Best driver on the current 2008 grid

First post i've ever started, let's see how it goes..

For me, the best driver on the grid is Fernando Alonso, slightly below him are Lewis, Kimi, Kubica; everyone else is on a different league.

What do u guys think?

Alonso or Kubica at the moment for me.

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X (@ed24f1)

Kimi is the best when he gets his problems sorted out.But they are all so close....Kubica has been the best this season beucause he has made less mistakes than anyone else, Alonso has done lot's of mistakes this and last year and that's why I wouldn't rate him the best also his team mate this season is poor so we can't say for sure are his results as good as some people think,I wouldn't rate them so high.

Going by this year I would say

Kubica (1 mistake all year)
Lewis (let down by errors this year)
Alonso (Few mistakes at the start of the year)
Kimi (when the car is ok he is fast, made a few unlike kimi errors)
Massa (Slower than kimi, lack of race craft, needs to start from the front)

For me Alonso and Lewis are joint 2nd.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2008 06:26PM by marcl.

I'd say Alonso is definitely the most complete driver on the grid, by complete I mean that he is very strong in all areas with very few weaknesses.

In short his has all the necessary qualities to be a multiple world champion which of course he already is.

Let's put it like this, he is one of the quickest drivers on the grid and he is also one of the most relentlessly consistent drivers. He is very good technically in that his feedback plays a key role in the development of his car.

Perhaps he didn't pull 6 tenths like the press accused him of claiming at McLaren last year, but there can be little doubt that he was able to provide invaluable feedback that would have had a very positive effect on the car's development.

You only have to look at where Renault started this season, and where they are finishing it this year to verify that.

Kimi Raikkonen is a extremely talented and quick driver, but he's not as complete as Alonso. Drivers who can perhaps develop into equals to Alonso? Vettel, Kubica and Hamilton.

Nando for sure. But closely followed by Kubica and Vettel.

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For me Alonso is the most complete package - way ahead of everyone else.

Lewis: not sure if he's technically capable, same as Kimi - although both are untouchable when the car is perfect - noone can match their pace when they get going (except probably Alonso).

Alonso without a doubt
Kubica hasn't impressed me to be honest, the guy is yet to do something spectacular, the win in canada was not special, Alonso could've won it with a lower car, but Heidfeld let him go and stop Alonso...

even if Alonso made a few mistakes and Kubica hasn't, Kubica has yet to do something special, i haven't seen him make an awesome qualy lap, or a spectacular overtaking maneuver, Kimi is good, but if the car is not good, he is average, same for Massa, whereas you can see Alonso always being on top of the car even when it is not good, and the only mistakes he's made where 2, weren't it?, all the drivers you guys mentioned have made more, the fact that some erros don't end up with a car crash doesn't mean they aren't errors, if you know what i mean

tbh, Vettel impressed me more than Kubica, just by beating everybody in Monza, that's special, Massa's race in Hungary, that's special, Kimi going with an incredible determination to the front in Spa, that's special, Lewis masterfull drive in Silverstone, that's special, but i can't name one that Kubica has done, apart from his accident last year.., just kidding :p

Rosberg is overrated, an Kovalainen and Piquet are utter sh*t...

If we take account only the performances this year, then I'd say the one that impressed me the most was Alonso. Always putting that Renault in places it could not be, and now that the car is working a lot better he went back to his 2005/2006 performances. His drives at Singapore and Japan were perfect no matter how much luck there was involved. Kubica has also been great with his great consistency...always delivering even when the car wasn't very good like in China.

I cannot put any of the 4 guys in McLaren and Ferrari on the list though. Massa for his silly mistakes and uninspired drives, Hamilton for losing his head on crucial times and also doing mistakes. Kimi, true that he has been having problems with the car, but there were races where he could've collected more points had he been more carefull...he could definately still be in the title hunt if not for those. And Heikki, well, big disappoitment.

Another highlight is Vettel also, who managed some great performance with that Toro.

That said, the two best drivers on the grid, IMO, still are Kimi and Alonso. I've yet to see the new guys doing performances like the ones Kimi did in 2005 and Alonso in 2005/2006.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2008 06:51PM by Joe_Satriani.

For me it's pretty much what Jim said.

I have to agree Vettel has impressed but as of late his team mate has been getting very close and in spa and china was ahead.

Also in Italy the race Vettel won SB was on equal pace but had more bad luck.

Anyone hear what Ferrari have planned for Kimi in the winter test after this year? apperently their getting him to do the distance of 39 grandprixs something like that, so he can smooth out those mistakes and get him back to his old self. afterall theres alot of changes next year so he will need the time lol

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BRING IT ON!!!

Slash Wrote:
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> Alonso without a doubt
> Kubica hasn't impressed me to be honest, the guy
> is yet to do something spectacular, the win in
> canada was not special, Alonso could've won it
> with a lower car, but Heidfeld let him go and stop
> Alonso...
>
> even if Alonso made a few mistakes and Kubica
> hasn't, Kubica has yet to do something special, i
> haven't seen him make an awesome qualy lap, or a
> spectacular overtaking maneuver, Kimi is good, but
> if the car is not good, he is average, same for
> Massa, whereas you can see Alonso always being on
> top of the car even when it is not good, and the
> only mistakes he's made where 2, weren't it?, all
> the drivers you guys mentioned have made more, the
> fact that some erros don't end up with a car crash
> doesn't mean they aren't errors, if you know what
> i mean
>
> tbh, Vettel impressed me more than Kubica, just by
> beating everybody in Monza, that's special,
> Massa's race in Hungary, that's special, Kimi
> going with an incredible determination to the
> front in Spa, that's special, Lewis masterfull
> drive in Silverstone, that's special, but i can't
> name one that Kubica has done, apart from his
> accident last year.., just kidding :p
>
> Rosberg is overrated, an Kovalainen and Piquet are
> utter sh*t...


Alonso has made more mistakes than just 2 just like other top drivers but Kubica.Also Alonso didn't produce any spectacular results when the car was bad this season, only when Renault made a big step forward also Alonso has done great performances no doubt, but Renault is now a lot better car than it was at the beginning of the season, it's only 0,2-0,4 seconds slower than Ferrari and McLaren.Anyway Alonso has had strong end of the season no doubt but still I don't rate him the best but one of the best for sure.

Robert Kubica.

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Well, its quite hard, I think Kimi, Lewis and Fernando are the best at the moment (they all have had their downs though this season, kimi the most) with in the future Kubica and Vettel.

Fernando Alonso.

Alonso

Well, you know me, obviously I think Alonso is the best one. I honestly don't remember those many errors some of you claim he has done this year. I remember Canada, Monaco and Germany. But he has put a lot on that car, I don't think any other driver can challenge Alonso when material is not so good (and not driving at McLaren :-P). And as soon as the car has improved, he has put the rest (despite being still a quite slower car than McLaren and Ferrari, has scored more points than any other driver since Hungaroring).

Lewis speaks to much but his results are far from being brilliant or spectacular. It would be the champion with less points since 2003 (and that year there were only 16 races and a lot of very competitive cars at the top level).

Kimi is as fast as Alonso but less consistent, and sometimes seems to be out of the game.

Massa is fast and very well adapted to Ferrari, but it is extremely fragile to be champion (and yet he can win!).

Kubica is quite similar to Alonso in many areas, consistent, regular, but I still have to see him a little bit more to rate him so high.

Vettel will be included in this list because his spectacular win in Monza. I don't really know what happened that race with Toro Rosso (Bourdais was also quite fast there), but he deserves to be mentioned at least.

And other drivers I think are fast but without chances to shine yet: Rosberg and Webber

vesuvius Wrote:
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> Alonso has made more mistakes than just 2 just
> like other top drivers but Kubica.Also Alonso
> didn't produce any spectacular results when the
> car was bad this season, only when Renault made a
> big step forward also Alonso has done great
> performances no doubt, but Renault is now a lot
> better car than it was at the beginning of the
> season, it's only 0,2-0,4 seconds slower than
> Ferrari and McLaren.Anyway Alonso has had strong
> end of the season no doubt but still I don't rate
> him the best but one of the best for sure.


Alonso was battling his car trying to make it achieve results it simply shouldn't and couldn't achieve. Monaco he just tried too hard and was crazy, but that's a man with a lot of skill used to winning trying to push his then Fred Flinstone car past others, but being Monaco there's very little way of doing it unless your car helps. In Hockenheim he only lost places because he drove better than the others around him. He'd manage to pull almost alongside but his car had so little power that the time he lost trying to overtake was enough to give people like Nico Rosberg an advantage when all he needed was a medium length straight to pass Alonso due to sheer engine power.

Alonso turned Renault around after the Fisichella-Kovalainen 2007 bomb. The mistakes you saw came from a guy trying to overachieve by a lot, and guess what? 2 wins, more than Heikki and half of Kimi. Put Kimi in the Renault and maybe he'd have had a couple of podiums.

Joe_Satriani Wrote:
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> And Heikki, well, big
> disappoitment.
>

I feel sorry for Heiiki, but he seems to be absolutely ignored. Ron Dennis saying that they only care about the drivers championship and that Ferrari can win constructors with a 1-2 at Brazil sounds to me like "we are driving with only one guy, we don't really care what happens to Heikki"...poor guy. Maybe now he sympathises a little bit more with Alonso. McLaren is doing what many people critisized Alonso for, when fans (and Lewis) claimed that "Alonso wanted nº 1 status", a little bit hipocrits.