The most overrated driver ever in F1?

I would say Hill, although i guess no one ever rated him very higly...(i remenber Shummy saying he would not put him in the top 5 at the time they where both fighting for the championship and i couldn´t agree more)....i remember a few guys who where miles ahead of him at the time he was champion (Shumi, Alesi, Berger, Mika, Herbert, Frentzen, Jacques..and probably a couple of others...but i must say that to me Alonso is totaly overrated, he is nowhere as good as many people think imo.

 

Are you high?

Yeah that line didn't make much sense to me, either.

 

Respectfully disagree regarding Alonso.

 

I guess I should elaborate on why I think it's ridiculous to say Nigel Mansell. Number one, no one rates him all that high to begin with - everyone thinks he won a WDC because of a great car, which is true.

That said, he was a tire explosion away from winning the WDC in 1986 when the cars were very powerful and hard to drive. Mansell had incredible car control and was able to mix it up and win lots of races in an era of fast, hard to handle cars and some the most talented grids (in terms of drivers) ever.

It should also be noted his Indycar title and near miss at the Indy 500. Also, from what I understand, Nigel did not come from substantial means and worked his ass off to get where he was, unlike guys like Jacques Villeneuve or Damon Hill.

To call him "flat out not good" is crazy.

 

I trust Ian's judgement pretty damn well, he's actually worked with him which is more than pretty much any of us can say:

Sato was a lap away from winning the 500, I don't call him one of the all time greats either. Didn't Sato drive round the outside of Alonso in a Mclaren once?

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/f1/332718-rubens-whining-again-2.html#post140739218

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/f1/311120-if-you-could-pick-any-driver-any-car.html#post140229189

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/f1/279915-massa-ferrari-contract-extension-rumors-2.html#post139491683 (read the last bit)

LOTS of people rate him.

 

My immediate thoughts also. I don't understand that description.

 

Over rated driver of all time? ... that is difficult... My immediate thought goes to Mansell... but he was pretty good at times.

to me the most overrated driver of the last 20 years - Heinz Harald Frentzen... he was just not really that great.

Damon Hill - was / is an excellent driver - most people dont realize he started his racing career well past the usual start date... and by that time his name really counted against him... comparision with his father was constant.

I remember seeing him in bad / slower machines in the early 1990's and he did an excellent job.. he well deserved his role at Williams and would have won another world championship if it were not for all the politics & Williams & Head being Pricks.

Jaques Villeneuve - clearly was way better than his father - I'm a Huge Gilles fan - i even met the guy once.. but Gilles was way too wild... Jaques was very measured and smart... I do think he took terrible advice from his mgmt... BAR was a terrible failure - he should have stayed with Williams or gone to McLaren or Ferrari...

James Hunt is very over rated in my book... good on a couple days but not consistent

Carlos Reutemann same thing - not consistent - moody flashes of brillance
Eddie Irvine

hate to say this ... many will disagree - Ronnie Peterson... good driver - poor choice of teams & mgmt...

I think Alonso is overrated as well - good but dont think he's deserves the reverence he gets...
Hamilton is on the border for me - good year this year terrible last year...

 

Michael Andretti - mixed bag on him... clearly he was great in Indy cars - and had some great flashes in F-1 .... I think had he had much more testing in the Car ( it was limited that year by the FIA ) he could have really been a great F-1 driver.

In some qualifiying he was faster than Senna - and he had Senna's respect, but his personal life was starting to come un done - he did not live in Europe - communted back and forth - just did not get the whole demonstrate your commitment to the team thing...

 

It's weird that you can't understand the difference between being a whiner and being untalented. Good job cherry picking the rest of my post with the Indy 500 comment.

Nigel has 31 wins, 59 podiums 3 WDC runner ups, a WDC and raced everything from ground effects cars to fire-breathing turbo monsters to the most technologically advanced cars ever. He raced wheel to wheel with Prost, Schumacher, Senna, Piquet, Lauda, etc. and frequently came out on top. Then, he went to the United States, won another title, nearly won the Indy 500 and won the Michigan 500 - easily adapting to 230 MPH oval racing like it was nothing.

Yep, pretty crappy resume.

Thanks for the laughs on a Monday morning, you continue to show us all how much you know. If you want to call him overrated, feel free, but Mansell was a VERY talented driver, I don't care what Ian says.

 

Good pick, although he was the best driver in 1999. I also agree that Hill was better than people give him credit for.

Not a chance. Could barely beat MS in '97 in a car that was 1.5 seconds a lap faster. From there, his career unraveled as he chased that BAR money and lost motivation.

Did you watch last year? How was Hamilton terrible? He was terrible in 2011.

 

Here we go again

I disagree with you, as does at least one other person who has worked with him, I'll leave it at that as I quite simply can't bother arguing with you once again as you'll get in to a strop as usual.

 

These past 4 years have reminded me of Mansell's championship, over and over and over.

 

Using this forum as a platform, the most over rated driver is Alonso, last season, it was Alonso/perez.

Most underrated is without doubt Vettel.

 

Where do I begin with this unbelievable nonsense devoid of all logic.

 

Until Vettel goes to a team and builds something from essentially little to nothing then he will always be second rate to Alonso, Ham. We just won't know how good Seb is until he does that. So far, he's had a Williams circa 1992 every year he's been with Red Bull, case closed. Was Mansell better than Senna in 1992? No, of course not, that Williams was just unbeatable. Same goes for RB.

 

+1

Red Bull didn't win a race until Vettel came. In 2011 and certainly at the 2nd part of this season he's had the fastest car for sure...no denying that. But somehow hes the one that gets the most from it, Webber simply can't match him and I rate Webber as someone who is above average.

 

I agree with that one. He's been dragging some rather poor equipment around for the past few years and getting points (and some wins) few others could get.

Is he one of the greats? No. But certainly not overrated.

 

Vettel has had the best car the 2nd half of 2009, all of 2010, all of 2011, the second half of 2012, and all of 2013 minus a few races before they changed the tires to favor Red Bull.

He's a damn good driver, that much is clear, but like others have said, he has yet to leave his comfort zone like MS, LH, ALO, etc. all have. Senna never built a team, either, but he was not afraid to switch.

 

Lol, k.

 

All of red bull's WCC have been landslides. That proves plenty regarding the superiority of that car beginning with the RB6, nothing has been close. RB5 was definitely the fastest car by the end of 2008 too, Brawn had already wrapped that up though.


Webber's car breaks more than anyone else's car I've ever seen, unreal. He's also been very sloppy since 2010. Alonso fought wars in these Ferrari's that I cannot imagine anyone except Ayrton Senna or Schumacher doing, for me the finest driver on the grid since 2009 has consistently been Alonso as the things he's done with the equipment provided has been astonishing.

 

+1

Red Bull's WCC domination tells the tale. Their car has been simply dominant since the mid way point of 2009.

 

I don't know how a World Champion can be in this category. How about Nelsen Piquet Jr?

Guy had no business in F-1.