconds off the pace and finished 6th. Maybe he'd have had a clearer head and done a bit better going into the weekend as a genuine Championship contender, but I'm genuinely hard pressed to see him matching Ferrari and Hakkinen over the last two races now that Schumacher's return to the grid had re-focused them, the Jordan just plain wasn't quick enough. At best, he finishes 4th in Malaysia ahead of the Stewarts instead of 6th. As was the case IRL, Schumacher hands Irvine the win with Hakkinen 3rd.

So going into Japan:
Irvine - 70
Hakkinen -65
Frentzen - 63

Now this is where it gets interesting. IRL, Hakkinen had 66 points going into and that was enough to win him the WDC if he won the Japanese Grand Prix irrespective of where Irvine finished, since even if Irvine was 2nd, they'd be level on points and Mika would win the WDC on countback because he'd won more races. In the end, Irvine was 3rd behind Hakkinen and Schumacher and lost the WDC by 2 points. But in this scenario Hakkinen only has 65 points, because he was 6th instead of 5th at the European GP. So, late in the race, Hakkinen is winning (as IRL), Schumacher is 2nd and Irvine is well back and off the pace in 3rd. Possibly, Ferrari decide that Schumacher can't overhaul Hakkinen in the remaining laps, so he 'makes a mistake' or has a 'mechanical issue' that costs him at least 90 seconds on track, enough to allow Irvine into 2nd (and possibly Frentzen into 3rd), or maybe retiring him altogether just to make it more convicning. End result:

Irvine - 76
Hakkinen - 75
Frentzen - 67

Irvine wins the 1999 World Driver's Championship, but goes to Jaguar anyway because it was an agreed deal.

[ADx_Wales]

Seeing as Williams have hit every branch on the way down to Rejectdom, taking on such F1-Taboos as Manufacturer Suggested Drivers (Kazuki Nakajima) and Sponsor related "pay" Drivers (Pastor Maldonado), I offer this:

What If Frank Williams decided to accept Honda's suggestion to have Satoru Nakajima as one of his drivers in order to keep Honda engines for the 1988 Season?
(This offer was turned down around the 1987 Monaco Grand Prix, just to give you an idea of who would have ended up where before the 1988 season started)

[Aerospeed]

Not sure if this has been asked before, but what if the 2005 USGP ran with all the teams?

[ibsey]

What If Frank Williams decided to accept Honda's suggestion to have Satoru Nakajima as one of his drivers in order to keep Honda engines for the 1988 Season?
(This offer was turned down around the 1987 Monaco Grand Prix, just to give you an idea of who would have ended up where before the 1988 season started)

Interesting. I therefore wonder whether Mclaren would have got the Honda turbo engines for 1988 & therefore been as strong as they were in reality?

TBH I think Mclaren would have still got them. Assuming Honda didn't have the capability to supply 3 top teams (Lotus, Williams & Mclaren) for 1988, I think they would have tried to cancel their Lotus supply for 1988 & supply Mclaren instead. Whatever the bill for this would have been, I'm sure Mclaren would have picked it up. I say this because Ron Dennis had a long standing relationship with Honda going back to 1979 & his Project 4 days. Furthermore he was keen to get the a better engine as it seemed as if the TAG engine was under powered compared to the Honda throughout 1987, so I'm sure Ron would have done whatever he could to secure the Honda engine's regardless of the costs. Lotus were contracted to use the Honda's for 1988 in an attempt to hold onto Senna, I believe, but by 1987 Senna realised Lotus were fading so I'm sure he would have still gone over to Mclaren.

So then we would have Honda supplying Williams (Mansell & Nakajima) & Mclaren (Prost & Senna) for 1988. Whislt I still think, Senna & Mclaren would have won the title for 1988 as that year's Mclaren was such a superbly designed car by Gordon Murray, I do think it would have been a closer fight involving both Prost & Mansell. Can't think where else Piquet may have gone, other than Lotus with perhaps the Judd, normally aspirated engines. Perhaps Satoru Nakajima may have sneeked a cheeky win, at a race where Mansell, Prost & Senna all took each other out. Not sure how it would have effected the Williams Renualt partnership however? My gut feeling is that it wouldn't have effected it at all. I think that through 1988, Williams would become increasingly unhappy, with what it pecieved as favourism towards Mclaren by Honda (they had the better driver lineup & were in Honda's coperate colours etc). So they would have seeked another engine for 1989.

[watka]

Not sure if this has been asked before, but what if the 2005 USGP ran with all the teams?

We would not be racing at the "Praying Marge Simpson International Raceway" next season, that's for sure.

[WeirdKerr]

Seeing as Williams have hit every branch on the way down to Rejectdom, taking on such F1-Taboos as Manufacturer Suggested Drivers (Kazuki Nakajima) and Sponsor related "pay" Drivers (Pastor Maldonado), I offer this:

What If Frank Williams decided to accept Honda's suggestion to have Satoru Nakajima as one of his drivers in order to keep Honda engines for the 1988 Season?
(This offer was turned down around the 1987 Monaco Grand Prix, just to give you an idea of who would have ended up where before the 1988 season started)

Mansell possibly would of gone to Ferrari 1 year earlier....but williams would of still been out of favour with honda in the same way as lotus were and piquet and nakajima's results would of been similar to lotus's reality, meanwhile ferrai would of had to replace mansell with someone in belguim and italy.... leading to mclaren winning 16 of 16.....

[TomWazzleshaw]

Not sure if this has been asked before, but what if the 2005 USGP ran with all the teams?

We would not be racing at the "Praying Marge Simpson International Raceway" next season, that's for sure.

That plus Michelin, the Michelin teams and the FIA would have all been forced to face court in Indiana for breaking state OH&S laws.

[Klon]

Not sure if this has been asked before, but what if the 2005 USGP ran with all the teams?

We would not be racing at the "Praying Marge Simpson International Raceway" next season, that's for sure.

It's called the Duff Beer Krusty Burger Buzz Cola Costington's Department Store Kwik-E-Mart Stupid Flanders Park (DBKBBCCDSKEMSFP) - get it right, watka.

[the Masked Lapwing]

Not sure if this has been asked before, but what if the 2005 USGP ran with all the teams?

We would not be racing at the "Praying Marge Simpson International Raceway" next season, that's for sure.

That plus Michelin, the Michelin teams and the FIA would have all been forced to face court in Indiana for breaking state OH&S laws.

Not wearing high-vis jackets?

[David AGS]

I love going through old magazines, and I found a few what ifs from 2009.

What if Brawn could not land the Mercedes Engine, and got the Ferrari/Cosworth etc, would they have won both titles?

What if Timo Glock signed for Renault??? (Instead of Virgin)

[mario]

I love going through old magazines, and I found a few what ifs from 2009.

What if Brawn could not land the Mercedes Engine, and got the Ferrari/Cosworth etc, would they have won both titles?

What if Timo Glock signed for Renault??? (Instead of Virgin)

1) Brawn probably would have still won both titles that year anyway - having the best engine certainly didn't hurt them, but the early season aerodynamic advantage of the DDD was the real performance differentiator. It would have been interesting to see whether Mercedes would have bought them without that engine deal to begin with - they probably still would have, since the Brawn team would be going reasonably cheap.

2) I presume that you're referring to Glock signing at Renault instead of Petrov for the 2010 season. Well, I guess that Renault would have possibly been slightly less competitive, since Glock would not have been bringing in much sponsorship compared to Petrov, but on the other hand Glock would probably have scored on a pretty regular basis to compensate on that side. And, compared to being stuck at the back of the grid in the VR-01, I imagine that Glock would have enjoyed mixing it up at the front end of the midfield - and it wouldn't have hurt his reputation if he'd finished close to Kubica that season either.
That, in turn, would mean that Petrov might have turned to one of the new teams instead, if he was really desperate to enter F1 (or possibly Sauber, where he was rumoured to have been looking for a seat alongside Kobayashi). Alternatively, he might just have stayed in GP2 for another year, if possible, and tried again the following year.

[Aerospeed]

Seeing as Williams have hit every branch on the way down to Rejectdom, taking on such F1-Taboos as Manufacturer Suggested Drivers (Kazuki Nakajima) and Sponsor related "pay" Drivers (Pastor Maldonado), I offer this:

What If Frank Williams decided to accept Honda's suggestion to have Satoru Nakajima as one of his drivers in order to keep Honda engines for the 1988 Season?
(This offer was turned down around the 1987 Monaco Grand Prix, just to give you an idea of who would have ended up where before the 1988 season started)

Mansell possibly would of gone to Ferrari 1 year earlier....but williams would of still been out of favour with honda in the same way as lotus were and piquet and nakajima's results would of been similar to lotus's reality, meanwhile ferrai would of had to replace mansell with someone in belguim and italy.... leading to mclaren winning 16 of 16.....

The only reason why McLaren didn't win 16 of 16 is because of Jean-Louis Schlesser's dumb luck.

[mario]

Seeing as Williams have hit every branch on the way down to Rejectdom, taking on such F1-Taboos as Manufacturer Suggested Drivers (Kazuki Nakajima) and Sponsor related "pay" Drivers (Pastor Maldonado), I offer this:

What If Frank Williams decided to accept Honda's suggestion to have Satoru Nakajima as one of his drivers in order to keep Honda engines for the 1988 Season?
(This offer was turned down around the 1987 Monaco Grand Prix, just to give you an idea of who would have ended up where before the 1988 season started)

Mansell possibly would of gone to Ferrari 1 year earlier....but williams would of still been out of favour with honda in the same way as lotus were and piquet and nakajima's results would of been similar to lotus's reality, meanwhile ferrai would of had to replace mansell with someone in belguim and italy.... leading to mclaren winning 16 of 16.....

The only reason why McLaren didn't win 16 of 16 is because of Jean-Louis Schlesser's dumb luck.

That said, even without the collision between Schlesser and Senna, Ferrari might have had an outside chance of stealing the win there. After all, having run most of the race with the maximum turbo boost possible, Senna was so marginal on fuel that Berger was reeling him in at a vast rate of knots in the closing stages, which was why Senna was so desperate to get past Schlesser. Perhaps, just perhaps, Berger could have caught and passed Senna on the road - by the way he was driving, Senna certainly seemed to think that could happen - or, given how little fuel he had left, he could have run dry before making it round to the chequered flag.

[ibsey]

After all, having run most of the race with the maximum turbo boost possible, Senna was so marginal on fuel that Berger was reeling him in at a vast rate of knots in the closing stages, which was why Senna was so desperate to get past Schlesser. Perhaps, just perhaps, Berger could have caught and passed Senna on the road - by the way he was driving, Senna certainly seemed to think that could happen - or, given how little fuel he had left, he could have run dry before making it round to the chequered flag.

There's a great story on this incident, that apparently once Alain Prost realised he was going to have to retire from that race (due to engine probs), he basically pushed Senna hard, forcing him to use more fuel, hence the reason Senna was marginal at the end. Here's the full story

"My favourite Alain Prost story, the one that I feel sums up his tactical genius more than any other, surrounds the Italian GP at Monza in 1988. Prost and Senna are locked in an intense championship battle that is between them alone - a McLaren in-house affair. It is late in the season and they can indulge themselves in the races because there is no 3rd party threat - they will finish 1-2 in the championship no matter what. Prost is following Senna closely in the early stages when Alain realizes that he has an engine problem that will surely prove terminal – realizes with certainty that he will not last the race. Knowing this, and knowing Senna’s ego and his need to prove he’s fastest, Prost decides to drive 11/10th’s and push Senna hard, setting fastest lap after fastest lap. Senna takes the bait, and increases his pace to match Prost and maintain or increase his gap. Prost however, is deliberately driving at such a pace as to put himself the wrong side of his fuel reading, leaving him not enough to finish the race. He is making Senna do the same. Now if Senna had really thought about it, he would have realized that Prost simply does not do things like that, that’s he’s too great a thinker to miscalculate his fuel supply. Senna takes the bait however, thinks only of proving he can match Prost’s challenge, be as fast, stay ahead. Half way through the race, Prost duly drops out with engine failure, and the damage to Senna is done. In the late stages he is so marginal on fuel that he’s had to cut back dramatically, and the Ferraris are now breathing down his neck. Senna feels a desperate need to get by a rookie in traffic at a risky place, they collide, and his race is over. It was a long shot on Prost’s part, but his actions did, in the end, have a compromising effect on Senna’s race, even long after Prost had dropped out.

Sitting in our armchairs analyzing this it seems very logical, but to think something like this through in the midst of a race at 180 m.p.h. speaks of a level of genius equal to that which Senna was so much more readily appreciated for. It is a different, more subtle kind of genius in Prost’s case. Those who fail to appreciate Prost as a "racer" are missing the degree to which racing is chess, and not merely an athletic exercise."


Source is http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/ramble5.htm

I also heard Prost tried that same trick at Monaco 1988 (causing Senna to crash, when attempting to beat Prost's fastest lap). IMO these are great example of Prost's (perhaps unappreciated) genius.

[Klon]

"My favourite Alain Prost story, the one that I feel sums up his tactical genius more than any other, surrounds the Italian GP at Monza in 1988. Prost and Senna are locked in an intense championship battle that is between them alone - a McLaren in-house affair. It is late in the season and they can indulge themselves in the races because there is no 3rd party threat - they will finish 1-2 in the championship no matter what. Prost is following Senna closely in the early stages when Alain realizes that he has an engine problem that will surely prove terminal – realizes with certainty that he will not last the race. Knowing this, and knowing Senna’s ego and his need to prove he’s fastest, Prost decides to drive 11/10th’s and push Senna hard, setting fastest lap after fastest lap. Senna takes the bait, and increases his pace to match Prost and maintain or increase his gap. Prost however, is deliberately driving at such a pace as to put himself the wrong side of his fuel reading, leaving him not enough to finish the race. He is making Senna do the same. Now if Senna had really thought about it, he would have realized that Prost simply does not do things like that, that’s he’s too great a thinker to miscalculate his fuel supply. Senna takes the bait however, thinks only of proving he can match Prost’s challenge, be as fast, stay ahead. Half way through the race, Prost duly drops out with engine failure, and the damage to Senna is done. In the late stages he is so marginal on fuel that he’s had to cut back dramatically, and the Ferraris are now breathing down his neck. Senna feels a desperate need to get by a rookie in traffic at a risky place, they collide, and his race is over. It was a long shot on Prost’s part, but his actions did, in the end, have a compromising effect on Senna’s race, even long after Prost had dropped out.

Sitting in our armchairs analyzing this it seems very logical, but to think something like this through in the midst of a race at 180 m.p.h. speaks of a level of genius equal to that which Senna was so much more readily appreciated for. It is a different, more subtle kind of genius in Prost’s case. Those who fail to appreciate Prost as a "racer" are missing the degree to which racing is chess, and not merely an athletic exercise."

If Prost would've been a girl, I'd fall in love right now. This is why he can safely considered to be one of the absolute best of all time.

[James1978]

For some reason I could imagine Alonso doing something similar to Hamilton in 2007 (especially in the last few races once whatever they did didn't matter in the constructors championship).......

I take it Senna and Prost long since had their constructors championship sewn up in 1988 so they could do whatever they liked too!

[FullMetalJack]

This is why he can safely considered to be the absolute best of all time.

Fixed

[TomWazzleshaw]

This is more one for the Indycar fans on the forum:

What if Mario Andretti had tried to qualify for the 2003 Indianapolis 500?

[Phoenix]

This is more one for the Indycar fans on the forum:

What if Mario Andretti had tried to qualify for the 2003 Indianapolis 500?

Who knows, maybe he could have even finished in the top 10.

[Cynon]

This is more one for the Indycar fans on the forum:

What if Mario Andretti had tried to qualify for the 2003 Indianapolis 500?

He would have broken the record for oldest driver to start the race. Probably wouldn't have done much in it though.

He almost attempted it again in 2009 after John Andretti and King Richard teamed up with Dreyer and Reinbold to get the #43 car on the grid.

[Jeroen Krautmeir]

What if Greg Moore hadn't suffered that horrific accident at Fontana? What would he have gone on to achieve at Penske?

[jpm]

What if Greg Moore hadn't suffered that horrific accident at Fontana? What would he have gone on to achieve at Penske?

Then Helio would never have become the Captain's Golden Boy; he was signed up around the same time, and I doubt Roger could have run three cars for Helio, Greg, and Gil de Ferran. Sure would have been interesting to see though!!! Undoubtedly, Greg would have been a multiple champ; especially as Penske hit their peakat this time, winning 3 Indy 500's in successive years between 2001 and 2003, as well as winning the CART title with de Ferran in 2000-2001 and the IRL title in 2003

[TomWazzleshaw]

What if Greg Moore hadn't suffered that horrific accident at Fontana? What would he have gone on to achieve at Penske?

Then Helio would never have become the Captain's Golden Boy; he was signed up around the same time, and I doubt Roger could have run three cars for Helio, Greg, and Gil de Ferran. Sure would have been interesting to see though!!! Undoubtedly, Greg would have been a multiple champ; especially as Penske hit their peakat this time, winning 3 Indy 500's in successive years between 2001 and 2003, as well as winning the CART title with de Ferran in 2000-2001 and the IRL title in 2003

Helio was Greg Moore's replacement when he was killed in Fontana.

[Jeroen Krautmeir]

What if Greg Moore hadn't suffered that horrific accident at Fontana? What would he have gone on to achieve at Penske?

Then Helio would never have become the Captain's Golden Boy; he was signed up around the same time, and I doubt Roger could have run three cars for Helio, Greg, and Gil de Ferran. Sure would have been interesting to see though!!! Undoubtedly, Greg would have been a multiple champ; especially as Penske hit their peakat this time, winning 3 Indy 500's in successive years between 2001 and 2003, as well as winning the CART title with de Ferran in 2000-2001 and the IRL title in 2003

Helio was Greg Moore's replacement when he was killed in Fontana.

Indeed. In fact, I felt shivers when I watched the Detroit race, because Roger had just announced his new lineup for 2000. Actually, if I were in his place, I would have signed Helio and Greg, because Helio was arguably the second most impressive driver that year other than JPM. He had terrible luck, and would have won 3 or 4 races if his luck had held. Not to say Gil was bad. He was good, but a lot of his good results IMO were thanks to Derrick Walker's strategy. The Paul Page/Parker Johnstone commentary is second to only Murray and Martin. Next up for me is Mid-Ohio!

[mario]

Now time for a question from earlier on in F1 history.
Now, back in 1966, what might have happened if, instead of choosing to use the H16 engine from BRM, Chapman had taken up an earlier offer to use the Repco V8 engine? It's not unreasonable to assume that the Lotus 43 might have been more competitive with the much lighter and more reliable Repco engine. Also, what effect could such a deal have potentially have had in the longer term - particularly the commercial deal with Ford that resulted in the DFV?

[GroupLotusRenault]

Now time for a question from earlier on in F1 history.
Now, back in 1966, what might have happened if, instead of choosing to use the H16 engine from BRM, Chapman had taken up an earlier offer to use the Repco V8 engine? It's not unreasonable to assume that the Lotus 43 might have been more competitive with the much lighter and more reliable Repco engine. Also, what effect could such a deal have potentially have had in the longer term - particularly the commercial deal with Ford that resulted in the DFV?

Jack Brabham might of still won the title because the Lotus cars were not really reliable, but the Ford deal would of been normal as ever as Lotus still lost the title and would still take a risk to win.

[Phoenix]

Now time for a question from earlier on in F1 history.
Now, back in 1966, what might have happened if, instead of choosing to use the H16 engine from BRM, Chapman had taken up an earlier offer to use the Repco V8 engine? It's not unreasonable to assume that the Lotus 43 might have been more competitive with the much lighter and more reliable Repco engine. Also, what effect could such a deal have potentially have had in the longer term - particularly the commercial deal with Ford that resulted in the DFV?

With Jim Clark, it may have been a closer fight for the title. Who'd have won, I don't know, but Clark would have stood a chance.

But...what if John Surtees hadn't fallen out with Ferrari at that very season? Ferrari arguably had the strongest package, with a good chassis and a powerful, well proven, gorgeous-noisy engine from their sports cars.

[mario]

Jack Brabham might of still won the title because the Lotus cars were not really reliable, but the Ford deal would of been normal as ever as Lotus still lost the title and would still take a risk to win.

I guess that you're right, and the usual problems with the frailty of the Lotus cars would have still crippled Clark's assault on the title - but, at the very least, it's hard to see how the Lotus 43 wouldn't have done better with the much lighter Repco V8 (some sources put the weight of the H16 around the 250kg mark). You also wonder if having a much lighter, and slightly less powerful, engine would mean that the components would not have been so overstressed - given Chapman's desire to produce as light a car as possible, he might have tried to compensate for the heavy engine by going right to the limit, and over, with other components in the hope of reducing the overall weight.

With Jim Clark, it may have been a closer fight for the title. Who'd have won, I don't know, but Clark would have stood a chance.

But...what if John Surtees hadn't fallen out with Ferrari at that very season? Ferrari arguably had the strongest package, with a good chassis and a powerful, well proven, gorgeous-noisy engine from their sports cars.

I thought that part of the problem with the Ferrari 312 was because the engine was converted from the Ferrari sports car program? I thought that the engine was overweight by F1 standards, being originally designed for endurance events, and suffered from a lack of torque at lower rpm following the reduction in capacity to 3.0L. And, overall, wasn't the car, albeit lightened since its début, still somewhat overweight?

[Phoenix]

But...what if John Surtees hadn't fallen out with Ferrari at that very season? Ferrari arguably had the strongest package, with a good chassis and a powerful, well proven, gorgeous-noisy engine from their sports cars.

I thought that part of the problem with the Ferrari 312 was because the engine was converted from the Ferrari sports car program? I thought that the engine was overweight by F1 standards, being originally designed for endurance events, and suffered from a lack of torque at lower rpm following the reduction in capacity to 3.0L. And, overall, wasn't the car, albeit lightened since its début, still somewhat overweight?

So it seems, but still, with so many teams being underprepared, Ferrari was still a great proposition. And John Surtees was in great form that year.

[Cynon]

If Greg Moore hadn't been killed, he would have stomped De Ferran into oblivion on ovals, and on road courses would have matched him. Moore would have won four Indy 500s, and would currently be thinking about retirement after many battles with the also potent combination of Helio Castroneves and Chip Ganassi.

[Jeroen Krautmeir]

If Greg Moore hadn't been killed, he would have stomped De Ferran into oblivion on ovals, and on road courses would have matched him. Moore would have won four Indy 500s, and would currently be thinking about retirement after many battles with the also potent combination of Helio Castroneves and Chip Ganassi.

Exactly what I wanted to hear.

[Malinth]

If Greg Moore hadn't been killed, he would have stomped De Ferran into oblivion on ovals, and on road courses would have matched him. Moore would have won four Indy 500s, and would currently be thinking about retirement after many battles with the also potent combination of Helio Castroneves and Chip Ganassi.

Exactly what I wanted to hear.

Seconded!

[Cynon]

If Greg Moore hadn't been killed, he would have stomped De Ferran into oblivion on ovals, and on road courses would have matched him. Moore would have won four Indy 500s, and would currently be thinking about retirement after many battles with the also potent combination of Helio Castroneves and Chip Ganassi.

Exactly what I wanted to hear.

Seconded!

Also, had he had an F1 career, Moore would have been like Kobayashi, Verstappen, Petrov, and Mansell -- an expert at passing. Don't believe me? Look at how F1 passing experts Nigel Mansell and Takuma Sato fared on ovals -- barring Indy, they were surprisingly good at it. Especially Mansell at Milwaukee and New Hampshire, tracks where passing backmarkers quickly and efficiently were required for victory.

[Bleu]

What if Nelson Piquet jr had crashed "too early" in Singapore (at the same place, SC required) so that Alonso would have not taken advantage?

[Ferrarist]

What if Nelson Piquet jr had crashed "too early" in Singapore (at the same place, SC required) so that Alonso would have not taken advantage?

He's fired earlier, "Crashgate" comes out earlier, but Renault is made look like idiots afterwards. Perhaps Alonso might have left Renault even earlier, if Ferrari decided to drop Raikkonen a year earlier.

What if manufacturers like Ferrari or Mercedes were building customer cars in the fashion of GT3?

[GroupLotusRenault]

Jack Brabham might of still won the title because the Lotus cars were not really reliable, but the Ford deal would of been normal as ever as Lotus still lost the title and would still take a risk to win.

I guess that you're right, and the usual problems with the frailty of the Lotus cars would have still crippled Clark's assault on the title - but, at the very least, it's hard to see how the Lotus 43 wouldn't have done better with the much lighter Repco V8 (some sources put the weight of the H16 around the 250kg mark). You also wonder if having a much lighter, and slightly less powerful, engine would mean that the components would not have been so overstressed - given Chapman's desire to produce as light a car as possible, he might have tried to compensate for the heavy engine by going right to the limit, and over, with other components in the hope of reducing the overall weight.

But the way the lotus cars were, if the car didnt have mechanical problems, then Jim Clark could of won every single race as their were only 11 races that year. The H16 engine was a good engine, but just to big for F1 standards (and like you said Mario the stress of the components) and very thirsty engine (and back then the engines were not fuel friendly)

What if Cosworth never produced the DFV 3.0L V8 Ford engine in 1967?

[Vepe]

What if manufacturers like Ferrari or Mercedes were building customer cars in the fashion of GT3?

Then we´d have many teams with F1 car, but not allowed to race them...

[ADx_Wales]

Heres one for Cynon:

WHAT IF Tony George's 25 and 8 idea at Indy for 1996 had been OK'd by everyone in CART?

Im reckoning the CART teams would still have won the Indy 500.

[Cynon]

Heres one for Cynon:

WHAT IF Tony George's 25 and 8 idea at Indy for 1996 had been OK'd by everyone in CART?

Im reckoning the CART teams would still have won the Indy 500.

CART teams would have won Indy (my guess is Robby Gordon or one of the Tasman cars), but most importantly, all of them would need to be drug tested for any kind of hallucinogens, because the 25/8 rule was designed to keep the CART teams out and artificially create the Bump Day drama of 1995 -- which of the big teams would DNQ? It would effectively force CART teams to become IRL members and to resign themselves to running ovals only in an "all-American" series that was loaded with talentless hacks barring Scott Goodyear, Arie Luyendyk, Lyn St. James (considering she was nearly 50 when the IRL was formed), Eddie Underacheever and Roberto Guerrero! I'm not counting Michel Jourdain and Richie Hearn because both of them left after 1996 and used it as a glorified practice session for CART anyway.

The new IRL formula had already been confirmed and announced by then, so I don't think much would have changed. The US500 didn't last that long anyway.