Name the top three F1 drivers you enjoying watching

Thanks Mr. Payne for those stats. I didn't have them, but knew there was a good reason Peter Sauber thinks so highly of him.

Yes, his only reason to drive for Sauber is the hope to go the Massa route: Test for Ferrari and get "discovered" and end up in a Ferrari. If it wasn't for his age, he might actually get there, but I doubt it.

Nevertheless I keep my fingers crossed that he gets at least a test drive in a Ferrari one day. Maybe at some show off occasion like the Marlboro in Holland. He deserves it. Much more than that clown Massa who wasted a year in the Ferrari.

 

Pete, don't be so brutal, please. My hero Eddie, c'mon!
You're right of course, but it hurts to read it.

Lately I just wish somebody would take the fight to MS, so that we get to see Michael the fighter as opposed to Michael the preserver of engines.

 

Sorry, but I was almost quoting Eddie himself as that is what he stated in his 'Green races Red' book. I think that is the title

You and me both ... but we seem to be in the minority

Pete's opinion

 

I would tend to agree with you, that one does need that 'killer instinct'....Only one teammate has scored more points that him over a season though.... Wurz outscored him 18 to 17 in 1998.

97:
Fisi - 20
RS - 13
98:
Fisi - 17
Wurz - 18
99:
Fisi - 13
Wurz - 3
00:
Fisi - 18
Wurz - 2
01:
Fisi - 8
Button - 2
02:
Fisi - 7
Sato - 2
03:
Fisi - 12
Firman - 1
04:
Fisi - 10
Massa - 5

I mean, it seems that he is a better racer as well. Of course, points are never the full story...but I don't see where RS, JB, or TS somehow get reputations as being better racers. Fisichella has consistently outperformed his teammates in machines that were really not that good.

 

Interesting ... well I don't know why he does not get the nod. Bit like Heidfield that is usually faster than his team mate but just does not have that star quality and probably will never win a race ...

Pete's confused on how it works

 

Since everyone is naming the most boring drivers to watch I will join into the fun too. According to me the two most boring drivers currently in F1 are:

Takuma Sato and Juan Pablo Montoya. They are both reckless drivers and will probably end up killing someone (hopefully themselves) due to their rash driving. Many people think that because they are dangerous they are not boring. According to me they are maniacs that are a danger to other drivers and crowds at the race track. I do not equate dangerous mindless driving to be exciting.

Also in the case of Takuma Sato it is not necessarily talent but the Dollars he brings with him. Like it or not, fact of the matter is Sato is in F1 only because of his Honda sponsorship. He is a glorified pay driver. Honda use him as a japanese poster boy to sell more t-shirts and in marketing campaigns. He has no talent and has only finished 3 out of 9 races. His driving techniques has been the common dinominator in many BAR mechanical failures and the BAR team has admitted that he is a bit too expensive due to his crashes. had it not been for Honda he would not have been in F1. He is wasting a good F1 seat that should go to a talented driver like Timo Glock or Anthony Davidson.

I also put Takuma Sato and Juan Pablo Montoya in my list of all time worthless drivers.

 

Both drivers that should really get a decent race seat.

Qualy performances...
00:
Heidfeld - 10
Alesi - 7
01:
Heidfeld - 10
Kimi - 7
02:
Heidfeld - 11
Massa - 5
03:
Heidfeld - 9
Frentzen - 7

Damn, I didn't realize this guy was so fast. Never been outqualified by his teammate over a season. Impressive. No lightweights either....Alesi, Kimi & Frentzen...

 

My favorites are dated, but so am I!

Graham Hill - Succeeded despite a supposed lack of talent.
Mario Andretti - He got me hooked.
Ayrton Senna - Very few, if any could touch him.
Jim Clark - Set the standard
Damon Hill - Like father, like son.

 

1. Fisichella
2. Button
3. tie: Sato/ Montoya

I know Fisichella has only won one F1 race but I still enjoy watching him drive the most. Maybe it is because I like cheering for the underdog. I look at Fisi as being the Chicago Cubs of Formula One. I really think he would have been able to win more races if he had gotten on a competitive team at the right time. However, I know that could be said of many other drivers too.

Button is a good young(er) British driver that I think will continue to get better. I think he will prove to be more competitve than D.C. in the future. I always root for British drivers since there are no Americans in F1 right now.

Sato/Montoya are both aggressive drivers. They make insane passes that turn out to be both good and bad. I wouldn't want to be racing against them since they can be unpredictable but they are exciting to watch IMO.

 

So someone please tell me why Heidfield does not get picked up by the big teams. Is it money?, is it the lack of that special star qualify, etc.?

We have just discussed 2 apparently fast drivers in Fisi and Heildfield and yet these 2 are lucky if they are racing F1 next year ... is something wrong with the series?

Pete's a little confused

 

Beside for DC & RS there really hasn't been a recent spot opening from some of the top teams. And with the rumors of JT moving to Toyota, it is possible one of them could go there (Renault). I don't understand the way Button was pushed when his teammates just thrashed him for two consecutive years, with RS & GF.

I really don't understand why Toyota doesn't go for either of them. Seems like they'd be saving a lot of money for car development and they'd be getting some seriously fast drivers. Seems like now would be a better time for those drivers to jump ship too, get onto Toyota before they become a powerhouse and bask in the glory of actually having a fast car.

 

Heidfield was in line for the seat that Kimi got, as I understand it. I suspect that the problem for these guys is that they have essentially been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe, they or their managers, just suck at the musical chairs of getting a good drive. The music comes on, around and around the drivers go, the music stops, everyone sits down in the prime seats, and there are Fisi and Hiedfield standing there looking at what is left. Or, their problem might be at this point that they are known variables. I suspect that the team managers are always looking for the next great driver moving into F1, or the next driver with deep pockets in any case. Therefore, guys that have been around for a while are not as desirable as the current flavor of the week. The result? Da Matta in a Toyota rather than someone who has proven himself in F1.

 

Yeah, I think that's probably the best explanation.

 

I was hoping somebody would name some real drivers, to me Jim Clark was probably one of the greatest drivers. Andretti, I don't think he was as good an F1 driver as Peterson who he drove alongside. Damon, well he is OK but he also had the best car at the time and he just wanted to beat MS.
I have to say Senna could be exciting to watch but I tend to put him into the same slot as Montoya, and was an accident looking for somewhere to happen.
Tragically