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I think the days of a driver being able to noticeably take a poor handling car and just boot it around the track are gone. Sure, great drivers will shine no matter what they drive, but I think we will not see another Stephane Bellof or Gilles Villeneuve type of character take to the track. These days it is more tactical, more about shaving hundredths of seconds than passing another guy on the track. F1 has become so homogenized, so boiled down to the most common denominator, that it is beginning to become a battle of technicians instead of a motor race. Just 20 years ago, a 1 second advantage a lap was what every racer dreamt of. Now it means nothing unless you start from the pole or can get your pit crew to work faster.
I think that some recent drivers have proven that they have that type of fire in their bellies, that uncompromising competitive spirit, but I think that ultimately F1 will betray them by grinding it out of them. After the last few years of watching Juan Montoya literally slide, drift, and force his CART machinery around a circuit in the most aggressive and furious manner that he will become just another F1 driver unable to pass a Sauber or Prost unless they give way. Alex Zanardi was very similar to Montoya and he was thouroughly emasculated by the latest F1 machinery and the internal politics that dominate F1 these days.
These days no driver even considers actively moving off line to pass unless it is a desperation manuever except Jacques Villeneuve and he is usually too optimistic about the performance of his BAR. It is a huge shame on F1 for becoming more of a sponsorship parade than a pure sporting event anymore. After all, isn't that what NASCAR is for?
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