Which Driver most impressed you in 2010?

[ell66]

When kubica was going against heidfeld he was still in his rookie season, then his first full season etc. Heidfeld was the experienced journeyman and not able to beat him handidly. This speaks volumes as well.

Petrov out qualifying kubica a mere two times means little.

Anything can happen but a guy who is known for keeping his cool will not unlikely just uncoil.

And Hamilton managed to equal Alonso (who would have blown Heidfeld away) in his first season, and became World Champion in only his second season!

Kubica is a talented driver and in the right car could be a serious threat, but to say he is the class of the field or impressed the most in 2010...?!

Both drivers at Mclaren were new, there was no incumbent. Testing helped both drivers though. Kubica got to do very little testing with the Renault, and still did very well.

That's the polls opinion, not mine. While I think he does great in every situation, Renault was more impressive in relation to him. They had some of the best and meaningful development.

Rosberg got my vote actually. He impressed me the most.

[...] Hamilton made alonso look bad in 07 truth be known and suffered from more reliablity issues/team mistakes, (european grandprix wheel failure, brazil gear box and the the massive error in leaving him out in china) and yet despite all this still finished on top. so dont you go comparing lewis beating fernando alonso to kubica beating nick heidfield. [...]

[raymondu999]

With all due respect to any Germans around, as well as Quick Nick (or is it Steady Eddy now?)'s fans, Heidi is not up on the same level as Alonso. And I don't think anyone will argue (much)

[myurr]

Further to ell66's reply, Rosberg actually impressed me a lot last year. He really seemed to come of age as a driver, possibly because of the challenge he thought MS would provide giving him something to focus on. He, far more than Kubica, manage to out drive his car and more illustrious team mate. Kubica had, in my view, a solid but unspectacular year and I am seriously struggling to remember any truly stand out drives that would warrant the adulation showered upon him in this thread.

[Giblet]

[...] Hamilton made alonso look bad in 07 truth be known and suffered from more reliablity issues/team mistakes, (european grandprix wheel failure, brazil gear box and the the massive error in leaving him out in china) and yet despite all this still finished on top. so dont you go comparing lewis beating fernando alonso to kubica beating nick heidfield.

[...]

My comparison was sound, and to demonstrate, let me explain to you why, without the need to make personal comments.

Who beat who doesn't matter, and you are not following the plot. Kubica, a rookie, did very well against Heidfeld, a non rookie.

Hamilton, a rookie, did very well against Alonso, a non rookie.

I can even add Hulkenberg vs Barichello, except it was the opposite. He was not impressive, and did not do well against him in relation to the other comparisons I drew.

The level doesn't matter, I'm merely talking rookie vs experienced driver, and what that can mean.

It is always impressive when a rookie gives a journeyman a hard time.

[...]

[Donuts]

Hardly a trouncing by kubica on heidfeld... Very even in fact.

It's not as simple as that...

2007 - As a rookie, RK was on the pace from the start, he was very close to NH in qualifying, RK-NH 5-12

2008 - He was leading the WDC and outqualifying NH in every race come midseason! After twelve races, NH had only outqualified him once. End of season, RK-NH 13-5!

2009 - Not an easy season to score points if you where in the BMW-Sauber-F1 team, hence looking at qualifying, RK-NH 11-6!

So, does this not look like an impressive driver? Not mentioning that he beat LH to pole position in Macau GP, F3, when they were team mates in Manor GP!

NH was rated very higly and had a lot of experience at the time when RK joined BMW-Sauber-F1.

There's no doubt in my mind that RK can beat anyone in F1 if Lotus Renault GP provides him with a competitive drive.

[raymondu999]

While I do rate Nick Heidfeld quite highly as well, and he is no slouch in terms of speed, he's more rated highly as his label of a "journeyman" driver... rather than a racewinner.

[Donuts]

I don't understand why there are comparisons between LH's and RK's rookie years in F1? There is nothing to compare, they have totally different careers in F1. LH has had the support of McLaren, he started tesing for them in 2004, three years before his "rookie" season in F1! It's absurd to call that a rookie season! Could somebody please "dig out" the number of testing hours he did? I know somebody posted it a while ago. RK got his first opportunity(thanks to winning Renault F3 Series) in 2006 when JV left the BMW-Sauber-F1 team. He had a podium finish in his third race. I rate FA higher than NH, but LH and RK had totally different basis coming into F1 and during their career in F1.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Can we just agree Robert Kubica is a blinding good driver who has not had a car to match his talent....yet.

[Giblet]

Can we just agree Robert Kubica is a blinding good driver who has not had a car to match his talent....yet.

I can agree, it's just that a lot of folks can't see the writing on the wall, the forest for the trees, etc. When everyone in F1 says a guy is quick and nobody in F1 says otherwise, it boggles the mind when people say "They just haven't been impressed yet" or other such silliness.

Interesting though is how many great drivers there are now. Gone are the days when a John Surtees is convinced on a whim to try a Vanwall, and impresses enough to be given a real drive and move up the ranks.

The drivers now, like Nico Rosberg, Robert Kubica, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel et al are bred to be drivers from an early age. The sheer number of talents we have in F1 is mind boggling, and it will take longer then a season or two to see who is really great compared to who is just really, really, really good.

[ringo]

I hope Bob will get his ass handed to him next year by petrov. That is what I want to see. The stats don't agree with petrov, but the few times that he beat Kubica, showed what could happen with a little more consistency and focus.
Until Kubica gets a strong teammate such as shumacher, Alonso, Fisichella, Button, it perfectly safe to say that he was probably not the most impressive.
Many other drivers had more on their plate in terms of intra team competition.

[raymondu999]

The problem with judging Kubica this year is that Petrov is not a known benchmark by any means... And so I'm reserving any and all judgment from my end

[paipa]

LH has had the support of McLaren, he started tesing for them in 2004, three years before his "rookie" season in F1! It's absurd to call that a rookie season! Could somebody please "dig out" the number of testing hours he did? I know somebody posted it a while ago. RK got his first opportunity(thanks to winning Renault F3 Series) in 2006 when JV left the BMW-Sauber-F1 team.

Your point is either totally uninformed or willfully misleading. Kubica started his rookie season with a LOT more F1 experience than LH.

The 2004 test you were talking about was a one-off opportunity for winning the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, him and Jamie Green completing 21 laps in Silverstone. You could hardly call that testing, more like letting the kids have some fun. And you imply as if he'd done nothing but testing F1 cars for three years, come on...

LH's first proper test day took place in Sep 2006 in Silverstone and then another three days in October in Jerez. In November he was announced as the second driver for 2007 so he went on to join the winter tests like everyone else. So that's a whopping 4 test days as a "test driver".

As for Kubica, he was a Friday test driver in 2006 all year, getting to know all the circuits and he even secured a race seat for the last third of the season. So at the beginning of the 2007 winter tests he had 18 Friday practice sessions, a number of full-day tests and 6 races under his belt.

[raymondu999]

Wasn't he a renault test driver too? I could be wrong on that count though.

[paipa]

Wasn't he a renault test driver too? I could be wrong on that count though.

You are right, Kubica also tested a Renault in 2005 December in Barcelona for winning the WSR.

[raymondu999]

But I believe that was also a one-off test like Lewis tested the McLaren for BRDC, right? Or was it? I can't remember... sorry. I just remember that he was a Renault junior driver.