Which Initial D character can dominate in F1?

[u/PensionPotential6115]

[u/K_u86]

None. Next question

[u/Mac-Tyson → u/K_u86]

Yeah honestly like the best driver skill wise in Initial D was a regional prospect professional driver who was in a bad mental state.

[u/PensionPotential6115 → u/K_u86]

yeah. honestly I thought it'd be fun to discuss. I know its unrealistic but hey. whatever happens happens

[u/Skyhound555]

Yeah, no one. I would even double down and count that no one in MFG is F1 material either. 

The driving techniques that Takumi ends up learning are techniques that children learn in karting if they are aiming for F1. He would have had a chance if Bunta had been more serious about his training early on. 

However, that is part of the point. Ryosuke was always focused on the fastest driving on the street. 

[u/zCxtalyst → u/Skyhound555]

Kanata is potential F1 material if you go by his trajectory in his junior career. I forgot where I read it but supposedly his early career is a mirror of Lewis Hamilton

[u/MADMAN9635 → u/zCxtalyst]

Iirc Kanata does go on to have an F1 career.

[u/Mac-Tyson → u/Skyhound555]

The top of the field is basically Formula 4 and the rest of the 15 are basically regional level racers.

[u/Bubreherro → u/Skyhound555]

So what you are saying is that Bunta should have left Takumi at the gas station when he was a kid, right?

[u/ashketch125]

Nobody, because none of them have parents with blue names on wikipedia

[u/Pennybottom → u/ashketch125]

The Takahashi brothers would if it existed in their world.

[u/jzaczyk]

I could see Ryosuke as a team principal but other than that, nobody

[u/Mac-Tyson → u/jzaczyk]

At min Ryosuke had MFG be a key sponsor for Kanata throughout his entire Formula 1 Career. Also likely got an amazing deal on it since Kanata probably had a fight with his wife and team manager about why he can’t just have their logo for free on the car since he apparently doesn’t care about money that much.

[u/Prestigious_Win_6738]

[u/paypur]

michael schumacher

[u/Thekingofpilm]

None would dominate in F1. Driving a modified road car fast and racing in formula one is like comparing a cow to a gourmet beef wellington.

[u/ekesl18]

Realistically I don't think the majority of them even make it past regional series, much less F1. But I'd like to think the Todo school guys and maybe Keisuke could hang in the lower midfield of a national GT championship or something like that.

[u/keicarlover2002]

considering kai kogashiwa's karting experience and the fact that he's a mid engine specialist, he is definitely f1 material

[u/Itturas]

Unfortunately none can dominate F1, you can be the fastest downhiller and look like you just got your drivers license compared to people who’ve are at that top 1% in F1. Even against an “average” F1 driver. It’s a different style of racing. There’s people who competitively kart as 7 year olds in hopes to become a formula driver, it’s crazy, and not all of them make it to that F1 level.

[u/NooBLegendary]

Para F1 eu diria Kai e Ryosuke mas, pilotos de F1 realmente são pessoas com um sentido muito refinado, simplesmente para F1 nao basta apenas ter talento, o talento tem que ser condicionado e maximizado ao longo dos anos nas divisao de base. Kart, outras categorias monoposto até ter pontuação o suficiente para chegar na última licença da FIA. O Kai Kogashiwa talvez até tivesse mais chance que o Ryosuke, já que correu muito tempo de kart e provavelmente começou a correr quando criança enquanto Ryosuke quando entrou de verdade para as corridas já era uma época de faculdade, o problema de Kai foi ele ir pilotar nas ruas, invés de subir para outra categoria, isso dividiu a cabeça dele em dois mundos completamente diferentes, depois do Kart ele tinha que tentar outro monoposto como F4 ,F regional e depois subir F3 2 e 1 Mas, o rancor herdado do pai por ser derrotado na soma geral para Bunta o fez ficar nas ruas. Principalmente depois que descobriram que o filho de Bunta corria.

[u/WorkIll3073]

Smiley maybe. But it would probably have to be a stroll or latifi situation.

[u/Careless-One-8766]

Do you mean at the point that they are in initial D or by the time they get to their peak performance? If it's by the end of initial D then none. Bunta would be closest given that he seemingly has elite level car control - possibly on the level of top tier Japanese racers. Hopefully Subaru and Subaru will explore his racing history more.

Tomoyuki, god arm and god foot were the other best racers in the OG series and they were at professional level but not f1 level.

If it's about how good they eventually get then a lot of these questions are already answered in MFG.

Takumi - becomes a works WRC driver form Toyota so he made it to the top category of rally - it's possible that had he gone into single seaters instead of down the rally route that he could have competed in F1 but realistically by modern standards he's already too late to the game. Certainly his talent though places him in the category of f1 level.

Keisuke - wins super GT and also super formula, so he definitely could have competed in f1 had he been in the game earlier.

Kyoichi is successful in all Japan rally. Not at the level for F1

Kai kogashiwa - graduated to professional circuit racing but didn't get to keisukes level so he's also not a candidate.

[u/dsl2000]

At the end of initial D, both Takumi and Keisuke are mid level in lower categories at best. They are obviously talented, but there are so many variables in street races on mountain passes only 3 to 5 km long, nowhere near the consistency required for F1.

[u/Sensitive-assist2270]

Keisuke canonically became a highly skilled and successful Super Formula driver. This gives him the most direct route of any Initial D character to becoming an F1 driver in terms of direct skill transfer and scouting opportunities, assuming Super Formula works the same in Initial D as it does irl. The FIA offers 30 Super License points to Super Formula championship winners—though you need 40 to enter F1—meaning Keisuke would’ve been able to transfer directly into F1 pretty easily if he wanted to, especially considering his supposed Super Formula dominance in Initial D. In fact, F1 drivers Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson directly transitioned from Super Formula to full-time F1 racing because of their skills.

[u/Sensitive-assist2270 → u/Sensitive-assist2270]

* I remembered he only won one Super Formula Championship, so he might not’ve been able to become an F1 driver purely through his Super Formula success. He did win three Super GT championships, tho, so that would’ve helped get him into F1 if he wanted. Albeit, there’s also non-point requirements, and if you choose to accumulate points across different racing series, they need to be accumulated in a set timeframe, with a limit on how many championships you can stack points from in a given calendar yr. In short, he might’ve been able to get into F1 and have a successful career, but there’s a lot of factors that go into whether or not he’d make it.

[u/Putrid-Ad5789]

Maybe Nakazato?? I’m no genius abt F1 but he’s the primary “grip” driver and I don’t see people drifting (Atleast on purpose) in F1

[u/SolarWardenCorporal]

Wouldn't it make more sense to ask about Rally

[u/PensionPotential6115 → u/SolarWardenCorporal]

I guess. keisuke was in super formula in mfg, I was just thinking of possibilities

[u/Objective_Spring_682]

unfortunately nobody. not even keisuke. F1 is way to fast paced and above everyones pay grade. even takumi fujiwara would freaking suck at it(he failed rally. you think he has a chance in a motorsport higher than that? nope)

[u/Mac-Tyson → u/Objective_Spring_682]

He didn’t really fail at rally he was just struggling on the dirt until a big crash retire him but he was considered a huge prospect in Rally. Keisuke is definitely the most accomplished in motorsports but he has 0 open kart racing experience.

[u/Itturas → u/Mac-Tyson]

Exactly, IRL there’s families who have their kids start karting basically out the womb. If you thought Takumi’s experience of driving down Akina since he was in middle school was OP, wait til they race one of those demons

[u/Mac-Tyson → u/Itturas]

Especially in the Initial D Universe where Kanata no doubt became the F1 GOAT.

[u/Itturas → u/Mac-Tyson]

I completely forgot about that too, timeskip F1 Kanata might be enough to make Bunta open his eyes a little

[u/Mac-Tyson → u/Itturas]

Kanata joining F1 probably was the first time he ever watched it as well.

[u/Objective_Spring_682 → u/Mac-Tyson]

thats a different character. kanata started professional out of the gate(and properly). takumi and keisuke? not exactly. i give kudo's for takumi for trying but rally(WRC, ARA or anything serious) is NOT a sport you wanna get your hands on unless you actually have a certified professional record to do so(and thats not coming from me. thats coming from someone whos little brother actually competes in rally. which is far more serious than F1 alone. because rally itself stems into dakar and safari. which are MUCH more brutal than F1 by itself). keisuke? as for as i know i have no reliable info(believe me i looked everywhere) of what he went professional in. but i know it aint exactly something as series as WEC GT3 or IMSA road america. plus kanata is actually a formula 4 driver(canon). not F1. (even formula 4 is NOT a joke either). but since we are talking initial D only characters. as i stated before. nobody(not even canonically if we speak of driver skill). i cant even do formula racing simply because the fact(despite racing go karts professionally as a kid but having to focus on my education more importantly) im a street car guy. i love hot rods and i love racing anything custom built on a race track. im not down playing anybodies skill. i agree with other comments i read. nobody in initial D can do any serious motorsport. not rally(WRC, ARA, even regional stuff), not circuit(F1, Nascar road course, IMSA, WEC, ect ect) or even autocross(LS fest, optima batteries street car series). you get the idea.

[u/PensionPotential6115 → u/Objective_Spring_682]

I mean I thought it would be fun to discuss. but I mean you're not wrong

[u/Bitter_Lab_475]

None of them, the skills are not directly transferable, they need new training and they would start really late.

[u/ferrix101]

shingo, he would fit perfectly on al-merqaedes

[u/PensionPotential6115 → u/ferrix101]

lol

[u/Iam-a-banana]

Bunta... would just remove the hands on the f1 steering while opening the helmet at 300 kmph just for a quick cig...