Nicky Grist, Colin McRae’s Co-Driver: Rally Drivers are SO MUCH BETTER than F1 Drivers!

[@davidspearcommercialvehicles]

Checkout PART 2 here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gGS9onR6nc-Jra8

[@nickygristmotorsports]

Thoroughly enjoyed being part of this. Thanks for having me.

[@donyiiovanni]

One of the most iconic voices in the WRC. Nicky is a legend and always will be. Love the guy

[@chrismurphy110]

his voice just makes me think im 12 again playing colin mcrae rally

[@gk9147live]

Dirt 4 too😊

[@markakkerman-uc5li]

Jj

[@markakkerman-uc5li]

Jjjjj

[@Wings_of_foam]

Both the guest and the interviewer were a delight to listen to.

[@oli4330]

I think that’s well known, the f1 drivers have said themselves, rally drivers are just next level.

[@POVRR3]

F1 drivers are just humble people.

[@181racing]

Rally drivers ❤❤

[@canismajoris6733]

mid f1 drivers do well in rally though

[@oli4330]

@@canismajoris6733 ah 100% their talented drivers so all drivers whether f1 or lemans or whatever it is will do well to a certain extent. Just the top few levels of rally it’s just different. Raikkonen and kubica did quite well but you only have to look and see what f1 drivers say about the rally guys and you see yourself what the difference is. Much respect to all motorsports whether it’s got 2 wheels or 4 or it’s on tarmac or gravel doesn’t matter. We all have a passion for the same things 🔥🙌

[@TallTaleGael]

🙄🙄

[@jaytoppo1670]

One thing that has stuck out for the entirety of my interest in rally over the last 4-5 decades, the co-drivers don't get anywhere near the same recognition as the drivers do yet they're equally as important as the driver, if not more. There's no "i" in team as they say. Nick felt the roads, Colin dealt with the roads, the two were a combined unit with supreme precision using only words as your guide. By far the best drivers in the world. I find it strange that the likes of Carlos Sainz Jnr has not gone down the same career path as his father and entered rally as opposed to F1. I suppose that's where all the money is...

[@lgmuniz]

Not only a consumate professional and a champion, but a skilled storyteller. Fantastic podcast.

[@andresgarcia7757]

The crazy thing is that sometimes these drivers were a few seconds of each other! They were all amazing so sometimes it was down to luck! Who didn’t break down, who chose the right tires, but when it came to talent they were all amazing.

[@tonkinesenchill4240]

Tbh I’ve never liked the comparison, I prefer to think of it as f1 drivers are the pinnacle of circuit racing and rally drivers are the pinnacle of off-road car control. I hugely respect both.

[@frednaam7877]

😂 if rally drivers go off road, something went wrong. But you’re point is valid imho

[@lazyboxfish7113]

Yes. There is no one best set of drivers, each sport requires you to specialize in certain roles. Rally is by far my favorite form of motorsport but I think most rally drivers would get smoked in a circuit race because it's not what theyre specialized in and vice versa. I would argue that there isn't even a pinnacle of circuit racing because there are so many different forms of circuit racing.

[@PaulEnglish-cq4ms]

@@lazyboxfish7113Rubbish! A rally driver also does tarmac stages eg German rally Sebastian Loeb was the master on that surface too. Cant get a F1 driver to come close to a rally driver on the loose though!🙄

[@lazyboxfish7113]

@PaulEnglish-cq4ms I know that rally drivers do tarmac. Rally is my favorite form of motorsport, I should know. Rally drivers are arguably better at reading the road, driving over the limit, and commitment than f1 drivers, but driving a formula car around a track with other cars is a completely different art than driving a WRC car down a tarmac road. Doesn't mean that one is better than the other. F1 drivers just hone their skills in different areas. The amount of competitiveness required to be at the highest level in either career is insane.

[@lazyboxfish7113]

@@PaulEnglish-cq4ms Actually looking back at my comment that you replied to, I think it depends on the level of circuit racing. I was in the headspace of GT3, F1, and LMP1 when making that comment. I think that most professional rally drivers would excel in entry level series because of prior experience, but like anyone it would take time to become competitive at the top of many international series. Also I agree that pretty much any F1 driver would probably be demolished if they were thrown into a loose surface WRC event.

[@TucanoTMK1]

Nice to Hear All this,I Watched Nicky and Juha in the Toyota in the RAC on fylingdales moor in the Snow i Think they went past me at 120mph on a single track gravel road !!!. all Fins Know how to Drive on ice and Snow thats Why they are so good at Rallying ,Rovenpera was only a Kid of 7 or 8 driving a rally car with more skills than Grown Men All ready driving a rally car.

[@ronaldroberts9556]

Some years ago I was scrutineering at Silverstone and during a break was having a coffee with a recently retired F1 driver. I asked if he fancied taking up forest rallying. Shocked at this suggestion he replied “kinell , those guys make us look like p**fs!” Nicky as ever, full of wisdom and a great story teller. Da iawn!

[@juliannaaka-babayega8941]

in my head...its "SIR- Nicky-Grist"!! A LEGEND in WRC that has not been matched! ...and he is correct; his personality was soooooo endearing! One could not help nut to fawn over him and 'the teams efforts'. AWESOME Video my man!!! Thank you both fpor this!!! Not a dry eye in the place! :)

[@AndrewEdge-j4i]

Nicky is a great raconteur. You should have pushed him further about the exclusion where the rules were circumvented with the turbo. It would have been a fascinating insight had he been candid about the episode!

[@arturaskundelis]

Love listening to Nicky, but can't help imagining how much better this conversation would be with someone like Chris Harris at the other end of the table. I feel like there's hours of untold juicy details and stories that a proper car geek could extract from him.

[@owain7629]

They’ve done a podcast together before!

[@deemo5245]

So aerobatic pilots are better than fighter pilots? They’re two different things

[@Phurle]

Please tell me we have more than 47 minutes and you have more footage to upload!

[@Pufarin]

Alain Prost win 3 Times Andros Trophy one ice... and to race there u need very good skills:)

[@MegaEssin]

Eh, thats just rallycross with a grip advantage and no jumps. And you know who does well in rallycross, rally drivers. Being competetive in rallycross is hard, but its still on a circuit. Being competetive on a normal road, with no testing and you dont know what the next corner looks like, thats rally. F1 is difficult, rally is extremely difficult.

[@mdrlz]

Welsh Wizard on channel with thousand subs pushed by algorithm, congrats!

[@Giblet-sf9lk]

With out a doubt rally drivers are just a different league to f1 drivers

[@lyntonryan4766]

This is an excellent insight into a man I've seen on many occasions but knew nothing about , I can see how he rose to the top of rallying, and yes, rally drivers are better than F1 drivers by the unpredictability of the track surface , I watched some footage of the WRC and at the end of the stage the driver was complaining that there was "no grip" and I remember thinking "I'm not surprised driving around on them roads at that speed" 😮😂😮😂😮 , yes you have to hand it to them rally drivers !

[@PeronuPeric-wm9hx]

Great talk.

[@TheNismo777]

Good old antonov transport, plane so big that nearly whole teams gear fitted in :D

[@EddieSLX]

Put a F1 driver in Group rally 1 car. & a rally driver in a F1 car both are most likely not going to be competitive under normal race conditions. However the likelihood of a rally driver bringing a F1 car back in one piece or simply just finishing after 50 laps is better than a F1 driver surviving just 1 day of the monte Carlo rally.

[@davidrhodes7655]

Didn't Mika Hakkenan start with rallying before becoming a dual F1 world champion

[@93troopy]

I agree Rally Drivers are the next Level

[@blakegriplingph]

If he narrated a nature documentary or an audiobook I'd listen to him in a whim.

[@watsondove849]

Is it racecraft that stops them transitioning to track racing?

[@bossboyritchno1685]

Where’s part 2 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@odditylocker]

If they are so much better, why do they need a passnger?

[@Andre-yu3qs]

No doubt about it! The best example is Keke Rosberg!

[@eloycarrillo6808]

When’s rally drive took an f1 for a spin. The f1 driver didn’t not want to go back

[@JavierPix]

Rovanpera, Loeb, Ogier and McRae have all tried an F1.

[@GeometryEX-hp9zs]

Raikkonen has also participated in WRC, and rally racing is really difficult.

[@JavierPix]

@@GeometryEX-hp9zs Robert Kubica knows.

[@regenmeister3034]

Bollox. Different disciplines. You can't compare the two.

[@andyhulme2274]

TV tracks and run off areas no trees no narrow roads smooth tarmac countless driver aids in formula 1 rally drivers have to rely on co divers to get round bends they can't see round flat out f1 is girls sport compared.

[@ultimaevo77]

​​​@andyhulme2274 no rally driver is going to swap over to F1 and be quicker than a good F1 driver in the same car, let alone have the racecraft, they are different sports.

[@danielgriffiths8725]

Spoken like a true Hamilton fan

[@REMYX14]

We should ask kimi

[@chrisschultz6263]

​@@ultimaevo77 Sebastian loeb test at toro Rosso

[@stephendinnes2568]

the photos look like reinard klein photo ,s to me folks

[@paulmurphy9358]

Entirely different set of skills, entirely different situation. Rally drivers are not surrounded by 6 other cars braking at 5G going into the first corner, nor are they modulating braking as downforce drops precipitously with speed, nor are they pulling 5Gs left and right though the S corners 50 laps in a row. As far as reflexes and car control, both are pushing the limits of human performance, but they are not competing in the same sports - it's like comparing an NFL lineman to a Sumo wrestler, similar but not directly comparable.

[@luciusesox1luckysox570]

They are not otherwise the money would take them to F1, he's wrong. You have massive energy in rallying and although the best are careful F1 drivers are in a different league when it comes to conserving it vis a vis speed. Popular misconception that rally drivers are the best ion the world, they are the best at reacting to things, maybe, but the precision required to not bleed off tenths of a second is something else.

[@Caldwing]

Yeah there's a big difference I think. I agree that F1 is about super-extreme precision and consistency; the ability to exactly ride the edge of grip without ever going over it. In rally there is some of that for sure, particularly in tarmac rallies. The big difference is that rally drivers routinely and intentionally drive beyond the edge of grip, and much more-so have to aim the car in advance because they know they will have little control over it's trajectory for a brief time. Rally drivers can make a car dance in a way that an F1 driver can't, but with that manoeuvrability they lose the precision that F1 drivers have. Also track racers are able to memorize every single turn in a course. The best F1 drivers need perfect consistency, whereas this is a somewhat less crucial talent for rally drivers, who can do things more "by feel." Though at the top level I am sure they still have great consistency. At most you could say that rally drivers are the best real-world drivers. F1 and other super-car sorts of racing are so far removed from normal driving that a champion F1 racer could conceivably be at a loss when his FWD commuter loses control in the snow. I think it's not likely to be the case but it's possible. If shit goes sideways in just about any road situation you'd be well lucky to have a rally driver at the wheel.

[@TrevorDennis100]

I'd be interested how co-drivers manage the nausea mere humans get when trying to read in a vehicle bouncing every which way? I get travel sick if I look down while a passenger on a motorway.

[@codenamenot47]

wow what a hot take

[@christophertarhan]

Both are tremendously skilled but I'm sorry I think this is a broad brush strokes take and over looks so many variables

[@JanuarCaldeira-di7od]

Robert Kubica 🎉♥️

[@David_in_Thailand]

I recall decades ago a series where rally and F1 drivers competed in timed sections in both rally cars and F1 against each other. The rally drivers invariably won. They were much better performed in the F1 cars than the F1 drivers were in the rally cars.

[@liberatetutemeexinferis5902]

New York taxi drivers put F1 and Rally drivers to shame. 😂

[@deanulph4065]

#LEGEND

[@billyweb8846]

It's obvious rally drivers are best, particularly against modern F1 drivers. F1 drivers of old had to be brave and the cars were actually more similar to rally cars in the way they had to be driven because of no downforce and low grip. Some F1 drivers of old were very good at rallies also because of this I believe. Rally drivers are at or almost at the same level of bravery as Isle of Man TT racers.

[@TrevorDennis100]

I worked at Ford Product Development at Dunton in the UK, and got the chance to drive an RS200. It was fully rally spec with 450hp and weighed bugger all. I was initially impressed, but not super impressed, but when the big turbo kicked in it was so violent it scared the life out of me. I was left wondering how anyone could controll that car through a Welsh rally stage on a narrow gravel track with trees both side waiting to kill you? I had a Laverda Jota, which was the fastest bike you could get at that time, and I raced motocross and did track days on my road bikes. I lived for speed! But that so next level, and so utterly violent, it left me me with huge respect for the men who drove them flat out, and the people brave enough to sit beside them. Maybe it was a good thing that they stopped the Group B cars from a safety point of view, but they were entertaining as hell. BTW, my friend who worked on the rally cars at Boreham told me that they had to replace the Kevla body panels every race because they were worn away from the inside by the gravel thrown at them by the spinning tires.

[@Holanduzo]

Should be tagged as Juha Kankkunen's Co-driver, he was champion with him, instead of losing championships with the scottish car wrecker.

[@sscottwilsonn]

Scottish car wrecker that’s the most famous was youngest world champion and countless computer games endorsed by him and only British rally driver to gain notoriety in America but that doesn’t mean anything

[@zyoungson215]

poor guy has probably been in more car crashes than almost anyone else 😂

[@renaultclio1400]

you know? you know, you know... you know!

[@benmorris7276]

Rally drivers are just a different breed, you definitely need balls of steel to drive flat out through a forest in Finland or on any rally stage for that matter. Rally drivers have taken F1 drivers on ride alongs the F1 drivers didn't want to do it twice thats not to say that f1 drivers aren't very skilled drivers but the fact that a rally ride along scares the shit out of them is just proof that forest rally is on a whole other level , most would shit brick but rally drivers and co-drivers blast through the stages without batting an eye and nerves of steel

[@MottaFilms]

maan my cchildhood

[@Madmax0620]

Ask the Welsh magician.....

[@alfredoviel]

The only driver that did podium in both sports was F1 gran prix winner, championship runner up , Carlos Reutemann coming two times 3 rd in Wrc events. One in a 205 peugeout group B and also in a 131 Brava group b car Not much more words to say

[@truthboomertruthbomber5125]

Vic Elford was another great rally driver that also raced pavement. No success in F1 but tremendous success in any other pavement series he raced in.

[@wiktorturo2417]

Robert Kubica. F1 race winner, WRC2 Champion, multiple WRC stage winner (in a private team)

[@johnj8069]

Well F1 drivers are better in driving F1 cars...

[@supercededman]

Meh, he would say that, wouldn't he? Fangio, Moss, Clark, Senna ... Why are navigators called CO-drivers? FFS, he tells the ACTUAL driver how not to hit a tree.

[@Wall562]

Man, what a time to be alive🥱Why does it matter who is better than who?

[@yowie0889]

“Please! This is supposed to be a happy occasion. Let's not bicker and argue over ooo's better than ooo.”

[@paulkezie.7153]

Two different skills f1 drivers can stay in rally and also rally drivers don’t do go in F1 simple as that. But this is all about making content for KZbinr.

[@Dudesidabe]

It's a lot easier to enter a rally than an F1 race.

[@canismajoris6733]

just not true. good f1 drivers generally go to rally and do well. rally guys are so arrogant its insane

[@JONASMENTOS-b6x]

Can rally drivers do a full f1 race sitting like that, corners, speed, G force for 1h20/30? F1 drivers can do a rally no problem. Ex: KIMI, BOTTAS, KUBICA, DID IT AND PROBABLY OTHERS. U have to define and I quote"SO MUCH BETTER". When and if a rally driver drives a full F1 race then u can judge.

[@andyhulme2274]

😂 The risks are far higher in rally with trees drop offs walls with ultimate car control with no traction and relying on pace notes when they can't see the track while flat out racing in inhospitiple places while sanitised f1 goes round tv tracks with massive run off areas with big foam crash mats 😂 and the car is loaded with mollycoddled driver aids with the exception of kimi who did rally first before going into f1 bottas and kubica failed at rally with short stints.

[@ultimaevo77]

​@@andyhulme2274what driver aids are in F1 other than power steering?

[@ianchandley]

@@andyhulme2274I wouldn’t say Kubica “failed”…he did reasonably well before his horrific accident, and only had a few years experience at that point. All rally drivers have incredible accidents because they are pushing the car beyond physics but some happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and get seriously injured or killed. It’s the nature of the sport.

[@joshd171294]

🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@petertrimnell3017]

Your dead right much better drivers

[@tallesttreeintheforest]

F1 drivers are so spoiled.. its all "me me me"

[@anuardelcastillo2627]

michael Schumacher admited Mika hackinen was better than him due to his rally background

[@arthurteo8111]

They are indeed the best and would have excelled in F1. Wonder why no rally driver has ever attempted F1. They are the Real Men. Driving the F1 car of today should be easy for them.

[@MichaelBrown-ds5ll]

Juan Manuel Fangio was a rally driver first and then an F1 driver.

[@wiktorturo2417]

that's simply not true

[@patrickanderson9023]

F1 drivers are overrated as hell.