119 replies to this topic

[maverick69]

Speed? Yes.

Consistency? No.

Brains? Mwa. He learned, but not much.

 

So... Maldonado WDC? No.

 

Judging by the wild, wired expression constantly on his face - he defo looks like yer man for speed.

[kraduk]

I honestly believe that all of Button, Hill and Villeneuve, while maybe not out of the same drawer that Seb, Nando and Vettel are from, are a considerable cut above Maldonado.

not really relevant, all he has to have is a car that is a few seconds a lap better than the rest of the field, and a sub par team mate. Will he beat Roman? Probably not, but i have a feeling he is a driver who could surprise, after all who would have thought he could win a gp in a williams?

[HeidfeldsBeard]

Probably not. 

 

But wouldn't it be great if he did!!?? Just what would the internet mob do!? 

[Velocifer]

No doubt Maldonado has anger issues and a departing swipe at his team mates at Williams will not go down well with anyone involved in F1 and might hurt him later with people not giving 100% for him, but with his win last year he showed that he has without doubt the speed and more importantly the fortitude to hold off a serious challenge and stand well in an extremely tough position even at the first 'test' so I believe he has what it takes to clinch a championship. The only worry is if he will battle through tough patches or if his ego will let him stay out of things he should stay out of to make sure he gets the necessary points to be there at the end, but I still believe he could control himself and do it but only if he's ahead for most of the campaign so it would take a car advantage. I don't see him as an Alonso type who will conjure up something from nothing, but then few if any can.

[TheWilliamzer]

He's got what it takes except one thing: Grojean's psychologist phone number.

[billm99uk]

Wasn't that Teixeira?

 

Serenelli!

[ViMaMo]

Romain was an angel, now they are bringing in the devil. 

Edited by ViMaMo, 27 November 2013 - 13:49.

[SonJR]

I'll add this: it's never not exciting to see Maldonado race others. All the better if he can spice things up at the front in a quick Lotus.

[Tsarwash]

Button and Hill both showed consistency and speed through several seasons and in more than one team, Villeneuve had two good seasons and was otherwise mediocre at best, the second his car wasn't the best he was shite, to compare the first two to the latter is ludicrous.

This kind of historical revisionism is bullshit. I am not a fan of Villeneuve, but he had very good pace for a lot of seasons. 1999 he DNF'd the first 11 races. Mika Salo took two podiums when he replaced MSC for six races. In the three races that Jacques races together at BAR, Villeneuve outqualified him by 2.1 secs, .4 secs and 1 sec. To say Jacques was not on the same class as Damon Hill is not supported by the facts.

[Beamer]

Maldowho? Ahhh wasn't that the guy that acted as if he was a WDC after one win?

 

Seriously... I mean.. Dude!

 

He's no journeyman, but there's a least 8 other drivers in the same league. So sure he can, If only the Renault engine is really superb, Newey goes bananas, Vettel drives into a tree, Raikonnen and Alonso bash eachothers head, Mercedes is seriously underpowered and Massa, Hulkenberg, Button, Grosjean and Sutil get seriously injured in a first corner incident in Australia.

 

Yeah, then he definitely could be a WDC. 

[sheogorath]

and his success in the lower series is virtually non-existant.  

 

 

I guess winning 2 Renault Championships before his GP2 title plus getting at least 1 podium in every Series he has raced in means his success is "virtually non-existant".

 

With your silly criteria, then Rosberg's success in the lower series is even more mediocre.

 

Then you go on to focus on his season with Hulkenberg and decide to ignore how the team suddenly decided to focus all resources on Hulk right on the Germany GP, despite the fact all he had to show by then were 2 podiums while Maldonado had 2 wins. I guess we can thank Willie Webber for that.

 

On the other hand, during the 2012 Season Hulkenberg, Perez and Maldonado had a chance to win races, yet the only one who did was "Crashtor" which also had chances of a repeat in Singapore and Abu Dhabi. Meanwhile Perez ****ed up in Malaysia and couldn't hold his lead in Italy; and Hulkenberg also cocked up his race winning chances in Brazil in an accident that would have earned Maldonado all sorts of hatred from Hamilton fans in this board.

 

The guy has the attitude and ego of an a*hole but the lenght and mental gymnastics some people are willing to go to discredit his career are quite silly.

 

 

Now regarding the thread tittle.

Does he?. That'll depend entirely if he is able to focus himself like he did in 2010 while having a decent car under him.

Edited by sheogorath, 27 November 2013 - 15:57.

[Miggeex]

If he develops to be consistent enough, then anyone can be a champion. Every driver can pull a one fast lap but only small group of them REALLY knows how to win races. Or how to end up in a situation where you have the tools to win races. Give any other driver than Webber/Vettel RB and they'd most likely do badly for not knowing the people around or not knowing how to work with them and the different technology. It can take years to find that "sweet spot" in a team you've just joined.  

 

If he'll go to Lotus with his money, it won't have an effect yet on the next years car until very late in the season.

[DampMongoose]

I guess winning 2 Renault Championships before his GP2 title plus getting at least 1 podium in every Series he has raced in means his success is "virtually non-existant".

 

With your silly criteria, then Rosberg's success in the lower series is even more mediocre.

 

Then you go on to focus on his season with Hulkenberg and decide to ignore how the team suddenly decided to focus all resources on Hulk right on the Germany GP, despite the fact all he had to show by then were 2 podiums while Maldonado had 2 wins. I guess we can thank Willie Webber for that.

 

On the other hand, during the 2012 Season Hulkenberg, Perez and Maldonado had a chance to win races, yet the only one who did was "Crashtor" which also had chances of a repeat in Singapore and Abu Dhabi. Meanwhile Perez ****ed up in Malaysia and couldn't hold his lead in Italy; and Hulkenberg also cocked up his race winning chances in Brazil in an accident that would have earned Maldonado all sorts of hatred from Hamilton fans in this board.

 

The guy has the attitude and ego of an a*hole but the lenght and mental gymnastics some people are willing to go to discredit his career are quite silly.

 

 

Now regarding the thread tittle.

Does he?. That'll depend entirely if he is able to focus himself like he did in 2010 while having a decent car under him.

 

I haven't suggested anything about Rosbergs record, so highlighting that as though it convinces me Maldonado has a glowing record in lower series is somewhat baffling (although as you brought it up Rosberg won GP2 on his first attempt against 4 or 5 of Maldonado's and he also progressed to driving F1 cars in half the time it took Pastor, the cream rises etc).  As for a team backing Hulk over him, teams aren't daft and will soon see who they think they've got a better chance with... Pastor will have to get used to that happening because I can't see him being any F1 teams number 1 anytime soon. 

 

Doesn't take any sort of mental gymnastics as you put it to see his results for what they are, nothing silly about it.  

[totgate]

NO!

[Victor]

Driving a Red Bull and with a less talented driver as team mate almost any driver on the grid would be champion.

This obviously includes drivers from Vettel to Maldonado.

[charly0418]

Took him 4 years to win GP2 and he was like 25 when he did it, beating 20 year old kids. I'm still not impressed by that GP2 championship. Was very similar to Leimer and Valssechi, he won it because there was no one else as experienced

[Callisto]

No

[paweu]

Guys, seriously...

 

Edited by paweu, 27 November 2013 - 23:58.

[paulogman]

if maldonado funds the lotus seat and they can actually fund their team consistently he can be a threat for race wins.

championship?

not likely as long as vettel stays with red bull. but that goes the same for any one on the grid.

[HammyHamiltonFan]

This kind of historical revisionism is bullshit. I am not a fan of Villeneuve, but he had very good pace for a lot of seasons. 1999 he DNF'd the first 11 races. Mika Salo took two podiums when he replaced MSC for six races. In the three races that Jacques races together at BAR, Villeneuve outqualified him by 2.1 secs, .4 secs and 1 sec. To say Jacques was not on the same class as Damon Hill is not supported by the facts.

 

lol, your the only one revising history mate.

 

Hill had twice as many wins as Villeneuve, performed over many more seasons and didn't spend several seasons being little more than a waste of a grid slot being bitch slapped by almost anyone who he drove with...