Was Ricardo Rosset actually terrible?

[The Chicane]

Was Ricardo Rosset actually a terrible driver?

He was provided with terrible cars through his really short F1 career:

1996: Footwork FA17 - Hart V8 engine -
1997: Lola T97/30 - Ford V8 engine -
1998: Tyrrell 026 - Ford V10 engine -

He had a pretty decent showing in junior categories:

1995: Super Nova Racing - Formula 3000 - 29pts 2nd in the championship

He must of been talented if he finished 2nd in International Formula 3000 which was filled with glory hungry youngsters.

I wonder what he could of done if he was provided with an actual decent car. Regular points finisher maybe?

What's your thoughts on this subject.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

Well, it's a fairly short debate

Seriously though, I suppose he's a bit like Magnussen - showed quite a bit of promise in lower formulae, but failed to deliver on the top level.

[The Chicane]

Well, it's a fairly short debate

I see what you did there

[dr-baker]

In 1995, Ricardo Rosset was second to Vincenzo Sosperi in F3000. Rosset spent a season gaining F1 race experience in 1996, Sosperi did not. They both briefly tested the Lola T97/30 before Melbourne. And Sosperi still out-qualified Rosset by 1.1 seconds. Ergo Sosperi is better than Rosset.

What does this prove? He was not the best Mastercard Lola driver....

[AndreaModa]

I always liked his helmet design. Quite distinctive.

But let's be fair, he was crap in the Tyrrell in 1998, all those DNQs say it all, especially considering Takagi was hardly stellar opposition. Ken wanted Jos, and BAT signed Ricardo instead, probably to fund the team for that interim 1998 year.

[FullMetalJack]

He was outqualified 16-0 by Verstappen in 1996, and Jos the Boss wasn't exactly known for his qualifying ability.

To be fair to Footwork, the car wasn't exactly terrible in the early stages of the season either, Verstappen was showing a lot of promise in Brazil and Argentina, and Spain too.

[SuzukiSwift]

I would say he was. He did have ability in lower categories, but in all honesty he was probably one of the worst drivers in the field in 1996 and definitely the absolute worst in 1998. I wouldn't be so quick to blame the car either - the FA17 was actually pretty fast and would have scored more points if it didn't have 2 absolute duffers driving it, Hart V8 aside. We all know how bad the Lola was. The 026 was a decent car, but he was not helped by the atmosphere in the team at the time, and the accident in Belgium was ridiculous, I'm sorry. Still, there isn't any indication that Verstappen would have had the better of Takagi either, Tora was very fast and the Dutchman simply wasn't.

[DemocalypseNow]

Such meteoric former F1 talents from Brazil such as Antônio Pizzonia, Ricardo Zonta, Luciano Burti, Enrique Bernoldi and Tarso Marques have been able to secure full time rides in Stock Car Brasil at various times. Even Gualter Salles, the CART reject, has been able to drive full-time there. Ricardo Rosset has not. I do wonder if this is for reasons beyond simply economic considerations....

[tommykl]

As far as I see it, Rosset was actually capable of being a more-than-decent driver, and actually came through with it.

The only problem is that those moments happened once every 15 years.

[Izzyeviel]

More the next Bruno Senna rather than the next Senna

[dinizintheoven]

And whether or not Ricardo Rosset was really terrible, we should all wish him a happy birthday anyway.

Ditto Philippe Alliot.

And me! Hooray!

[dr-baker]

And whether or not Ricardo Rosset was really terrible, we should all wish him a happy birthday anyway.

Ditto Philippe Alliot.

And me! Hooray!

Happy birthday, Jim!

[MorbidelliObese]

It's worth remembering his 1995 F3000 season was the last of the open chassis formula. It's not like the teams were constructors, it was more like CART (choose a Lola or Reynard and choose an engine to fit to it), but Super Nova were dominant that year and there was probably more scope for the team to make a difference.

Probably off on a tangent here but I was wondering about the strength of the field that year thinking it was quite a weak year by F3000 standards, and to be honest it was far from a vintage year in terms of depth, but Sospiri and Rosset weren't exactly beating up on a bunch of bums either:

Of the drivers immediately behind Rosset in the standings - Kenny Brack (3rd) and Allan McNish (7th) went on to very successful careers at the highest non-F1 levels (US open wheel and LMP1 respectively). Tarso Marques (5th) was no world beater but hardly out of place in F1 either.

Marc Goossens (4th) won F3000 races in subsequent seasons and has long found employment in sportscars. Emmanuel Clerico (6th) seemed to have his career fizzle out but not before impressively beating the works ORECA Vipers in a straight fight in an FIA GT race in a privately run car that had the handicap of being driven by Paul Belmondo for half the race.

[Spectoremg]

Vitantonio Liuzzi. Did he do anything to jog people's memories?

[Nessafox]

Vitantonio Liuzzi. Did he do anything to jog people's memories?

Meant for the most forgettable drivers thread?
And to answer: yes, what he did in his HRT in Monza is quite memorable.

[dr-baker]

Vitantonio Liuzzi. Did he do anything to jog people's memories?

Meant for the most forgettable drivers thread?
And to answer: yes, what he did in his HRT in Monza is quite memorable.

Memorable for me as I was only a few hundred yards from that at the time...

[The Chicane]

You've got to feel for the poor guy though, his last chance of F1 with Tyrrell in 1998 must of been a horrible experience with nearly all of the team hating him from the beginning, I personally blame the team for Rosset's bad season as its meant to be up to team to stand behind their driver in the good times and bad.

[SuzukiSwift]

I also don't know why Ken Tyrrell wanted to hire Verstappen anyway. Based on his performance in 1997 I wouldn't have.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

I also don't know why Ken Tyrrell wanted to hire Verstappen anyway. Based on his performance in 1997 I wouldn't have.

Well it was between him and Rosset. It's not like Schumacher was available.

[FullMetalJack]

I also don't know why Ken Tyrrell wanted to hire Verstappen anyway. Based on his performance in 1997 I wouldn't have.

Wasn't he almost on par with Mika Salo? That's no mean feat, as Salo was very highly rated back then, and deservedly so.

[SuzukiSwift]

I also don't know why Ken Tyrrell wanted to hire Verstappen anyway. Based on his performance in 1997 I wouldn't have.

Well it was between him and Rosset. It's not like Schumacher was available.

I'd hire a Ham Sandwich over Verstappen. This is a biased opinion of course but I do not and never have rated the Dutchman highly, but I also must say a part of this is due to his personality. And he was blown away by Salo.

[AdrianSutil]

Salo>Verstappen>Rosset

I for one think his 1996 season was pretty crap, I'm pretty sure even Badoer in the Forti out-qualified him at Canada and that takes some skill to be that terrible...

1997? Well from what we briefly saw, he was at least a second slower than Sospiri in every session. So again, crap...

1998 was a little unfortunate for him. The team didn't give two-hoots from day 1, Tyrrell resigned in disgust at his signing, renaming his moped in Monaco to Tosser, seeing the mechanics shaking their heads after a DNQ in Spain, THAT crash at Belgium, the list goes on...

Overall, very disappointing.

[MartinJS81]

Based on what he did in F1, yes he was. There's barely a glimmer of an impressive performance in two-and-a-bit years in F1, against some pretty mediocre team-mates. And he shone in a fairly weak F3000 year. In fairness though, his lack of career post-F1 was largely his own decision, as he took over the family sporting goods business.

[Berko Zisser]

I think he started too late in go-kart (with 21 y.o.) and took part in only one competition in 1990, a state-level championship. He didn't even compete in the national-level Brazilian go-kart championship. And six years later he was already in Formula 1. That's too little time to learn the basics of autoracing. Go-karting is like a school for drivers. And Rosset rushed his way through it. He was fairly successful in the lower categories, but as a F1 driver he was really dreadful. For some years he competed in the Brazilian Porsche Cup, having achieved three championships. He is also a very successful businessman, owning a fancy sportswear company called Track&Field. His family is very prominent inside the Brazilian Jewish community.

[ibsey]

I think I read somewhere that the 1995 F3000 grid was not hugely competitive. So the fact that Rosset finished second in that championship was not something to be shouted about.

[Bleu]

Looking at drivers' career achievements Kenny Bräck and Allan McNish strike out for me.

[Har1MAS1415]

Wasn't Norberto Fontana on the verge of joining Tyrrell until they hired Rosset?