Poll Worst Driver Currently in F1

[F1Brits_90]

also the thing is same as when we was talking about red bulls problems. expecting Vettel & Verstappen to be the norm, instead of the exception fantastic as teenagers, looking at mistakes of F1 how Buemi & Vergne were ditched at 23 & 24 before basically majoprty of F1 world champions had even joined F1. but how good are they now. I know F1 isn't a finishing school but have to give these youngsters time. some of the greats of the were learning on the job Alonso, Button, Raikkonen, Prost, Schumacher

 

[Johnny Carwash]

Marcus Ericsson for me. He has does have some competition for the worst driver on the grid, but he’s been in F1 since 2014 and has proven in all that time that he doesn’t deserve a drive in F1.

 

[siffert_fan]

I suspect that, were any of the candidates driving one of the Mercedes cars, they would be getting podium finishes very regularly.

 

[Ruslan]

So it's ok to buy your way into F1 if it's your own money then?

Except it really wasn't his own money. He discusses it in his autobiography. If he was not the son of a well-established and highly successful businessman....it would have never happened. He does discuss the meeting with the banker in his bio. If Lauda did not have family money (after all where did the insurance policy come from that he was able to draw a 30,000 pound loan on)...then he would not have been in F1. His racing record up until that point not great.

According to a U.K. inflation calculator, 30,000 pounds in 1971 is worth around 441,000 pounds today. This is not chump change, especially for a 22 year old kid.

 

[Clay]

thats like saying panis 1996 Monaco gp victory is irrelevant, stroll who outqualified Massa at that race, he kept his head in a crazy & took his opportunity when quite a few drivers who are superior & far more expierence didnt. Bottas Vettel, Perez, Ocon, Hulkenberg
same at Monza when other better drivers where aquaplaning off. Stroll delivered a brilliant lap not once but in all 3 sessions

What’s your argument, I’ve already stated that those were good races/ sessions, but beating your teammate once or twice in a season doesn’t make you a good driver, especially if you‘re off the pace by 1 second or more in nearly every qualifying session.

 

[RasputinLives]

Teams only podium? Front row of the grid quality? Only 3 points off team mate in championship?

 

[Olivier]

Strolls seems to be winning the unpopularity vote. He's ahead of Sirotkin in almost every metric and the Russian has only got 1 vote. I know we need to give the newbie the benefit of doubt. We will see next year how things pan out.

 

[F1Brits_90]

What’s your argument, I’ve already stated that those were good races/ sessions, but beating your teammate once or twice in a season doesn’t make you a good driver, especially if you‘re off the pace by 1 second or more in nearly every qualifying session.

Yes but as i posted a bit lower. You cant expect them to be vettel or a verstappen when they are straight in. Like cider_and_toast mentions. Your having a ago at a F3 Champion in his rookie year. In f1 4 yrs younger than majority of the greats compared to a 15 yr veteran with 272 starts 11 wins 15 poles & closest anyone been without being world champion

if i critize anyone. By rights i will praise when its due. For you its lose lose situation. If hes had a bad weekend told you hes crap & good weekend. Well that doesnt prove anything. Also stroll of 2 Drives. Gasly got a prime red bull drive of 3 good Drives & perez got mclaren from 2 good Drives Malaysia & Monza

 

[RasputinLives]

It would have been interesting to see if the spread was different if the entire grid had been listed on the poll.

 

[Il_leone]

I don't think its helped Stroll that he has forced Ocon out of his seat at Force India through money from his Dad and has received some hostile reaction through social media because of it

I should add when Stroll got that podium in Baku it was due to the Hamilton having a freak misfortune and Vettel having a moment of madness. Also Massa actually was ahead before he retired and Stroll should have actually got 2nd but he lost it on the line.

----

We had the controversy that Max Verstappen got promoted too early thinking he was not ready but he proved himself. The controversy around Stroll is based around he had not done GP2/F2 and done all his testing in an old Williams car and suddenly he is suppose to be ready for F1 . I'll maintain some of the blame lays firmly at Claire Williams' door for taking the millions and watching the team go backwards - no doubt about it . The last two races where he has hit Alonso twice and the manner which he has shows he still has not developed and making what Alonso describes as "Amateurish driving"


I'll go as far to say now in picking Lance Stroll and Sirotkin not only have Williams lost money from Martini pulling out but Rich decided to pull the deal with them from under the rug and jump ship to Haas because clearly one team being in the midfield and the other being at the back might have something to do with it

 

[Il_leone]

cider_and_toast He actually fared well against Bianchi if you look at the head to head

 

[Il_leone]

RasputinLives There were votes for other drivers than others I;ve named so if you looking at the top end of the grid then I would think the names you were refer to would either be

Raikkonen
Verstappen
Perez

I mean a few years ago the BBC did a poll to select the most disappointing drivers of 2016 which went as
1) Kyvat - dropped by Red Bull and having a nightmare at Toro Rosso
2) Vettel - 10 podiums but no wins and often seemed to be involved in racing incidents at the start or "ping pong" controversies
3) Rosberg
4) Hamilton

It did not make sense for Rosberg and Hamilton given they won 19 races out of 21 possible and were 1-2 in the drivers championship which showed you how daft and blinded some people's thinking were back then

 

[Il_leone]

Remember a time when pretty much every practice or quali session that Grosjean was bound to have an accident . That seems a distant memory since the summer break when his job was on the line

 

[Il_leone]

Going back to Stroll and Sirotkin - both Russell and Ocon apparently were doing simulator runs at Williams and were faster than the pair

 

[RasputinLives]

Yeah but Williams simulator told them they had a good car as well so it's obviously crap.

 

[Il_leone]

That would not be factor if Williams have been taken out all the variables in the simulator runs and it still shows Ocon and Russell faster if they were given the same car

No one has mentioned how the current two are performing against Kubica in the simulator

 

[RasputinLives]

I got from Nottingham to Gretna in my Hyundai I20 in just over 2 hours the other day. I think factoring in all the variables that makes me F1 world champion

Besides my silly sarcasms my point I'm making is that doing something in a simulator is a different ball game to doing it in a real life situation. Hell Pedro De La Rosa and Gary Parfeet are ace in a sim. It's likely that Ocon and Russell can out perform the current Williams drivers (when did Ocon drive it?) but I don't think we should rely on sim data as fact and that doesn't make either of them the worst drivers on the grid.

 

[Il_leone]

If you were Williams you would think on limited resources if they all had the same equipment then that is the only baseline they can go by

I think I read it commented on one of the practice sessions live report by the BBC the other day that Ocon would have been given the nod but Rich energy who the BBC did not name pulled out of a deal with Williams at the last minute and signed with Haas which appear to have scuppered those plans

Mexican GP practice: Red Bull dominate

Half way down the page is about Williams speaking to Rich

 

[RasputinLives]

But where is it reported that Ocon was quicker in the Williams simulator than Stroll and Sirotkin? Didn't know negotiations had gone so far that they got him in. I'm sure Ocon will have fed back what's going on to Force India.

 

[Angel]

Does Ocon need to tell Force India anything? Surely Stroll would just tell his daddy and they will know all they need to. Unless of course Stroll is being kept away from anything to do with 2019, which is possible.