Rate the new generation

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Originally Posted by Garry Walker

Hamilton is very impressive, but how much of it is the car?

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fousto has answered that one.

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Originally Posted by fousto

Any of the new kids beating their teammate should be watched closely.

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Hamilton is outstanding. Yes, he has a good car and has had excellent preparation, but he has done more with it than a 2xWDC, and he has managed every other aspect of F1 remarkably well.

Of the others Kubica is not quite able to match Heidfeld's performances yet. He needs to.

Kovalainen has impressed me. After a poor start, and criticism from Briatore, he's recovered strongly in what is a difficult year for Renault.

Rosberg has a big future. Not only is he excellent technically, but he's developing into a fine Grand Prix driver. Would be a very good fit at McLaren should Alonso walk away.

Sutil is far better than the Spyker allows him to show, but he's keeping his head down and learning. He deserves to step up the grid in 2008 and the likes of Toyota would do well to look at him.

Davidson is showing well against Sato, and at a time when Sato is being well thought of that's no bad thing. Unfortunately racing with Aguri again, or testing for Honda again, may be Ant's only options next year. I hope not because, like Sutil, he deserves the opportunity to race with a more competitive team.

Not sure about Liuzzi. He impressed on his way up to F1 but either the Red Bull image has damaged his reputation unfairly, or he's not committed enough.

Vettel - too soon to tell. He should be wary of what Red Bull can do to young drivers!

Well. I personally tend to put Kubica, Kovalainen and Rosberg all quite on the same level.
Kubica has been a bit inconsistent (no surprise for a rookie!), but he has shown that he can be as quick as Nick and he has progressed from the end of last year by not making any more driver errors!
Kovalainen has been IMO really impressive recently and could have a bright future too. No other rookie team-mate has beaten Fisi so far (Massa, Sato Button, Wurz, Ralf), but HK is doing it. Should say a lot!
Rosberg might have looked the most impressive one among those three, but I agree with those, who say that Wurz has also played part in that. I think that the vast majority of the grid could give Nico harder competition that Wurz. Therefore I'd like to see Nico to be partnered by a new driver next year.

I'd like to put Sutil in the same group as the drivers above, but I'm not totally sure either. It's hard to judge driver, when he's driving for Spyker. For example last year I was very impressed with Albers's drives in MF1, but probably I overrated him back then. Also I think Davidson is Heikki-like driver as he has needed more time to settle in F1 as a driver. I probably underrated him a bit before the season, although I still don't quite compare him with the three firstly mentioned drivers. Also the question remains that how good benchmark is Sato - how much does matching or even beating him say?

I still think Liuzzi is not that average as many of you think. I think he hasn't quite got a proper chance. Actually I like the idea to see him driving for Williams next year alongside Rosberg - then he can really show, what he is capable of. Vettel is currently having his first (!) test days with Toro Rosso, so I think his first real showing must come at Monza, when he is a bit more comfortable with the car.

I want to see rosberg against a worth teammate

Where's all this Rosberg beating Wurz coming from? Last time I checked, qualifying, testing and fastest laps still didn't count in F1, points did. And for the record:

- Alexander Wurz: 13 Points
- Nico Rosberg: 9 Points

And wurz, while no WDC material, has certainly the capacity to beat Rosberg by the end of the season. Considering that Rosberg was also beaten by Webber, I don't put him in a that high a class.

Liuzzi: Stick a fork in him please...

Vettel: Give him some time to adjust.

Sutil: Flashes of brilliance, very inconsisten. Would like to see him in F1 next year.

HK: Beating Fisico alright, but I think Fisi is disheartened and unmotivated knowing that this is his last season in F1.

Kubica: I rate quick Nick quite highly, and he has more or less matched Nick. I think Kubica has potential.

Davidson: Mildly disappointed by him this season; I expected falshworks. Still, I'd give him at least one more year to prove himself.

Hamilton is the only rookie being judged against a a proven 2x WDC coming out on top and having to cope with the pressure of racing on a championish leading team without almost any mistakes maken. IMO we're talking Senna/Schummi league material here...

From the rest of the best, Rosberg is developing into quite a competitive racer, but the truth is that Wurz is hardly putting any pressure on him, like Webber did before.
Kubica was extremely promising but has disapointed this year and shown that he can barely keep up with Heidlfeld sometimes.

Kovalainen is a Rosberg kind of rookie, good enough but hardly brilliant.
Sutil is looking good but makes so many mistakes... Remember Tiago Monteiro? He wasn't a brilliantly talented driver by any means, but always drove the car to the finish line at least.

To me, a real special driver only appears every other decade in formula one....first we had Senna, then Schummi, and now it seems Hamilton.