2010 Formula 1 Season - Official Discussion Thread

Not surprised by this at all, with the testing ban in effect, he's pretty much just sitting on his arse. Anyway, he'd never have got within a gnat's testicle of a race-seat at Merc. I can't see him ever getting a race drive elsewhere anytime soon. Shame, I kinda liked him, but he's a Fisi level driver in some respects, imho - good, but nothing special, certainly not special enough to stand out enough to appear on any top team's radar for 2011.

I could be proven completely wrong, however, the Silly Season is always so...silly. :dunno:
 
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If we're talking about drivers that are nothing special, then we're talking about 3/4 of the grid. Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton stand out from the crowd and that's it. Ain't just Heidfeld, who does have the ability to keep everything tidy, very constant and solid performances.
 
There is that...And let's not forget the departed Kimi...
 
All in a days work. Same as an office worker playing with the stapler.
 
I think there are a few other drivers that might prove that wrong in year or two, namely Kubica. Its certainly not a definite thing, but he seems to be another one who punches above his weight fairly often. Webber, Button and even Rosberg are kind of there too, but not nearly on the same level as the Vettel, Mr. Slimey (Alonso), Hamilton, group of guys who can make even a crappy car work for them sometimes. I'm looking forward to some more "up and coming" guys showing up again, though I honestly have no idea who that might be as I don't pay attention to any other race series really.
 
Webber and Button, with all due respect are just F1 drivers. Nothing special. Just remember how helpless they look if the car isn't a 100% fit for them...
 
But it goes both ways, doesn't it? A driver no matter how good can't perform without a solid car.
 
zephyrus no. A great racing driver will grab a less than 100% car and make it so. In 2008 Alonso grabbed some wins with a Renault that just wasn't competitive (yes barring the Singapore GP, Japan was pretty impressive), Schumacher had to drive like half a race on 5th gear once in 1994, Hamilton pushed the very uncompetitive 2009 McLaren to a couple wins too...

I was impressed by Kubica's initial rhythm and progress but lately he's been falling behind, either by his own doing or his team's, who knows. I still have some high hopes. Petrov has shown some nice aggression too, but that's not enough (I remember Montoya showing a lot of aggression but I really disliked him as a driver)
 
mpicco said:
A great racing driver will grab a less than 100% car and make it so.
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Not necessarily. If the car is less than 100%, but it inspires the driver with confidence, then the driver can indeed push it to 100% potential and even beyond. If the car is less than 100% but is an evil-handling crock of sh** which would scare even the best driver witless, there's nothing anyone can do and even the best drivers get stuck in the depths of the field. You mentioned the 2009 McLaren, but that car was for a long time an evil car on fast tracks; proof, Hamilton won on two stop-start tracks and was knocked out in Q1 at Silverstone.
 
It was just random examples. You can find a kajillion more. Senna with the 93 McLaren. Hill in 94 with a very under par Williams, the same one that killed Senna.
 
SchumacherM said:
Webber and Button, with all due respect are just F1 drivers. Nothing special. Just remember how helpless they look if the car isn't a 100% fit for them...
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Both of those guys have pulled a surprise performance out of a car that wasn't all that great. Maybe not to level of others, but certainly more then a few times. Button doesn't seem to have the qualifying skills most of the time unless his car is perfect, but he very often makes up for it with his race drives and strategy. In many ways, I think that is just as important as being able to wring the neck out of a crappy (relative term) car and make it do things it doesn't want to.

If I'm honest, I think Webber has had really bad luck in his career. At least up until the last few years that is. Whether its his style or what, he sure blew up a lot more engines and had a lot more reliability issues compared to Coulthard at Redbull, and Rosberg at Williams. Might be hard to put him in the top 5 current drivers in skill level, but he is certainly able to take advantage of his current car, beating Vettel out in many ways this year. Do I think that Vettel is a better driver and will be much more succesfull then Webber after the same time in F1, for sure. Still allot of growing to do on the kids part though, especially after seeing the temper tantrum he threw at the last race.

I also think that Rosberg is on the cusp of being in that group of drivers who can get more out of their car when they need to. So far, he's never had a car that could compete, but has punched above his weight a number of times.
 
SchumacherM said:
Webber and Button, with all due respect are just F1 drivers. Nothing special. Just remember how helpless they look if the car isn't a 100% fit for them...
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Did you watch Hungary, did you not see that amazing push by Webber to pull that gap out and on the tires that he did qualy on and 43 laps of the race pushing that hard. That was a statement by Webber, "Yes I am to be taken seriously so don't fuck with me."
 
You see I thought the same about Webber but some of his performances this year really put him on par with the champions. You can't beat Vettel straight out that many times and then stil be considered a worse driver by default. Vettel is good, but is overrated, he needs to mature like Lewis Hamilton did in 2009. Webber has already done this, which makes him the better driver in my mind. And he's a much cooler guy. Bloke. I mean bloke.
 
Topgearfanatic said:
Did you watch Hungary
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Did you watch Germany or Australia? That is the problem with Webber. In one race his drive is so impressive but then in another he makes a mistake after mistake. He is a good driver, probably even very good, but he isn't a great driver.
 
^Couldn't have said it better myself.
 
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