jens
5th April 2009, 19:24
Life has shown that the views of F1 fans on drivers have usually been more or less been dependant on their machinery. Driver ratings tend to vary from season to season depending on the competitiveness of the machinery at their disposal. For example:
Button was rated relatively highly in 04-06, not so much in 07-08;
Trulli was rated highly in 04-05, not so much in 06-07;
Heidfeld's rating rose significantly in '07 after getting far better car than before;
Massa started to be taken seriously during his Ferrari stint;
etc
The phrase "WDC-material" has often been used by folks to describe some drivers, who are "that"... and the majority, who aren't. Drivers, who have never got a chance to drive for a top team, have often been included in the latter group.
I'm just wondering, which effect will the 2009 season have on ratings, considering major shake-up of the pecking order, which enables totally different racers to shine. Several drivers, who fair amount of people never expected to be any kind of a title threat, may suddenly have a realistic chance for it. Drivers like Button, Trulli, Glock, Rosberg, Vettel and Webber are in a better car than ever before and fighting it out at the sharp end of the grid. Meanwhile drivers like Hamilton, Alonso, Räikkönen and Massa - who have usually been rated as the best ones in recent years and who have mostly been at the top recently - are in midfield.
I would like to know whether 2009 F1 season has influenced or will influence your views on current F1 drivers. What are your reactions about the new pecking order? Will 2009 make people more cautious on making "car-based ratings"? If Button keeps dominating, will he be taken as a top driver or will he be called a lucky average driver? Recalling history and drivers at the top... There were doubts about the skills of Hill and Villeneuve too, but when they were fighting for titles, they were usually still rated as a Top3 driver, not "in the second half of F1 talent field".
Button was rated relatively highly in 04-06, not so much in 07-08;
Trulli was rated highly in 04-05, not so much in 06-07;
Heidfeld's rating rose significantly in '07 after getting far better car than before;
Massa started to be taken seriously during his Ferrari stint;
etc
The phrase "WDC-material" has often been used by folks to describe some drivers, who are "that"... and the majority, who aren't. Drivers, who have never got a chance to drive for a top team, have often been included in the latter group.
I'm just wondering, which effect will the 2009 season have on ratings, considering major shake-up of the pecking order, which enables totally different racers to shine. Several drivers, who fair amount of people never expected to be any kind of a title threat, may suddenly have a realistic chance for it. Drivers like Button, Trulli, Glock, Rosberg, Vettel and Webber are in a better car than ever before and fighting it out at the sharp end of the grid. Meanwhile drivers like Hamilton, Alonso, Räikkönen and Massa - who have usually been rated as the best ones in recent years and who have mostly been at the top recently - are in midfield.
I would like to know whether 2009 F1 season has influenced or will influence your views on current F1 drivers. What are your reactions about the new pecking order? Will 2009 make people more cautious on making "car-based ratings"? If Button keeps dominating, will he be taken as a top driver or will he be called a lucky average driver? Recalling history and drivers at the top... There were doubts about the skills of Hill and Villeneuve too, but when they were fighting for titles, they were usually still rated as a Top3 driver, not "in the second half of F1 talent field".