Memories of Franchitti's great career

David Cuff
Team-mate and championship rival at David Leslie Racing in Formula Vauxhall Junior

"I did OK in the championship that year, but Dario had that spark of speed - something extra that made you think, wow.

"I was happy to finish second or third to notch up the points because I was little bit older, but the writing was always on the wall: he was going to get wiser through the season whereas I wasn't going to get any faster.

"It was always going to be tough for me to beat him. He made the odd mistake, but he had talent in buckets. Even at 17, he had everything he needed except a little bit of experience.

"I have no problem that I lost out to him in the championship on the last weekend. Wouldn't you like to lose a title to someone who goes on to become a legend?"

Graham Taylor
Engineer at Paul Stewart Racing in Formula Vauxhall Lotus

"We both underachieved in the first year in 1992. He finished fourth in the championship, but he was a little frustrated that he wasn't winning - and we were a little frustrated that he wasn't winning.

"He should have been challenging for race victories, but we never got it together. A big shunt in testing at Mallory Park in the middle of the year didn't help.

"It all culminated in a dip in our relationship, but we sorted it out and the next year was like falling off a log. We did it over a cup of tea at my house in Newport Pagnell and we became firm friends, and remain so today.

"I always remember that he would complain about the gearbox if I hadn't put it together. It was an H-pattern five-speed, and I just had a feel for how the gearbox went together that he really liked.

"I knew Dario would go a long way from the moment we first tested him at the end of 1991. Jackie [Stewart] asked me how he got on and I just said, 'Sign him'. It was as simple as that.

"The nice thing about Dario is that he's a connoisseur of motorsport. He has a deep knowledge of our sport and loves everything about it.

"He used to live in the back bedroom of my house, sleeping on a mattress on the floor. I had a lot of motorsport books and he read all of them. He wanted to know about motor racing and to study it in detail."

Andy Miller
Paul Stewart Racing F3 team manager/director of racing at Jaguar Racing

On Dario in F3: "Jan [Magnussen] was fantastic that year and did a brilliant job, but what no one takes into consideration is that the minimum weight limit at the time was the car on its own. That meant a light driver had an advantage and Dario gave away something like 15 kilos to Jan.

"In Formula 1 [with Stewart and Jaguar] we used to work on two or three tenths per 10 kilos. In F3, with a lower power-to-weight ratio, it's going to have an even bigger effect. That's what Dario had to fight against.

"Dario still did very well, it would be wrong to say he didn't. We were impressed enough that we were desperate to keep him for 1995 and were bitterly disappointed when he went off to the DTM with Mercedes. That's the best reflection on his season in '94 that I can come up with. We wanted him to stay.

"I'm convinced he would have gone on to win the title in '95, so his career path could have been very different. He needed to do another year in F3, a season or two of Formula 3000, and then I'm pretty sure he would have made it to F1."

On Dario's F1 test: "I wasn't very happy about testing Dario in the Jaguar at that time. It was never going to work: he was in the middle of his CART season and we were in the middle of a development programme. It should never have been allowed to happen.

"No one ever talks about the fact that he was driving on grooved tyres for the first time. They required a different technique, so coming from CART and a big, heavy car on slicks to a grooved-tyre F1 car was a massive step. It was totally alien to him. He didn't have a hope in hell of jumping in it and performing.

"It was a totally inappropriate situation at an inappropriate time."

Gerhard Ungar
HWA/AMG technical director

"I only have good memories of Dario. I was convinced of his abilities from the first time he tested for us. I was very impressed by his mentality. He did the test, but we couldn't give him the guarantees that he would be able to join our system, but then the opportunity arose and we brought him straight in.

"Dario was on pole for his first race with us at Hockenheim, but at the last pre-season test he'd had a massive crash. There was nothing left of the car. He bounced back to take pole at the same track something like two weeks later - that was pretty impressive.

"Everyone expected that Jan [Magnussen] would be better than Dario in the DTM after their F3 season together, but that wasn't the case. That was down to Dario's approach and mentality."

Norbert Haug
Mercedes Motorsport boss

"I've always been a keen AUTOSPORT reader and followed the McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award. I'd seen this young guy up on the stage wearing black-tie and I liked the sound of the name Dario Franchitti.

"After his F3 year, I said to Gerhard Ungar, 'We are always looking for young guys, why don't we try Dario'. He said, 'Yes, but this Jan Magnussen is also very impressive'.

"We decided to try them both. They were team-mates at that stage, of course, and we brought them both to Hockenheim, and neither knew the other was coming.

"Dario came into the pits, saw Jan and said, 'Not you again'. But Dario was quicker at that test and had two very good years with us. I think he learned a lot from Bernd [Schneider, Mercedes number one].

"When the ITC stopped, I wanted to find something for Dario. I had a contact with the Hogan team: he tested at Homestead and was immediately quick. The basic idea was to keep him for F1, although there was no masterplan.

"Maybe I thought he could drive for Penske [Mercedes' lead team in CART] one day. All I really remember is that I wanted to hang on to Dario because I knew he was such a talent."

Kim Green
Team Green/Andretti Green Racing team manager

"Dario had previously been driving for Hogan, and that was when everybody started to notice his pace. He joined us to run alongside Paul Tracy, so we had two new drivers for 1998. It was an all-new experience for us with those guys.

"Dario was always a very meticulous analyst of his racecar; trying to make it do what he wanted it to do, and not getting into panic-mode if it wasn't what he wanted for raceday. That was one of his strengths. And he always wanted to make sure he had a good relationship with his engineers.

"We had two completely different drivers. Tracy was one of the most naturally talented drivers of his era, but a little bit more emotional and prone to be rattled if he wasn't running up-front. Dario was quietly confident in his talent, extremely good at working through car set-ups and feedback, and was a calming influence on the team.

"For me, he never seemed to feel threatened by a team-mate: he was always very open, very confident that he could run with the best, and understood that sharing information with his team-mate was actually going to make the team better.

"I remember when Michael Andretti joined our team in 2001. Michael was not a big believer in team-work. Even when he was with his dad at Newman/Haas, apparently they used to keep secrets from each other!

"Eventually, Michael saw the value of team-mates like Dario and Paul, and together they got good results through 2001, 2002.

"As we moved into the Andretti Green era, I'd say that a lot of Dan Wheldon's success came from his mentoring by Dario, a lot of Tony Kanaan's success comes from Dario's calming influence. They developed a great friendship.

"And it's the same for Danica Patrick - Dario was immensely important in helping her to develop as a driver."

Michael Andretti
Andretti Green team boss

"When we were forming the [Andretti Green] team, Dario was the first guy I went to see if he was interested in continuing with us.

"Was it hard to convince him to move from Champ Car to the IRL? I don't think so. He was definitely disappointed at that point to be leaving the road courses, but he did understand the politics of everything that was going on.

"In his first year with us [2003], he had to miss most of the season because of his motorcycle crash. I was ready to wring his neck on that one, for sure. We were really disappointed that he didn't get to run the full year. It gave a guy like Dan Wheldon a chance to get in, but it would have been nice to see what Dario could have done in that first year.

"Tony Kanaan was right in the championship until the last race, and I assume that if Dario could have been in the car all year, he could have been a contender for that championship.

"With Dario, things seemed to click all of a sudden in 2007. He'd always shown signs of greatness, but something would be holding him back. But in 2007 it all came together, and nobody could beat the guy. He had the confidence, the experience, and he went on to enjoy four years that a lot of guys who are great drivers would never get to experience.

"When he left to try NASCAR, that was disappointing for us. He left our team to do that and unfortunately he hooked up with Chip [Ganassi], who brought him back into IndyCar.

"We'd have loved to have brought him back, but Chip had first dibs on him at that point. But if he hadn't have done NASCAR, he may have won five titles in a row. You never know. He was on such a roll at that point in his career that he would have been unstoppable."

Tony Kanaan
IndyCar champion

"As much as it hurts not seeing him compete with me, I'm delighted that he got out of that accident and is still here with us. It's my best friend who is retiring. There's nobody else I wanted in that seat more than him.

"He came to my house and I took him to all the tests he needed to do. We talked a lot. I tried to expect the worst because I didn't want to get too disappointed, so no, I wasn't surprised.

"I'd rather have my friend around. The guy had a remarkable career - four championships and three Indy 500s. He's a legend in this sport. He came out on top. It's a pretty risky, life-threatening situation that you don't want your friend to be in."

Mike Hull
Chip Ganassi Racing managing director

"Besides Dario's sheer ability on a racetrack, I enjoyed his uncanny way of being able to get the most out of the car when it counts. But what I appreciate about him equally was that he has an enormous appreciation for the sport that he represents.

"He understands the people that preceded him, he understands his generation, and he understands making sure that the future generations are protected by the way that he represents the sport.

"A lot of race drivers - and I don't mean this in a demeaning way - they sort of treat motor racing as a tear-off. They're in it, they get the most out of it, but they don't truly appreciate the sport itself. But Dario really appreciates the sport.

"I really feel that he had unfinished business of historical significance. By the person that he is and the depth of his appreciation of our sport, the stature of what he could have done would have been very special.

"The pinnacle for our team is the Indianapolis 500. When you can be part of a team of people that includes drivers of Dario's level that win a significant motor race, that stands out.

"Indianapolis is not about just the race. Indianapolis is about all of the preparation to get into a position to win the race, and that's representative of how Dario lives. Every day of his life was all about race day.

"The phrase 'pay it forward' exemplifies drivers like Dario in a team situation. He was totally unselfish from our side, willing to give more than he ever expected to get back.

"Certainly, the contributions that Dario made this year helped us to win the championship with Scott Dixon, and conversely I think you could say that when Dario won the championship, Scott did exactly the same thing.

"They were very unselfish in their desire to help each other. That's so hard to find in motor racing."

AUTOSPORT CELEBRATES FRANCHITTI'S CAREER