Vincenzo Sospiri - The Man Who Inspired Schumacher 

I live in Indianapolis. I knew of Sospiri because he was some no-name Euro driver that just showed up outta nowhere and qualified on the front row for the 500. Which not very many rookies do. Wasn’t until YEARS later I learned about him and the Lola Mastercard stuff 👍

glad Sospiri finally gets the credit he deserves with this video

One piece of unsolicited advice: at this stage, just focus on watch time, not views. One of first story videos I did was 39 minutes long and had less than 10,000 views for a year. But ppl watched more than 20 minutes at a time. It was disheartening bc I focused on the wrong thing. Now it’s got a few million. You’ve got an incredible base of evergreen content which is virtually impossible to make. I wish someone told me not to fret, long content wins 10/10 even when views are “lower”. Keep going man. I know it’s a grind. But I love seeing channels like this. It’s so rare. And ppl want it. Eventually I promise you, they’ll find you. Just be around when they do.

If Michael Schumacher says one of his biggest influence was a name many have not heard, don't question it. You don't need to know a guy to know he's a legend.

Björn Wirdheim is now an expert on Swedish F1 broadcasts and while he may never have raced in F1 he did tons of tests and practice sessions! It's always interesting to think "what if this person did a Schumacher style one race sub and took off"...

You can name a lot of drivers that were great in the junior categories but they either struggled in F1 or couldn't drive in F1. Sospiri is an unusual case since he had the talent but he was unlucky to not get the chance he deserved which is a shame. At least his career after Lola was a lot more positive. This story also reminded me of Giorgio Pantano who was so dominate in karting that Fernando Alonso called him invincible but when he got to F1 with Jordan in 2004 he struggled and couldn't even see out the whole season if I am remembering correctly. Also he was Italian too and I will say that there are so many interesting F1 careers for Italian drivers. In other news, I got a F1 book for my birthday that was like a preview for the 2022 season kind of like your video but your video is way better. Perez won in Monaco after Ferrari throw away an easy win and Marcus Ericsson won the Indy 500 with Grosjean crashing in the race as well which is a funny coincedence.

This kind of reminds me of the way Nyck de Vries is talked about by drivers who made it before him to f1 Karting and junior prodigy too

In F1 you need a sponsor or a daddy with money like Mazepin, who raced a whole year without having the talent. If Vicenzo (, who had the talent ) had that, he would have been a known F1 racer. Well researched and another great video. Thank you so much.

The legend has returned ‼️

These videos are so good, you do so much research and it shows how with much effort you put in the videos, hoping you do well in the near future

Best f1 channel. Looking at this i think what if Michael never got that Jordan call?

Just discovered the channel today and already I’ve watched almost everything you’ve posted. Can’t wait to see more…keep up the great work!

Many talented young drivers who would had the ability to win the F1 title if there were someone to back them. We will never know what he could've achieved at the highest level.

Respect for digging up those old karting footage held in a park in Hong Kong.

Maybe you could take a look at Roberto moreno, he is one of my favorite drivers who had such bad luck, and was stuck at back marker teams for most of his career, he’s like sospiri in many ways

Perhaps the story of many talented drivers that did not have the chance to succeed in F1, great presentation! Top notch quality content

Bravo - This is another highly informative, meticulously researched, beautifully put together, finely scripted and narrated video. A very classy and rewarding watch!

It’s only after watching this that you discover who Michael got the design of his helmet from. Great stuff!

The irony behind Mastercard attempting to not get left out in sponsorship. The way they rushed Lola into '97 (considering '98 was all new regulations as well, so the car was effictively useless after the season) and then pulled the plug after the inevitble happened means I will never get a MasterCard credit card. If they scam them, what's to say they won't scam ME?

What a great channel you have,always great content!

Beautiful! Thank you.

Fantastic insight. I'll subscribe and share, so that you wont't be the Vincenzo Sospiri of F1 RU-vid, but one amongst the champions

Sospiri’s plight as a driver that legends love is very similar to Giorgio Pantano. He was reportedly unreal at karting level, and a lot of 30-mid 30’s guys now mention him as a legend

thank you, God bless you man honestly i love you, keep going🏁

Thank you for the brilliant video.

phenomenal video, man. love the passion and research put into it. you have great presentation, and your narration style is unique, calming and professional. keep at it and the algorithm will find you. the views might not be there now, but they will be.

This video is so well done! I had to subscribe! Your channel is a true gem, please continue to make these kind of videos in the future!

Definetly my favorite f1-related chanel. I can’t be the only one Who loves These Long-format videos. You make the stories so interesting with your insight and calm voice. Hope you go full-time in the future, more content is very welcome, But quality comes first, and this is top tier.

Great video, appreciate the effort that has gone into it.

Well done Simon💪 keep going👍

What a random and wild video! Love it!

Absolutely love your channel and videos!

Just discovered your channel and I've been binging all day. Great vidoes mate.

I today discovered and basically binged pretty much your entire channel, amazing work keep it up, looks like the youtube recommended algorithm is smiling on you

You videos are good for 300k... don´t stop! Great edition and narration. Good job! From Portugal!

I've stumbled to your channel and I must say I'm so glad I did I've seen two videos so far and they have been awesome! I love watching content like this definitely your getting my sub! Keep up the amazing work can't wait to see more!

Great Video! You deserve much more subscribers! Keep up the good work :)

I just watched all of your awesome videos, Hope to watch more stories on other categories as well like CART, WEC and others. Keep going

Your videos have so much quality! Wonderful video essay with great relevant media-and narration. It’s crazy you don’t have a million subscribers.

Glad to see you cover guys and teams that the world doesn't know. This is quality stuff.

Yes I remember Sospiri in karting and in Formula Ford. World kart championship is a wonderful title to win. Terry Fullerton beat Senna to win and was always mentioned as one of the best Senna ever drove against. Sospiri was lucky in many ways not to race a Nick Wirth design F1 car, yet you can understand why he would of driven anything. The Mastercard debacle was extremely sad, I so wanted Lola to succeed. Ah well Good to see Sospiri running his own team and doing well. Great little insight in the troubles you can have trying to advance your career. Thanks for posting.

Fantastic video!!!!

Amazing work man, keep it up!

Loving the channel. Keep it up!

Amazing video!

This is amazing. And that Jörg Müller mention is plus points too. Subbed.

Great narration

Have anyone told you that you have such a soothing voice. Great content as always btw!

Great video! I do have to point out though as a nerd for the FIA Sportscar Championship, Vincenzo did do a few races in 2002 in the R&M Judd (carbon-tubbed Riley & Scott) alongside Mauro Baldi.

This was very good. I didn't know how much this would fascinate me. Thank You so much. I subbed, but now I'll ring the bell. Arigato gozaimasu Sensei.

A record to be proud of.

great video mate! really thought you were gonna mention senna saying about terry fullerton being his inspiration for very similar reasons (karting purity).

Keep up the good work! Hope we will see more of 90's themes like Panis winning in Monaco, why will Minardi always be the best backmarker of all time and the best coffee in paddock (that's where i started to love Luca Badoer and found your channel), the story of awful Ferrari in 92', or how Sauber became a ground for making many good drivers, Larousse and Pacific... Great job!

Subbed. Keep up the good work my friend!

Great storytelling, great hints to british homour, great topics! Keep on!!!

Nice video, I used to wonder about the story of the master card Lola. Also your channel name is awesome.

Did not expect a Dayoman cameo LOL

Best Italian race driver ever

Never thought I’d see Mark from Aunty Donna in an F1 video ♥️ 😂 nice one 👌

I never once noticed the similarities in their helmets till now. 1:29 I always thought it saw a Schuey original. I distinctly remember him having a good sportscar run in ISRS Co driving with Emmanuel Collard in the 333SP. Won a couple titles,maybe a few. I knew who he was through his junior formulae,and he was the last F3000 champ before it went "Spec." So he obviously had some kind of chops. I just never knew he was that inspirational to MS.

Vincenzo Sospiri man, if only we saw him in an F1 car that could actually qualify

Thank you for this video! This guy was screwed by f1 and just couldn’t get a break. Mastercard bloody Lola! And his useless team mate got another two stabs whilst he was never seen again!

I was one of his mechanics in Italian F3 in 1992. He was very fast and intelligent and a really nice bloke.

I know who jorg mueller is as a driver as a J J Lehto fan I know he was quick as hell. Thanks for the video

Awesome video. Can we get one on Giorgio Pantano?

Guy must be a formula 3000 veteran back then, spending his time there for quite a long time.

I can't wait for someone to become the next Hamilton and say their inspiration was lord Mahaveer raghunathan

Great video but just one small point; if I recall correctly Berger was out for 3 races on compassionate grounds as he was grieving the death of his father, not due to illness.

At least he raced 🏎 , if he stayed at indycars he would have won more but perhaps he knew how dangerous oval racing 🏁 is. Perhaps there was a different reason 🤔. Still he has won races in his life and that a wonderful reward:)

This is a fairly sad story of a man with clear talent who just never got the chance due to finances

I actually didn't know about the whole Simtek thing. I'm moved to wonder whether or not one could argue, rather crudely of course, that Sospiri owes his life to whoever supplied Ratzenberger with more money as he would've been sat in that very car at Imola 1994.

I wonder how many people actually catched the "moving on up" reference😂

Riccardo Patrese. Good guy too. Shout out to Heather Small.

Grand Prix winner or not, he drove an F1 car and you can never take that away from him

Ah Alex Wurz....now there was a driver that was far too good looking for F1....or at least that's my feeling anyway. I've only really got to know of the Mastercard Lola (and by turn Sospiri's) saga later as even though I was watching F1 at the time, I hadn't really taken it all in as to what was going on (I was a kid and the inner politics of every team eluded me for a while. It was a great shame but nothing out of the ordinary although I do feel sorry that a man like him got just one race while Tosser...ahem, sorry, Rosset got another chance the next year. The fact that he still managed to keep his enthusiasm alive for motorsport truly is an inspiration because I sure as hell couldn't cope with that amount of rejection. Here's to his continued success in motorsport.

27:18 :D:D:D

10:11 Big juan spotted

I honestly can’t blame the guy for jumping on the Lola train, I probably would’ve too.

Don't you think young Vincenzo Sospiri looked a little like young Billy Bragg?

As Antônio Pizzonia learned the hard way….. All that matters is money… No money, no F1 seat

The Lola story is exactly why accountants just ruin everything when they are in charge.

Mentioning he couldn't afford his Simtek seat followed by who it went to...talk about dodging a bullet

That contract Lola signed with MasterCard must have been absolutely terrible.

Giorgio Pantano Sr. Sospiri deserved at least 2 full F1 seasons to see his real level and not that pathetic Lola

"the man who inspired MS and MS consider to be the GOAT"... Senna. It's Senna. MS talked about this a million times ffs.

Really shitty of MasterCard, push them team into an early campaign then bail when the inevitable calamity takes place.

Good video with obvious good research, although you used Schumacher name as a pure bate 😀 Where you could improve is making your commentary a bit lively. It sounds too clinical. And the occasional joke attempts come out of place. But content is good, keep up.

In other words, f1 is 10% racing talent 10% car, and 80% political connections…

What about Stefan Bellof?

Sospiri was robbed of his F1 career with MasterCard Lola :(