What If?

[Aguaman]

1. What if Danica Patrick somehow made it to Formula 1 in say 2004-2005?
2. What if the Life W12 was the most powerful engine in the grid? Could it have found a customer?
3. What if Minardi had Supertec engines in 2001? Could they have been on the same level as say Prost or Benetton?
4. What if Mark Webber went to IndyCar instead of Le Mans?
5. What if Toyota and BMW didn't fully pull out of F1 and merely downgraded to engine suppliers for Williams and Sauber respectably?

1 - Seen as a trail blazer even though there had been previous F1 drivers that were women. She wouldn't have lasted.
2 - Sure why not
3 - Alonso would have been amazing
4 - He would have been bored and left after a season?
5 - That would have been a nice change in variety. Sauber and Williams wouldn't have that much more issues with money and I guess they would have drivers they wanted to. Toyota would have placed Glock or a Japanese driver in Williams and Sauber would have had a German driver I guess.


What if - In the last race on this season, Lewis Hamilton crashes into
a) Jenson Button who ended up 10th
b) Little Max who retired
c) Rosberg - giving the title to Vettel
d) Vettel - Giving the title to Rosberg
e) Maldonado - Not Pastor's fault and Pastor wins this race. Vettel or Rosberg wins
f) Doesn't crash but engine blows up on the final lap and Rosberg takes the championship. Alonso laughs like Korea 2010.

What would be the reaction for each?

[dr-baker]

1. What if Danica Patrick somehow made it to Formula 1 in say 2004-2005?

You may have had a very happy dr-baker around that time, depending on how Danica presented herself in the media at that time (I mean in terms of whether she had a Kimi-type attitude or not...).

2. What if the Life W12 was the most powerful engine in the grid? Could it have found a customer?

I bet it would have regularly detonated instead, in the same style as Martin Brundle's Peugeot at the 1994 British Grand Prix. And last equally as long!

[Dj_bereta]

What if - In the last race on this season, Lewis Hamilton crashes into
a) Jenson Button who ended up 10th
b) Little Max who retired
c) Rosberg - giving the title to Vettel
d) Vettel - Giving the title to Rosberg
e) Maldonado - Not Pastor's fault and Pastor wins this race. Vettel or Rosberg wins
f) Doesn't crash but engine blows up on the final lap and Rosberg takes the championship. Alonso laughs like Korea 2010.

What would be the reaction for each?

a) Hamilton blames Button and Button blames Hamilton. BBC and Skysport support Hamilton, saying Button needs to retire.
b) Hamilton blames Max saying he is too inexperienced and got involved in too much crashes in this year. Massa supports him and ask for harsh penalties for young drivers.
c) Hamilton blames Rosberg and Mercedes support him.
d) A new intense rivalry will born in F1 (like Senna vs Prost). Hamilton blames Vettel, saying he is too aggressive, and Vettel blames Hamilton, saying he leaves no room for him.
e) He blames Maldonado and says he is a dirt driver. f1fanatic probably publish an article saying Maldonado doesn't deserve the win and he must be banned from F1.
f) Hamilton congrats Rosberg and doesn't blame the team.

[Aguaman]

I can imagine more than f1fanatic wanting a ban on Maldonado. Social media would blow up. Heck Paul di Resta might show some emotion. B

[Whiteshore]

What if the following drivers got F1 drives?

A. Tom Kristensen
B. Helio Castroneves
C. Dan Wheldon
D. Dario Franchitti
E. Paul Tracy
F. Arie Luyendyk

And what if Honda took "Earthcar" a bit too literally and decided to make the RA107 run on ethanol ostensibly as a "fuel additive"? Would Honda be kicked out of the season like Tyrrell in 1984?

[tommykl]

What if - In the last race on this season, Lewis Hamilton crashes into
b) Little Max who retired

b) Hamilton blames Max saying he is too inexperienced and got involved in too much crashes in this year. Massa supports him and ask for harsh penalties for young drivers.

Verstappen himself instead puts all the blame on Hamilton regardless of whose fault it was, saying that he doesn't listen to all these haters who are just jealous of how quick and mature he is. Jos tells him that this is the perfect reaction, so Max continues to talk on and on about how mature and ready he is.

[tanel]

What if the following drivers got F1 drives?

A. Tom Kristensen
B. Helio Castroneves
C. Dan Wheldon
D. Dario Franchitti
E. Paul Tracy
F. Arie Luyendyk

Well, it depends on the drive, doesn't it?
For example, there was a Le Mans winner (McNish), who scored no points for a season and got replaced with a champion of american open-wheeler series (da Matta), who left after openly criticizing car's uncompetitiveness.

[girry]

What if the following drivers got F1 drives?

A. Tom Kristensen
B. Helio Castroneves
C. Dan Wheldon
D. Dario Franchitti
E. Paul Tracy
F. Arie Luyendyk

I can't claim to have followed Kristensen's career that much, but what he did in Endurance Racing makes him a contender for the list of all time top 20 racing drivers. It's also obvious he had potential in single seaters too as he was winning races even in bad F3000 equipment. Plus the late 90's were a particularly good time for talented drivers for there was such a lack of them; combined to a wealth of seats thanks to tobacco money. World Champion material in Formula One? I'm genuinely not sure as I haven't seen that much of him - but for sure Kristensen could have had the potential to a Jarno Trulli or Alex Wurz type career, at least.

I think Helio is overrated. Yeah three 500's are a statistic to behold, and he's been a consistent top runner - but he's also been driving a goddamn Penske for a literal eternity. Considering that, he's won very few road course races. Maybe Castroneves would have been a slightly improved version of Zonta, I don't know.

The late Dan was a promising kart driver, but turned out to be a real ace on ovals - not so much on the twisties with the high powered cars. Piquet jr type of driver maybe, the quicker the less power he has?

Dario? Assuming he would have joined Jaguar after his 2000 test, he would have found a difficult car and was also about to enter a long patch of underperformance. I think he would have fared OK against Irvine, maybe beaten him in 2002 but Webber's magic would probably have cut his F1 career short at Jaguar and Dario would have been back to US with his tail between the legs. Probably on the Champ Car side, though.

Had he never went stateside though - it's an interesting question. Would he have been dropped by Mercedes and subsequently have stolen Nick Heidfeld's career - or would McLaren have given him an actual chance on DC's seat in 2000 or so?

Tracy's chance would have come with Benetton 1994 and he'd most definitely have suffered a Michael Andretti fate, with the team fully on Schumacher's side and PT suffering from his size. I don't think he would have seen a 2nd season, maybe a couple of podiums at most.

Arie was an absolute legend at Indianapolis but less so anywhere else, especially on road courses. He went to the IRL for a reason, probably nothing more than a Huub Rothengatter type career here.

[mario]

And what if Honda took "Earthcar" a bit too literally and decided to make the RA107 run on ethanol ostensibly as a "fuel additive"? Would Honda be kicked out of the season like Tyrrell in 1984?

Yes, that would result in an instant disqualification - whilst the regulations on the fuel composition actually make it compulsory for the fuel to contain a low proportion of a bio-alcohol fuel such as ethanol (currently set at 5.75% by weight), the regulations have banned exotic fuels (such as pure alcohol based fuels, toluene/benzene and similar cyclical hydrocarbon compounds) since the mid 1990's.

[Whiteshore]

And what if Honda took "Earthcar" a bit too literally and decided to make the RA107 run on ethanol ostensibly as a "fuel additive"? Would Honda be kicked out of the season like Tyrrell in 1984?

Yes, that would result in an instant disqualification - whilst the regulations on the fuel composition actually make it compulsory for the fuel to contain a low proportion of a bio-alcohol fuel such as ethanol (currently set at 5.75% by weight), the regulations have banned exotic fuels (such as pure alcohol based fuels, toluene/benzene and similar cyclical hydrocarbon compounds) since the mid 1990's.

I'm sure quite a few environmentaly-consious motorsport fans after such an event would defect to IndyCar due to it's ethanol fuel and F1 punishing a team for running green fuels.

And speaking of F1 and Indycar, what if instead of USF1, the FIA gave the 13th slot for 2010 to Penske, Ganassi, or some other front running IndyCar team? Would they make it to the first race? How good would their perfomance be?

[Rabbi Gordon]

What if the following drivers got F1 drives?

A. Tom Kristensen
B. Helio Castroneves
C. Dan Wheldon
D. Dario Franchitti
E. Paul Tracy
F. Arie Luyendyk

A. Adapts quite quickly, as he has always been a quick learner, contender, but never a top name. A Johnny Herbert-esque career.
B. I really don't know. He could have gone any possible way, but most likely a mediocrity. Also, what team?
C. Would have amassed a HUGE fanbase, due to being British and a good guy. A hard rookie season and then eternal midfielder, as he preferred ovals in IRL.
D. Would have shown how much of an overrated dickhead he is. I'd say Bruno "Senna" results, almost Pastor crashes.
E. Havoc.
F. He is so all-out for ovals that there is no possible way he could have ran a road-course only season. He had some good results in Portland and Detroit, but wouldn't have stood the test in F1.

And how about THE forgotten talent of the 90's; Jörg Müller? What he could have done?

[mario]

And what if Honda took "Earthcar" a bit too literally and decided to make the RA107 run on ethanol ostensibly as a "fuel additive"? Would Honda be kicked out of the season like Tyrrell in 1984?

Yes, that would result in an instant disqualification - whilst the regulations on the fuel composition actually make it compulsory for the fuel to contain a low proportion of a bio-alcohol fuel such as ethanol (currently set at 5.75% by weight), the regulations have banned exotic fuels (such as pure alcohol based fuels, toluene/benzene and similar cyclical hydrocarbon compounds) since the mid 1990's.

I'm sure quite a few environmentaly-consious motorsport fans after such an event would defect to IndyCar due to it's ethanol fuel and F1 punishing a team for running green fuels.

And speaking of F1 and Indycar, what if instead of USF1, the FIA gave the 13th slot for 2010 to Penske, Ganassi, or some other front running IndyCar team? Would they make it to the first race? How good would their perfomance be?

To be honest, Honda would be punishing themselves by such a decision - the lower energy density of ethanol would mean that their cars would either have to run with significantly more fuel on board in order to achieve the same stint length, or they would have to refuel more frequently in order to complete the full race distance.

As for giving the entry rights to a top IndyCar team - for a start, it would require a large shift in their commercial outlook, because outfits like Penske do not have any presence outside of the US and might therefore struggle to attract sponsors from outside their home region.

Equally, there is an issue that Haas has also faced, and that is the issue of creating the supporting infrastructure around their entry. We have seen that Haas pushed back his entry by a year due to logistical issues, and I expect that even a major entrant like Penske or Ganassi would encounter similar issues.

The other question that comes to mind would be whether those outfits would attempt to design their own in house chassis, or if they'd try and sub-contract out work like Haas? It's been quite a while since Penske had had to design their own chassis, for example.

[girry]

D. Would have shown how much of an overrated dickhead he is. I'd say Bruno "Senna" results, almost Pastor crashes.
..
F. He is so all-out for ovals that there is no possible way he could have ran a road-course only season. He had some good results in Portland and Detroit, but wouldn't have stood the test in F1.

And how about THE forgotten talent of the 90's; Jörg Müller? What he could have done?

Giving Bruno slack for the name he carries is low. Or do you also call Damon "Hill", Nicolas "Prost", Nico "Rosberg", Juan Manuel "Fangio" II, Graham "Rahal" etc...? I can't see what Dario has done to get labelled a dickhead either, apart from perhaps being of a wrong nationality and winning too much - a case of vettelitis if I may label it.

Also, Arie was well in his 30's when he saw an oval for the first time, it's more likely he'd have gotten his chance before going all IndyCar.

Müller is a good call, it's honestly difficult to justify why he never got a ride.

As for giving the entry rights to a top IndyCar team - for a start, it would require a large shift in their commercial outlook, because outfits like Penske do not have any presence outside of the US and might therefore struggle to attract sponsors from outside their home region.

Equally, there is an issue that Haas has also faced, and that is the issue of creating the supporting infrastructure around their entry. We have seen that Haas pushed back his entry by a year due to logistical issues, and I expect that even a major entrant like Penske or Ganassi would encounter similar issues.

Actually, recently Penske did expand to V8 Supercars - they partnered with an existing team. Furthermore, I think they still own some facilities in England, where they used to construct their chassis for CART - so it wouldn't have been too far outside of their comfort zone to enter F1, if they wanted. Success might have been another story, obviously...

[tommykl]

Giving Bruno slack for the name he carries is low. Or do you also call Damon "Hill", Nicolas "Prost", Nico "Rosberg", Juan Manuel "Fangio" II, Graham "Rahal" etc...?

Well, I'm willing to believe that the quotation marks around "Senna" are referring to the fact that Bruno should technically not be called "Senna". In the sense that it's the surname of his mother's mother, which is usually not used. I believe that Bruno da Silva Lalli would most likely be his name.

Any Brazilians can correct me on this, though.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

Giving Bruno slack for the name he carries is low. Or do you also call Damon "Hill", Nicolas "Prost", Nico "Rosberg", Juan Manuel "Fangio" II, Graham "Rahal" etc...?

Well, I'm willing to believe that the quotation marks around "Senna" are referring to the fact that Bruno should technically not be called "Senna". In the sense that it's the surname of his mother's mother, which is usually not used. I believe that Bruno da Silva Lalli would most likely be his name.

Any Brazilians can correct me on this, though.

The same could also be said of Ayrton, who preferred to be called "Senna" rather than "da Silva", given that da Silva is a common surname and he wanted to stand out more. Bruno's Wikipedia page gives his full name as Bruno Senna Lalli, which implies that Viviane also adopted Senna as her name instead of da Silva. As far as I know, whether the paternal or maternal family name is used is up to the individual. Ayrton went with the maternal name, as did Viviane and Bruno.

But I'm just as unqualified to say this with certainty

[Whiteshore]

As for giving the entry rights to a top IndyCar team - for a start, it would require a large shift in their commercial outlook, because outfits like Penske do not have any presence outside of the US and might therefore struggle to attract sponsors from outside their home region.

Equally, there is an issue that Haas has also faced, and that is the issue of creating the supporting infrastructure around their entry. We have seen that Haas pushed back his entry by a year due to logistical issues, and I expect that even a major entrant like Penske or Ganassi would encounter similar issues.

Actually, recently Penske did expand to V8 Supercars - they partnered with an existing team. Furthermore, I think they still own some facilities in England, where they used to construct their chassis for CART - so it wouldn't have been too far outside of their comfort zone to enter F1, if they wanted. Success might have been another story, obviously...

What engine do you think would they use and is it possible they purchase some of Toyota's assets when they quit?

[Whiteshore]

1. What if the ARWS/F1RWRS actually existed? Could it be the Indy Racing League to F1's Champ Car?
2. What if Stefan GP made it?
3.What if Massa died in Hungary 2009? Who pairs Alonso in 2010?

[Bobby Doorknobs]

1. What if the ARWS/F1RWRS actually existed? Could it be the Indy Racing League to F1's Champ Car?
2. What if Stefan GP made it?
3.What if Massa died in Hungary 2009? Who pairs Alonso in 2010?

These "what ifs" are becoming more and more trippy...

[James1978]

If Massa died at Hungary, then surely it's Alonso/Raikkonen at Ferrari in 2010?

[Rob Dylan]

Imagine if the performance gap between Alonso and Raikkonen in 2010 was the same as in 2014. Opinions on Raikkonen would be interesting, as well as his future prospects following a poor stint at Ferrari.

[Whiteshore]

If Massa died at Hungary, then surely it's Alonso/Raikkonen at Ferrari in 2010?

That's the most likely scenario but IMO, Alonso/Schumacher or Alonso/Fisichella could also be possible in 2010 with Raikkonen going to Mercedes.

[tanel]

These "what ifs" are becoming more and more trippy...

Trippy, you say?
In that case:
What if the collision between von Trips and Clark had ended the other way around?

[mario]

As for giving the entry rights to a top IndyCar team - for a start, it would require a large shift in their commercial outlook, because outfits like Penske do not have any presence outside of the US and might therefore struggle to attract sponsors from outside their home region.

Equally, there is an issue that Haas has also faced, and that is the issue of creating the supporting infrastructure around their entry. We have seen that Haas pushed back his entry by a year due to logistical issues, and I expect that even a major entrant like Penske or Ganassi would encounter similar issues.

Actually, recently Penske did expand to V8 Supercars - they partnered with an existing team. Furthermore, I think they still own some facilities in England, where they used to construct their chassis for CART - so it wouldn't have been too far outside of their comfort zone to enter F1, if they wanted. Success might have been another story, obviously...

What engine do you think would they use and is it possible they purchase some of Toyota's assets when they quit?

I would guess that Cosworth might have been one option, especially given the political pressure from the FIA that pushed teams towards them. I imagine that Montezemolo might have been interested in supplying them with engines though - given his enthusiasm for a US based outfit running Ferrari cars, the idea of forming a partnership with a famous outfit like Penske might well have been very attractive.

As for purchasing assets from Toyota - well, it would depend on what Toyota was willing to offer them. Whilst Toyota sold equipment and spare parts, the most attractive item would have been the intellectual property rights to the TF110, as that would have been a relatively mature design that could have been reasonably competitive at a relatively low cost for Penske.

However, Toyota do not seem to have ever sold the intellectual property rights to their cars, whilst the prototype version of the TF110 that was produced also seems to have been held by Toyota (Stefan only seems to have ever bought the cast off bits from the car that were of no real value to anybody). The big question is if Toyota would have been willing to sell that to Penske, and I am not necessarily sure they would have - even when leaving the sport, most teams seem to have been fairly protective of their intellectual property, even when it ultimately would make little difference to them whether it was publicly available or not.

These "what ifs" are becoming more and more trippy...

Trippy, you say?
In that case:
What if the collision between von Trips and Clark had ended the other way around?

It is a very hard question to judge, but one aspect might have been that it would have delayed the great walk out of 1961 from Ferrari - one of the grievances that a number of those who walked out of the team had in 1961 was the fact that they felt that Enzo did not display much compassion for von Trips.

[Whiteshore]

If Jim Clark had died instead of Von Trips, is it possible that Graham Hill would be a four-time world champion?

[Bobby Doorknobs]

If Jim Clark had died instead of Von Trips, is it possible that Graham Hill would be a four-time world champion?

Depends on who's driving for Lotus, I suppose. It's possible Innes Ireland would have stayed at Lotus with Clark gone and would have been a serious contender if not matching Clark's dominance in 1963 and 1965 at least.

[tommykl]

One immediate consequence, or rather lack thereof, is that Phil Hill still wins the title. Assuming the walk-out still happens and von Trips doesn't leave, that leaves him with a good opportunity to win in 1964, and presumably retire shortly thereafter.

As for the consequences of Jim Clark dying, the immediate question is: who would replace him? Innes Ireland was already known as a bit of a tosser and persona non grata at Lotus, so the obivous would be to look at other past drivers or customers. John Surtees stands out, having driven for Lotus the year before. Perhaps Surtees would then inherit the fantastic cars that were the Lotuses of the 1960s and be a multiple world champion, most likely in 1963 and 1965, but perhaps also in 1967 and 1968?

[tanel]

One more thing to consider - Clark's actual death was an important event, after which racing safety became much bigger deal than before. Dying in 1961, he would have been similar to Bellof, promising young driver, but pretty much unknown outside enthusiasts' circles.

[Whiteshore]

What if McLaren retained Stefan Johansson alongside Alain Prost in 1988? What team does Senna go to?

[James1978]

What if McLaren retained Stefan Johansson alongside Alain Prost in 1988? What team does Senna go to?

If that happened then Williams probably keep Honda engines so he goes there as teammate to Mansell and wins the championship with them instead of McLaren, assuming Piquet still goes to Lotus with Nakajima. Then Mansell still goes to Ferrari for 1989 as he doesn't want to be Senna's teammate. And Renault make their 1989 comeback with McLaren instead of Williams if they don't have the Hondas, so Prost is happy there.

[Miguel98]

What if McLaren retained Stefan Johansson alongside Alain Prost in 1988? What team does Senna go to?

Obviously, Ferrari.

Senna finishes 2nd in the championship in 88, but way behind Prost who dominates the season. For 1989, Senna endures a difficult season, and retires from pretty much every race, due to the unreability of the Ferrari, and leaves Ferrari for Williams in 1990. He finishes 3rd in the championship against Alain, and then in 1991, they finally fight for the title mano-a-mano, with Prost taking the title with two races to spare, with people citing the unreability of the Williams' car as the decisive factor in the title race. Coming into 1992, the Williams is the best car, and finally Senna wins the title, dominating the season (even more than what Mansell), while Prost struggles in the McLaren, finishing only 4th in the standings, retiring at the end of the season, as a 8 time world champion. Into 1993, Senna wins his 2nd title in the Williams, and from 1994 on, it's the same as real life.

[Whiteshore]

What if McLaren retained Stefan Johansson alongside Alain Prost in 1988? What team does Senna go to?

Obviously, Ferrari.

Senna finishes 2nd in the championship in 88, but way behind Prost who dominates the season. For 1989, Senna endures a difficult season, and retires from pretty much every race, due to the unreability of the Ferrari, and leaves Ferrari for Williams in 1990. He finishes 3rd in the championship against Alain, and then in 1991, they finally fight for the title mano-a-mano, with Prost taking the title with two races to spare, with people citing the unreability of the Williams' car as the decisive factor in the title race. Coming into 1992, the Williams is the best car, and finally Senna wins the title, dominating the season (even more than what Mansell), while Prost struggles in the McLaren, finishing only 4th in the standings, retiring at the end of the season, as a 8 time world champion. Into 1993, Senna wins his 2nd title in the Williams, and from 1994 on, it's the same as real life.

Nah, Johannson would have been 2nd as the MP4/4 was practically on another planet.

[Aguaman]

What if Ralf won the championship in either

a) 2001
b) 2003

or in this case. Actually won races in 2005 for Toyota.

[mario]

What if Ralf won the championship in either

a) 2001
b) 2003

or in this case. Actually won races in 2005 for Toyota.

Out of those two years, 2003 is perhaps the one where he did have a chance of taking the title given that the FW25 was, up until the changes to the tyres, a fairly competitive package and a year where he was, for a while, quite high in the rankings (up to 3rd after the French GP).

If he had done so, then he probably would have been held in quite high regard in the paddock given that it would have been against a fairly strong field and with a car that was, arguably, slightly inferior to the F2003-GA. That, in turn, would probably have given him more options if he then wanted to move from Williams, though the size of the cheque that Toyota reportedly offered him would have been hard to turn down - and they would probably have been even more generous with their cash if he did have a WDC to his name.

As for winning with Toyota in 2005, that would probably have had less of an effect - given that Renault and McLaren were quite far ahead that year, Ralf would probably only have won in unusual circumstances that put those two teams effectively out of contention. As it would probably have had to have been a lucky win, it would probably have earned relatively little attention, although Toyota might have used it as an opportunity for a little dig at Honda given their corporate rivalry.

[Klon]

As for winning with Toyota in 2005, that would probably have had less of an effect - given that Renault and McLaren were quite far ahead that year, Ralf would probably only have won in unusual circumstances that put those two teams effectively out of contention. As it would probably have had to have been a lucky win, it would probably have earned relatively little attention, although Toyota might have used it as an opportunity for a little dig at Honda given their corporate rivalry.

His best shot would have been Hungary, if Räikkönen suffered another technical-induced retirement, he "only" would have needed to get past Michael in the end. However, I do disagree on the effect: had Ralf won a race for Toyota, it would have been not as sure whether Trulli would have been retained for 2008 which could in turn mean that RSC would have most likely had access to the 2009 Toyota and me, being the delusional man I am, am most certainly sure that Ralf would have won a race or two with that car as well, perhaps even "saving" Toyota's F1 outfit. Admittedly, I don't have full insight into the politics of the time, so I can't say whether that would have affected the WEC or anything else.

[Whiteshore]

What if Ralf won the championship in either

a) 2001
b) 2003

or in this case. Actually won races in 2005 for Toyota.

Maybe Toyota doesn't pull out and we don't get the abomination called Pastor Maldonado as Williams is still supplied engines by Toyota.

What if Mercedes supplied engines to Benetton from 1992 onwards as M. Schumacher was initially one of their development drivers? What engine does the Tyrrell team use?

[Bobby Doorknobs]

the abomination called Pastor Maldonado

Out. Now.

And I can still see Tyrrell (and March) using Ilmor engines in 1992. It's just that Benetton might have a works deal, giving them better engines.

[Izzyeviel]

What if Martin Brundle had won the 1992 Belgian Grand Prix?

[Bobby Doorknobs]

What if Martin Brundle had won the 1992 Belgian Grand Prix?

I get the feeling nothing would actually have changed. He gets dropped by Benetton, goes to Ligier etc. only he at least has that win that some feel he deserved from all his time in F1.

Or maybe he gets the Williams seat instead of Hill. Who knows?

[FullMetalJack]

What if Martin Brundle had won the 1992 Belgian Grand Prix?

I get the feeling nothing would actually have changed. He gets dropped by Benetton, goes to Ligier etc. only he at least has that win that some feel he deserved from all his time in F1.

Or maybe he gets the Williams seat instead of Hill. Who knows?

All I imagine happening is those who believe he may be the best driver to never win a Grand Prix would go with someone else instead like Amon, Warwick or anyone else mentioned in this debate.

I know i'm risking a snowball effect here, but what would have happened to Hill? Ligier? Or would they have kept Boutsen or Comas instead?

[mario]

As for winning with Toyota in 2005, that would probably have had less of an effect - given that Renault and McLaren were quite far ahead that year, Ralf would probably only have won in unusual circumstances that put those two teams effectively out of contention. As it would probably have had to have been a lucky win, it would probably have earned relatively little attention, although Toyota might have used it as an opportunity for a little dig at Honda given their corporate rivalry.

His best shot would have been Hungary, if Räikkönen suffered another technical-induced retirement, he "only" would have needed to get past Michael in the end. However, I do disagree on the effect: had Ralf won a race for Toyota, it would have been not as sure whether Trulli would have been retained for 2008 which could in turn mean that RSC would have most likely had access to the 2009 Toyota and me, being the delusional man I am, am most certainly sure that Ralf would have won a race or two with that car as well, perhaps even "saving" Toyota's F1 outfit. Admittedly, I don't have full insight into the politics of the time, so I can't say whether that would have affected the WEC or anything else.

With regards to the WEC, it was a fairly poorly kept secret that Toyota was eyeing up the WEC for a number of years given that the cost of competing in that series was a fraction of what they were spending in F1. Furthermore, we also saw that Toyota was in increasingly combative relations with FOM over the division of prize money and was rather critical of the FIA's governance too - given the relatively poor relationships that Toyota had with the two key bodies within the sport, I still think that, even if they had some victories under their belt in 2009, the likelihood that they would have withdrawn is still fairly high.