Mehri is just... an anomaly. I don't know how to describe him other than a treat to watch knowing he's gonna be somewhere in the world of racing at any given time.
The only guy to ever manage doing F1 and Formula Renault at the same time, like wtf. Manor going into that season with him and Will Stevens will forever be one of the funniest driver lineups in F1 history.
Not quite right. There's other relative recent driver that has done that: Jaime Alguersuari. He was racing in the FR 3.5 when he was called by Toro Rosso to replace Sebastien Bourdais in mid seasson, but he continued to race in the FR 3.5 Championship while he was driving for Toro Rosso.
@@Cellsius I didn't know that, thanks. I remember Gasly doing the same with Super Forumula when he was called up to Toro Rosso. But i'd still say starting the season knowing you'll do both is even crazier than that happening through a mid season call up.
Thing with Merhi is that he doesn't only have the money and backing to drive literally anything that's available for money, but also is rather talented, as shown on so many occasions. Guy's good on money and speed. Hope he keeps his stuff up, it's genuinely fascinating!
Earl Bamber has a great story, from commentating to that super final race in Superleague Formula, Ordos 2010, having never sat in the car before Friday practice, helping him to be a cult hero to some fans, a must watch 12 mins for any motorsport fan. (stefmeister2008 for video footage, 40:00 into '2010 Superleague Formula - Round 10 - Ordos (Review)'). A highlight in his varied/random but successful career. But even that doesn't compare to Mehri. All he is missing now is IndyCar, but I wouldn't bet against it.
I mean, he won the Le Mans 24h without all that much Prototype experience and the Nürburgring 24h in what was essentially a privately entered Ferrari competing against an armada of german factory teams this year. Those are 2 very rare achievements.
@michiadams True, but in those races he is sharing the seat. Still unbelievably brilliant, but it all started in Mongolia, and without that weekend, maybe he never gets the chances that came afterwards. Also he did a random Nascar race. Maybe Earl and Roberto share a common trait, their love for racing anything and everything.
@tohruberthon47 I think Linus deserves a drive first. Plus that is too regular for Roberto, he needs Coyne for a few rounds, then ECR and then for Andretti, in NXT.
I really respect this career, seems like a lot of fun, wheres many drivers would feel to big or good to go back to the lower series, he just wanted to drive. Younger drivers im sure can learn a lot from him.
This guy's career is about as linear as spaghetti on a dinner plate, but it does seem pretty fun to race in so many types of cars and leagues and in some occasions having sucess in them.
Great video, thanks, I haven't known half of it. Another driver, who simultaneously raced in F1 and in a feeder series, is Jean Alesi back in 1989. He was called in as a midseason replacement for Tyrrell, but Eddie Jordan would not let him out of his F3000 contract, so for him, when clashed, F3000 had a priority over F1! Tyrrell had to find another replacement for 2 rounds. But he won the F3000 title that year, his only championship win. In the same year, he also competed in 2 rounds of the Japanese F3000, Le Mans 24 hours and also an IMSA GT race! What a chaotic season.
Then he went to Ferrari in '91 after contract malarky at Williams, Benetton in '96 and '97, Sauber '98 and '99, Prost GP in '00 to the first half of '01 then Jordan for the other half of 2001
@@dangerdean9066 Yeah, people usually tell his '91 Williams-Ferrari story that he chose Ferrari because of his italian roots but the truth is he was always a B option for Williams. They wanted Senna and then convinced Mansell to reverse his retirement plans instead of him.
Merhi it's like a real world Gran Turismo player, jumping from category to category when he likes, and doesn't care if he drives a Super GT, open wheel, or a 70s custom car.
Another random thing in his career: in October 2019 he attended the FIA F3 collective tests in Valencia with Campos, 8 years after winning the Euroseries.
Merhis is a Driver. He doesent care if its a Closed Cockpit, a Spec series or the top Flight, if there is a car to drive and someone offers him a seat, hes gonna take it with a smile and drive.
Honestly he is living the dream. Sure, maybe not f1 champion material, but he loved racing and just races whatever he can get. Sounds like a fun lifestyle
He is, for sure, one of the best drivers put there... If only he had some more time to adapt to each car and get the last tenth... That being said, I hope he tries Indycar soon!! I really want to see him fighting against that Dallara...
IIRC Jaime Alguersuari did the same thing mixing F1 and FR3.5 in 2009 after Toro Rosso fired Bourdais. It's a shame that championship is gone, it was a better feeder series than GP2 for a while.
This guy is a once in a lifetime talent not many drivers can say they have pretty much done it all well besides Montoya but yeah not very common for a driver of that caliber to come out and rock
Roberto mehri just pulled up to the 2015 singapore gp, and since than i never fergot him, but deamn he had an awsome carrere, guess max verstappen is jelous
Roberto's career is fascinating, just, he goes anywhere the opportunity arises for him, I mean, I think it's getting to the point where you can't consider yourself a Real Top Level Racing Championship till you have Roberto driving in it (joke, hehe) but honestly, considering how many drivers end up being one and dones (one season) it's nice to see Roberto racing, he's a solid talent who on the right day is one of the best drivers on any grid
Mehri has a fascination for open wheels, he jumps on one of them the first opening he sees. Also, maybe he doesn't like to be chained to one specific championship.
9:08 A podium that should have been a win, because he got penalized after finishing 2nd for track limits he hadn't done, then the winner was disqualified, so therefore he would have been the winner!
I know that Tony Stewart has driven basically anything with four wheels at some point (NASCAR, IRL, USAC, IROC, IMSA, NHRA, just to name a few), and Juan Pablo Montoya has a similar case (CART, IRL, NASCAR, F1, ITCC, IMSA, WEC, again just to name a few).
Kyle Larson (Nascar, IMSA, every type of dirt racing under the sun and Indycar next year) is the closest thing to Stewart nowadays I'd say. And of course Shane Van Gisbergen: V8 Supercars, Toyota Racing Series, WRC, Sprint cars, drifting, several international GT3 series, WEC and IMSA starts and now Nascar Cup and Truck Series. Probably forgetting something.
That guy would probably rival Hamilton had he had the opportunity. But to me it seems like the guy just enjoyed driving things, and just happened to be extremely good at it, unlike many others with the same inclination.
The answer is he either has a lot of wealth, probably from being born in a rich family, or is able to raise substantial sponsorship dollars that buys him into rides as an A/K/A Pay Driver. There does not have to be rhyme or reason, or some sort of trajectory in his racing travels. It is how much money he brings to the table and who has an open seat for a funded driver.
His career is just trying every mod you downloaded on assetto corsa
Open Content Manager > Drag RAR and install > Choose car and random track > voilà
And also downloading every custom championship and career mod available
God why is it so true😂
Team boss : "So you wanna join our team?"
Roberto : "Yes"
Team boss : "what's your previous racing experience?"
Roberto : "Yes"
Mehri is just... an anomaly. I don't know how to describe him other than a treat to watch knowing he's gonna be somewhere in the world of racing at any given time.
The only guy to ever manage doing F1 and Formula Renault at the same time, like wtf. Manor going into that season with him and Will Stevens will forever be one of the funniest driver lineups in F1 history.
Sounds somewhat like NASCAR's "buschwhacking"
Not quite right. There's other relative recent driver that has done that: Jaime Alguersuari. He was racing in the FR 3.5 when he was called by Toro Rosso to replace Sebastien Bourdais in mid seasson, but he continued to race in the FR 3.5 Championship while he was driving for Toro Rosso.
@@Cellsius I didn't know that, thanks. I remember Gasly doing the same with Super Forumula when he was called up to Toro Rosso. But i'd still say starting the season knowing you'll do both is even crazier than that happening through a mid season call up.
Merhi is like the racing form of the meme where you choose your career by blindly throwing darts and just do what it lands on
He is a proper racing driver. It seems that he is just happy to be driving and I really like that!
Literally one of the most random racing careers in history.
I wouldn't be suprised if tomorrow Mehri decides to race in a rental karting championship
He probably does all the time, we just don't know it
Mehri jumps around like I change which game I race.
At this point Merhi should do a NASCAR race
A dip into the Xfinity series (I’ll say for road courses; Mid Ohio) and then a one off at the Cup series at either the Indy Roval or Road America.
Or race in IMSA
@@alistairfannell6694 Fuck it IMSA and NASCAR at the same time, at the same weekend it makes as much sense as the rest of his racing career
With a track record like this, I could see him hopping into Nitro Rallycross while doing Nascar AND IMSA
He reminds me of the old school gentleman drivers of the 50s/60s who would basically drive anything with four tyres and a steering wheel
Thing with Merhi is that he doesn't only have the money and backing to drive literally anything that's available for money, but also is rather talented, as shown on so many occasions. Guy's good on money and speed. Hope he keeps his stuff up, it's genuinely fascinating!
Earl Bamber has a great story, from commentating to that super final race in Superleague Formula, Ordos 2010, having never sat in the car before Friday practice, helping him to be a cult hero to some fans, a must watch 12 mins for any motorsport fan. (stefmeister2008 for video footage, 40:00 into '2010 Superleague Formula - Round 10 - Ordos (Review)'). A highlight in his varied/random but successful career. But even that doesn't compare to Mehri. All he is missing now is IndyCar, but I wouldn't bet against it.
I mean, he won the Le Mans 24h without all that much Prototype experience and the Nürburgring 24h in what was essentially a privately entered Ferrari competing against an armada of german factory teams this year. Those are 2 very rare achievements.
@michiadams True, but in those races he is sharing the seat. Still unbelievably brilliant, but it all started in Mongolia, and without that weekend, maybe he never gets the chances that came afterwards. Also he did a random Nascar race. Maybe Earl and Roberto share a common trait, their love for racing anything and everything.
@@mjptv9561 agreed, those successes are the icing on the cake of a crazy career
Did you just gave Rahal Racing some ideas about Jack Harvey's replacement?
@tohruberthon47 I think Linus deserves a drive first. Plus that is too regular for Roberto, he needs Coyne for a few rounds, then ECR and then for Andretti, in NXT.
He has a bit of money but still! He loves his motor racing and all of its different forms. Simple as that.
I really respect this career, seems like a lot of fun, wheres many drivers would feel to big or good to go back to the lower series, he just wanted to drive.
Younger drivers im sure can learn a lot from him.
I love this guy, he clearly just loves racing and wants to try everything. At this point he is the racing driver equivalent of a session musician. I
This guy's career is about as linear as spaghetti on a dinner plate, but it does seem pretty fun to race in so many types of cars and leagues and in some occasions having sucess in them.
If you've ever played Motorsport Manager for many many seasons, that's basically how many drivers careers there look like
Great video, thanks, I haven't known half of it.
Another driver, who simultaneously raced in F1 and in a feeder series, is Jean Alesi back in 1989. He was called in as a midseason replacement for Tyrrell, but Eddie Jordan would not let him out of his F3000 contract, so for him, when clashed, F3000 had a priority over F1! Tyrrell had to find another replacement for 2 rounds. But he won the F3000 title that year, his only championship win. In the same year, he also competed in 2 rounds of the Japanese F3000, Le Mans 24 hours and also an IMSA GT race! What a chaotic season.
Then he went to Ferrari in '91 after contract malarky at Williams, Benetton in '96 and '97, Sauber '98 and '99, Prost GP in '00 to the first half of '01 then Jordan for the other half of 2001
@@dangerdean9066 Yeah, people usually tell his '91 Williams-Ferrari story that he chose Ferrari because of his italian roots but the truth is he was always a B option for Williams. They wanted Senna and then convinced Mansell to reverse his retirement plans instead of him.
Man just trying whatever he likes and i love it
closest thing to a sim racing career in real life
I feel like he is the reason why anyone who raced in F1 is not allowed to be on its Feeder Series anymore
Merhi it's like a real world Gran Turismo player, jumping from category to category when he likes, and doesn't care if he drives a Super GT, open wheel, or a 70s custom car.
Another random thing in his career: in October 2019 he attended the FIA F3 collective tests in Valencia with Campos, 8 years after winning the Euroseries.
Tbf though, the FIA F3 is fundamentally different to the Euro Series. Still, well spotted!
@@cpt-rage Yes, obviously it's a different thing. It was just another random fact about Roberto's career.
Jacques Villeneuve is another guy who has a wild racing career
Please make the street track failures Valencia please
Up
I’d rather an all round style career like this than just in F1.
I've been waiting for a video on Roberto for so so long, you are the greatest human being ever
Leave my boy Roberto Merhi alone, he's living his best life
10:45 I think you missed a trick by not showing his F1 car when you said "In a Manor done just like this".
honestly one my favorite drivers, he’s underrated imo
I see a career in indycar sometime in the future.
Merhis is a Driver. He doesent care if its a Closed Cockpit, a Spec series or the top Flight, if there is a car to drive and someone offers him a seat, hes gonna take it with a smile and drive.
I’m Spanish, but roberto despite not winning any major series, is a very respected driver in here
He was too gOOd for Manor racing imo... If he can adapt to so many different racing styles and classes, he is a natural talent!
So it started off quite normal and then I think he got a little confused
The man just cant say no
Honestly he is living the dream. Sure, maybe not f1 champion material, but he loved racing and just races whatever he can get. Sounds like a fun lifestyle
That monster jam bit made me laugh 😂
He is, for sure, one of the best drivers put there... If only he had some more time to adapt to each car and get the last tenth... That being said, I hope he tries Indycar soon!! I really want to see him fighting against that Dallara...
"Teams have been autobalanced"
The last motorsport journeyman
IIRC Jaime Alguersuari did the same thing mixing F1 and FR3.5 in 2009 after Toro Rosso fired Bourdais. It's a shame that championship is gone, it was a better feeder series than GP2 for a while.
Good morning my friend. Great episode and I wish you a nice day
I imagine he’s done quite a bit of networking and is probably know as someone you call when you need a driver in the motorsports managing world.
His career is like any racing game's "Career Mode"
This guy is a once in a lifetime talent not many drivers can say they have pretty much done it all well besides Montoya but yeah not very common for a driver of that caliber to come out and rock
He'd certainly make a good racing school instructor, considering the amount of experience he has under his belt.
Roberto mehri just pulled up to the 2015 singapore gp, and since than i never fergot him, but deamn he had an awsome carrere, guess max verstappen is jelous
You should see the career of Jan Lammers as well, if you like this
He should try Nascar
I can't imagine the whiplash you get from driving a formula Renault 3.5 to driving a (well albeit slow) f1 car
He is like the 60's drivers, when they Race in formula one, formula 2, le mans, can am, and others
At this point there should be a prediction game around Merhi's career trajectory :D
the guys is just randomly playing Project Cars in real life, that's amazing
Merhi will be in MotoGP next year, calling it now
Roberto's career is fascinating, just, he goes anywhere the opportunity arises for him, I mean, I think it's getting to the point where you can't consider yourself a Real Top Level Racing Championship till you have Roberto driving in it (joke, hehe) but honestly, considering how many drivers end up being one and dones (one season) it's nice to see Roberto racing, he's a solid talent who on the right day is one of the best drivers on any grid
Is there a chance of doing a vid on Juan Pablo Montoya's career
Man I'm freaking jealous. This guy is living the dream.
Cycling, he also participated in the Spanish National Road Race Championships in 2021
Love the Joseph Newgarden cameo 2:01
I wouldn't be surprised if Merhi decided to become a detective like John Tanner in Driver's franchise.
For legal reasons and creditor Manor F1 and Manor WEC are different entities. But for all purposes it’s the same thing, or so I am told XD
Sounds like a man who loves his racing and providing he's racing he's happy.
He treats racing as a means to make a living and clearly enjoys it.
Mehri has a fascination for open wheels, he jumps on one of them the first opening he sees.
Also, maybe he doesn't like to be chained to one specific championship.
The man can and loves to drive. Yeah he's a paydriver, but its keeping people employed.
9:08 A podium that should have been a win, because he got penalized after finishing 2nd for track limits he hadn't done, then the winner was disqualified, so therefore he would have been the winner!
I love this account
you should make a video about manor !
I know that Tony Stewart has driven basically anything with four wheels at some point (NASCAR, IRL, USAC, IROC, IMSA, NHRA, just to name a few), and Juan Pablo Montoya has a similar case (CART, IRL, NASCAR, F1, ITCC, IMSA, WEC, again just to name a few).
Kyle Larson (Nascar, IMSA, every type of dirt racing under the sun and Indycar next year) is the closest thing to Stewart nowadays I'd say.
And of course Shane Van Gisbergen: V8 Supercars, Toyota Racing Series, WRC, Sprint cars, drifting, several international GT3 series, WEC and IMSA starts and now Nascar Cup and Truck Series. Probably forgetting something.
I forgot how good the Manor LMP2 cars looked.
Reminder, Mehri was beaten in that Asian Le Mans Series Championship by Cody Ware.
Surprised that he didn’t end up with a NASCAR appearance at some point!
Nelson Piquet Jr has done quite a lot, not Mehri levels but a fair bit.
His career is my dream career, drive as many cars
That guy would probably rival Hamilton had he had the opportunity. But to me it seems like the guy just enjoyed driving things, and just happened to be extremely good at it, unlike many others with the same inclination.
The answer is he either has a lot of wealth, probably from being born in a rich family, or is able to raise substantial sponsorship dollars that buys him into rides as an A/K/A Pay Driver. There does not have to be rhyme or reason, or some sort of trajectory in his racing travels. It is how much money he brings to the table and who has an open seat for a funded driver.
Man be playing TOCA Race Driver for real life
The only person I can think who's had a more varied career in modern racing is Stéphane Sarrazin. If it has wheel's he's probably driven it.
What a rare individual
At this rate we need to make up brand new racing serieseseseses just to keep him busy racing
Man is having fun in life
50AUD says he will be driving for Tatra in the Dakar trucks category. 🙂
Roberto Merhi will show up in a random NASCAR Xfinity race watch
I would give both my kidney to have half the career of this guy.
Me in gran turismo. I raced everything, even some rally stuff
At this point there's a 50/50 chance of him racing in Moto3 within the next few years
He's playing Project Cars 2 career mode irl
im surprised he hasn't done any champ car racing yet
Bro's casually doing side quests
I'd honestly love to see Merhi in a NASCAR ride, just for shits and giggles lmao
Bro rly said "A little bit of everything, all of the time"
ORGULLO ESPAÑOL
The man just wants to drive
To be fair that manor probably wasn't that different to a FR 3.5 on pace terms.
I heard he was going outlaw late model racing next year.
this guy is the Dick Trickle of F1 universe.
bro's doing a Motorsport 100% speedrun 💀
He raced some races at the end of 2015 probably because Rossi was driving GP2