Drivers and languages
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Drivers and languages
Has there been any drivers that could not speak english or really struggled with their english?
Re: Drivers and languages
Mark Blundell
"will you stop him playing tennis then?", referring to Montoya's famous shoulder injury, to which Whitmarsh replied "well, it's very difficult to play tennis on a motorbike"
Re: Drivers and languages
The one, the only, the not-so-great YUJI IDE... Could only speak Japanese and Aguri Suzuki himself had to to the pits-to-car radio himself to get Yuji to understand...
And Max? He's surely from another planet from the rest of the motorsport world...
And Max? He's surely from another planet from the rest of the motorsport world...
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Re: Drivers and languages
Enrique Bernoldi wrote:noisebox wrote:Mark Blundell
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I second that

Better than 'Tour in a suit case' Takagi.
Re: Drivers and languages
I think Esteban Tuero wasn't speaking English either. Apart from Spanish he was able to speak Italian, and that's probably how he communicated with his team.
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Re: Drivers and languages
Bleu wrote:I think Esteban Tuero wasn't speaking English either. Apart from Spanish he was able to speak Italian, and that's probably how he communicated with his team.
I think you are confusing him with Mazzacane, who actually only speaks Spanish & Italian.
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Re: Drivers and languages
I heard Takagi didn't speak any English until his 2nd season, and even then it wasn't great.
Although he apparently tested on and off for Tyrell since 1996, so that doesn't seem likely.
Although he apparently tested on and off for Tyrell since 1996, so that doesn't seem likely.
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Re: Drivers and languages
I would imagine way back in the day lots of drivers were not fluent or at least struggled with English. By writing that, I'm entirely cheating.
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Re: Drivers and languages
Slightly off topic... but which driver has had the most irritating accent / voice?
Of the current crop, I find Nico Rosberg unbearable. He sounds like a 9-year-old girl.
Of the current crop, I find Nico Rosberg unbearable. He sounds like a 9-year-old girl.
Kimi: "I was having a sheeet."
Re: Drivers and languages
Pedro_Diniz wrote:Slightly off topic... but which driver has had the most irritating accent / voice?
Of the current crop, I find Nico Rosberg unbearable. He sounds like a 9-year-old girl.
He looks like one too.
Better than 'Tour in a suit case' Takagi.
Re: Drivers and languages
Ukyo Katayama's English was pretty average, see his bewildered expression when asked a question on an 1997 F1 show with Clive James.
Re: Drivers and languages
Pedro_Diniz wrote:Slightly off topic... but which driver has had the most irritating accent / voice?
Of the current crop, I find Nico Rosberg unbearable. He sounds like a 9-year-old girl.
When Kimi Räikkönen started in F1, his voice was terrible. Luckily his voice has got much better afterwards. Before that, his bad voice was a target of popular joking, as we can see here:

The text roughly translates as "We are sorry about the distortion in the voice". That is not a photoshop, it really happened, but the joke here is the timing of putting such a message on the screen.

Eurosport broadcast for the 1990 Mexican GP prequalifying:
"The Life, it looked very lifeless yet again... in fact Bruno did one, slow lap"
"The Life, it looked very lifeless yet again... in fact Bruno did one, slow lap"
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Re: Drivers and languages
Nuppiz wrote:Pedro_Diniz wrote:Slightly off topic... but which driver has had the most irritating accent / voice?
Of the current crop, I find Nico Rosberg unbearable. He sounds like a 9-year-old girl.
When Kimi Räikkönen started in F1, his voice was terrible. Luckily his voice has got much better afterwards. Before that, his bad voice was a target of popular joking, as we can see here:
The text roughly translates as "We are sorry about the distortion in the voice". That is not a photoshop, it really happened, but the joke here is the timing of putting such a message on the screen.

Kimi: "I was having a sheeet."
Re: Drivers and languages
Could Ron Dennis speak English? Or was he only fluent in Ronspeak...?
watka wrote:I find it amusing that whilst you're one of the more openly Christian guys here, you are still first and foremost associated with an eye for the ladies!
MCard LOLAdinizintheoven wrote:GOOD CHRISTIANS do not go to jail. EVERYONE ON FORMULA ONE REJECTS should be in jail.
Re: Drivers and languages
dr-baker wrote:Could Ron Dennis speak English? Or was he only fluent in Ronspeak...?
It depends. Ronpeak is a dialectal form of English, understood by very few people. If you don't consider dialects of a language to be the actual language, then no, Ron Dennis could not speak English.
Better than 'Tour in a suit case' Takagi.
Re: Drivers and languages
I seem to recall, that it took a very long time for Olivier Panis to master English. Around the time of his stellar start to the 1997 season there was talk of his non-existent language skills holding him away from the top teams operating in English.
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Re: Drivers and languages
Zsolt Baumgartner
Re: Drivers and languages
Panis?
I don't miss Mark Blundell either - he clearly learned his grammar listening to football commentaries.
I don't miss Mark Blundell either - he clearly learned his grammar listening to football commentaries.
Re: Drivers and languages
Osiris13 wrote:Panis?
I don't miss Mark Blundell either - he clearly learned his grammar listening to football commentaries.
I don't know if anyone on here visits planetf1.com - it's not a bad website for F1 news and opinion, though sometimes they don't let the facts get in the way of a good story... Post each race they used to pick out the best of his comments. It's worth looking back to get some of the classics from the ITV years.
"will you stop him playing tennis then?", referring to Montoya's famous shoulder injury, to which Whitmarsh replied "well, it's very difficult to play tennis on a motorbike"
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Re: Drivers and languages
I have to admit Kimi has a godawful voice and accent.
But as far as annoying ones go, Prost has always annoyed me, as have Massa and Villeneuve.
Dunno why tho.
But as far as annoying ones go, Prost has always annoyed me, as have Massa and Villeneuve.
Dunno why tho.
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F1rejects no.1Räikkönen and Vettel fan.
BTW, thats Räikkönen with two K's and two N's. Not Raikonnen (Raikkonen is fine if you have no umlauts though)
F1rejects no.1Räikkönen and Vettel fan.
BTW, thats Räikkönen with two K's and two N's. Not Raikonnen (Raikkonen is fine if you have no umlauts though)
Re: Drivers and languages
DonTirri wrote:I have to admit Kimi has a godawful voice and accent.
But as far as annoying ones go, Prost has always annoyed me, as have Massa and Villeneuve.
Dunno why tho.
I like Massa's voice, but Alonso has a thick Spanish accent that's so stereotypical it's not even very funny anymore.
MOTOR RACING IS DANGEROUS
Re: Drivers and languages
Better than 'Tour in a suit case' Takagi.
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Feckin' ban this guy!
Better than 'Tour in a suit case' Takagi.
Re: Drivers and languages
WeirdKerr wrote:HWNSNBM
Blasphemy! HWNSNBM is fluent in every language ever known to man, even those that are now extinct, plus Klingon, Elvish, 1337 and a couple he invented himself.
Completely off-topic PS: Why are all of snoozey's posts replaced by "

MOTOR RACING IS DANGEROUS
Re: Drivers and languages
Waris wrote:WeirdKerr wrote:HWNSNBM
Blasphemy! HWNSNBM is fluent in every language ever known to man, even those that are now extinct, plus Klingon, Elvish, 1337 and a couple he invented himself.
Completely off-topic PS: Why are all of snoozey's posts replaced by ""?
In fact, Esperanto is an unknown language because it was created ex profeso for HWNSNBM.
Re: Drivers and languages
Enforcer wrote:I heard Takagi didn't speak any English until his 2nd season, and even then it wasn't great.
Although he apparently tested on and off for Tyrell since 1996, so that doesn't seem likely.
I heard that aswell. Appartently when Takagi, first tested for Tyrell, he posted a stunning time, and came back to the pits. All the mechanics where very excited with his effort and slapping him on the back etc...and Takagi thought they were all angry at him.
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Re: Drivers and languages
Waris wrote:WeirdKerr wrote:HWNSNBM
Blasphemy! HWNSNBM is fluent in every language ever known to man, even those that are now extinct, plus Klingon, Elvish, 1337 and a couple he invented himself.
Completely off-topic PS: Why are all of snoozey's posts replaced by ""?
To answer your aside, he got offended that I deleted a comment that basically insinuated I was gay after I told him to tone it down. He took exception to the general rules of forum decorum, and then he left. Shucks.
Re: Drivers and languages
thehemogoblin wrote:Waris wrote:WeirdKerr wrote:HWNSNBM
Blasphemy! HWNSNBM is fluent in every language ever known to man, even those that are now extinct, plus Klingon, Elvish, 1337 and a couple he invented himself.
Completely off-topic PS: Why are all of snoozey's posts replaced by ""?
To answer your aside, he got offended that I deleted a comment that basically insinuated I was gay after I told him to tone it down. He took exception to the general rules of forum decorum, and then he left. Shucks.
So, snoozey has left us. What a loss...
Re: Drivers and languages
thehemogoblin wrote:Waris wrote:WeirdKerr wrote:HWNSNBM
Blasphemy! HWNSNBM is fluent in every language ever known to man, even those that are now extinct, plus Klingon, Elvish, 1337 and a couple he invented himself.
Completely off-topic PS: Why are all of snoozey's posts replaced by ""?
To answer your aside, he got offended that I deleted a comment that basically insinuated I was gay after I told him to tone it down. He took exception to the general rules of forum decorum, and then he left. Shucks.
Good riddance.
Better than 'Tour in a suit case' Takagi.
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Re: Drivers and languages
thehemogoblin wrote:To answer your aside, he got offended that I deleted a comment that basically insinuated I was gay after I told him to tone it down. He took exception to the general rules of forum decorum, and then he left. Shucks.
Shame, but as is pointed out often, this is a family forum, and thus no place for such remarks.
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Re: Drivers and languages
BlindCaveSalamander wrote:thehemogoblin wrote:To answer your aside, he got offended that I deleted a comment that basically insinuated I was gay after I told him to tone it down. He took exception to the general rules of forum decorum, and then he left. Shucks.
Shame, but as is pointed out often, this is a family forum, and thus no place for such remarks.
I had to tell him that twice in the same thread... I don't think I've seen it more than twice in the last three months apart from that.
Re: Drivers and languages
I think it's sad that on a family forum, you can't call someone gay. It's not like saying someone else is gay, even if it's not true, is some kind of evil thing that we have to protect our children's eyes from.
MOTOR RACING IS DANGEROUS
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Re: Drivers and languages
Just to state the obvious:
If it's an honest mistake, of course it should be OK. If it's used in a derogatory way (while the word itself, of course is not derogatory), it's not OK at all.
I do agree however in that I don't see a connection with any of that to this being a family forum, either.
If it's an honest mistake, of course it should be OK. If it's used in a derogatory way (while the word itself, of course is not derogatory), it's not OK at all.
I do agree however in that I don't see a connection with any of that to this being a family forum, either.
Re: Drivers and languages
P_Friesacher wrote:Just to state the obvious:
If it's an honest mistake, of course it should be OK. If it's used in a derogatory way (while the word itself, of course is not derogatory), it's not OK at all.
I do agree however in that I don't see a connection with any of that to this being a family forum, either.
Is this a family forum?
Re: Drivers and languages
Phoenix wrote:P_Friesacher wrote:Just to state the obvious:
If it's an honest mistake, of course it should be OK. If it's used in a derogatory way (while the word itself, of course is not derogatory), it's not OK at all.
I do agree however in that I don't see a connection with any of that to this being a family forum, either.
Is this a family forum?
Yes. We don't go round swearing and abusing each other. I'd let my 9 year old cousin read what's on here, if she had any interest whatsoever.
Better than 'Tour in a suit case' Takagi.
Re: Drivers and languages
shinji wrote:Phoenix wrote:P_Friesacher wrote:Just to state the obvious:
If it's an honest mistake, of course it should be OK. If it's used in a derogatory way (while the word itself, of course is not derogatory), it's not OK at all.
I do agree however in that I don't see a connection with any of that to this being a family forum, either.
Is this a family forum?
Yes. We don't go round swearing and abusing each other. I'd let my 9 year old cousin read what's on here, if she had any interest whatsoever.
Well, we abuse each other out, but not seriously, you know...
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Re: Drivers and languages
Phoenix wrote:shinji wrote:Phoenix wrote:Is this a family forum?
Yes. We don't go round swearing and abusing each other. I'd let my 9 year old cousin read what's on here, if she had any interest whatsoever.
Well, we abuse each other out, but not seriously, you know...
Apparently you didn't when I told you to bathplug off

Re: Drivers and languages
kostas22 wrote:
Apparently you didn't when I told you to bathplug off
That was only a misunderstanding due to the limitations of written communication. Did you get really angry at any point? Because Carlos, correctly exercising his moderator chores, PMed me to tell me not to get over the line, just in case

- thehemogoblin
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Re: Drivers and languages
Waris wrote:I think it's sad that on a family forum, you can't call someone gay. It's not like saying someone else is gay, even if it's not true, is some kind of evil thing that we have to protect our children's eyes from.
Personally, I'm not particularly bothered by it... but I know plenty of people who are. It was more the fact that I had already asked him to stop multiple times, and that he continued to do it that irked me.