Tough questions. I think Alonso is the most well-rounded driver in that not only is he fast but he is better and working with inferior equipment and at helping the team improve the car and setup for race day. Given the best equipment I think Kimi is hands down the fastest guy on the track.
I know I'm an Aussie so it really looks biased but what do you guys think of Webber in terms of consistency, experience, brains etc. Given I think LH and KR are probably better drivers but I would have liked to see MW in a better car to see what he could do. They constantly mention his ability to know what the car is doing and how they can go about rectifying it.
+1 Fred by far is the most complete driver at the moment. Kimi maybe the fastest, but lacks certain things that Fred has.
I say Kimi; biased I know but the car hasn't always favoured him.Look where he is now with the reliability issues he's had
I don't think you can point to any one current driver and call him "best" overall. Kimi seems to be the fastest when the car works, but he doesn't seem to have the involvement with development, or a feel for the hardware that would let him stay quick when the car's not working right. (Look at the damper issue: Massa put it in the garage. Kimi put it in the tires.) Massa seems to be better at development, and is still learning. His wet driving has improved enormously. He has the potential to become he best overall, but still needs traffic and racecraft skills. (I'd have liked to have seen one more year of Schumi/Massa.) Hamilton is gutsy to the point of arrogance, and the car has kept up with him -- but I think he'd put it in the bushes every race in an unbalanced car like the Honda. And losing Alonso's setup data does seem to have hurt him. Alonso is quick, and does car development, but is too hot-tempered to really psych out the competition. More often, he's the one that gets tripped up by his own emotions. But for a driver that's been doing a good, quiet, steady job over the years, I'd pick Heidfeld. If somebody would sit Kimi down and force-feed him a course in "race cars 101", I'd say the Scuderia already has the "dream team" of the current crop. To be fair, I think Kimi has been learning the red car his own way -- not as an engineer, but as a driver. Some of his "bad" races seem to have been Kimi experimenting with the car to see what he can do with it. He's now going pretty well. It'd have been better if he'd done those experiments in development, rather than in the races. But he may be well positioned for next year.
Would have spanked them on bikes too... Great question posed in the original post but unfortunately the car counts way too much today-if Sutil were in a Ferrari/McLaren I think he would be competitive, as would Rosberg or Weber or Kubi or Heikki etc.
I want to say Kimi but beleive that FA is a safer bet because of consistency. LH will most likely become the best once he's more experienced. I like Massa but Felipinho lacks character and it shows in crucial moments.
40 posts and nobody has mentioned Massa? Is his fanclub on here shrinking? Ron, c'mon, support your boy! My vote goes to Alonso.
IMO Rosberg. The guy has done an amazing job with a sub-par car. Always top ten. I would really like to see him in a Ferrari or Mclaren next year. Kimi can be great, but lacks the technical feedback. But when the car is perfect, he is scary fast. I am also quite impressed with Massa this season. He has really step up his game. He has the most poles for the season so far. Alonso to me is nothing spectacular anymore. I am disgusted with his attitude this season and I hope he does not win the championship.
And without radio Yes, Alonso is the best driver in these days far away from all other P.S. I don't like him but it's true Massa will be WDC in 2008 Forza Massa.
Yup, based purely on experience. I still want to see how Hammy performs in a mediocre performing car. I am much more impressed with what Nick is doing in the BMW than what Hammy is doing in the McLaren.
I have no idea how to pick "the best". I am of the opinion that in today's F1, the car is over 50% of the result, closer to 60%. I have not seen Alonso, Hamilton, in a secondary car, so I can not automatically pick either one. I am impressed with Fred's adaptation to the McLaren, going from his chop and cut cornering in the Renault to a smoother wheel action in the McLaren. But how would Fred do in the BMW? Would he do better than Nick? Or in the Toyota, Trulli is considered an excellent driver by those in the paddock. Personally, I don't think Alonso would shine in a secondary car, but as I am currently on morphine as the pain increases substantially after therapy, my judgement could be clouded by the honest fact that Alonso is an absolute jerk, bested only by his current boss. Kimi won races when the McLaren was secondary to both Renault and Ferrari, so that to me is impressive. Massa has improved so much from 2006, and has put in quite a few face saving performances this year. If he continues to improve, I would put him #1 in 2008 - seriously (happy Andreas?), but not today. I like Nico and I think he has the most potential LONG TERM of all the new guys including Hamilton. Lewis is excellent in the best car, but I think he lacks the emotion to be a superstar. Maybe he will grow up. Maybe he won't, his current race family is so dysfunctional. So for now, Kimi Raikkonen is the only driver that is winning today, and has won in a secondary car. My pick is Kimi. (As an aside, I always admired Bruce McLaren, watched him race CanAm. What a shame his name is soiled by the likes of Ron Dennis and Fred Alonso)
