Poll "Best of the Rest"

Who is the "Best of the Rest"?


  • Total voters
    25

KekeTheKing

Banned
Supporter
The Seb-Nando-Hammy debate is getting boring, so why not sort out the second tier? And maybe we'll find out if somebody else really deserves a seat at the head table with the big boys.

Raikkonen - At times he can still be the fastest guy out there. Sometimes lapses into periods of disinterest. Cannot be rattled and is probably the most fair racer in F1.

Webber - A grizzled campaigner that has seen it all. Seriously outclassed by his World Champion teammate for years, but still a pretty quick peddler. Successful yet underachieving career at RBR.

Button - A handful of brilliant seasons in the midst of many forgettable ones. Often capitalizes on unusual circumstances and misfortune to seize victory. Shines in wet-dry conditions.
 
I am unashamedly pinning my colours to the JB mast - Canada 2011 should warrant it alone, frankly, but worth reminding people of Suzuka 2011 too, when he demolished Seb on pace after getting chopped by him off the grid. The way he kept his nose in front of the competition in the latter half of 2009, in a car that had fallen some way behind the competition, was pretty nerveless too - he didn't need help from his teammate to win the title...unless you count Rubens getting a puncture towards the end of the Brazilian GP as "help", of course...:goodday:
 
I'm not so sure.

The reference points are ever changing, and whilst I agree that Kimi is quick, I find it hard to separate him and Jenson, in more ways than one. That said, I went for JB just because I think he would sneak it at the moment. A few years ago, I may have thought differently.

Webber I am afraid to say, despite being one of my faves, is at the bottom of the list, but the other two for me are largely interchangeable.
 
Next year Kimi could join, or even replace one of the current consensus top 3, which is why so many people are anxiously awaiting that pairing with Alonso. If Kimi manages to best Fernando, he will give his reputation an enormous boost while knocking Nando down a bit.
 
I do think that is one of the things I am looking forward to most next season, although there will be some added complication with the rule changes.

there may be a fair few barometers being tapped next season.
 
In my opninon I don't think there is so much a top 3 of Vet/Alo/Ham but a top 4 of Vet/Alo/Ham and Raikkonen.

I think "best of the rest" doesn't do Raikkonen justice. As I say, for me he is on the same level as Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel.

I think Jenson Button is the REAL best of the rest, but for the purposes of this specific poll, Raikkonen, Webber and Button I have voted Raikkonen.

Webber? no. As far as I am concerned he is a midfield driver in a dominant car (even if he does get less than equal oppurtunity at Red-Bull). And Vettel is showing the difference between the top drivers and the midfielders over the course of a season and has been doing since 2009.

I think Hulkenburg and Rosberg would be good contenders for best of the rest as well.
 
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First thing, forget Webber.

Both Button and Raikkonen are fantastic drivers, their problem that separates them from the talented trio is that they have weekends in which they just disappear. Button wins this ahead of Raikkonen for me, but not by a lot.
 
My sig says everything I think about the subject, and I still don't believe in the so called top three so I can hardly vote on this derogatory poll, but Like FB says who cares....

I've got a toothache you know....
 
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who cares.....

You've done an awful lot of carrying on in the other thread for someone who doesn't care about derogatory polls. Now you get a chance to make a legitimate case for your boy JB, and your response is to hop on your high horse and pretend to rise above the partisan bickering of which you frequently engage

This poll was an attempt to kill a few hours here and there until the wonderment that is the Indian Grand Prix weekend commences. Nobody's publishing these results and they'll be forgotten before long, so lighten up and take it for what's its worth.
 
The likes of Hulkenberg and Rosberg could maybe make a claim now, and a few drivers like Grosjean and Bottas might work their way in to the group as well. I personally would rank Hulkenberg and Rosberg as better than Webber now considering what's happened since 2010.
 
So, not a single vote for Mark (at this point). I'd be interested to know whether anyone on this forum would vote for Massa?
I certainly would not, but I'd find it interesting because Felipe appears to be the most prominent reason for not including Raikkonen in the "Elite Three".

For me, there are no legitimate reasons to not consider Kimi in that company, apart from the fact that Massa had an edge over him for a period of about 12 months. I know there are conspiracy theories about machinations at Ferrari, favouritism with respect to development of the car etc... But those results on paper are the biggest smudge on Raikkonen's record.

The question then becomes, was (prior to the crash and Alonso) Massa a driver of the order of Raikkonen/Button/whoever..., or was there simply a set of factors at play (randomness, luck, deterministic favouritism, poor form from Raikkonen, etc...), that resulted in Felipe outperforming himself, and making Raikkonen look bad?

For what its worth, I rank Mark alongside someone like Rubens Barrichello. Flipping quick on their day, but their day didn't materialise often enough. The fact that they both got saddled with professional German speed merchants when in title winning cars is a bit ironic.

Jenson? Silk on tarmac; but probably too smooth for his own good, and his style has too narrow an operating window to allow him to be great.

Raikkonen is the best of these three, to my mind. Qualifying is his weakness, but he is an incredibly consistent racer and as fast as Alonso/Hamilton/Vettel in race conditions.
 
I wanted to wait a day or so to see what transpired here before casting my vote. Thank You for all the responses.

I'm counting on Kimi next year to make this a ridiculous question. And I have no doubt a motivated Raikkonen can take the fight to Alonso in 2014. But that's why we go racing, to watch and see what happens.

It's a bit unfortunate we're in the doldrums of 2013 really as there's not much left to sort out within some long running pairings that have been very much one-sided for years. Next year we can finally answer some pertinent questions.
 
If we'd done this poll at the start of the season or even a few races in I would have gone for Kimi but having sat down and thought about it I've gone for JB instead.

I have no doubt in my mind that when both are on peak form that Kimi is better than Button its just Kimi has a habit of going missing. I happen to think that Button has had a great season this year in a piece of junk car. I think without him McLaren would be even worse off, lets remember he has triple the points of Perez. For me this season Kimi has started off in a blaze of glory when the car was good and seems to have lost form ever since on occasions going missing all together. His qualifying especially has disappointed me and it seems we give him so much credit for his race fight backs when really we should be asking what could he of done if he put himself in a decent place on the grid.

I have to say I watch Kimi sometimes and think that he is not the driver he was back in 2005/2006 where as I look at Button and think that he is actually getting better as things go along and learns from everything going on around him. I think he's a far better driver now than he was when he won the world championship and I think that's because he's the kind of driver who responds well to going up against tough opposition and pushes himself to be better in order to meet the challenge. I think going up against Hamilton has done wonders for his driving. Kimi on the other hand we've seen fade away and become a bit bored whenever he has a team mate pushing him as we saw with Massa and we're starting to see with Grosjean. Where was Kimi in Japan? Why wasn't he on Grosjean's pace taking it to the Red Bull's as well? Even in Korea he only got up there through a safety car. It has disappointed me somewhat and I don't think the young Finn we saw pushing Schumi and the likes in 2003 would have reacted the same way.

Put the two of them in the same machinery and I'm pretty sure that on occasion Kimi would absolutely wipe the floor with JB but I'm also confident that over a season, on current form, JB would come out on top through sheer consistency.

I'm sure many of you will disagree with me and that's cool, I reckon its a close run thing. I hope Kimi goes to Ferrari and proves me wrong because I'd love to see him back on top form but right now I'd say Button was the better racing driver. I'd certainly pick him over Kimi to lead my race team.

Oh and the sheer fact I haven't even mentioned Webber may indicate to you how much I think he does not belong in a poll with either of the two other guys. Maybe a poll more suited to Webber would include him, Barrichello, Patrese and Berger?
 
. Next year we can finally answer some pertinent questions.

I suspect only one - Kimi versus Nando. Two 'old boys', in F1 terms - let's hope that they are allowed their head for at least half the season before calling team orders.

I always had a lot of time for Mark and hoped that he would dodge the team crap that some are faced with, but sadly not. Who knows how he would have done if left to his own devices and with a little more luck (?!), (I'm sure someone will tell me with endless stats and GP re-runs!!).

Same with Button - welcomed as a possible contender only to be mired by politics and crap cars.

So many have entered this sport (well a few, given the grid!) and so few have reached their full potential - it's a shame that the paying/viewing public have been denied a decent amount of racing.

Now we have the pay drivers; the country champions; the PR hopes and their salesmen; the kiddies than do fast, but not much else; and worst of all, the clever clogs that can **** up all the other clever clogs's work - be it the FIA, FOM, designers, team principles, favoured team mates, et al!

Sorry, rant over - for now
 
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