The Depth of the Grid has Never Been Weaker—Webber

I tend to agree...

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Former F1 driver Mark Webber believes the standard towards the back of the Formula One field has "never been weaker" and that the cars are well below the level they should be at.

Webber retired from F1 at the end of 2013 and has been racing in the World Endurance Championship for Porsche ever since. He believes he got out of F1 the right time, but can't help but think the current grid is not as talented as it used to be.

"These guys are on a phenomenal level but the depth has never been weaker," Webber told BBC 5Live. "If you go from the top 10 back, there are a lot of pay drivers. This is not good, we need to get the calibre that we have at the front of the grid.

"We need more depth and the cars to be faster, noisier, whatever. Put them on a level where they are further away from other categories. The cars I'm driving now are very similar on lap time, GP2, the category below F1, is very similar on lap time and it's not right."

Asked if it was now easier to win a championship, Webber added: "It's still tricky. The physical components are the lowest it's ever been, but it's not the drivers fault. It's like a rugby union tackle but 30% softer. You don't need the physical component [anymore], when you had the G-force, the need to hold your breath in the corner, when those were at their peak in the mid-2000s you just have to look at the lap times.

"All the racing lap records are from that era and we are miles away. That comes from the physical side of the sport and the drivers would like to be challenged a bit more too.

"It's a bit like being an F-18 fighter pilot but flying for British Airways. They're within their comfort zone, pacing races. It's frustrating.

"F1 should be the pinnacle. It should be by far the fastest through the corners, physical on the drivers and things where the drivers are the gladiators again.

"The car still needs to be something the fans have never seen anything like before. There's so many categories which are close to them now."

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Link to article:
Depth of F1 grid has 'never been weaker' - Mark Webber

 

MW never pulls his punches which is why I like him!

 

He's absolutely right.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Bingo

 

He's got it spot on

 

the back of the grid has always looked like this, if you can pay then you can play! though I think its more noticeable right now because the front of the grid is so unbalanced.

 

I smell some sour grapes here....

 

That's what I thought, based on the thread name, but then we he acknowledged he wasn't including the top 10, I figured he might be right.

Nevertheless, I wonder if he's quoted accurately, as that is still a bit disrespectful.

 

+1

Excluding the top 10, I don't think he's far off; And of course the top 10 changes week to week, so I'd say it's the bottom 5-6 that shouldn't really be there.

Are there too many pay jockeys right now? For sure. The teams don't really want them, but have no other choice in most cases.

More likely taken out of context; Just print the "headlines".

Cheers,
Ian

 

Well, half of the grid is the same as when he was there and he was beaten often,
so he too was part of the weak grid... Sorry, if I'm a little sarcastic, and I like Webber
actually (my wife more........), but these comments just don't help much.

 

I'm not that sure, there are guys like Nasr, Max, even sainz, both For India, Grosjean...they are all very talented, and don't forget Jules......take will stevens, Mehri, Eriksson (who has been getting better) and Loldonado (who can be fast enough to win races) and they are all pretty decent out there.....remenber Lavaggi, Taki Inoue, Perry mcarthy,is perez sala, Adrian campos, and so many others...this isn't worse than the other days....problem is the lacK of geniouses at the front, not the other way around!!

 

Hadn't thought of it that way either!

Very good point!

I guess "philosophically" speaking, I'd like there to be no pay drivers, but they've pretty much always been on the grid over the years.

The disparity between the "have's" & "have-nots" has also always been there of course, but as long you're inside 107, you're good to go......

Cheers,
Ian

 

And McLaren are at the back

 

And don't get me started with Nakajima...

 

I disagree about the drivers. With the exception of Pastor Maldonado, Pastor Maldonado, Pastor Maldonado, Pastor Maldonado, Pastor Maldonado, Pastor Maldonado, Pastor Maldonado, Merhi, and Stevens, the grid is ok.

It's the cars that are junk.

 

I wouldn't say that Mehri is a pay driver. He's not bringing any big sponsorship to Manor and his record at lower categoties is not bad, he almost beat Sainz with worse equipment.

 

Seriously. Two world champs at the back of the field. Was Webber Dissing them?

 

The rumour is he's good mates with Alonso, so I'd doubt very much he includes him.

Still...a weird thing to say, which is why I wonder if he actually said it.

 

I do not see what the big revelation is, the drivers have been complaining that these are the least physically demanding Formula 1 cars in a long time. Max Verstappen has stated he could not have entered Formula 1 at his age in previous generations because the cars were much more physically demanding to drive. We have Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso, Ricarrdo and possibly Verstappen that are top shelf and the domination of Mercedes makes it very evident on how much is car and how much is driver. I think Webber is spot on is calling a spade a spade, Fomula 1's big rules change in 2014 has diminished the awesome portion of the sport and replaced it with a kinder, gentler less exciting version for us.

 

What he said!

 

perhaps a little

 

Webber cited Maldonado as a prime example of "the lack of depth" on the grid...I think no one will argue that one lol.

 

I disagree about the driver talent but he is 100% right about the cars.

 

The cars no longer need great drivers.

 

Yes, all very interesting, but hasn't the formula been comprehensively re-engineered for 2017 to make the cars significantly faster? Isn't this article several months too late? I don't see the new value add in this piece. Nothing.