If F1 drivers are so good, why is Montoya having such a hard time in NASCAR?

Question

I keep hearing how F1 drivers are more skilled than NASCAR drivers, and that they are the best car racers in the world. That couldn't be further from the truth.

F1 drivers are just the best open wheel racers in the world. If F1 drivers were so special, Montoya would be doing a lot better than he is in NASCAR. He isn't doing well, and that is because he is nothing special in the NASCAR racing category.

You can't just blindly say that F1 drivers are the best car racers in the world without having some real evidence to show that they cope in any racing series. When an f1 driver actually wins the NASCAR title then I might change my mind, but until then:

1: F1 drivers are much better at F1

2: NASCAR drivers are much better at NASCAR

3: F1 drivers struggle in NASCAR

4: NASCAR drivers would struggle in F1.

Answer 1

Why is Jeff Gorden, who has 4 championships, having such a bad year? They would both like those answers.

Answer 2

maybe he is struggling because NASCAR cars aren't FORMULA 1 cars !!!! =)

Answer 3

well we named Montoya the crash bandit before he came to NASCAR!!!

Answer 4

Last time I checked, the majority of Montoya's career has been spent in an open wheel car. Making the jump over to a stock car is not easy, but he's running better than many guys that have been doing it longer. As a F1 driver, Montoya didn't exactly set the world on fire. Looking at Ganassi's stock car teams doesn't show a bunch of success, either. Not too mention he's on his 3rd crew chief already this year. That doesn't help.

Answer 5

please, nascars are just old cars, with big engines. F1 cars havent even got such big engines but go same speed due to all the technology in aerodynamics, torque ect.

there better cos they turn more corners, overtake in more amzing places, cant allow to collide otherwise thier car brakes appart and have the best drivers from all around the world to do it. Driving usually has alot more braking, and gear shifting than just going straight... so it cant even be that easy to get into first place in NASCAR without the fastest straightline speed car if you cant show off ur skills in the other shizzle.

put a Nascar driver in an f1 car and ul see him crash the car hard and FAST!

Answer 6

Its because Montoya is not expirenced enough and he is a sore loser in F1 and in nescar races.

Answer 7

Well you are right to an extent- but the thing is that Montoya is just one F1 driver. Also he is currently in 16th place in the Sprint championship, and if you think about it thats not thattt bad. If a NASCAR man came to F1 he would finish dead last for the first couple of seasons. But you are right when you say F1 drivers are the best open wheel drivers not the best drivers. I mean lets look at Juan's record.

Formula 3000 champion

Indy 500 champion

CART champion

7 time race winner in F1- out of 95 starts, 90 of them being in a race winning car. Not that great.

Now for sure, it shows that he is a prominent figure in open wheel, but I still wont call Montoya best of the crop due to him being destroyed by Kimi Raikkonen in 2005, who is now not having an easy time beating Felipe Massa not that great of an F1 driver.

So just because he was good in open wheel, does not make him automaticly good in a diffrent displince such as NASCAR. The World Rally Championship is often considered the championship with the hardest driving, but it doesnt mean if 4 time WRC champion Leob stepped into a F1 machine he will be any good at it.

F1 drivers are considered the best at the world because F1 is precived as the most difficult motorsport- the pinnicale of motor racing. But many of the displines learned in F1 can proove useless in any other form of racing.



This video should show you why F1 drivers are considered the best in the world:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-eiKYyVr...

But for the mean time u are right- F1 is F1 and NASCAR is NASCAR. Alot of experince or success in any of them wont help much if u switch to the other.

Answer 8

Montoya is having a hard time cause he's not one of the good ole boys redneck racists that's why.

Answer 9

yes and no, remember Montoya isn't on one of the top 3 teams in nascar either, wher he on Hendrick Gibbs, or rouche I'm sure his nascar record would be much better, i do believe he is the only ganasi driver with a win since he has been in nascar so take that for what its worth,

i do agree that being the best F1 driver is different than being the flat out best driver in the world, i dream for a return to the old days where drivers took any drive available for the right price, but the days where a guy like Mario andretti could actually race a full Indy car and F1 series in the same year are long gone, h**l we cant even get F1, nascar, and Indy car to stagger their races on memorial day so we could see some good cross over talent,

I'm sure their are a few drivers in F1 given the right ride could do quite well in nascar, and I'm sure there are a few Indy car and nascar drivers that put in a Ferrari could score a few podiums

and for those that say Montoya was c**p remember his 7 f1 wins are more than 3 quarters of the current f1 field combined

in fact only Hamilton, raikkonan, coultard, Alonso and barrichello have more wins, not bad for a guy racing in the height of the schumacher dynasty

Answer 10

Simply put, Montoya is (was) massivley over rated in F1, 7 wins in 4 years with the BMW Williams ( 3 of those years the fastest F1 car) and 1.5 years with Mclaren, wasn't that good, really. (2005 Mclaren should of won championship).

Montoya isn't the best NASCAR driver, he is finding it even more difficult than F1 as the cars are far more equal, requiring skill to take the lead.

Answer 11

I will answer your question with another question: Why are bears so bad at being cows?

Answer 12

Yes Nascar drivers would struggle in F1 big time...Montoya was Rookie of the Yr in Nascar last yr, managed a Road Course win in Busch Series in Mexico and a Cup win in Sonoma. If Ganassi had decent equipment, and quit doing the ole Nascar disease Swap-a-crew-chief-itis, geez Chip quit it, Juan was having a pretty good dang season, Juan has learned quickley, I wish he was in a Hendrick, Childress or Roush-Fenway car then we could see Juan Pablo's real talent, he is a hard charging latino, I like him....I say put Juan in great equipment,he will produce greatness, but until Ganassi gets there c**p together none of the 3 guys on the team are going to do anything...To bad for Juan, I say..

Answer 13

Montoya was never happy in F1, he had to discipline himself a lot and he's not that sort of guy.

He was driving for a top team which means there were great expectations and demands placed on him and he appeared not to be at ease with the team and F1 in general.

He had the talent to succeed in F1, he didn't have the drive. He was F1 material talent wise, but never really cut out to be an F1 driver.

He doesn't enjoy much success in NASCAR because they pretty much drive the same equipment and one has to be very focused and work on the details.

Montoya isn't that determined.

He appears to be enjoying himself more though in what is a more laid back environment.

Answer 14

its simple...montoya is not good at f1 but not really bad too....so does in nascar, hes not the slowest one....:)

Answer 15

Nascar is a very different form of motorsport, I have respect for the way they drive flat out at hish speed for tremendous periods of time trying not to touch the wall. But that said, an F1 driver is still more complete.. at least in general.

Race of Champions: Jimmy Johnson vs Michael Schumacher anyone?? Johnson was almost ashamed, even though to be fair, Schumacher was a phenomenon even for F1 standards. F1 cars are a lot more complex to drive than any other car. There was this guy who drove a bugatti veyron and thought he could drive an F1 he spent 10 minutes trying to get it to start, he moved 40 meters...

First they have to learn to start it.. that's like 10 minutes of start and stall... then they have to learn to go fast, and I mean fast because the problem is, that if they try to start slow, they spin. The tyres are too cold and in order to keep them up to temperature they have to go very fast right from the start, there's no time to get used to it you know, drive slow and try to go faster little by little... the guy from the youtube video, Martin Brundle, is an ex F1 driver and still struggled because he was no longer young enough to do it.

In short, a nascar driver would struggle a lot more than Montoya in nascar.. and montoya was fast but also erratic even in F1 plus he is not in a nascar top team..