Driver Salaries

See, I just don't think there is any data to back up that observation. I think one could state he is a poor starter (because he does seem to drop at the start of a race). One could compare his position after 1 lap in reference to his starting position.

However, I'm just not sure his race pace is worse than Heidfeld or Rosberg (and it surely was faster than all his other partners who aren't in F1 anymore). This would be backed up by average finishing position and his average fastest lap in comparison his partners. I think the human mind is not good at observing the totality of a driver's career and building an objective rank of the driver in comparison to other drivers. Data is simply not biased by subjective preconceived notions of drivers.

 

That team manager would be looking at other metrics.

If Mark Webber qualified on pole for every race and dropped to 5th every race he would still be better than a teammate who qualified 10th and advanced to 6th every race. Webber would be more productive in the primary objective of the racing team - obtaining points.

 

Observing a driver doesn't tell the whole story, but nor does data.

When were you most recently genuinly impressed with Webber during a race?

 

Webber isn't putting his car on pole, sliding back to fifth, nor does he qualify in 10th and works his way up to 6. I see the point your trying to make, but it doesn't apply to Webber.

 

Any race that he scores points in. Because, uh, none of his cars are regular points scoring cars. Also, when he outperforms his teammate - because this is the most basic comparison one can apply to a driver.

 

Maybe I didn't understand your implication.

You seemed to imply that he qualifies well and goes backwards. Well, the data I posted of the 2006 year in the other thread disagrees with this. He advanced from a qualifying position of 10.72 to 8.71. Now, your argument (I think) is that Rosberg advanced more than Webber (roughly 3.5 positions) per race. However, Rosberg still had an average finishing position behind Webber - this means that he worse in the primary task of a driver (obtaining points).

That's what my example was meant to show.

 

But did Webber race to points or did he his natural competitors failed to finish? By impressing, I don't mean just the basic end result, but how he got there. Even in non-finishing races, a driver can impress. So, the question remains.

 

I'm not trying to argue that Webber didn't beat Rosberg in 2006 (allthough the term 'crushed' is a bit too severe given the circumstances). I am fully aware that Nico's debutyear wasn't the dream Hamilton is now living (it was more the nightmare Kovalainen is still in). My point is however, that Nico is starting to impress me. Webber hasn't impressed me since he left Minardi and I don't see Webber getting succesful in F1 in the future.

 

Umm. Well, he generally impresses because he is generally ahead of his teammate (his most natural of all competitors). The fact he ends peoples careers in F1 is also a pretty telling note. The only teammate who he has not beaten decisively over the season in points is Heidfeld (who is also a very good driver).

 

I am not going to convince you that Rosberg is the real deal
You are not going to convince me that Webber is better than I give him credit for

so I guess I'll hit the sack and wait and see what the Canadian GP will bring us. Great track, usually great race too.

 

You called Nico a future WDC. If you do that you necessarily have to include the possibility of Webber being a future WDC as well. Webber proved to be faster than Nico!