Which F1 team has the best driver line up going into 2013?

[steveaki13]

I think this is a good estimation of about where Webber roughly sits in the F1 pecking order. On the fringes of being a top6 driver on the grid. In fact, you can argue that in his best seasons (2003, 2006, maybe 2007/08 as well?) he indeed was a top6 driver on the grid.

Let's take 2010 for example, his most recent championship challenge. Was Webber a top6 driver? Among title contenders I'd say he was the least convincing of all five title contenders, even though he had several great races. And behind them Kubica, Rosberg and also Barrichello all had very good seasons. So if I had to pick six drivers from that year, Webber would just – only just – miss out. And this is where I think his general level is. Still very good though.

I think Webber is a good driver, he is as you say one of those drivers in a 3rd bracket, that can score points and win if everything is in place.

However he is not in the bracket of a driver who can drag a dog around and win, or in the bracket of super consistancy who can win championships.

He is better than most F1 drivers in F1s history

[rjbetty]

I think this is a good estimation of about where Webber roughly sits in the F1 pecking order. On the fringes of being a top6 driver on the grid. In fact, you can argue that in his best seasons (2003, 2006, maybe 2007/08 as well?) he indeed was a top6 driver on the grid.

Let's take 2010 for example, his most recent championship challenge. Was Webber a top6 driver? Among title contenders I'd say he was the least convincing of all five title contenders, even though he had several great races. And behind them Kubica, Rosberg and also Barrichello all had very good seasons. So if I had to pick six drivers from that year, Webber would just – only just – miss out. And this is where I think his general level is. Still very good though.

I've always felt Webber was quite underrated, especially in his Williams day. He was regarded harshly by both the team and by people on the outside. I believe the failure was the car and that Webber was actually very impressive, especially in 2006, though he says he fell off towards the end of the year. His qualifying lap at the Nurburgring in 2005 (fuel corrected would have been pole against the McLarens and Renaults) and his drives at Monaco (fighting for the win with Alonso and Raikkonen who had better cars) and Melbourne 2006 (led part of the race and ran 3rd) were absolute top drawer stuff where he drove out of his skin.

[rjbetty]

I think Webber is a good driver, he is as you say one of those drivers in a 3rd bracket, that can score points and win if everything is in place.

However he is not in the bracket of a driver who can drag a dog around and win, or in the bracket of super consistancy who can win championships.

He is better than most F1 drivers in F1's history

Pretty much agree. But I sadly think Webber has peaked, especiallly given I read earlier how he was talking about aiming for the podium and staying in F1 as long as he is competitive. When I hear a driver talk about remaining competitive, I basically hear that as them admitting they've peaked and are gradually sliding down the hill from now on.

Therefore, I expect a rejuvenated Massa will perform better, as will Rosberg. I expect Vettel, Alonso, Raikkonen, Hamilton and Button to do the same followed by Nico Hulkenberg who is looking ready. That would put Webber 8th or 9th at best. I'm not certain that Grosjean or Maldonado will perform at a higher level over the whole season than Webber; maybe they need a bit more experience and consistency first.

It's looking like the Mercedes line-up will be the overall strongest if their car is that good, as it will enable the drivers to give more of themselves. They look like they've won this poll.

[steveaki13]

I think this will be Webbers last season at Red Bull.

Its whether he retires at the top team or drops down for one final fun hoorah as DC did.

[jens]

I think this will be Webbers last season at Red Bull.

Its whether he retires at the top team or drops down for one final fun hoorah as DC did.

Every year it is said it could be Webber's last, but... : Depends if anyone from the midfield (Hülkenberg, Bottas, a STR driver) can impress enough this year to convince RBR to take a gamble. I think this has enabled Mark to stay on all those years, because RBR hasn't been completely convinced in any of the young drivers yet.

I think Webber may retire after the RBR stint. It depends on his mentality, but he may not be the kind of driver, who wants to hang around just for the fun of it in midfield and backmarker teams. He spent enough time in midfield in the early phase of his career already. That's a contrast to Coulthard, who before joining RBR had only been in top teams and it was a new challenge for him.

[airshifter]

It occurred to me earlier that we could easily come up with a way to track results between team drivers to see who on this poll was correct. We could add the time margins between drivers over the season, then see what the total time margins are at seasons end. Obviously we would have to make some agreement on how to treat a DNF that was car failure, as would be the case at Oz with Nico and Lewis.

Being that we can't control the variables of all cars, I would think time deltas (rather than points) is overall a better indication of who is driving well. Surely luck would still play a part at times, but that is racing. We could also establish a method to "score" a time delta if one of the drivers causes an accident, adding a set XXX seconds as the DNF due to their own stupidity type score.

With a spreadsheet it shouldn't be all that hard to track. Just a thought, if anyone is interested give input on how you think we should do it.

[rjbetty]

This sounds really interesting, and the kind of thing that is up my street (I'm qualified in MS Excel) Will give it some thought.

[BDunnell]

Every year it is said it could be Webber's last, but... : Depends if anyone from the midfield (Hülkenberg, Bottas, a STR driver) can impress enough this year to convince RBR to take a gamble. I think this has enabled Mark to stay on all those years, because RBR hasn't been completely convinced in any of the young drivers yet.

I think Webber may retire after the RBR stint. It depends on his mentality, but he may not be the kind of driver, who wants to hang around just for the fun of it in midfield and backmarker teams. He spent enough time in midfield in the early phase of his career already. That's a contrast to Coulthard, who before joining RBR had only been in top teams and it was a new challenge for him.

Very possibly. But I can easily imagine him in another form of motorsport, such as V8 Supercars.