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Who are the top 10 drivers not currently on the F1 grid?


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#1 Vettelari

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 20:27

This question could mean a completely different thing to everyone. Here's my criteria:

Hyundai is entering F1. They have an unprecedented budget of 1 billion dollars per year. They do not want to sign anyone that is currently driving full time in F1. They have contracted you to find the top 10 candidates.

Superlicense points, current contracts, sponsorship dollars, and current manufacture ties do not apply.

They realize their first season is strictly testing, but want the driver combo that will max out their WCC points in season 2.

Rank them if you wish or just list 10.

Mine:

Jean Eric Vergne
Robin Frijns (So talented)
Sebastian Buemi (Wins everywhere he goes & had a decent F1 career)
Stoffel Vandoorne
Kevin Magnusson
Erik Jones (Is the most impressive stock car driver to come through the ranks I have ever seen)
Josef Newgarden (Wins IndyCar races in an extremely underfunded car)
Alexander Rossi
Joylon Palmer (Great junior career & great guy in general)
Kamui Kobayashi

Honorable Mention: Andre Lotterer (Age), Kyle Busch (Age), Alex Lynn, Estaban Ocon, Pierre Gasley
Which 10 do you like?

Edited by Vettelari, 02 August 2015 - 20:31.


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#2 043Max

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 20:46

Frijns and Vandoorne for me, ... that's my top 10



#3 Vettelari

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 20:52

LOL @ 043! I guess only 2 driver's are required on my criteria. It is so hard to comprehend why Frijns is not currently driving in F1. He is wiping the floor with the other drivers in his current series at the age of 23 after having a stellar junior career. I bet he wishes his last name was Piquet, Veratappen, Rosberg, Sainz, or Senna! Ha ha!

#4 scheivlak

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 20:56

Top 3:

Stoffel Vandoorne

Mark Webber

Jolyon Palmer

 

Next 7:

Alex Lynn

Josef Newgarden

JE Vergne

Sebastian Buemi

Nick Heidfeld

Kevin Magnussen

that Rahal guy



#5 Marklar

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 21:02

Vandoorne
Frijns
Vergne
Buemi
Lotterer
Rossi
Magnussen
Webber
Rowland
Palmer

#6 ensign14

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 21:05

It's criminal that Jamie Green never got an F1 shot.  He was dominating Hamilton in Euro F3.  And Rosberg and Kubica.  As a rookie.  (And Sutil, but even Charles Zwolsman Jr was dominating him.)

 

Obvious choices include Magnussen, di Resta and Petrov, who all  both proved themselves in F1.  I would add Buemi to that list given his sportscar pace; not so sure about Alguersuari. 

 

Outside any F1 drives Vandoorne is the obvious standout.  He's about the only one I'd give a drive to right now. 



#7 Risil

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 21:09

Graham Rahal. In a Steak 'n Shake McLaren.



#8 Marklar

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 21:14

It's criminal that Jamie Green never got an F1 shot. He was dominating Hamilton in Euro F3. And Rosberg and Kubica. As a rookie. (And Sutil, but even Charles Zwolsman Jr was dominating him.)

Obvious choices include Magnussen, di Resta and Petrov, who all both proved themselves in F1. I would add Buemi to that list given his sportscar pace; not so sure about Alguersuari.

Outside any F1 drives Vandoorne is the obvious standout. He's about the only one I'd give a drive to right now.

Green wasnt a rookie, but he was like Rosberg and Kubica in his 2nd season but had with ART clearly the best car. Hamilton was in his rookie year and in a different team...

Why he never get a shot? He suffered from DTM - like every driver...

#9 PlatenGlass

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 21:14

The vast majority of formulas outside F1 are no more meritocratic than F1 itself, so there are probably loads of drivers in poor teams good enough to make it. I wonder if many people would have said Vergne or Buemi if they hadn't already seen them in F1.

#10 Myrvold

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 21:16

Is this a top 10 F1 material if you would have a team for some years? Or the 10 best drivers in the world, outside the F1 circus? That's two completely different things.



#11 OvDrone

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 21:22

Andre Lotterer

 

...

 

Sebastien Loeb

Sebastien Ogier

Stoffel Vandoorne

Jimmie Johnson

Juan Pablo Montoya

Scott Dixon

Jose Maria Lopez

Sebastien Buemi

Jean Eric Vergne

 

Mark Webber



#12 johnwilliamdavies

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 21:28

Buemi

Leclerc

Montoya

Ocon

Rowland

Vandoorne

Vergne



#13 043Max

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 21:37

Didn't Vergne already had a shot?



#14 Vettelari

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 21:39

Myrvold, Like the criteria I put in the first post. List the top 10 drivers not on the grid that you would hire to get the most WCC points for your new team in their 2nd year. I think that is the best way to ask this particular question while avoiding confusion.

#15 scheivlak

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 21:47

The vast majority of formulas outside F1 are no more meritocratic than F1 itself, so there are probably loads of drivers in poor teams good enough to make it. I wonder if many people would have said Vergne or Buemi if they hadn't already seen them in F1.

C'mon! Vergne compared not too bad with Ricciardo and had some excellent drives every now and then - and he showed his class immediately in FE. Buemi is not just an ex-F1 driver. He's a star in WEC and FE against top competition. In fact, I never rated Buemi much when he was an F1 driver, only after that.

 

Apart from that, the first thing that would be useful to any starting team in F1 is experience. That's why I put e.g. Webber and Heidfeld on my list.

Not so much because of their speed but because of their wealth of experience. Very useful for any team with ambition when - as the OP states - the first season is "strictly testing".


Edited by scheivlak, 02 August 2015 - 21:51.


#16 David Lightman

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 21:49

Senna

Bellof

Gilles Villeneuve

De Angelis

Peterson

Cevert

Clark

Hunt

Pryce

Inoue



#17 JHSingo

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 21:57

Hmm, tough.

 

In no particular order (I'm too tired to even work that out at this hour :lol:) -

 

Sebastien Ogier

Petter Solberg (his skill in an RX car...car control beyond belief)

Andre Lotterer

Neel Jani

Stoffel Vandoorne

Will Power (on a good day)

Juan Pablo Montoya

Scott Dixon

Mattias Ekstrom (diversity -winner in DTM/World Rallycross)

Shane Van Gisbergen/Scott McLaughlin (two young V8 aces, both seriously quick and spectacular, can't split them)



#18 scheivlak

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 21:59

I forgot Dixon - interesting choice.



#19 PlatenGlass

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 22:06

C'mon! Vergne compared not too bad with Ricciardo and had some excellent drives every now and then - and he showed his class immediately in FE. Buemi is not just an ex-F1 driver. He's a star in WEC and FE against top competition. In fact, I never rated Buemi much when he was an F1 driver, only after that.

It wasn't meant as a criticism of Vergne or Buemi. My point was just that if they hadn't got a chance in F1 would they have been noticed based on their form in other series or got the same chances afterwards? Would people have been saying that they should have a chance in F1? I think it's likely that they would be far more obscure and that there are probably countless other drivers that could also be pretty good. Basically that motor racing isn't very meritocratic.

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#20 Vettelari

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 22:07

I left off Dixon, Heidfeld, JPM, & Webber due to their age, but certainly think a GREAT argument could be made for them. Busch at 30 and Lotterer at 32 were a whisker away from my top 10.

#21 Amin

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 22:08

Frijns
Magnussen
Vandoorne
Buemi
Vergne
Lotterer
Kobayashi
Heidfeld
Montoya
Wehrlein


#22 noikeee

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 22:13

Stoffel Vandoorne
Robin Frijns
Esteban Ocon
Jean-Eric Vergne
Sebastien Buemi
António Felix da Costa
Charles Leclerc
Robert Wickens
Kevin Magnussen
Marvin Kirchhofer
 
honourable mentions to:
Alex Lynn
Oliver Rowland
Jaime Alguersuari
Will Power
Juan-Pablo Montoya
André Lotterer
(these last few 3 were hindered by their age, as by your criteria they would be judged on performance for the 2017 season   ;) )

Edited by noikeee, 02 August 2015 - 22:16.


#23 scheivlak

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 22:21

It wasn't meant as a criticism of Vergne or Buemi. My point was just that if they hadn't got a chance in F1 would they have been noticed based on their form in other series or got the same chances afterwards? Would people have been saying that they should have a chance in F1? 

Nicely formulated, but that's not the question that was asked. 

 

With the knowledge we have now, we can say that they somehow merited that spot.



#24 xtremeclock

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 22:29

It's really sad how Di Resta was capable of beating Vettel @ F3 Euroseries but couldn't find a decent sponsor to stay @ F1.



#25 PlatenGlass

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 23:11

Nicely formulated, but that's not the question that was asked.

With the knowledge we have now, we can say that they somehow merited that spot.

I was making a general point. Not every response in a thread has to be a direct answer to the original question!

#26 Radoye

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 23:27

Andre Lotterer

 

...

 

Sebastien Loeb

Sebastien Ogier

Stoffel Vandoorne

Jimmie Johnson

Juan Pablo Montoya

Scott Dixon

Jose Maria Lopez

Sebastien Buemi

Jean Eric Vergne

 

Mark Webber

 

This actually is a very good list. I don't necessarily agree with it 100%, but still a very very good choice! :clap:



#27 Kobasmashi

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 23:40

It's really sad how Di Resta was capable of beating Vettel @ F3 Euroseries but couldn't find a decent sponsor to stay @ F1.

 

Might that have something to do with the fact he was an average F1 driver and dull as dishwater?



#28 xtremeclock

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 23:59

Might that have something to do with the fact he was an average F1 driver and dull as dishwater?

 

In this F1 an average driver with some ca$h can easily find a seat, for example Maldonado besides that's not the point even if he was an 'average driver' he lost his place because he couldn't find a decent sponsor, that's the way it works now.



#29 Kobasmashi

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Posted 03 August 2015 - 00:06

In this F1 an average driver with some ca$h can easily find a seat, for example Maldonado besides that's not the point even if he was an 'average driver' he lost his place because he couldn't find a decent sponsor, that's the way it works now.

 

If he wasn't so bland he might find some sponsors. I'm glad he's off the grid now, the British media's hype of him was almost as tedious as he was.



#30 HP

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Posted 03 August 2015 - 00:09

Hard to make a list for me. I prefer drivers with no F1 background yet.

 

C'mon! Vergne compared not too bad with Ricciardo and had some excellent drives every now and then - and he showed his class immediately in FE. Buemi is not just an ex-F1 driver. He's a star in WEC and FE against top competition. In fact, I never rated Buemi much when he was an F1 driver, only after that.

 

Apart from that, the first thing that would be useful to any starting team in F1 is experience. That's why I put e.g. Webber and Heidfeld on my list.

Not so much because of their speed but because of their wealth of experience. Very useful for any team with ambition when - as the OP states - the first season is "strictly testing".

Webber and Heidfeld. They both have not driven under the new engine formula, neither some other F1 drop outs. That could become an issue, since they have to get on top of their form again and adjust to any changes. Heidfeld also raced only the first season after Pirelli's return. That's not to say they can not adapt, but their input could be just a little bit off the mark, which sometimes can be worse than being entirely wrong. Being entirely wrong is easier to spot for engineers with experience.

 

That leads me to another point. Before even considering drivers, I made sure that I'd hired people with plenty of F1 experience for the factory, and the pit crew.



#31 HP

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Posted 03 August 2015 - 00:23

I never understood the hype around Di Resta. Driver comparisons don't really work in F1, why would pre F1 comparisons work? At least sinceF1 driivers are usually not allowed to compete elsewhere, few F1 drivers going to another series, showed something special. And its the same the opposite way around.

 

In this F1 an average driver with some ca$h can easily find a seat, for example Maldonado besides that's not the point even if he was an 'average driver' he lost his place because he couldn't find a decent sponsor, that's the way it works now.

That has been the case since decades, and actually ever since the first private cars entered F1. Back then, instead of sponsorship a driver would bring his own car. No car back then meant also no race. Loathe it or not, in F1 it was almost always no money, no seat.

 

Leaves works drivers. Works drivers must also show their mettle, being average won't cut it either.. They have to prove their worth. And being a works drivers has other ramifiactions for F1.



#32 Juan Kerr

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Posted 03 August 2015 - 00:49

Will Power
Sebastien Bourdais
Esteban Ocon
Nick Heidfeld
Bruno Senna
Kevin Magnussen
Kamui Kobayashi
Jean-Eric Vergne
Mark Webber
Sebastien Buemi


Some interesting ones worth trying out:
Nicolas Prost
Robin Frijns
Pascal Werlheim
Andre Lotterer
Tom Chilton
Scott Dixon
Graham Rahal
Simona De Silvestro
 



#33 Stugg93

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Posted 03 August 2015 - 01:23

Frijns

Vandoorne

Magnussen

Palmer

Di Resta

Ocon

Buemi

Vergne

Petrov

Prost

 

Kubica I also would add although he did prove himself and was unfortunately taken away from the sport. Di Resta, Buemi, Vergne and Petrov were all kicked out before there time. 



#34 discover23

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Posted 03 August 2015 - 02:56

Surprised no one has Piquet Jr. I'll go with him.

#35 Atreiu

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Posted 03 August 2015 - 02:56

A decade ago I would have loved to see Sam Hornish Jr. get a chance in F1.

#36 Atreiu

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Posted 03 August 2015 - 02:57

Surprised no one has Piquet Jr. I'll go with him.


I'll second that.

#37 balage06

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Posted 03 August 2015 - 06:16

Vandoorne

Frijns

Evans

Ocon

Kirchhöfer

Wickens

Rossi

Lynn

Rowland

Sirotkin



#38 ClubmanGT

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Posted 03 August 2015 - 06:21

Shane Van Gisbergen/Scott McLaughlin (two young V8 aces, both seriously quick and spectacular, can't split them)

 

A lot of Kiwi single-seater talent ends up in tin-top racing - Murph wasn't bad in the single seaters either, I'm sure he'd come out of retirement for a two year F1 deal :p



#39 Marklar

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Posted 03 August 2015 - 06:22

Surprised no one has Piquet Jr. I'll go with him.

I think Alonso would want him

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#40 Vitesse2

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Posted 03 August 2015 - 06:36

Graham Rahal. In a Steak 'n Shake McLaren.

If only for the comedy value:

 

Graham-Rahal-Steak-N-Shake-firesuit-Indy



#41 anneomoly

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Posted 03 August 2015 - 06:38

The vast majority of formulas outside F1 are no more meritocratic than F1 itself, so there are probably loads of drivers in poor teams good enough to make it. I wonder if many people would have said Vergne or Buemi if they hadn't already seen them in F1.

 

Based on Vergne's FE performances alone, I'd've said he was worth a shot. To be able to jump into a completely new series and get pole at first time of asking was pretty impressive. Ditto Buemi. Admittedly he lost the championship through his own fault, but he got himself into that position in the first place.



#42 rghojai

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Posted 03 August 2015 - 06:48

I don't follow it all closely enough to come up with 10, but Kyle Busch, Marc Marquez and Courtney Force would liven up the proceedings.



#43 CoolBreeze

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Posted 03 August 2015 - 07:29

Jaime Algesuari. And The Stig. 



#44 Kev00

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Posted 03 August 2015 - 08:42

Vandoorne
Lotterer
Frijns
Buemi
Vergne
Magnussen
Da Costa
Ocon
Wickens
Rowland

#45 redraven9

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Posted 03 August 2015 - 08:57

Vergne

Vandoorne

Rossi

Lynn

Palmer

Evans

Magnussen

Ocon


Edited by redraven9, 03 August 2015 - 09:00.


#46 Jon83

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Posted 03 August 2015 - 09:11

Sakon Yamamoto



#47 klyster

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Posted 03 August 2015 - 10:55

Ken Smith



#48 FullThrottleF1

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Posted 03 August 2015 - 10:57

Yuji Ide

Channoch Nissany

Taki Inoue

Al Pease

Micheal Andretti

Luca Badoer

Adrian Campos

Jean Denis Deletraz

Alex Yoong

Nigel Mansell (1995 edition)



#49 KTownDevil

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Posted 03 August 2015 - 11:37

Robert Kubica
Andre Lotterer
Stoffel Vandoorne
Jimmie Johnson
Nick Heidfeld
Esteban Ocon
Jean-Eric Vergne


#50 garoidb

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Posted 03 August 2015 - 11:40

Yuji Ide

Channoch Nissany

Taki Inoue

Al Pease

Micheal Andretti

Luca Badoer

Adrian Campos

Jean Denis Deletraz

Alex Yoong

Nigel Mansell (1995 edition)

 

I interpret this topic to mean drivers currently capable of taking up an F1 drive if one were available. If it can be any figure from history, alive or dead, old or young, then it is a completely different question.