62 replies to this topic

[Viryfan]

I hate to say this, but it seems to me Bianchi is the living proof that Nicolas Todt is a very very clever boy. Don't misunderstand me, Jules sure is a fast driver and a talent, but not a groundbreaking one. Still, thanks to Todt family, he did the ferrari young program with flying colors, and there were many articles about him, depicting him as the natural predestinate to maranello. This year he's doing well, not exceptionally good. Still, I'd be not surprised if the clever Todt manages to put him in a top team.

After all, if he was able to keep Massa in Ferrari all these years... what couldn't he do?

Well Bianchi is in average 1 second faster than Chilton in Qualy during the 2013 season;

Glock never managed to create that gap between him and his team mate.

He is doing very well in an underfunded team against Caterham.

[Beamer]

Ivoted other because I think Pastor Maldonado is the man to watch. He's the only driver of his generation to have put the car on pole and converted it into a win. He's inconsistent, but he has the aggressive driving mentality needed to become a WDC. If someone can be found to nurture that talent, and give him a consistent car, he will win the championship.

OT, I've never quite got the Hulkenberg praise on this board. He's talented but I don't think he stands out as much as people claim. The fact that McLaren could have signed him last year and chose not to says something to me.

I'd love to see DiResta do it but I sadly don't think it will happen.

If Kobayashi came back to a good team I would single him out too.

You gotta be kidding right??????

[InfectedPumpkin]

Depends who will have the fastest car.
It will be probably Red Bull and driver who will join Red Bull next year, will have highest chances to win next WDC.

There are high chance of Ricciardo or Kimi to join them next year. So I think it will be Daniel or Kimi.

As Kimi was champion in the past, I voted Daniel Ricciardo.

Edited by InfectedPumpkin, 11 July 2013 - 08:53.

[AlainProstX]

Well Bianchi is in average 1 second faster than Chilton in Qualy during the 2013 season;

Glock never managed to create that gap between him and his team mate.

He is doing very well in an underfunded team against Caterham.

You could argue that Di Grassi, D'Ambrosio and Pic were all better drivers than Chilton.

Pic almost matched Glock as a rookie.

I hope both Bianchi and Pic do well and secure better drivers next year (Pic could move up to Lotus in case Raikkonen leaves, Bianchi could become either a Sauber race driver or Ferraris test driver like Massa)

[Anderis]

I think there are certainly at least 3 or 4 drivers on the grid who are capable to score their 1st WDC in the next 5 or so years. It will be decided by circumstances, which is something we can't predict at the moment.

I'm quite sure Rosberg, Hulkenberg and Bottas are capable of winning it in right circumstances. But at this point, I can't predict who of them will be given a proper chance first. And considering how young some of current WDCs are (Vettel and Hamilton), it's even possible that the next WDC might be a driver who isn't known yet by most of us.

[Deerfield]

Well Bianchi is in average 1 second faster than Chilton in Qualy during the 2013 season;

Glock never managed to create that gap between him and his team mate.

He is doing very well in an underfunded team against Caterham.

Viryfan, I'm not saying Bianchi is a slow and totally overrated driver... actually he's a talent and in a good team will do well. Howewer we all agree Chilton is a 3rd rank driver, not exactly a good term of comparison and lots of drivers could give him 1 second/lap. What I was implying in my post is: Bianchi has got some talent, IMO a little less on track than Bottas, Hulk and some others. Thanks to his management howewer he's been able to present himself actually as more talented than those.

[Outsider]

You could argue that Di Grassi, D'Ambrosio and Pic were all better drivers than Chilton.

Pic almost matched Glock as a rookie.

I hope both Bianchi and Pic do well and secure better drivers next year (Pic could move up to Lotus in case Raikkonen leaves, Bianchi could become either a Sauber race driver or Ferraris test driver like Massa)

to be Ferrari's test driver like Massa was, has no meaning today. back in 2003 they were free to test how much their finances allowed, now keeping a good young driver as (every other) friday 1,5 hour FP driver is such a waste and does not serve to either parts (driver and team) much value. some say it's soon, but as a team manager i would think it would matter much, if experienced driver, who basically has no room for improvement, crashes or young driver, who still is on his learning curve, does some occasional car wrecking

[Outsider]

Viryfan, I'm not saying Bianchi is a slow and totally overrated driver... actually he's a talent and in a good team will do well. Howewer we all agree Chilton is a 3rd rank driver, not exactly a good term of comparison and lots of drivers could give him 1 second/lap. What I was implying in my post is: Bianchi has got some talent, IMO a little less on track than Bottas, Hulk and some others. Thanks to his management howewer he's been able to present himself actually as more talented than those.

you'll never know, maybe i am defending him, but reason why Ferrari didn't pick Perez was supposed to be that Perez sucked in comparision to less experienced Bianchi. it's not always management

[ebc]

I think it will be Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso or Kimi until the end of 2016 and the next champion is not yet in F1. If this question was asked in 2006 not many would have said Vettel so there is probably someone out there who is not really standing out that will come out of nowhere like Kimi, Vettel and Alonso did. I never thought they would win a title until i saw them in F1, I and many others saw Hamilton as a champion as he was so good in junior categories but that doesn't always translate.

It is the same in other motorsports that a driver doesn't really get the best results in junior categories but just clicks when they get to the top echelon, Jimmie Johnson in NASCAR is a good example of that.

[DutchQuicksilver]

You could argue that Di Grassi, D'Ambrosio and Pic were all better drivers than Chilton.

Pic almost matched Glock as a rookie.

I hope both Bianchi and Pic do well and secure better drivers next year (Pic could move up to Lotus in case Raikkonen leaves, Bianchi could become either a Sauber race driver or Ferraris test driver like Massa)

And Glock clearly lost motivation after the first season with Virgin.

[Ragingjamaican]

The sad thing for the current 'young' generation is that the top teams are all locked out for sometime, add to that only two of those six drivers will retire in a few years (Button & Raikkonen), while three of them (Hamilton, Rosberg and Vettel) have yet to reach their prime.

Could be a 'lost' generation as it goes, but I can only see Hulkenberg and di Resta pull something off. Perez might get lucky when Button retires, he is sort of matching him right now.

If Ricciardo gets promoted to Red Bull for 2014 and Vettel goes to another team in 2015, we could possibly see him shine.

Haven't seen much of Bianchi and Bottas to say anything about their chances.

Massa's career effectively ended once he had the accident.

[danmills]

Hulk is the modern day Alesi.

Very quick. Very well liked. Very much in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

I bet he ends up at Ferrari for a few years as a top 6 driver, then switches to Red Bull as their domination ends, and then the likes of Ferrari are back on the up.

Narrowly missing out on ultimate glory.

Hulk, Perez + Mclaren Honda has a very punchy sound to it.

Edited by danmills, 11 July 2013 - 22:02.

[Boxerevo]

Going with Ricciardo.