56 replies to this topic

[Wiggy]

Of course its early days, but which of the rookies are you most excited about? We've a decent influx of new drivers this year, and it'll be interesting to see who makes the cut. Assuming Bianchi takes the Force India seat, that'll mean 25% of this years drivers have never raced in F1 before!!

Also, which year had the highest rookie intake?

Edited by Wiggy, 24 February 2013 - 13:49.

[DutchQuicksilver]

Bianchi won't take that Force India seat ;)

Still, will be close between Bottas and Gutiérrez. Williams and Sauber car look closely matched, so there won't be too much difference between them. Will go for Bottas then, considering his junior career.

[Fastcake]

Bottas. I don't see any of the others matching him, even if they were in similar equipment.

[Jimisgod]

Bottas. No contest. Williams looks fast and he has a headstart with his testing in 2012.

[mnmracer]

Judging on their junior careers, I don't see Bianchi being better than van der Garde.
I think Gutiérrez is good, but my money is definitely on Bottas.

[Wander]

Not going to lie. I'm a Finn and I'm cautiously excited about Bottas. He has a lot good things going for him: He's in a team that's on the up, he's had the best preparation of the group, the last time he raced he won a championship...

But we don't know what the pecking order between Williams, Force India and Sauber is going to be. They are likely to be very close to each other again like last year when they shuffled around the order depending on the weekend, but no idea which team is going to collect most points. I'd still put my money on Bottas in the rookie battle though.

Van der Garde gets points for the best helmet design.

Edited by Wander, 24 February 2013 - 16:33.

[darkkis]

Bottas. Cautiously positive though. I don't know much about his junior career apart from that he won the GP3 championship 2011. At least he seems more promising than the rest of rookies...

(and he's a finn )

[Brandz07]

I hope it's Chilton just for the reaction.

[Jackmancer]

Williams looks fast and he has a headstart with his testing in 2012.

vd Garde tested a bit too last season.

[jrg19]

Bottas with very little opposition from the other rookies.

[midgrid]

Also, which year had the highest rookie intake?

1950.

I'd be very surprised if Bottas doesn't win this contest. Even if the Sauber is faster, I expect Gutiérrez to be more inconsistent (the same applies to Bianchi if he gets the Force India seat). The others don't have the equipment to make an impression, particularly as the experienced yardsticks - Trulli, Kovalainen, Glock, De la Rosa and even Petrov - have now departed.

[nosecone]

I voted for Bottas. I don't know why but for me he is the best of the rookies this year not only because he won the GP3-series 2011. He also has already some experience in driving a F1 car.

Edited by nosecone, 24 February 2013 - 17:04.

[UPRC]

I would be perfectly willing to put real money, and a hefty amount at that, on Bottas. The entire Williams team seems to be speak very highly of him, and the rest of the rookies don't really grab my attention very much. Gutiérrez is the only other one that I think I may be vaguely impressed by.

[ApexMouse]

Marquez. Or Kobayashi.

[Sin]

gutierrez, since he has the material to be good \o/ also .... he looks so damn young that even I with just 26 years old get mother instincts ffs xD

[Dzeidzei]

I would be perfectly willing to put real money, and a hefty amount at that, on Bottas. The entire Williams team seems to be speak very highly of him, and the rest of the rookies don't really grab my attention very much. Gutiérrez is the only other one that I think I may be vaguely impressed by.

This is a contest Valtteri will win hands down. He´s the next Häkkinen and will give Pastor a hard time already in 2013. Actually will be interesting to see how Pastor and his Latin blood handles that pressure.

[billm99uk]

This has to be the most one-sided poll I've ever seen on Autosport! Can't Chilton start a twitter campaign to get him a better vote Taki Inoue-style?

[fifi]

another vote for bottas here, chilton well lets be honest he wont do much in that car

[Topsu]

I feel bad for Bottas already.

[Wander]

Me too... Expectations have been kinda building for him for a couple of years now. It seems like being beaten by Maldonado would be regarded as a disappointment.

[AM14]

Like most people here, my vote went to Bottas. He's had a year put of racing, but he did plen of FP1 sessions last year and the team clearly rate him very highly. I think Gutierrez will also impress at some races, but I doubt he'll be able to match Hulkenberg's consistency over the course of a year.

[Anderis]

Wow, I can't recall more one-sided poll.

Will be even more interesting if someone impresses more than Bottas this season.

[coppilcus]

Hi expectations for Gutierrez, the C32 isn't going to be a balanced platform but it'll still be a high speed performer...

[Kingshark]

From what I've seen in GP3, Bottas is a brilliant driver and a great talent.

However, as usual controversially I've gone against the favorite, and voted Gutierrez; just a gut feeling.

[lambylamby]

The only quality there is BOTTAS. You can write the other ones off completely, worse than the class of '10/'11.

No offence to Chilton, but I especially hope he gets eaten alive this season - think Chandhok @ Caterham style (of course along with the other pay-boys there). I'm a Marussia fan, but there would be some satisfaction on watching his Papa's money be spent accordingly. This batch of 'pay-drivers' don't deserve to be there full stop. Disposing of Glock (even though they had to) still has left me with sour grapes, although I'll continue to support Marussia.

Edited by lambylamby, 24 February 2013 - 23:13.

[joshb]

Points-wise, Gutierrez but Bottas will probably do the best relative to a team-mate and make the biggest impression.

[billm99uk]

The only quality there is BOTTAS. You can write the other ones off completely, worse than the class of '10/'11.

No offence to Chilton, but I especially hope he gets eaten alive this season - think Chandhok @ Caterham style (of course along with the other pay-boys there). I'm a Marussia fan, but there would be some satisfaction on watching his Papa's money be spent accordingly. This batch of 'pay-drivers' don't deserve to be there full stop. Disposing of Glock (even though they had to) still has left me with sour grapes, although I'll continue to support Marussia.

What's Bottas done that Gutierrez hasn't? GP3 champs both and that's about it. And Valtteri was largely outshone by his less experienced team-mate Calado at that, along with a couple of underwhelming seasons in the F3 Euroseries. And while I don't think the others are the hottest things out there, they're all at least GP2 winners and placed highly in that championship Razia 2nd last year, Bianchi 3rd (and 2nd in WsbR), VdG 5th (and WsbR champ). Chilton is the only out-and-out pay driver among them and even he has a couple of GP2 wins (it's how he got them and his other dodgy performances that mark him down). We're hardly in Inoue territory.

[BigCHrome]

I thought Frijns won WSBR.

[Kingshark]

I do think that Bottas is currently better than Gutierrez (although that can all change quickly). However, that being said, it should be noted that the Esteban is two years younger than Vallteri, yet the former won the GP3 championship before the latter, at a much more tender age.

[Wander]

What's Bottas done that Gutierrez hasn't? GP3 champs both and that's about it. And Valtteri was largely outshone by his less experienced team-mate Calado at that, along with a couple of underwhelming seasons in the F3 Euroseries. And while I don't think the others are the hottest things out there, they're all at least GP2 winners and placed highly in that championship Razia 2nd last year, Bianchi 3rd (and 2nd in WsbR), VdG 5th (and WsbR champ). Chilton is the only out-and-out pay driver among them and even he has a couple of GP2 wins (it's how he got them and his other dodgy performances that mark him down). We're hardly in Inoue territory.

They were rookies at the same time in Formula 3 in the same team in 2009. Gutierrez 9th with 26 points, Bottas 3rd with 62 points. (Coincidentally Jules Bianchi won the championship that year also driving for ART, but he was on his second season)

How was Valtteri largely outshone by Calado? I can't think of a statistic to support that when Bottas not only won the championship, but had more wins and podiums and beat Calado on a race-by-race comparison too 10-6. Calado wasn't significantly less experienced either. Don't get me wrong, though. I think Calado is F1 material and I hope he does well this season.

Edited by Wander, 25 February 2013 - 01:23.

[mnmracer]

I thought Frijns won WSBR.

Frijns won WSbR in 2012.
van der Garde in 2008.

[aray]

if Bianchi race,then him...otherwise Bottas...

[toniovodka]

i think Bottas will be the best, but compare him to the others is a bit unfair, Bottas is not really a "full rookie", more like 3/4 of one, all those free practice sessions last year give him an edge over the others.

As for the rest of the 2013 class i think Gutierrez will be the best of the rest

[Bloggsworth]

Razia - Oops! The cheque is in the post...

[Bloggsworth]

Bottas - As he is the only one driving a car capable of running in the top 10, how can he fail?

[Sin]

Bottas - As he is the only one driving a car capable of running in the top 10, how can he fail?

Gutierrez is driving a Sauber... which last season finished higher as constructor than Williams... for your information

Edited by Sin, 25 February 2013 - 09:42.

[Bloggsworth]

Bottas - As he is the only one driving a car capable of running in the top 10, how can he fail? Gutierrez wasn't even the best driver in GP2 last year...

[Sin]

Bottas - As he is the only one driving a car capable of running in the top 10, how can he fail? Gutierrez wasn't even the best driver in GP2 last year...

doesn't change the fact that the Sauber is capable of finishing top 10.... and so far Gutierrez didn't look back in testing at all... just cause he wasn't good in GP 2 doesn't mean he won't be good in F1

[noikeee]

I do think it's going to be Bottas, but if Bianchi's on the grid it's going to be close, no way is the poll representative of a talent difference (80%?).

Plus Gutiérrez is no slouch at all neither (FBMW Europe and GP3 titles prove it, both top series at their respective levels - he definitely has potential), the others whilst I don't rate much, are not hugely behind with Razia being the reigning GP2 vice-champion (and does have a F3 title in his CV albeit the rather dubious Sudamericana championship), vd Garde a former WSR champion (albeit the only thing he's done right in almost 10 years of feeder series), and Chilton ehhh what can I say good about him, a couple wins in various series.

I think Bottas' nationality is playing a little in his favour, Flying Finn myths and all. He is promising don't get me wrong, Williams are placing a lot of faith in him, he is the most likely of the 6 to be a future champion, but he's not worth the massive difference in the poll. Don't forget Bianchi beat him as team-mates in F3 even if Bianchi had a big experience advantage.

[Bloggsworth]

doesn't change the fact that the Sauber is capable of finishing top 10.... and so far Gutierrez didn't look back in testing at all... just cause he wasn't good in GP 2 doesn't mean he won't be good in F1

Sorry - Me forgetting the Gutierrez has lucked into a Sauber; I do that occassionally, forget, I'm old and rapidly advancing into decrepitude; still doesn't alter the fact that Gutierrez wasn't the best driver in GP2....

[Collective]

Sorry - Me forgetting the Gutierrez has lucked into a Sauber; I do that occassionally, forget, I'm old and rapidly advancing into decrepitude; still doesn't alter the fact that Gutierrez wasn't the best driver in GP2....

And yet he was the best placed from the ones who had not spend a lifetime in GP2. I was disappointed in his season, but besides Calado and the fossils, no one else made a better case than him.

[Kingshark]

They were rookies at the same time in Formula 3 in the same team in 2009. Gutierrez 9th with 26 points, Bottas 3rd with 62 points. (Coincidentally Jules Bianchi won the championship that year also driving for ART, but he was on his second season)

I do think that Bottas is currently better than Gutierrez (although that can all change quickly). However, that being said, it should be noted that the Esteban is two years younger than Vallteri, yet the former won the GP3 championship before the latter, at a much more tender age.

Do you not believe this plays a significant role?

[rijole1]

Bottas, I think. But you newer know, maybe Sauber rookie surprises us.

[Wander]

Do you not believe this plays a significant role?

Maybe.

Edited by Wander, 26 February 2013 - 01:01.

[Wiggy]

Looks like Bianchi will snatch this. Bottas will struggle to shine from the Bottas of the grid, whereas the opposite will be for Bianchi, as Marrusia were tipped to be the new HRT.

Wonder how secure the contract is on Marrusias side?...

[KTF1]

So far (yes, I know we're only one race into the season ) Bianchi has been the most impressive, in a car which was fully expected to be at the back of the grid and unable to challenge the Caterhams. He's been consistently faster than Chilton, despite having much less testing time (1 and a half days I believe?), and I think he will be the driver to have a big impact on the fight for 10th place in the WCC.

Bottas didn't really impress in Australia - neither did Gutiérrez - and that Williams looks like a dog of a car, so I think he may struggle.

[F1ultimate]

Looks like Bianchi will snatch this. Bottas will struggle to shine from the Bottas of the grid

I see what you did there

The hype machine behind this guy was strong last year. He was always spoken off as someone who could out perform Maldonado and Senna - the pay drivers. Regardless of the car's performance there will definitely be pressure on Bottas to perform, or else he'll find himself being a one season man. I'm not expecting him to win a race, but at least challenge Di Resta and Grosjean.

Williams are overdue a talented young driver.

[Collective]

So far (yes, I know we're only one race into the season ;) ) Bianchi has been the most impressive, in a car which was fully expected to be at the back of the grid and unable to challenge the Caterhams. He's been consistently faster than Chilton, despite having much less testing time (1 and a half days I believe?), and I think he will be the driver to have a big impact on the fight for 10th place in the WCC.

Bottas didn't really impress in Australia - neither did Gutiérrez - and that Williams looks like a dog of a car, so I think he may struggle.

Even though he has the crappiest teammate of all rookies (by a loooooooooooong distance), I think he was still very impressive in Australia.

[Wander]

I see what you did there ;)

The hype machine behind this guy was strong last year. He was always spoken off as someone who could out perform Maldonado and Senna - the pay drivers. Regardless of the car's performance there will definitely be pressure on Bottas to perform, or else he'll find himself being a one season man. I'm not expecting him to win a race, but at least challenge Di Resta and Grosjean.

Williams are overdue a talented young driver.

He has outperformed Maldonado so far, hasn't he?

[Zesus]

I voted for Bottas. He impressed me already last year on free practice sessions so I keep an eye on him. I expect from him to deliver and I think he did a good job in Melbourne. He'll improve for sure.