The Lost F1 Nation of Argentina

[@JuanGSR]

i've always wanted someone to cover the topic of Argentinian drivers in F1, specifically AFTER the Reutemann era... thank you so much for this!

[@billiramone]

It's just as easy as looking at the inflation rates since the seventies. This is, after all, an expensive sport.

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thanks for watching, glad you liked it!

[@elwarrior7967]

Fontana was told by Peter Sauber in '95 that he'd be in the car in '96. The only condition was that Fontana didn't do the Macau F3 race that year, bc it was too dangerous. Fontana insisted on doing it tho, and as fate would have it, he flipped during the race, almost being paralyzed in the crash. He got helped by Sauber money to receive treatment and surgery, but Peter Sauber was furious. If he didn't race in Macau, he would've been in F1 earlier and would've had more experience in the Sauber team.

[@TheMobileChicane]

That's crazy! I didn't come across any of that information in all my research for this video. Great bit of trivia.

[@elwarrior7967]

@@TheMobileChicane He told his whole career story in an Argentine motorsports show. They did a sort of documentary on him a couple of years back

[@Meodread]

Stunning given they signed Herbert for what I assume was Fontana's seat (I assume Frentzen was always in the 96 car unless he left for Williams). You'd think the story would have had a more.......nebulous driver in his seat.

[@elwarrior7967]

@@Meodread For sure, it's a weird situation. From what I remember of the documentary, Fontana said that after his near career-ending crash at Macau, Sauber lost his confidence on him. Even then, going into 97, Sauber was either going to keep Ford engines or get Petronas (Ferrari) ones. Fontana said that the team told him if they kept Ford engines, he was getting the seat. In the end, they got the Ferrari deal and Larini got the seat, then Morbidelli.

[@sebastiangomezbattista6260]

Fontana even had to raise his shoulders to keep his head straight and avoid anyone to discover he wasn’t 100% fit already on his first formula nippon test.

[@user-sn8oe5sb1b]

Perspective as an Argentinian: The reason comes right down to money and popularity. Unsurprisingly, countries do well in a sport when that sport is popular in that country, and lots of people practice it since an early age, accompanied then by a suitable infrastructure to learn the sport in a professional manner. Argentina delivers great soccer players because soccer is very popular here, and because all you need to play is a cheap ball, and it mostly comes down just to talent, there isn't much infrastructure required, and just training and money won't make a mediocre player into a great one, while lack of money and infrastructure won't keep a great player from reaching his full potential. That isn't the case for motorsports. Italy was the home of the greatest motorcycle riders in the world, and then Spain took over. How? Italy got complacent and didn't really provide much learning opportunities, while in Spain they went all in with riding schools. Rossi's riding ranch has changed a lot of that, and is bringing the fight back. F1 is probably the most expensive sport, and unlike simpler sports like soccer, or F1 or MotoGP back in the day, talent alone isn't enough, it requires training since a very young age. Karting in Argentina's screwed economy is very expensive, so it's not surprising that we aren't doing too well. The days of motorsport heroes just showing up at the track slightly hangover from last night, eating a huge bowl of pasta, smoking a cigarette, and then winning the race out of sheer talent are over. Now it takes a team with very deep pockets, and a very well trained professional athlete who has done nothing but train since he was 5. Sunday racers are no more.

[@TheMobileChicane]

A very articulate and well thought out comment here! It's great to hear this tale from the perspective as an Argentinian!

[@Mateus_Carvalho]

I feel like, continentally speaking, things may improve if FIA gives a damn about making the sport more affordable. No way in hell it'll beat football, it's literally on our blood, but still, better than what we have.

[@irisfailsafe]

The pilots came and went with Argentina's money. Today Argentina is completely broke. If it was a corporation it would have ceased to exist. Simply the money to sponsor drivers, take them to Europe is not there. The only way an Argentinian would rise is if it comes from an incredibly rich family. Also you never hear of any Argentinian corporations in the worldwide stage...

[@TheMobileChicane]

An excellent point, well made.

[@6lemans10]

Your comment supports the fact why I don't have respect for any country that prides itself on its "culture." Broke countries love to boast about culture, instead of economic power and wealth.

[@MulettoMotorsports]

Thank you for the fair and thorough coverage. González and Marimón are drivers usually overlooked with a name like Fangio in the same sentence. Also the recognizion of Lole, I've had to defend him from my own countrymen who let a championship obscure his talent. Another driver that could fit in the "near misses" is Jose Luis Di Palma, son of local racing legend Rubén. British F2 runnner up and champion in 1993 and 1994. Moved to Indy Lights and he was pretty good, but it's near impossible to find out why he couldn't land in F1.

[@TheMobileChicane]

Glad you enjoyed the video! I hadn't heard of Di Palma before. A brief investigation now showed me that British F2 wasn't a particular competitive series, so a title there wouldn't hold much weight - of all the champions, only Philippe Adams would start an F1 race, and even that was more money motivated then talent related.

[@BiggieTrismegistus]

I'd never heard of Di Palma either and figured he must not have made it to CART. I checked out his Indy Lights career and saw why: his teammates were Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves. Only so many guys can make it from Indy Lights into the bigger series and with those two around I'm not surprised Di Palma found it hard to get a look.

[@TheMobileChicane]

@@BiggieTrismegistus Kanaan and Castroneves? Yep. That'll do it.

[@alc-d4163]

Always believed that, had he been able to break through with a midfield team, Jose Maria Lopez would've have a decent career in F1. Titles in WTCC and WEC is still an illustrious career in itself.

[@TheMobileChicane]

Difficult to say. WTCC and WEC success doesn't necessarily translate into F1 success - look at the number of drivers who didn't have the best time in F1, but were great in sportcars (Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima, etc)

[@patrickanderson9023]

When was Anthony Davidson great in sportscars? He was quite averrage. JM Lopez is on a different level.

[@insertgenericusernamehere2402]

​@@patrickanderson9023 13 wins, 1 world title, 4 poles, 2 fastest laps and a broken back😅. (Not a bad haul imo)

[@ishierrogamer7798]

It's as if Spain took the place of Argentina in F1 as the Spanish speaking F1 top country. Taking into consideration that F1 was inexistent in the country until the 2000s and the main motorsport was Moto GP.

[@TheMobileChicane]

A very valid point!

[@caiman5357]

@The Mobile Chicane If we analyze it, while Fontana, Tuero and Mazzacane failed to leave a mark. Gené made a point finish at 1999 European GP ahead of runner-up Irvine, and as a reserve driver, he managed a 5th place at Monza on the 2003 Williams. Pedro almost made a podium at Austria 2000, on an Arrows! Sadly that car wasn't a reliability master piece, and Jaguar years were awful. But he'd come back stronger on the role of reserve driver at McLaren, achieving a Fastest Lap at Bahrain 2005 and a 2nd place on Hungary 06, after a hard battle against Schumacher. And well, Alonso was the man, with his 2 WC on that Renault. So yeah, maybe it was politics, I don't know, but as a Fun Fact, Telefónica and specially REPSOL stopped investing money on Car Racing just at the End of the year 2000. It means that Alonso could have never raced in F1 if he didn't achieved a win at his rookie year at F3000.

[@TheMobileChicane]

@@caiman5357 that’s a good analysis of it! An almost perfect cross over of the two nations.

[@Sagitariosun1776]

Excellent video/documentary. As an argentinian I feel it does justice to what´s been happening all these years. I´ve been a fan of F1 since late eighties/early nineties. I had the pleassure to attend to those argentine grand prix in the nineties. Motorsport is huge here but really greedy and disorganised. And as I read below in the comments, we are broke. Finnancially, mentally and emotionally.

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thank you Sebastian! I hope change arrived that will allow you to return to the Grand Prix, and cheer on a hometown hero once more!

[@williamford9564]

The Esteban Tuero story was very intriguing. I wonder if he left because he really didn't want to deal with all the crap that goes on with F1, the politics, the travel( which was mentioned), the constant search for, glad handing with sponsors and then worrying about whether they may leave, and the media, which in his home country didn't seem to treat him very well.

[@RIUUI007]

Mazzacane was actually one of my favorite drivers in 2000. I was a Hakkinen fan, too. But I grew more and more fond of the underdogs as time went on and Mazzacane was a true underdog.

[@Nico_M.]

One thing to consider is that, outside of Europe, is harder for drivers to try for a seat in junior categories because they have to move there at a really young age, disregarding their education (case in point: Sergio Pérez). Also, there aren't that many single-seater championship outside of Europe with enough reputation/money/competitiveness that can be used as a feeder to Formula 1, maybe Formula Nippon (currently Super Formula). Or maybe IndyCar, but they generally belong to their own universe. And that's another thing to consider for the Argentine case: there are several touring car competitions in our country, some of which are more popular than F1, so our junior single-seater championships work more as a feeder to those competitions instead of a preparation to more single-seater steps.

[@TheMobileChicane]

A fair point! Such a leap, away from your friends and your family is a hard choice to make, especially when there's no guarantee of success at the end of it. I didn't know just how popular Argentine touring cars was over there, so it's interesting to hear how it's the main goal for a lot of young drivers to reach those heights. Seems a more achievable target than F1 certainly.

[@guilledione1848]

José María López was one of those cases of uprooting. But anyway, the lack of sponsorship and money is the main reason why any young driver doesn't have a carrer abroad. Pechito was really prepared for F1 in 2006 for Renault but he hasn't the money that Kovalainen had. Formula 1 and all the way up to the championship are by far more expensive now than decades ago. Colapinto will face the same problem unless he finds a way into the main teams academys. And even inside this programs having financial resources could be decisive te enter to teams like Haas, Williams, etc. Argentina has a very intense motorsport culture, there are a lot of national and regional championhips in stock cars, touring cars, rally, motorbikes, karting, cross country. They are not popular around the world but with a lot of activity throug the country, with thousands of drivers. But to be honest, admiting that Argentina has a lot of economic problems, I prefer that the argentine drivers could have a professional career on any champiosnhip around the world rather than only one racing in F1. The dream of being part of F1 it's huge but when it crashes it does with the spirit of drivers too. How many years López lost after getting out of Renault thinking his life was over or his talent wasted in Agentina's TC, TC2000 and Top Race championships? (well, it wasn't wasted, stock cars in Argentina give him way to the WTCC, but I think I made clear my point). He was so prepared for F1 that when he aplied all his training to race in stock cars in Argentina it made all top drivers follow his fisical training to compete against him. And that made those drivers more profesional. He was all the way ready to compete in Europe in other campionships rather than Argentina. When he became triple WTCC Champion it was not a coincidence. His talent give way to Toyota. And that's what I prefer. Colapinto has already raced in other type of cars and that's really positive. If his dream onsf reaching F1 doesn't acomplish he will have offers to race in other champiosnhips and he will become a prfesional driver anyways.

[@Nico_M.]

​@@TheMobileChicane To give a bit of context, car racing popularity competed with that of football, although it's currently declining. There are even rivalries between car brands (mainly Ford vs. Chevrolet). And a note of color, we have the oldest surviving car racing championship: Turismo Carretera, created in 1937.

[@TheMobileChicane]

@@guilledione1848 you make some great points here. Lopez was fully prepared for F1 in that 04-06 period (which as you say, gave way to better success in other series) but what dropped him back was that lack of success when it was needed in GP2. Kovalainen outperformed him, hence getting the nod when a spot opened up in 2007. But his efforts and success in touring cars and sports cars cannot be underestimated - he's been fantastic in that field.

[@MrNegativecreep07]

I believe Argentina is also the only GP to have run the same track configuration in opposite directions on successive years.

[@TheMobileChicane]

Great fact!

[@ThePapaja1996]

Monaco Grand Prix did do that to

[@periklaskyriakidis6064]

Maybe Colapinto can make it to F1. He's a really strong driver.

[@TheMobileChicane]

He's impressed so far, let's hope he can keep it up!

[@Razaak666]

He's definitely talented, I think he'd do good in F2. Regrettably, I don't think he's quite F1-material though, especially with so many up-and-coming talents atm. Still, I'd love it if he proved me wrong and got a seat.

[@mr.penguin6303]

you were right

[@a8m345]

Idk how you don’t have more subs, you’re exploring subjects no one else has done in an excellent manner, keep it up. Love this stuff

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thank you! Very kind of you to say.

[@whheaties2360]

Who else is here after Colapinto was announced to a Williams seat?

[@ripperevo2011rrchamp]

Here.

[@outcasts113]

Great video! You missed 2 drivers that raced in F1 along Reutemann: Miguel Angel Guerra and Ricardo Zunino, and a 3 near misses: Ricardo Mansilla, Victor Rosso and Juan Cruz Alvarez. Mansilla raced with Senna in FF and was the runner up of the 1982 British F3 beating the likes of Martin Brundle, tested a McLaren F1, but hes career was greatly affected by the Falklands war. Victor Rosso also raced against Senna on different series, and had good result different F2000 and F3 series, but was not able to get continuity. Juan Cruz Alvarez went all the way up to GP2 in 2005. From all these drivers, I think the Jose Maria Lopez was the only one that could have been successful in F1. He was very close to get to F1 with Renault in 2007, but unfortunately they picked the other test driver, Heikki Kovalainen. Pechito's successful career in TRC with Citroen and WEC with Toyota tells me he could have been a more than a decent F1 driver.

[@TheMobileChicane]

I did omit Zunino and Guerra, if only because they raced concurrently as Reutemann, but delivered little in the way of results. I knew of Mansilla and Alvarez (I did briefly have a section of this video including the selection of Argentine drivers who made it to F3000 and GP2, but stagnated there), but Rosso was one I hadn't seen. Lopez's success post-F1 and single seaters has definitely shown his talents - unfortunately, when he needed to perform at the top level to earn that F1 seat, he was beaten fairly comprehensively by Kovalainen, who promptly jumped into F1 by 2007, and then Piquet Jr.

[@SIXITHS]

@@TheMobileChicane I would say Zunino being at the Canadian F1 GP as a spectator and, through an incredible turn of events, competing in the race and finishing 7th is somewhat more then _"little in the way of results..."_

[@aguperie]

Wow, impressive narration. That awesome conclusion, with the hopes that Colapinto makes it to F1... made me drop some tears, not gonna lie. Although it lacks a few minor details (that I assume the language barrier/poor Argentine archival made it difficult to collect), you've been absolutely spot on with the stories, enourmous effort. Thank you so much!

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thank you Agustín!

[@SIXITHS]

No mention of Ricardo Zunino? The story of his drive at the 1979 Canadian GP is really incredible...

[@akis_mikon00]

And now Franco Colapinto will become the first Argentine F1 driver since 2001 and Mazzacanne... How time flies... Good video and analysis, btw 👍

[@Maartwo]

The story of Argentinean drivers in F1 is like history of our country. Once great, turned into nothingness and full of what-ifs. I'm proud of our drivers though, the few people that give me pride of being Argentinean are the likes of Fangio and Reutemann.

[@dodolurker]

I started watching F1 in 1998 and distinctly remember Esteban Tuero. What I could see, he did quite well and I wondered why he only did one season. Was hopeful this video would provide the answer as to why - no luck 😃 Also remember Gaston Mazzacane. Whoo boy, that guy was definitely out of his depth. Sure, he wasn't the worst... he qualified and finished races, even if he was usually in last place. Sort of second rate Pedro Diniz. And I do distinctly remember that race in Indianapolis, where he was in front of Häkkinen on merit. I was watching the Finnish broadcast at the time and the commentators went absolutely mental, they thought Mazzacane didn't let Mika lap him. Even though it was clear even to me that it was for position 😃. But yeah, it was clear from the start he wouldn't amount to much in F1 and was there on money alone. Oh, and 38:12 - you owe me a new keyboard, dude 😂

[@floriank3772]

Don´t know if i´m right, but i think Esteban had the chance to drive in 99 but decided by himself not to do it, cause some people where really joking on him

[@TheMobileChicane]

I would love to know his reasons for retirement myself! I remember growing up, all the season guides I would read just said something along the lines of "he retreated to Argentina to lick his wounds" - entirely unhelpful information! And I believe regarding 38:12, what you were trying to say was 'thank you'? You're welcome!

[@floriank3772]

@@TheMobileChicane You mean why are there no more Argentines anymore? well, i guess it is mostly about the money. big problem currently for whole south america... think about brazil, it is more or less the same. sorry, not that good in english, but i hope that what you meant.

[@TheMobileChicane]

@@floriank3772 it does sound like there’s a big lack of funds for anyone from that region!

[@outcasts113]

@@TheMobileChicane The guy that managed Tuero carrer and got him to F1, Eduardo Ramirez, said in an KZbin interview a a few months ago that Esteban was told to crash into Takagi to help Minardi beat Tyrrell in the WCC, and that he believes that a factor on Tuero's decision to leave F1.

[@tomlferrari2995]

I hope Colapinto makes it to F1.

[@nicosr9054]

I heard him on the argentinian radio the other day talking about how he has tried for a Formula 2 seat and he did good, but he cant afford paying for a seat. So really he needs to show a lot of skill for him to make it sadly

[@alito2804]

Unfortunately Norberto did not performed in the F1 test as they wanted to. He had a perfomance test in Estoril in 95 and was the slowest of 5 drivers that day and that seal his future. It was a pitty as Im sure with more KM on the car he would have had the pace need as he is a gifted driver. But we cant say Norberto did not had chances. Esteban as you mention retired because he just wanted to go back home, he regularly was sad being away and not having a good car or being always hunt by the media he was just tired and decided it was time to go back home with his family. They were other drivers with potential but lacked sponsorships to secure good cars in jr categories and when you dont have a good card in those series is really difficult to show your potential to a F1 team. I know first hand a lot of talented drivers that had the pace but not the money and that was it. Great video really accurate! Thanks for taking the time to show the Argentinean drivers history.

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thanks Alex!

[@marrybichaelmore3372]

That Emperors New Groove reference was appreciated 😅 Subscribed a few days ago, great content with a lot of work put into it 🤘

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thanks Marry, everyone knows there's always time for an Emperor's New Groove reference!

[@BugWarp]

Excelente video, muchas gracias!!

[@TheMobileChicane]

De nada, glad you enjoyed!

[@super_perez_RPP]

Not really about inspiration or not we just dont have much relevant national single seaters here like we used to 90% of them are touring car oriented, is a travel to europe and hope for the best and our economy is not the best which make it feel like climbing a mountain just to get into a F3

[@TheMobileChicane]

That certainly seems to be the consensus I’m getting from a lot of Argentinian commenters.

[@tomasalves7831]

I just finished watching all your vids, congratulations on the excellent work, keep it up, we'll be watching 😁👍🏻

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thank you Tomás, glad you’re enjoying them!

[@The_ZeroLine]

Alonso was also just 19 when he debuted w/Minardi. He spent the week before their first GP spending all night to build the car. He was quite handy w/tools. Likely one reason he understand the cars so well.

[@GilgaFrank]

Really fascinating to be reminded of the often overlooked back markers. I barely remembered names like Modena, Fontana, Morbidelli, and teams like EuroBrun so thanks for the trip down memory lane.

[@victorcsavage]

I'm enjoying the vid so far, but a trend I've noticed over all your videos is that their volume tends to feel really quiet. It's not a major problem, but I'd suggest you take a look at that for the future.

[@alimantado373]

A serious F1 channel at last👍

[@TheMobileChicane]

(cough) (hack) (wheeze) constant Simpsons references every video (splutter) (choke)

[@ajax700]

Reutemann last 1981 race Las Vegas he crashed with Piquet on qualifications and had to use the spare car which had many problems like gearbox constantly failing. The team was not interested of giving him Jones car. An interesting "what if" if the crash didn't happen or had a working car. I think Lole could have won (easily?) in 1982, he was better than Rosberg. But I think he was tired of 10 years of F1 politics and a very hostile environment in Williams team. And sadly there was an unnecessary war in the middle too. Fangio is known as "el chueco", el chueco Fangio, the bow-legged, that he was very, it can be seen on many photos. Ricardo Zunino was missing from the Reutemann "successors". Best wishes.

[@TheMobileChicane]

Seems like there was a lot going against Lole in 1981. Especially considering the rumours Bernie Ecclestone has spread. I opted not to include Zunino last minute, since his F1 journey ended in 1981, but I do wonder whether he was worth briefly touching on, given he had the opportunity to stick around in competitive machinery, had he been able to deliver.

[@ajax700]

​@@TheMobileChicane By Reutemann times Argentina was already a bankrupt country. So little support for him in the sponsors aspect. He only had his talent, like all Argentinian pilots. Some within the team like Patrick Head it was rumored preferred an anglosaxon-ish pilot like Jones and/or preferred the first Williams team champion, one can understand. Carlos in 1981 rebelled in Brazil, as he was the second pilot. His contract had a clause that if he was less than 7 seconds faster than the other pilot, he had to let him pass. It was an euphemism for "do what the team says". Jones had no "number 1" clause in his contract. So kind of lame of him to cry for Reutemann "disobediences" he he. Probably the team was angry with him after Brazil, when he was first and they ordered Carlos to let Jones pass him. But Carlos was consistently faster than Jones, no doubt. In Las Vegas 81, the muleto car setup was a mess, it was not like the first car, it couldn't be set up good it seems. He was kind of a wise man. He went to school in a horse drawn carriage, he got up to Formula 1, that's no small feat, he reflected a couple times. Almost being champion, having champion statistics. He was someone who risked to win. He left Ferrari and they got the title. He went to Lotus the champions and it was a mess. He left for champion Williams and it was very hard. I think Ferrari and Williams did not realize he was an extremely talented pilot, he was mistreated. Like Lauda was mistreated in Ferrari he got out kind of angry too. Fontana Macau race accident was a career destroyer for him, but he wanted to give back to the team that helped reach F1. Best wishes.

[@MG_Motorsport]

Great video , in fact I've watched a few of your video's and they are fantastic. exactly the type of video's I want to see (or in fact make myself except for lack of talent and knowledge of making vids) Great job and I look forward to seeing more :)

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thank you so much!

[@esas.147]

Fontana is still a great driver whose F1 career got ruined after that Macau crash and then in Jerez 1997 when he was almost blackmailed by Jean Todt to block Villeneuve under the promise that he would get a race seat in 98 if he helped Schumacher to win the championship (well, we know how that turned out to be..). Fontana himself admited this on some interviews the gave in Argentina not so long ago. That basically blew all his chances of getting any decent sponsorship deals as it was a PR disaster. Something important missing in this video about Mazzacane is that he's the son of Hugo Mazzacane, who has been running motorsport in Argentina since I can remember, being for many many years the chairman of the ACTC. You can even see the ACTC logo at some point in the video in Gaston's racing suit. Tuero was bullied out of retirement by the Argentine media. As you said, he had an OK season in 98, considering the equipment he had. He was also very young and was overwhelmed by it all and he also got fed up of sacrificing so much and then having to settle with running last. An interesting piece of information is the fact that it was debris from the Tuero/Takagi crash in the chicane in Suzuka that caused the puncture that forced Schumacher out of retirement in that race, giving Hakkinen the title (of course, Schumi had already damaged his chances dearly by stalling his Ferrari on the grid) Let's see what Colapinto can do. He is very talented and has shown a lot of raw speed, let's see how well he can navigate the politics of motorsport. I love your videos, great stuff. As a suggestion, I think some music in the background wouldn't hurt at all. Cheers!

[@jackmonaghan8477]

One year later and Colapinto is now part of the Williams Academy.

[@TheMobileChicane]

As a Williams fan - I'm very glad to see that!

[@Zarzamoritas]

Hey, Argentine here. According to the documentary "Lucky!" released this year, in 1981 Bernie Ecclestone bribed Williams to prevent Reutemann from winning the 1981 Caesar's Palace Grand Prix, forcing team orders to let Alan Jones win the race, and then finishing outside the points while eventual world champion Nelson Piquet would finish 5th to beat him by a single point. If I were to assume why this was done, I'd say that it was to prevent any social instability, as Reutemann would have had to stop racing either way. During the government of the military Junta and very close to the start of the Falklands War, having an Argentine driver win a championship in a British team would've been seen as pewny; betrayal, even. Fortunately after it didn't happen he came to be known as the "champion with no crown" because he did deserve the title; it was just not up to him.

[@BerserkerRohan]

This was interesting to learn about since all four of those drivers didn't get the chance they deserved. Fangio is probably one of the GOATS in F1 especially in the earliest days of the sport since being able to drive those death traps and really fast too is really impressive. Speaking of the GOAT, my choice would be Jim Clark. Reutermann was impressive in his time in F1 and was probably quick enough to be a champion but wasn't quick enough. It was fun to learn that he became a politician afterwards. Larrauri was stuck with Eurobrun and the first time I heard about that team was a video about the worst teams in F1 so yeah. It was interesting to learn that Fangio was the one who found his talent. I was also reminded about Stefano Modena too since he also drove for Eurobrun and that is another driver I am very eager to learn more about like De Cesaris. Too bad Fontana was basically stuck with nothing to do with Sauber which meant he couldn't give it his best when he was called up to race. I do think he would have done better in the Tyrrell in 1998 but it is hard to say since the car was a dog and Rosset was a quick driver before F1 too. It was impressive how quick Tuero got to F1 especially in 1998 but he wasn't able to do much with his very brief time in the sport. It was funny that he doesn't have a reason for why he left but all of those theories you suggested do make sense. Mazzacane was surprisingly consistent and he did have some fun moments like running in 3rd at the US GP but was pretty underwhelming most of the time which is why he didn't last too long either. Colapinto is having a decent F3 debut with 7th in the standings so far. If he can continue to improve, things might be turning around for Argentina F1 drivers. We had the French GP and it was not a good GP for Ferrari while Red Bull capitalize. Hopefully for Ferrari's sake, Hungary will bring better fortunes for them especially since it should be a good track for them. Other things I was thinking about was that Mercedes wouldn't be 3rd in the Constructors without their drivers considering how good Mercedes have had their last couple of races especially for Hamilton. I also hope for your sake that things go a lot better for Williams in the second half of the season. I feel like they are currently lacking in race pace.

[@TheMobileChicane]

At the moment, my highs for the season are when Williams get into Q2, or Albon is running 11th. That's about as good as it gets for a Williams fan!

[@BerserkerRohan]

@@TheMobileChicane Again, I do hope that Williams can bounce back after the summer since it is sad to hear that a high of the season is Albon running just outside of the points.

[@slowmaths7906]

this is my new favorite channel keep it up!

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thank you, will do!

[@namenamename390]

I've just watched this video a couple of days ago, and now Franco Colapinto has been announced as Logan Sargeant's replacement for the remainder of this season, making him the next Argentine F1 driver.

[@aircholo1245]

Again another great vid. Thanks for the hard work .

[@TheWelshmann]

Here after Colopinto was announced as Sargent’s replacement for the remainder of the season! 🇦🇷

[@FMAlchemist2006]

Just a comment about Reutemann in Las Vegas. He was the most prepared driver in that GP. He arrived to Las Vegas a week earlier and asked for a car to drive on the track. During the race, the gearbox was malfunctioning. Reutemann himself said that the car changed completely from one day to the next. Many believe it was sabotage, specially when the team celebrated Jones' win as if he had won the championship. Another one for the tin foil hat.

[@TheMobileChicane]

I've not been able to find a definitive answer to his issues - some sources have said it was down to Reutemann, others have spoken about the gearbox issues. Would love to crack out a tin foil to work that one out!

[@FMAlchemist2006]

@@TheMobileChicane I saw a couple of interviews where Lole says that he couldn't use normally the 3rd and 5th gears. Also, that he let Piquet overtake because he did not want to win a championship playing dirty. Piquet always recognized this as the gesture of a gentleman. The information is there, but mostly in spanish speaking publications. Perhaps you can make a video of the 1981 season in the future.

[@antemaric1098]

really enjoy watching your videos man keep up the grind

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thank you Ante, will do!

[@ivaneurope]

IMO Brazil is following the same path - after Felipe Massa retired at the 2017 season there is no Brazilian driver (as of 2023) that has competed in a full F1 season (I know that Pietro Fittipaldi did two races replacing Romain Grosjean for the final 2 rounds of the 2020 season). And this nation has given 3 world champions (multiple time no less) in Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna for a total of 8 titles among them. And I think the pressure on the Brazilian drivers from the media and fans to be the "next Senna" was lot higher than the expections for the "next Fangio" in Argentina given the timeframe and circumstances (Senna's death left huge shoes for his presumed heirs to fill, while Fangio's success was decades ago). And outside of Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa none of the next wave of Brazilian drivers impressed that much - some were even hired for the cash they brought with them. And IMO the social and economic climate is another reason why we don't see many drivers from South America these days - motorsport in general is very expensive and not many parents can provide the financing for their children's racing career (traveling to Europe isn't cheap either) unless they're wealthy enough or some benefactor. Football on the other hand is far more accessible and is very cheap (all you need is a ball and huge play field). In Argentina's case it's easier to churn out top football players like Mario Kempes, Diego Maradona, Gabriel Batistuta, Hernan Crespo and Lionel Messi. And it will be easier to find the next Messi (there are already some lined up to take the mantle in Julian Alvarez and Enzo Fernandez) than the next Fangio in Argentina

[@julianvizio2190]

Reutemann was a gentleman and for that reason he never talked about a thing that was common talking after las vegas: his car wasnt as fast as in other races and piquet had the big sponsors. Frank williams had a lot of those episodes as a team manager…

[@PG-20]

Franco Colapinto, you hold the motorsport hopes of a nation...

[@KimiFan2002]

Never knew Sauber was so appallingly mismanaged. No wonder they’ve never really done much in their many years in the sport. The way they treated Fontana was frankly disgusting, shame he didn’t have the balls to do a piastri and essentially dump them on their arse out of his own accord

[@MrBlazemaster525]

He didn't have the options to go elsewhere

[@Gp2ever]

JM Lopez at least became world champion in WTCC and WEC also 24hs LeMans winner ... Guerrieri won in IndyLights at Indianapolis but lack of money couldnt make it into IndyCars now he is on WTCR alongside compatriot Girolami . Colapinto is our hope but we need to give it time

[@Sirikazy]

Today's drivers like lewis hamilton will never reach the status of legends of the sport like Fangio, senna, Prost and so on. Today's cars don't rely as much on courage and skill or talent as pre-90s cars did. Schumacher knew what he was talking about. Cars are not only safer nowadays and that is why drivers take risks. But also the tracks. The limits that could lead to die were very close to the capacity of an average driver. Today that limit can easagaiily be exceeded by an average pro driver. witth no problem or risk. And that why in 20 year will steal talking about 50/60/70/80/ F1 and not to much of 90/00/10 and 20s F1. Also we won't see Argentinean drivers in the current F1 because the place depends more and more on the economic power of the driver or the influence of his sponsors. Talent is no longer fundamental to win a championship. Well! Great Video Again "The mobile Chicane"

[@AS19Motorsport]

Well well well

[@felipea.3221]

Hey, do a Brazillian version please. You make really good contente

[@TheMobileChicane]

That would be a great idea! I'll add it to my notes.

[@felipea.3221]

@@TheMobileChicane it would be so nice to see some underrated drivers, like José Carlos Pace, Roberto Pupo Moreno and Maurício gulgeomin. I Love your vids man, i watched all of them and now i have no good content tô watch about f1 haha

[@mauro77jjj]

@@felipea.3221 the GOAT Pupo Moreno

[@landiahillfarm6590]

The same can be said of Unites States drivers in F1. We had Phil Hill and Mario Andretti as Champions, and a short list of other very talented drivers but no one even CLOSE to a championship lead since Mario some 40+ years. For a motor head fixated country like the USA thats rather remarkable.

[@Olivyay]

In an 2006 interview, Fontana proved the "t*nfoil h*ts" right, as he explained he had been given the order to slow Villeneuve as much as possible (web search for "Inside stories from F1's last title-deciding scandal"). He probably obeyed because he still had hopes to keep his seat. Strange that you did not include this in the video and preferred to make fun of the situation.

[@TheMobileChicane]

Interesting, the tinfoil hats will be pleased to hear that!

[@aguperie]

He said in a documentary, that Jean Todt himself appeared in Minardi's garage before the race to expressely give him the order.

[@ananastudio]

@@TheMobileChicane that was also mentioned as being true by Villeneuve in the video _20 Years On | Jacques Villeneuve On Jerez 1997_ on the main F1 KZbin channel at the 4:47 minute mark

[@sebastiangomezbattista6260]

Yes, Fontana asked for JV forgiveness when the latter came to Argentina to run a few races

[@ripperevo2011rrchamp]

Good luck Franco Colapinto

[@FranciscoFJM]

Argentina is broke right now, we are heading straight to 2001/1989 in terms of economical crysis, we DONT have the money to finance an F1 driver and even if we did, our corrupt goverment is too busy fighting with itself to even think about it. Its a miracle Colapinto made it so far (Not saying he's not talented, i say it because of the aforementioned issues we have).

[@TheMobileChicane]

This certainly seems to be the main consensus I've heard from a lot of Argentinians in the comments. It's such a shame. Colapinto finished in the top 10 with a couple of wins this year, hope he can kick on next year!

[@TimmyTickle]

It’ll be interesting to see if Javier Milei can turn things around

[@DL-nn1ws]

Surprisingly enough, I own a Norberto Fontana replica mini-helmet from his 1997 tenure at Sauber.

[@TheMobileChicane]

Very cool!

[@speedweenie7394]

Jose Maria Lopez has been very successful in sportscars at least!

[@TheMobileChicane]

Well deserved too!

[@harryjones3039]

Keep up the good work mate 👏

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thanks Harry!

[@The_ZeroLine]

Simple. Hyper inflation, a fairly small population and w/no GP or Argentine driver, there would obviously be fewer prospects and fewer sponsors.

[@ohmawgawdVEVO]

Did NOT have see that picture of Botass

[@nicolasotero4338]

As an argentinian I would say the lack of private interest in our country to finance a driver and the only source of money for a driver is the country who is in a huge debt crisis so the situation is hopeless though Colapinto have the "marca argentina" sponsor from the goverment

[@BiggieTrismegistus]

That's something I hadn't considered. I have an interest in economic history and one thing I know is that Argentina's economy makes absolutely no sense and hasn't for like 100 years. Prior to World War I Argentina was about as wealthy as the US and Canada but now its not even close. What the hell happned?

[@Alexandr-vn4le]

​@@BiggieTrismegistus This is not the place to discuss that, but every single major crisis we had has to do with bad economics and an enormous state that is very hard to finance. So we either fall into an inflation crisis or a debt crisis to make up the budget deficits. And this is not even the fault of one political party (some people like to blame peronism only), but every single one of every political afiliation (military juntas (right wing), radicales (center/ center left), peronism (left-center-right, dont try to understand it) has had crisis. We also have an extremely uncompetitive and very closed economy, with an industry that produces overpriced products and is in the pockets of corrupt politicans (again, politicians of every political party).

[@user-sn8oe5sb1b]

@@BiggieTrismegistus Socialism happened.

[@jax4113]

You have no clue how awesome you are!!!!

[@TheMobileChicane]

Almost certainly not. Thank you Jax!

[@Sp4mMe]

It's kinda weird how F1 and driver countries work. I think it's 20 countries total that have a grand prix winner, and that's including Leclerc? Most of them European; some kinda "arbitrary" having one successful driver and then never again ... There's so many factors, many beyond the control of individuals. Zhou wouldn't have made it to F1 30 years ago. Lots of interest in finding a US driver currently, too. Other countries mostly have to rely on personal connections - see Mick for Germany or Fittipaldi for Brazil (even though Drugovich leads F2 I don't think he's going to make it). In that regard having this sort of chain broken as happened to Argentine F1 outings is undoubtedly a problem, but ultimately can easily happen to almost any country.

[@TheMobileChicane]

23 different nations have a grand prix winner - but as you say, there's a number on there (Poland, Venezuela, Monaco, hey even Netherlands), with just the one driver to thank for those. It's quite interesting how nationalities can play a part in someone's career. You only have to look across the motorsport world to a place like MotoGP, where for the longest time the governing body would actively push for drivers from the UK, Australia, or the USA, to satisfy a global audience, instead of other qualified candidates. As you say, it's an ebb and flow sort of situation with circumstance and opportunities. It's a great shame Drugovich won't likely make it to F1, as Brazil are long overdue another driver and the guy's clearly got talent. His lack of F1 connections are what have hurt him.

[@Sp4mMe]

On top of that there's the racing license arbitrariness. Rindt was born German but grew up in Austria and raced as Austrian. Nico Rosberg has German wins but obviously his dad was Finnish and he grew up in Monaco. If Albon won a race, Thailand would have a GP winner, but he's born and grew up in London / England etc. Well, "arbitrary" might be too strong a word, obv there's specific reasons behind the various cases.

[@BiggieTrismegistus]

Speaking of Brazil...where have all the Brazilian drivers gone? There aren't any in F1 and there hasn't been any for years. This weekend I realized the only Brazilian in IndyCar is 47 year old Helio Castroneves. They've been a fixture in both series for decades; here in the US Brazilians have won more Indy car races than any non-American nationality. Is Brazil in danger of going the way of Argentina? I sure hope not. Personally I don't think Drugovich will get an F1 seat either. If that happens I'd like to see him hop across the pond to the US so there can still be some kind of Brazilian presence in one of my two favorite series.

[@TheMobileChicane]

@@BiggieTrismegistus I think it's a similar story to Argentina from what I read under another comment - a distinct lack of sponsorship money available from South America.

[@Mateus_Carvalho]

Money and lack of space, to be honest. That and the level of the class ain't that amazing these days. Drugo's an exception.

[@crystalracing4794]

On a more serious note, despite F1's expansion outside Europe, it's harder for non-Europeans to make it in F1 unless there's a huge ton of cash for them to race in the European junior series, which is far more necessary now than it was back in the old days. Just look at Yuki Tsunoda, who clearly needed more than 2 years in Europe's top junior series of F2 and F3

[@TheMobileChicane]

The majority of feeder series to seem to be primarily Euro-centric, which like you say, requires a ton of cash to attend, not to mention completely uprooting yourself from family and friends at a young age, potentially to a country which might not even speak the same language as you. That's a lot for anyone, let alone young drivers.

[@crystalracing4794]

@@TheMobileChicane I recall Ralf, de la Rosa, Irvine, Salo & some others spending many years in Japan. Likewise Takagi & Nakano barely raced in europe before F1, but had no problems hitting the required level when they entered F1. But since the 2000s, Firman, Ide & Yoong practically fell on their faces when they drove in F1. It's not just the junior series, but racing in Europe for karting also improves a driver in the early teen years because Ricciardo's development seems limited by the years he spent in Australia and lowered his maximum ceiling

[@camillaquelladegliaggettiv4303]

Could Colapinto be the next Argentinian prospect?

[@TheMobileChicane]

Let's hope so!

[@FMAlchemist2006]

Yes, but luckily he does not see F1 as the ONLY possible future. Unlike Fontana, Tuero and Mazzacane, he has a team behind him that is steering him in the right direction. Either for a future F1 seat or WEC, or IndyCar.

[@Meodread]

As a Canadian harsh to say Mazzacane shows us up. I mean Stroll and Latiffi are bad, I'm not dying on that hill and of course they are only there for the money BUT they did earn super licenses. They did win junior races. And Stroll even an F3 title. The idea that anyone on the grid currently, and honestly for the last decade is as bad as Mazzacane is pretty ridiculous. The licensing standards would have prevented him regardless of cash from even getting a race seat.

[@TheMobileChicane]

Of course. That was less of a "Stroll and Latifi are as bad as Mazzacane" analogy. More a, regardless of ability, it's better to have any driver represent your nation on the grid, than to have none at all.

[@LathropLdST]

Tosser in the previous decade to the last, sure was.

[@amsterdamG2G]

I really enjoyed watching this 👍

[@pokefrosch617]

LOVE your content! But I personally would prefer less borrowed "non-racing- gag videos" in between. Your writing is very good, so your content doesn´t need it, and it is distracting.

[@estebannomas3542]

well i believe "el cabezon" translates to big head

[@crystalracing4794]

Gaston Mazzacane was a literal GOAT in the making.

[@FMAlchemist2006]

Very, very far from truth. Since he left F1 he has been competing in Argentina. He has won 3 or 4 races since, and he did so in Turismo Carretera, where his father is the president of the series.

[@crystalracing4794]

@@FMAlchemist2006 I'm joking lol

[@master-kq3nw]

F1 need back to.argentina but like version in 70s

[@ananastudio]

16:31 That is actually true. Fontana was told by his team to slowdown Villeneuve if he wanted to keep his seat.

[@FMAlchemist2006]

In fact, a few years ago, Villeneuve was invited to a special race in Argentina and shared the grid with Fontana. Fontana told him that he was ordered to block him to keep his seat.

[@TheMobileChicane]

I've heard this from a few people now. Both this, and that Tuero was ordered to crash into Takagi. Tin foil hats at the ready!

[@FMAlchemist2006]

@@TheMobileChicane never heard about Tuero and Takagi. But the Fontana story was confirmed by him.

[@michaelb6729]

What about a video on Australia's hits and misses ! 🙂 .... #multi21 😢

[@TheMobileChicane]

I'll certainly look into it!

[@michaelb6729]

@@TheMobileChicane ..... you have the greats of Braham(s) and Jones. And how close Webber could have won without Dieter's favouritism. 🤔 Actually, do a NZ-Au one. Bruce McLaren, Amon .....etc . Hartley - dud !

[@birandkoray]

franco colapibto will race for williams, update the video 😅

[@lucasz373]

VAAAAAAAMOS ARGENTINAAAAAAA

[@LathropLdST]

Grítalo en una quebrada. Capaz que te escuches gritar de vuelta 😂

[@joelapilainen]

Wasn't it Jos Verstappen who Ken Tyrrell unsuccessfully wanted to keep for 1998 what caused his exit from the team?

[@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1]

Yup it was

[@TheMobileChicane]

According to my 1998 Season Guide, Jos had an option to remain with the team, but it ran out at the start of November 1997, and no new contract was signed. Again, I suspect BAR may have nudged Ken into signing someone with more of a budget behind them.

[@Meodread]

I believe Jos was out before Fontana from the Silly Season Articles I read back in the day. I rather think there wasn't one thing that cause Ken to say screw it. Just this was the final straw.

[@mike04574]

maybe you could speak a little louder for the next video? just a suggestion.. still a great video

[@robertocuria7268]

Only Fontana and Larrauri being a good drivers.

[@itsmealex8959]

I'm surprised Argentina hasn't produced any drivers in the last few decades, especially when you consider their German heritage.

[@FMAlchemist2006]

We produce a LOT of drivers. But there are 2 main issues: 1- Lack of interest in formula cars. The highest you can get in Argentina is Formula Renault 2.0, tubular chassis cars light years away from any other Formula Renault in the world. We mostly have touring car series (too many) and drivers prefer to make a career in Argentina. 2- Lack of funding: being a country that has been pretty much in constant economic trouble since 2001, it is hard to get argentinian companies to sponsor drivers. They prefer to invest in argentinian pesos in the local series than in dollars abroad.

[@TheMobileChicane]

This certainly seems to be the consensus I'm learning from a lot of Argentinians.

[@NationOfMasturbation]

Carlos Reutemann almost won against Piquet tho

[@MooncricketsInc]

Weird not seeing any drivers from S. America in F1. Also a shame the focus is on shitty middle Eastern tracks to be added mostly..