Worst Driver That Could Be WDC in Mereceds 2014-15?

Lewis Hamilton






(sorry, I should be ashamed, but just couldn't resist...)

Rgds

 

LOLOLO, but i guess you're probably right!!!

Now a bit more serious (but not too much), taking in account what Seb did, we have to see wich would be the last driver to beat him driving a Merc....so, both Merc guys, Kimi, both Mclarens, both Williams, Both force Indias, Ricci, probably Kvyat, I think max would do it, not so sure about sainz, Romain yes, Loldonado (no coments)....so i would rule out both Sauber drivers (although Nasr is not bad) and both Manor....Maldonado as the speed, not sure if in a merc ahead of the pack he would be crashing every single race...probably only one from each 2!!!....so who is the worst from the ones that could win? Perhaps Maldonado

 

I would agree with Maldonado. He can be very quick but seems to push too hard too often and loses it. Maybe with the Mercedes dominance he might reign it in a little bit and his solo accident rate might decrease. He also suffers far too many Lap 1 incidents, but in the Mercedes he'd be starting out front with fewer cars around him.

The real consistent pressure the Mercedes drivers have had is from each other, not so much from competitors in other teams. The only question is whether Maldonado would beat the other Mercedes or if he'd overdrive and continue to crash.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

As fast and as easy as the car appears to be in most regimes - any driver in F1 is title material in it. They are too easy to drive now and less demanding physically. The Neuro Beaker is correct Maldo would probably walk the field with just minimal restraint.

 

Probably a number of guys that aren't even in F1 at the moment could put up a serious challenge. I would say any current driver save Maldonado would be a serious threat. Maldonado is just too inconsistent, but he would still win races...just find a lot of bizarre ways to crash - like into backmarkers and by hitting the wrong buttons on his steering wheel.

 

Is the question, who can win a race or who can win a WDC? Oh, and who must they have as a teammate ... One of the Sauber drivers?

Granted, anyone can win a race driving the Mercedes over a season

G

 

Err;

No matter; IMO, all these guys are damn good. I'm gonna stick my neck out & say 'any of them!'. I'd even add the front of the GP2 grid onto the list too - Yes, that car is that good! Put a Merhi or a Stevens (pretty successful earlier in their careers) into it and they'd be there or thereabouts IMO.

Cheers,
Ian

 

WDC, this means they must be better than both Nico and Lewis Hamilton if you had replaced one or the other, this "worst driver" must be able to beat the remaining teammate.

Alonso threw the toys out of the pram at Mclaren when Lewis was his teammate last time, I'd rule out Alonso being able to handle Lewis.

I would consider Jenson, Vettel, Kvat, and Ricci as candidates for being able to beat either Lewis or Nico as a teammate.

 

Give this man a cigar!

 

Not so sure Ian, i don't think Eriksson can beat seb even driving the Merc...

 

Button DID beat Hamilton one season at McLaren and they were damn close the other 2 seasons. Overall though, Jenson scored more points over 3 seasons. Jenson would easily beat Rosberg though, no doubt about it.

 

+1

Even though this years car was better and they broke more records, last year they had no competition.

It would take a driver of considerable ****ness to not be world champion in this car; precisely because of Vettel's performance.

IMO you hit nail on head with Erricson. Same goes for the Marussia boys (all of them. Including Rossi at this point: Haven't seen enough of him in F1 and have seen enough of him in GP2 to know that he's not the real deal. Solid driver, and stepped his game up this year...but no).

Maldonado hasn't maldonado'd in a while, but he can strike at anytime. I think any threat of Vettel and he would crash (maybe take them both). So a no on him in the end.

I haven't seen enough of Nasr either, but have no opinion on him at this point.

The rest could do it.

Those that would absolutely do it:

Kvyat, Ricciardo, Vettel (...), Verstappen, Raikkonen, Button, Alonso (...), Bottas, Rosberg and Perez.

 

I wouldn't say just any driver would win in the Merc. Seb and Nico were actually neck-and-neck until the last 3 races...put in a more mistake-prone driver and the likes of Seb in a Ferrari would be able to exploit them. As we saw with Perez at McLaren (replacing Hamilton), it's an entirely different game when you have to drive with the pressure to win on a leading team.

There are quite a few drivers on the grid who would get it done, but I wouldn't assume most of the drivers fit that description.

 

Pfft no way Kimi could do it. Lewis Vettel and alonso and multiple others would beat him if he was in the Merc and they were in the Ferrari.

I think the following only (assuming say Lewis and alonso in the Ferrari)

Ricciardo
Alonso (if in Merc)
Kvyat
Maybe verstappen
Vettel
Button

 

Any driver in F1, as long as they are there for their talent and not the sponsorship money they bring in, could probably win in the Mercedes.

 

Andrew, you forgot to ban Toil so we can have a normal and productive discussion...

 

Not so sure about that!

Some of the drivers on the grid have never led a race, never won a championship in any category; how can one expect them to be able to control the fastest car, to qualify at the front and control the race like Hamilton and Rosberg do regularly?

Alonso and Button surely could, so Vettel and ... Kimi (I hesitate), probably Ricciardo and Massa, Bottas possibly, Hulkenberg , the Toro Rosso drivers too I imagine, and that's about it.

I cannot see any Sauber, Manor or Genii/Lotus drivers doing it, and I have doubts about Perez, although I like him.

I am not saying they couldn't, but not yet.

 

I agree 100%.

 

Whoever it is would have had to beat Seb in the Ferrari and I think the number of those who would be capable of doing that isn't too large. The list would be longer for 2014, but in 2015 when Seb wasn't too far behind the Mercs not so many.

 

Perez - But he is a good driver as well

 

2013 was a bad year for McLaren and when their performance started to decline to where they are at now. I think McLaren placing a lot of blame on Checo and then getting rid of him the way they did was wrong. Only 24 points separated Button and Perez in 2013.
2014, the team did better, but Magnussen proved to be worse than Perez. Button scored 126 points to Magnussen's 55 points. The 2013 McLaren car was crap compared to 2012.

 

My dearest pedro,

Lest we forget, trying to drive other members from the forum is a bannable offence

 

So you're saying you should be banned? I disagree with you.

 

Rosberg was driving a Williams/Toyota prior to joining Mercedes, and they were barely mid-packers (Nico finished 17th, 9th, 13th, and 7th in the WC for the 4 years he was there). Even before the switch to hybrids, the Mercedes team wasn't lighting the world on fire either after he joined them. All of a sudden, the hybrids come along, and the whole team surges ahead in the standings. All this to say, I wouldn't have considered Nico an elite driver before the Mercedes dominance started, and yet he finished 2nd in the WC the last 2 years.

It is my belief that any driver skilled enough to crack into F1 has the skill to take a dominant car and win in it. Otherwise, they wouldn't/shouldn't be in F1. So very few drivers in the history of the sport had such a level of skill where they could take an underperforming car and be competitive (Senna in the McLaren/Ford comes to mind). I think Hamilton may be one of those drivers. Nico, not a chance.

Like Mansell in the Williams he won the WC in, the current Mercedes has a similar level of dominance. Mansell was quoted as saying that a puppet could have won in that car, and that quote may very well apply to the current Mercedes.