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I'm a fan of the underdog; the guy who didn't get the opportunity to maximize their talent by never being in a race-winning team; or simply a guy who was really, really good, but got paired with a better driver who took all the spoils.
To this end, please share your opinions of the following driver match-ups.
Barrichello vs. Coulthard, vs. Webber (got into big teams, some wins, overshadowed by teammate)
Frentzen vs. Trulli vs. Fisichella (slightly less dominant, either lesser teams or lesser results, but all race winners)
Hulkenberg vs. Heidfeld vs. Grosjean vs. Bottas vs. Perez (no race wins; all have podiums apart from Hulkenberg)
If I had to pick a favourite/best from each group I'd go with DC, Frentzen, and Heidfeld - I am still amazed he never got signed as a number 2 for one of the bigger teams.
Barrichello, IMO, was the best out of the first team. He did some great things from 1994 to 1999 with midfield cars. He beat Schumacher more often than people remember in 2002 and 2003 (I believe he out-performed him 8-10 times in those two seasons alone). Webber and Coulthard did not impress me as much with inferior cars as Barrichello did. Barrichello's performances in 2002-2003 were actually just as good as Webber in 2009-2010, although he never had the reliability advantage like Webber had over Vettel in 2010. Coulthard also wasted a lot of Newey rocketships, and was mostly in Mika's shadow.
1. Barrichello
2. Webber
3. Coulthard
Trulli was the best out of the next three, because he was the only one who did not get an opportunity with a great car like Frentzen did in 1997, or Fisichella did in 2005-06. All three of them had moments of magic in midfield machinery. Perhaps Fisichella did more great things with inferior cars, but he did not compare as well against Alonso as Trulli did. Frentzen was brilliant in 1999, but one season does not make a career. He had all the tools necessary for glory in 1997 but failed to deliver, much like Fisichella at Renault.
1. Trulli
2. Frentzen
3. Fisichella
Out of the last group, I would go with Heidfeld. He was very consistent and almost never made a mistake. He also regularly matched the highly rated Kubica in terms of sheer speed. It’s a shame he didn’t sign for Brawn in 2009, but those kinds of things make or break careers. I rate Bottas a tad higher than Grosjean, as Grosjean was out-performed by Raikkonen while Bottas is out-performing Massa. Perez and Hulkenberg are difficult to call, I feel that Perez has more natural talent overall. He was quite unlucky in 2014, and is currently out-performing Hulkenberg on merit. Hulkenberg is a tad overrated IMO, and also quite prone to mistakes.
Arguably, Heidfeld had earned the win in Canada in 2008. BMW had never won a race and suddenly found themselves with the two fastest drivers, which were in different strategies. Half way through that race, if memory doesn't fail me, Heidfeld had the lead with Kubica behind but with a faster car. Had they only been racing each other, under 2008 rules, it is more than questionable that Kubica would ever have found the way past. As it was, the best chance for the team to get that first win was to allow the faster Kubica to run in free air. And thus history books have Kubica as a race winner and Heidfeld as the fast guy who never could get one. I really feel for him.
Basically Heidfeld took the risky strategy, and when his risk paid off, he had to let his teammate take the glory. Had Kubica been anything but second at that moment...
