New (soon) top tier driver

I think Grosjean, Hulkenberg, Bottas and maybe Bianchi. Some of those will be a champion at some point.

All the drivers on the grid are superb. 

We couldn't do what they do. 

So put any in a top car and they'd get results. Its the guys who can get a bit more out the car than the rest.

Vettel and Alonso and to a certain extent Hamilton and Raikkonen.

Can others do what they can do? We'll probably never know.

so 1x WDC that actually lucked it, and 2x WDC are higher tier than 4x WDC that had 8 wins in a row? Amazing.

Nobody gets to be a champion just being lucky, but every champion gets lucky at some point of the season.

But if you play it your way, that lucked 1xWDC would be actually 3x WDC without such bad LUCK in his McLaren days.

And Vettel (and Hamilton also) belongs on that top line of drivers too.

Edited by REDalert, 17 November 2013 - 23:09.

I voted Grosjean

PS: what about Magnussen?

Edited by William Hunt, 17 November 2013 - 23:11.

I voted Grosjean

 

PS: what about Magnussen?

We'll see next year. You might just as well added his father as a top tier driver back in 1995 before he had turned a wheel in a Formula One race.

Grosjean is already a top tier driver. After Vettel, he scored the most points in the last five races.

Edited by discover23, 18 November 2013 - 02:16.

Vettel and Lewis are the new kimi and Alonso. This is their era .. Mclaren will probably snap Alonso for 2015 and this pedigree will remain until another superstar enters f1.

All the other drivers today are the rubens, trullis, satos, heidfields, frenzen, ralphs, fisichellas of years past.

This era is still Fernando's.... Not too sure where you get that from.

This era is still Fernando's.... Not too sure where you get that from.

Edited by discover23, 18 November 2013 - 02:43.

sure bet: Perez if he gets a seat.

new hope:  Kvyat and Magnussen

possibilities:  Hulk, Guitierrez, Grosjean, Pic

Of those drivers I think Hulkenberg is the only one who may be "top tier" with the likes of Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton, and maybe Raikkonen.  Hulkenberg doesn't JUST show a lot of speed considering the car he has, but also a lot of maturity.  He knows when to go for it and when to yield, and how to manage a race.

Grosjean has matured into quite a good driver, but I wouldn't yet rate him on that top tier of F1 drivers.  If we are using tiers I would rate him on the same level as Button, Rosberg, and Webber (although I'm not sure I'd even rate Webber on that level anymore).  He has always had a lot of speed, so if he can continue improving his consistency who knows he could become a "top tier" driver some day.

To be fair most of the drivers in F1 are really good these days, but it's that extra little bit that makes all the difference in the end.  An extra tenth or two of pace and a bit of extra consistency/racecraft is the difference between a good driver and a great driver.

Edited by travbrad, 18 November 2013 - 05:44.

so 1x WDC that actually lucked it, and 2x WDC are higher tier than 4x WDC that had 8 wins in a row? Amazing.

Non-sense, you could have easily addressed that post without adding "1x WDC that actually lucked it". Seriously, Kimi is a 1-time lucked WDC? Were you watching F1 before 2007?

For me it´s:

Tier 1: Vettel.

Tier 2: Räikkönen, Alonso, Hamilton.

Tier 3: Rosberg, Hulkenberg, Button, Grosjean

These are the top guys in the series right now. Rosberg is about to make it to tier 2, Grosjean and Hulkenberg might end up there too. Bottas can make it up to any of these groups in the future.

K-Mag.

Well currently the 6-tiered system shows:

 

Tier 1: Alonso, Raikkonen

Tier 2: Vettel, Hamilton, Button

Tier 3: Hulkenberg, Rosberg, Grosjean

Tier 4: Webber, Massa, Di Resta

Tier 5: Ricciardo, Maldonado, Sutil, Perez

Tier 6: Rest of Drivers

 

It seems to me that these drivers can only hope to reach Tier 2, the top tier is for legendary drivers and I can hardly see anyone of them making it that far.

HAHAHA, Button at the same level as Vettel and Hamilton, a 4xWDC lower than a 2 and a 1 X WDC...

HAHAHA, Button at the same level as Vettel and Hamilton, a 4xWDC lower than a 2 and a 1 X WDC...

I don't agree with the rankings but no. of WDCs is not directly proportional with how good a driver is/was atleast in this era. Nobody says Schumacher is twice as good as Senna. One manufacturer is clearly dominating the sport while other are able to match them only in few races sporadically. World championships such as 2006,2007 & 2008 are more indicative of driver performance. Button's WDC was largely down to the car and same is true from 2010 till now. 

In my opinion, how good a driver is can be seen through how he performs in both not so good cars and good stable cars. This I believe is the reason why Vettel is not rated highly by some F1 fans including me. Over a period though I am sure he'll get his share of crap cars and then we'll see. Alonso, Hamilton and even Raikkonen have done this time and again and that's why they are so highly rated. 

Edited by IamFasterthanU, 19 November 2013 - 16:19.