The best drivers around

This list is based on all current F1 drivers, and some who are floating around. This is not just based on 2012; it's where I think the drivers rate as of now, regardless of recent results. I have put the drivers into groups This is based on where I think the drivers are at right now, i.e. some drivers in group 3 or 4 are inexperienced and can move up as they grow and get better. I know that form can vary from season to season, but this is where I feel their natural levels are - at present. In other words, I think that Kovalainen is probably the 13th best driver around.

GROUP 1 - BEST OF THE BEST OF THE BEST, SIR!
1.Alonso - not as fast as Hamilton, he know that, but Ham needs to prove he can match or beat Alonso on consistency too.
1.Hamilton - 2012 errors mostly seemed to be the team's/cars' this time, without which he looks to now challenge for overall best as well as just fastest.
3.Vettel - between Vettel and Hamilton, I'd definitely trust Vettel to get the job done, but Ham is working on this.

GROUP 2 - TOP DRIVERS, CHAMPION MATERIAL "A" BUT NOT QUITE "A
4.Raikkonen - like Jenson, but slightly better. Would get owned by Alonso or Hamilton I feel. I did put him in group 1 but I feel he still needs to prove he is as good as the drivers above.
5.Jenson Button - basically a group 1 driver at his best, but 2012 showed he still has pretty large gaps
6.Felipe Massa - has beaten 1 driver above him, but I don't feel even a 2008 Massa is better than Alonso.
7.Mark Webber - very very good, but just missing a little to be A*. Could have definitely been a champion in the 90's, or most seasons before the last 3.
8.Nico Rosberg - I think Mark Hughes wrote it well on his sky blog. Nico could be champion in the best car, but in anything less isn't as special as the very top guys. I feel

GROUP 3 - RACE WINNERS/ABLE TO WIN, FUTURE WDCs
9.Nico Hulkenberg - future WDC. People expected too much at Williams. So much talent, and very likeable. More so than Vettel I think. Will be moving up a group soon.
10.Sergio Perez - future WDC. He says as soon as 2013. I just don't see he's ready yet. Clear potential.
11.Romain Grosjean - showed Raikkonen up for speed, but we will see in 2013 how much was Kimi not being up to speed. Future WDC. Just hope confidence isn't hurt by the incidents; I am concerned he may lose a little of his sparkle, especially as the car may not be so hot this year.
12.Pastor Maldonado - This guy really does look like he can be as good as Montoya. Another future WDC maybe. Don't laugh!! No-one would have believed he would have won a race in 2012. Maybe the car won't be as good this time though...
13.Heikki Kovalainen - lets be fair, even though he tailed off in 2012 he is still at a good level and should be driving that Force India by rights.
14.Paul di Resta - I'm amazed at how people are treating him recently. He deserves to be in F1. Not as good as Hulk, but definitely a race winner if not a WDC. Might even find himself keeping Glock, Kovalainen and Kobayashi company - on the outside! To think he felt down about missing a McLaren drive.
15.Kamui Kobayashi - Actually a very good driver, but so are at least 14 ahead of him and several behind. Despite seeming close to Perez in some ways, the difference in potential should be clear. Ask McLaren. Checo said money can buy a drive, but it can't buy results. I think that's right.
16.Vitaly Petrov - totally underrated race winning material without a shadow of a doubt in the right car.
17.Adrian Sutil - a good driver, but may have maxed out. I don't see him as a natural race winner. And now there are question marks since he hasn't raced (anything) for a year.
18.Timo Glock - another good driver - podiums with Toyota show that. But it seems too many are ahead of him. These 2 could win in a Red Bull I think.

GROUP 4 - GOOD DRIVERS, WORTHY OF A PLACE IN F1, BUT NOT (CURRENTLY) GOOD ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO WIN ON MERIT.
19.Daniel Ricciardo - May only be 19th but has only done 1 full season. Much scope to climb up here.
20.Senna - a little disappointing but I feel he's a late bloomer who has untapped potential and scope to keep moving up and up little by little if given the chance.
21.Pic - will climb up higher than this. A very good first season considering his lack of preparation beforehand! Fast.
22.Jaime Alguersuari - I think he has more potential than Buemi. How rusty is he though?
23.Sebastien Buemi - good experience. If he has cash also, will be a pretty good asset to a team.
24.de la Rosa - his attitude as well as his decent speed in a bottom car was impressive.
25.Vergne - Red Bull should have stuck to original plan to keep him FR3.5 one more season, but I believe he has potential to move to group 2.

GROUP 5 - BOTTOM DRIVERS
26.Karthikeyan - Could get regular points in a top car, and podiums if it was a top car in the 1990s.
27.Jacques Villeneuve - well this is where I think he might have been if he'd come back in 2010...

If Michael Schumacher's batteries weren't empty, as they were towards the end of last year, I think he'd be looking good for 7th or 6th this season.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rjbetty

GROUP 2 - TOP DRIVERS, CHAMPION MATERIAL "A" BUT NOT QUITE "A
4.Raikkonen - like Jenson, but slightly better. Would get owned by Alonso or Hamilton I feel. I did put him in group 1 but I feel he still needs to prove he is as good as the drivers above.

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Strangely, both Alonso and Hamilton got owned by Raikkonen in 2007 :)

Dont know about owned, but I would agree and put Raikkonen in the top bracket.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rjbetty

This list is based on all current F1 drivers, and some who are floating around. This is not just based on 2012; it's where I think the drivers rate as of now, regardless of recent results. I have put the drivers into groups This is based on where I think the drivers are at right now, i.e. some drivers in group 3 or 4 are inexperienced and can move up as they grow and get better. I know that form can vary from season to season, but this is where I feel their natural levels are - at present. In other words, I think that Kovalainen is probably the 13th best driver around.

GROUP 1 - BEST OF THE BEST OF THE BEST, SIR!
1.Alonso - not as fast as Hamilton, he know that, but Ham needs to prove he can match or beat Alonso on consistency too.
1.Hamilton - 2012 errors mostly seemed to be the team's/cars' this time, without which he looks to now challenge for overall best as well as just fastest.
3.Vettel - between Vettel and Hamilton, I'd definitely trust Vettel to get the job done, but Ham is working on this.

GROUP 2 - TOP DRIVERS, CHAMPION MATERIAL "A" BUT NOT QUITE "A
4.Raikkonen - like Jenson, but slightly better. Would get owned by Alonso or Hamilton I feel. I did put him in group 1 but I feel he still needs to prove he is as good as the drivers above.
5.Jenson Button - basically a group 1 driver at his best, but 2012 showed he still has pretty large gaps
6.Felipe Massa - has beaten 1 driver above him, but I don't feel even a 2008 Massa is better than Alonso.
7.Mark Webber - very very good, but just missing a little to be A*. Could have definitely been a champion in the 90's, or most seasons before the last 3.
8.Nico Rosberg - I think Mark Hughes wrote it well on his sky blog. Nico could be champion in the best car, but in anything less isn't as special as the very top guys. I feel

GROUP 3 - RACE WINNERS/ABLE TO WIN, FUTURE WDCs
9.Nico Hulkenberg - future WDC. People expected too much at Williams. So much talent, and very likeable. More so than Vettel I think. Will be moving up a group soon.
10.Sergio Perez - future WDC. He says as soon as 2013. I just don't see he's ready yet. Clear potential.
11.Romain Grosjean - showed Raikkonen up for speed, but we will see in 2013 how much was Kimi not being up to speed. Future WDC. Just hope confidence isn't hurt by the incidents; I am concerned he may lose a little of his sparkle, especially as the car may not be so hot this year.
12.Pastor Maldonado - This guy really does look like he can be as good as Montoya. Another future WDC maybe. Don't laugh!! No-one would have believed he would have won a race in 2012. Maybe the car won't be as good this time though...
13.Heikki Kovalainen - lets be fair, even though he tailed off in 2012 he is still at a good level and should be driving that Force India by rights.
14.Paul di Resta - I'm amazed at how people are treating him recently. He deserves to be in F1. Not as good as Hulk, but definitely a race winner if not a WDC. Might even find himself keeping Glock, Kovalainen and Kobayashi company - on the outside! To think he felt down about missing a McLaren drive.
15.Kamui Kobayashi - Actually a very good driver, but so are at least 14 ahead of him and several behind. Despite seeming close to Perez in some ways, the difference in potential should be clear. Ask McLaren. Checo said money can buy a drive, but it can't buy results. I think that's right.
16.Vitaly Petrov - totally underrated race winning material without a shadow of a doubt in the right car.
17.Adrian Sutil - a good driver, but may have maxed out. I don't see him as a natural race winner. And now there are question marks since he hasn't raced (anything) for a year.
18.Timo Glock - another good driver - podiums with Toyota show that. But it seems too many are ahead of him. These 2 could win in a Red Bull I think.

GROUP 4 - GOOD DRIVERS, WORTHY OF A PLACE IN F1, BUT NOT (CURRENTLY) GOOD ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO WIN ON MERIT.
19.Daniel Ricciardo - May only be 19th but has only done 1 full season. Much scope to climb up here.
20.Senna - a little disappointing but I feel he's a late bloomer who has untapped potential and scope to keep moving up and up little by little if given the chance.
21.Pic - will climb up higher than this. A very good first season considering his lack of preparation beforehand! Fast.
22.Jaime Alguersuari - I think he has more potential than Buemi. How rusty is he though?
23.Sebastien Buemi - good experience. If he has cash also, will be a pretty good asset to a team.
24.de la Rosa - his attitude as well as his decent speed in a bottom car was impressive.
25.Vergne - Red Bull should have stuck to original plan to keep him FR3.5 one more season, but I believe he has potential to move to group 2.

GROUP 5 - BOTTOM DRIVERS
26.Karthikeyan - Could get regular points in a top car, and podiums if it was a top car in the 1990s.
27.Jacques Villeneuve - well this is where I think he might have been if he'd come back in 2010...

If Michael Schumacher's batteries weren't empty, as they were towards the end of last year, I think he'd be looking good for 7th or 6th this season.

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I agree with everything there except for the rating of Massa. He should be nowhere near the top 10 after his performance the last two years and I certainly would rate Webber and Rosberg as better than him any day of the week. It was embarrassing how bad Massa was this year and last. I still don't understand Ferrari keeping him, even if he did put in one or two good performances towards the end of the season.

On another note, I wouldn't rate Kimi as highly as I do Vettel, Alonso or Hamilton either. That may change next year though. He has the talent. Whether he puts the work in or not remains to be seen.

Finally, Maldonado is too much of a tit to ever win a championship.

Ok I think you guys are right. I think the feeling is that Kimi should be in group 1. I did put him there but changed my mind. I honestly feel Ferrari generally had the better car in 2008 if not 2007. I haven't been convinced about Kimi for a few years but I recognise he did a great job last year. I believe he has another title in him if the car is up to it.

As for Massa, I'm even less convinced, and have been from the start, but the end of his 2012 season really impessed me. He scored 80% of the points Alonso scored from Hungary onwards - even though he was held back several times. He is VERY marginally ahead of Webber as I feel that is where his natural level is.

Obviously, there was sarcasm in my post. I couldn't help it though.

I think that the Top 5 drivers are the champions. I rate them like this:
1 Seb
2 Alonso
3 Kimi
4 Hamilton
5 Jenson
But the gaps aren't too big. There are some drivers which are also very good or can be very good - like Webber, Massa and Rosberg, but for me are a level below the World Champions. There are some very fast young racers who may become great or may fade - Julk, Perez, di Resta, Maldonado and even Grosjean. The rest are also good, but maybe not so much...

Best driver ever!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8365/8...60c7750a08.jpg

The best three drivers, based on last year, were clearly Alonso, Hamilton and Räikkönen.
The rest are far behind.

Reminds me, when I was doing these kind of 'classifications' and groupings a few years ago. :)

Now thinking about it... The most important thing to keep in mind is flexibility and fluctuations. For example in 2011 Button was a top3 driver on the grid, while last year he was pretty average to be frank. So let's see, what will 2013 bring. No top3's, second tiers, etc, are set in stone. :)

However, in the long term I am slightly concerned about the depth of F1 field. It looks like we are having a significant turnover of midfield drivers. It consists of a lot of paydrivers and they get replaced after every 2-3 years. As a result the quality diminishes and we have a lot of immaturity there.

A contrast to the boom period of economy, when 5 and more years ago we had some real depth in the midfield as well in addition to top teams, when Webber, Heidfeld, Trulli, R.Schumacher, Fisichella, Barrichello, Button, etc were filling midfield seats. I guess in terms of driver line-ups it was sort of a golden era for me. Unmatchable in current times and economy.

Among current midfielders/backmarkers only Hülkenberg fills me with confidence that he could one day take over the position of current frontrunners and start gunning for championships. Bottas and Toro Rosso guys are still unproven though, so maybe they can be exceptional as well.