44 replies to this topic

[Madras]

I reckon Paul Di Resta is doing a great job at Force India.

[ImDDAA]

Di Resta

[KavB]

Di Resta.
I have to say Maldonado has impressed me in the last few weeks, however my expectation of him was really low so it's easier to get impressed.

[schuey100]

Di Resta. I wasn't expecting much but blimey he's got some speed and racecraft. Sure there have been one or two rookie mistakes but he looks like someone going places.

[olliek88]

Di Resta or Perez, any chance of a poll? seems appropriate.

[ryan86]

I think di Resta but Maldonado might be the guy that finishes Rubens' career. I don't think Maldonado is any future legend, but he's looking slightly more racey recently.

[Seanspeed]

Di Resta, easily. He's outperforming Sutil by a decent margin.

Maldonado is doing pretty good lately, but I still haven't forgotten how much he was crashing earlier on.

Its a shame Perez is out for these two races.

[gerry nassar]

It may turn out to be a very good year for rookies which it didnt like like being at the start of the season. DiResta has been most impressive but Maldonado has come on strong against an experienced teammate and Perez has shown flashes of brilliance.

Atleast the 10 year trend isnt completely obliterated - 91 - Schumacher/Hakkinen, 01 - Raikkonen, Alonso, Montoya 11 - .....etc

[jeze]

1, Paul Di Resta
2, Sergio Pérez
3, Pastor Maldonado
4, Jérôme D'Ambrosio

Albeit Maldonado has surprised me in comparison to Barrichello, but I still feel Barri has lost his motivation when being consigned to a crappy car...

[arknor]

kobayashi imo is still a rookie and doing a good job, its hard for me to decide wether i should choose him oe di resta as often these drivers are neglected during the race making it hard to come to a proper judgement

[mursuka80]

kobayashi imo is still a rookie and doing a good job, its hard for me to decide wether i should choose him oe di resta as often these drivers are neglected during the race making it hard to come to a proper judgement

It isnt Kobayashis first season so no,he isnt a rookie.Di Resta is performing better that i hoped he would,so Di Resta is the answer.

Edited by mursuka80, 11 June 2011 - 21:21.

[Radoye]

Perez followed closely by di Resta. I'm really impressed by both so far!

[Deckard79]

Paul Di Resta is my top rookie, though Kobayashi is still my favourite young driver.

[TFLB]

Maldonado. He has out-qualified his team-mate - a championship contender in 2009 let's not forget - in, I think, four of the seven races so far, including three consecutively. He drove a superb race in Monaco. Perez and di Resta have had some good performances, but neither has really caught my eye like Maldonado did in Monaco, except perhaps Perez in Australia. I think it's unfair to try to judge D'ambrosio because the car is so bad. With that in mind:

1: Maldonado.
2: Perez.
3: di Resta.

[Totza]

Di Resta with ease..

[santori]

All four have been pretty impressive, I think. A good batch.

Perez has been very promising, Maldonado has seemed better against Rubens than Hulkenberg did, and D'Ambrosio has performed strongly against Glock (whom I rate very highly) but I'd have to say Di Resta has been the most complete so far.

[Skanka]

Di Resta has been impressive, not only because he has had the upper-hand on Sutil since the start of the season, but also because he's putting solid and consistent drives, not over-driving and keeping the car on the track. Perez looks to have a lot potential but seems still a bit inconsistent. But he has what it takes to have a good F1 career.

Maldonado has been the most error-prone of them all and apart from a very good Monaco GP weekend, I fail to see where he's been impressive. Actually it seems to me that it's more Barrichello loosing out motivation and speed as a result rather than Maldonado doing better compared to Hulkenberg last year. As for D'Ambrosio it's hard to compare with Glock at Virgin as the car is such a mess.

Overall I would say Di Resta, no doubt.

[santori]

All four have been pretty impressive, I think. A good batch.

Perez has been very promising, Maldonado has seemed better against Rubens than Hulkenberg did, and D'Ambrosio has performed strongly against Glock (whom I rate very highly) but I'd have to say Di Resta has been the most complete so far.

Although, having said that, Di Resta is in maybe the best position to make a strong impression, having both a good car and a team-mate who has been a little over-rated over the last few seasons. One of the others might look as good in a Force India against Sutil.

[RenArto]

They've all been impressive so far this year but if I had to choose one it has to be Paul di Resta.
Hoping Force India can produce a slightly better car so he has more chances of points

[se7en_24]

kobayashi imo is still a rookie and doing a good job

You need to look up the word Rookie, this is Koba's third season he has raced in, he is not a rookie.

[rog]

For me it's di Resta but Perez and Maldonado doing better than I thought against their established team mates.

[KoezhVukotic]

Pretty impressed with this batch overall. They all seem to be doing well against team mates, some beating, others matching or being close to their team mates. For me di Resta has been the most consistently impressive however Maldonado has had the best single performance at Monaco and seems to be getting the upper hand over Barrichello, something Hulk found it difficult to do. Unfortunately it is difficult to say if this is Maldonado doing really well of Barrichello starting to go off.

[teejay]

They are all doing a great job!

[phil1993]

They are all doing well.

Perez has put in some great drivers and has great potential
Di Resta has put Sutil in the shade and been fast and consistent, largely error free
Maldonado has been fast, albeit crash-happy, and has overshadowed Barrichello
D'Ambrosio hasn't been bad either

[F1Champion]

Di Resta definately closely followed by Perez.
Given the fact that Di Resta has come from DTM its even more impressive. Should F1 take more drivers from other non-single seater series?

[KiloWatt]

Certainly Di Resta. I watched the fellow in DTM and thought he deserved to be in F1. In the meant time, he proved me more than right and exceeded my personal expectations of him. Would love to see him in a merc at some stage, or at least in a more competitive team.

[Bloggsworth]

Maldonado. He has out-qualified his team-mate - a championship contender in 2009 let's not forget - in, I think, four of the seven races so far, including three consecutively. He drove a superb race in Monaco. Perez and di Resta have had some good performances, but neither has really caught my eye like Maldonado did in Monaco, except perhaps Perez in Australia. I think it's unfair to try to judge D'ambrosio because the car is so bad. With that in mind:

1: Maldonado.
2: Perez.
3: di Resta.

Whereas Di Resta has only outqualified Sutil in 6 out of 7 - Don't quite follow your logic...

[Tarun]

Di Resta without a doubt

[Alx09]

Di Resta, clearly.

[froggy22]

ive been impressed with all 4 rookies. Di Resta obviously stands out but credit to Maldonado, seemingly getting ontop of his vastly experienced and well respected teammate, PErez showing great pace and D'ambrosio fairing well against Glock(ignoring this weekend )

[thuGG]

Di Resta, obviously.

[allyb171189]

I think how u judge the rookies is dependent on how u judge their team mates. I personally think Perez is doing the best job, but thats because i rate Kobayshi very highly. I completely agree that Di Resta is doing a great job, Maldanado too, but i think that Sutil isn't as good as people say it is, and i think Barrichello is on his way out. DAM, i cant really analyse because the car isnt that good, but he is keeping close to glock, so he is doing a good job.

Good batch this year id say

[Kubiccia]

lol at the hype towards DiResta. Sutil is a average driver, so nothing exceptional to beat him.

Maldonado, in the other hand, is making the overated Hulkenberg looks really crappy atm. The most funny thing is people making excuse for the Hulk by claiming Rubens lost motivation.

F1 fact: Maldonado >>> Hulkenberg

PS: What a fraud GP2 is. Koba and Buemi looked crappy there but are good. Hulk looked better compared to Pastor but he isn't.

Edited by Kubiccia, 12 June 2011 - 14:15.

[HAM]

lol at the hype towards DiResta. Sutil is a average driver, so nothing exceptional to beat him.

Maldonado, in the other hand, is making the overated Hulkenberg looks really crappy atm. The most funny thing is people making excuse for the Hulk by claiming Rubens lost motivation.

F1 fact: Maldonado >>> Hulkenberg

PS: What a fraud GP2 is. Koba and Buemi looked crappy there but are good. Hulk looked better compared to Pastor but he isn't.

Lol. Hulkenberg is like 5 x better than MAL though. MAL just has the money. Williams need the $ mucho.
How many yrs did MAL had to win the GP2 champ?

Edited by HAM, 12 June 2011 - 14:17.

[HAM]

Di Resta for me too. Very hard to compare to the 2 slowest teams drivers line up though.

Edited by HAM, 12 June 2011 - 14:18.

[ryan86]

Lol. Hulkenberg is like 5 x better than MAL though. MAL just has the money. Williams need the $ mucho.
How many yrs did MAL had to win the GP2 champ?

I think it's fair to say that in all probability Hulkenberg is better than Maldonado, but I think the problem is that you go for this view that since Hulkenberg is better than Maldonado, therefore Maldonado must be rubbish.

It's easy to say we'd take a very good talent over a good talent and money, but we've not got people to pay.

Edited by ryan86, 12 June 2011 - 14:29.

[Anssi]

Paul di Resta so far.

He has plenty of races to screw up massively in so let's wait and see...

[beute]

DiResta did what exactly to earn this much praise?

I would say perez, he did a superb job in australia and who knows what he could have done in monaco when he managed to get into q3... kobayashi was 5th in that race, starting from 13th.. sooo.

[TFLB]

lol at the hype towards DiResta. Sutil is a average driver, so nothing exceptional to beat him.

Maldonado, in the other hand, is making the overated Hulkenberg looks really crappy atm. The most funny thing is people making excuse for the Hulk by claiming Rubens lost motivation.

F1 fact: Maldonado >>> Hulkenberg

PS: What a fraud GP2 is. Koba and Buemi looked crappy there but are good. Hulk looked better compared to Pastor but he isn't.

This. Some people have an agenda to fill. They think that because Maldonado is a pay driver he is by default worse than Hulkenberg. Claiming Barrichello has lost motivation to make Hulkenberg look better is just ridiculous and completely impossible to prove.

[ghost]

Di Resta,no doubt.

[KateLM]

Its turning out to be a pretty good year for rookies I think, none of them are disgracing themselves. My first impression is that di Resta is looking the best followed by Perez and Maldonado - the latter has really upped his game in the last few races. But its hard to judge d'Ambrosio simply because we never see him.

I would say perez, he did a superb job in australia and who knows what he could have done in monaco when he managed to get into q3... kobayashi was 5th in that race, starting from 13th.. sooo.

He was only 5th because of the safety car. I like Kobayashi but I don't actually think it was one of his better races. As for Perez, we'll never know but at the end of the day he did make an error.

Edited by KateLM, 12 June 2011 - 15:05.

[MaxisOne]

DiResta did what exactly to earn this much praise?

I would say perez, he did a superb job in australia and who knows what he could have done in monaco when he managed to get into q3... kobayashi was 5th in that race, starting from 13th.. sooo.

Lets see

Won championships in earlier open and closed cars

Achieved points in his first two races and finished ahead of his teamate in a good few of those races.

Out qualified his teamate six times out of seven quali sessions.

Doing this all without costing his team thousand of dollars in repair bills.

I really don't give a toss what "could have been done" in Monaco ... im glad Perez is ok .. but what could have been done by Perez in Monaco vs what has been done by Di Resta since the season started are different kettles of fish altogether. It was very obvious that the Saubers were tuned in for Monaco and its tyre management is among the best of the grid. Added points for the way Di Resta handles himself ... even after his only bad race and in the face of his stepfathers suicide he stayed classy. Serious showing of maturity there.

This is not to take anything away from Perez .. Hes a damn talented bloke .. but Di Resta has clearly earned the accolades hes getting so far .. in a Force India for gods sake .. Yes that team that now has some unknown Technical Director and had its crucial technical department essentially poached by Lotus last year.

Pastor has yet do earn any respect in my book. In my opinion from what Rubens has been saying to the press he cant be bothered as the car really is a piece of tripe .. Its no excuse obviously .. but i really do not believe Maldonado is in "seasoned driver" mode as yet .. You don't turn in on someone overtaking you on the inside ... yes it can be argued that Lewis was being way too aggressive .. however .. Williams NEEDED those points .. get the damn car home and get points rather than crash it trying to defend 1 position.

Di Resta and to a slightly lesser extent Perez have been driving like seasoned f1 pilots this season. Maldonado is not as bad as Petrov last year.. it might get worse it might get better but at the moment ..Di Resta is clearly earning his place as the best rookie. The tables may turn and someone else may bubble to the top but .. right now ..its clearly obvious the guy appears to be the real deal.

[Sukhoi]

Perez , Di Resta , D'ambrosio , in that order , all with little margin between them.

as for me Perez is more "active" on track , 2-3 years and he will know what he can do and what he cant do in F1.

he indeed crashes alot but still I have very good opinion about him , alittle bit of experience and hes gonna give us thrills race by race...

[expert]

I think they've all done a pretty good job. Di Resta consistently the most impressive and doesn't come across like a rookie at all. Maldonado seems to be the most improved and if the trend continues he might have a surprisingly bright future.

I would like to point out though to the people who are crediting Ruben's lack of motivation for why Maldonado has outperformed at times recently, then I think it's only fair to consider the off track dramas for Sutil as a contributing factor in his performance against Di Resta. I highly doubt Sutil is having a purple patch with his own form.

[H2H]

I think they've all done a pretty good job. Di Resta consistently the most impressive and doesn't come across like a rookie at all. Maldonado seems to be the most improved and if the trend continues he might have a surprisingly bright future.

I would like to point out though to the people who are crediting Ruben's lack of motivation for why Maldonado has outperformed at times recently, then I think it's only fair to consider the off track dramas for Sutil as a contributing factor in his performance against Di Resta. I highly doubt Sutil is having a purple patch with his own form.