161 replies to this topic

[YamahaV10]

This is really getting heated. Especially between Stroll and Latifi

[Lights]

This can easily change throughout the year based on the most recent results incidents, but as of right now it's Latifi.

 

Stroll is also driving a bit clueless but at least he seems to have underlying pace when it's matters.

[noikeee]

Said it before that Latifi must really miss Mazepin. He's the meme driver now.

[CaptHaddock91]

Stroll has his clumsy moments, but Latifi right now is modern day’s Rosset.

[Disgrace]

Latifi, and it's not even close. He looks absolutely terrible this year. The nature of his mistakes suggests he's several steps behind the car, and not really in control.

[Stumpy29]

As bad as Lance is he's still capable of putting in a fast one in qualifying when the stars align every 2 centuries or so. Latifi is just plain useles. So Latifi hands down.

[macjim]

Latifi, it's his 3rd year but just appears out of his depth

[Casey]

Latifi by a mile, even if today in quali was more on Stroll .

[JimmyClark]

I don't know why Tsunoda is on the list, he's looking very good this year. He was just put in the car too early last year.

At the moment, it's Latifi. He seems to be regressing.

[STRFerrari4Ever]

Lord Latifi, he’s making Yuji Ide and other below average F1 drivers of the past proud.

[midgrid]

Latifi reminds me somewhat of Jolyon Palmer: initially out of his depth but making progress, only to regress to rookie level due to a significant change in the regulations affecting the characteristics of the cars.

[messy]

The problem with Stroll is that this is his sixth season in Formula 1 and he’s still driving like a complete amateur in some ways. But he’s clearly a level above Latifi who’s just not quick enough. Being thrashed by Russell was one thing but if anything he looks even further adrift of Albon at the moment doesn’t he? You need that basic level of underlying speed in F1 and I don’t think it’s there - much as he’s not a bad racer, he needs an unusual circumstance like Hungary last year to actually get in front of other cars so he can show that.

[krapmeister]

I actually thought Latifi was performing pretty respectably against Russell considering how high people were rating George, but he does seem to have regressed in recent times and certainly struggling with the new cars.

Stroll just seems to be daydreaming at times.

[HighwayStar]

I tend to agree that Latifi was generally okay against George Russell, admittedly he was beaten comfortably overall and could not get close to Russell's high peaks but he was able to get surprisingly close on a number of occasions last season. However, so far this season he has been very slow and very error prone. It's difficult to think of any particularly strong performances by him - even in Hungary last year, I can't help but think that Russell might have done better if he'd been running third after the restart. For me Stroll is a fairly average driver who occasionally produces very strong performances, although as was evident in today's qualifying session he sometimes seems to lack awareness on track for a driver of his experience. On the plus side, he fared reasonably well against Vettel last season, but I think that reflects Vettel's decline more than any serious improvement on his behalf. I wouldn't consider him the worst driver on the grid although I think he is probably in the bottom five currently.

 

Of the other drivers listed, Tsunoda based on talent does not belong here as I think he definitely has the ability to become a good F1 driver (think of his displays in the Bahrain and Abu Dhabi GPs last season), the issue that may prevent him from achieving this may be his mentality and approach to racing. Conversely, I'm not convinced that Mick Schumacher has the potential to become a grand prix winner, but he seems to have a good attitude and willingness to learn which may give him a better chance of establishing himself in the midfield. The jury is out on Zhou but he has made a fairly solid start to his F1 career with a good team mate as a benchmark - I would definitely put him above Latifi at the very least.

[kumo7]

Latifi failed to deliver, so he is the one,

But Stroll is experiencing the identical corner incidents again and again, so much that I start to think he should be the one.

Edited by kumo7, 09 April 2022 - 12:53.

[milestone 11]

Liabiliti

[Stumpy29]

Just goes to show how bad Mazepin was when he made Latifi and Lance look good 😂

[Radoye]

Latifi and Tsunoda are the two weakest links on the F1 grid IMO. Even when Mazepin was here last year - as bad as he was - these two were/are worse. They were ahead only because of better cars, but both have been thoroughly outclassed by teammates and have been prone to make unforced errors. But Stroll is not far off ahead either, if he wasn't driving for daddy he wouldn't be driving at all. He maybe has somewhat more natural talent compared to these two but the lack of situational awareness he displays every now and then is appalling.

 

Mick looks pretty decent actually, maybe not championship material but not exactly out of his depth either, his crash from Jeddah notwithstanding.

 

And it's too early to call it for Zhou yet.

[YamahaV10]

Latifi and Tsunoda are the two weakest links on the F1 grid IMO. Even when Mazepin was here last year - as bad as he was - these two were/are worse. They were ahead only because of better cars, but both have been thoroughly outclassed by teammates and have been prone to make unforced errors. But Stroll is not far off ahead either, if he wasn't driving for daddy he wouldn't be driving at all. He maybe has somewhat more natural talent compared to these two but the lack of situational awareness he displays every now and then is appalling.

 

Mick looks pretty decent actually, maybe not championship material but not exactly out of his depth either, his crash from Jeddah notwithstanding.

 

And it's too early to call it for Zhou yet.

 

Good point. If Tsunoda was in a Haas or a Williams last year, it could have been Mazepin level. It would be interesting to see the speed and placement delta between Mazepin and Schumacher. And Tsunoda and Gasly. 

Edited by YamahaV10, 09 April 2022 - 18:34.

[YamahaV10]

I don't know why Tsunoda is on the list, he's looking very good this year. He was just put in the car too early last year.

At the moment, it's Latifi. He seems to be regressing.

 

I decided to include Schumacher. Then I had to include Tsunoda to be fair. The reason I included Schumacher was because of the first 2 races. A rusty Magnussen beat him badly. But things have evened out between them a little

[BobbyRicky]

Hasnt Latifi managed to red-flag atleast 1 session in each of this years races? That has to be some kind of record.

[RekF1]

This is a bit crass for a proper gentlemen like me.

Latifi, because he's a silly big eared poopy face. And he's sh1te. Why is Zhou on the list tho?

[messy]

Latifi and Tsunoda are the two weakest links on the F1 grid IMO. Even when Mazepin was here last year - as bad as he was - these two were/are worse. They were ahead only because of better cars, but both have been thoroughly outclassed by teammates and have been prone to make unforced errors. But Stroll is not far off ahead either, if he wasn't driving for daddy he wouldn't be driving at all. He maybe has somewhat more natural talent compared to these two but the lack of situational awareness he displays every now and then is appalling.
 
Mick looks pretty decent actually, maybe not championship material but not exactly out of his depth either, his crash from Jeddah notwithstanding.
 
And it's too early to call it for Zhou yet.

Oooh, that’s a big call - I don’t think I agree with that. Mazepin was useless last year. I quite enjoyed how bad he was. And yet, yeah, he showed in F2 in 2020 that he wasn’t a complete muppet, he won feature races and was quite quick. The 2021 Haas was a completely useless pile of crap and literally the only way to judge him was how far behind Mick Schumacher he was.

But on that measure, his season was a complete failure. Mick, a notoriously slow starter, absolutely annihilated him in qualifying, in races, in most of their wheel to wheel battles, on race starts, on virtually everything that happened. Tsunoda, for all he wasn’t great in 2021, beat a much stronger yardstick in Gasly more often than Mazepin beat Mick. And he was also, as a rookie, a FAR more exciting F2 talent than Mazepin. And Latifi…..at best I’d say he’s of a similar standard to Mazepin in terms of his ultimate potential - but being a good team player, a decent racer and not being a complete pr*ck elevates him well above Mazepin for me. Nah, Nikita was the absolute runt of the 2021 litter, I’m pretty sure. Full marks for trying to stand up for him though!

[lewislorenzo]

Latifi and Tsunoda are lucky to be in F1. Stroll has at least performed well on occasion

[Astandahl]

Zhou and Latifi are the slowest drivers by far.

[ANF]

I can't pick one because it's between Latifi, Stroll and Tsunoda: Latifi for struggling to be in control of the car, Stroll for struggling to be aware of his surroundings, Tsunoda for struggling to make an impression.

[krapmeister]

I can't pick one because it's between Latifi, Stroll and Tsunoda: Latifi for struggling to be in control of the car, Stroll for struggling to be aware of his surroundings, Tsunoda for struggling to make an impression.

I really thought you were going to be picking Tsunoda there for his size

[wj_gibson]

Stroll has his clumsy moments, but Latifi right now is modern day’s Rosset.

Ouch.

[wj_gibson]

Zhou and Latifi are the slowest drivers by far.

At least Zhou has the excuse of being new to F1. Latifi is in his third year now. 

[wj_gibson]

Also, Stroll is just Olivier Grouillard. Fast every now and again but you just know he’s never going to grow out of almost comedic errors.

[Radoye]

Nah, Nikita was the absolute runt of the 2021 litter, I’m pretty sure. Full marks for trying to stand up for him though!

Not trying to stand up for Mazepin, by no means. I dislike his off-track personality very much, i just believe judging by his F2 results that - as you said - he isn't a complete muppet behind the wheel, where Latifi most definitely is. Latifi might be a nice guy but it would be better for everyone involved if someone would just told him the truth that he wasn't really born to be a race car driver.

 

It was very hard to judge both drivers from Haas last year and how they measure up against the rest of the grid because the car was totally hopeless. One thing is sure - Mick is no doubt the better one of the two. And Mazepin was making a lot of silly mistakes.

 

And i have a feeling that last year's Alpha Tauri was a very good car, possibly even top 3 behind Merc and RBR, but was let down by not-so-great driver pairing. And again here too it was pretty clear which one was better than the other (granted, Gasly had a great advantage in experience of course). Where Gasly was capable from time to time to live up to the potential of that car, and for the rest of the time be at least competent, Tsunoda was nowhere to be seen. With a decent #2 driver i believe AT might have been challenging Ferrari for 3rd (Ferrari having the strongest driver pairing on the grid, but not exactly a great car).

(Now, before someone gets on my case about Max and Hamilton or even Alonso - they are the best on the grid, but as an average between the two drivers Leclerc and Sainz were and are IMO stronger than Max + Checo or Lewis + Bottas!)

[YamahaV10]

^ If Tsunoda didn't get it back , I wonder who would have got that AT seat. I don't think he did enough to keep it. Especially for a Red Bull junior program driver.

I'll never understand what kind of ego you'd have to have to buy your son an F1 seat. There are hundreds of racing series in the world. Any one of them could be fun and rewarding for a father/son with a lot of cash. Any one of them except F1. But here they are in F1.

Maybe Latifi will go to Indycar

[kumo7]

I think Tsunoda is promissing.

 

Stroll is IMHO, the most irritating one on the grid, Latifi? I donno. Albon is quite good. 

[Alfisti]

Hiw is tsunoda promising? He is either slow or crashes.....or both.

[PLAYLIFE]

Tsunoda, Zhou and Latifi did not impress me in Formula 2, and have not changed my opinion yet in Formula 1.

[Shell]

I say top 3 runt - Latifi, Vettel and Stroll

Edited by Shell, 11 April 2022 - 14:32.

[milestone 11]

Tsunoda, Zhou and Latifi did not impress me in Formula 2, and have not changed my opinion yet in Formula 1.

Now you're talking.

[Pete_f1]

Definitely not Zhou, but Latifi

[balage06]

Tbh, it hurts to even think about it, but from this group, I'd choose Stroll as the strongest driver. But Latifi is definitely the weakest.

[Disgrace]

Also, Stroll is just Olivier Grouillard. Fast every now and again but you just know he’s never going to grow out of almost comedic errors.

 

Stroll hasn't jumped the start quite like this though.

[Autodromo]

Latifi failed to deliver, so he is the one,

But Stroll is experiencing the identical corner incidents again and again, so much that I start to think he should be the one.

Heading into the first corner in Australia, Perez was all the way left and headed towards the right to get the inside line.  Partway moving he saw Hamilton was coming through on a late-braking move and stopped moving right.  That was a heads-up move and my thought was "Stroll would have hit him".  Being so far to the left I'm not sure Perez could even see Hamilton way to the right as he started moving, but he was very aware.  Stroll seems to get tunnel vision sometimes.

[ensign14]

Not trying to stand up for Mazepin, by no means. I dislike his off-track personality very much, i just believe judging by his F2 results that - as you said - he isn't a complete muppet behind the wheel, where Latifi most definitely is. Latifi might be a nice guy but it would be better for everyone involved if someone would just told him the truth that he wasn't really born to be a race car driver.

 

For F2 though you've got to ignore the sprint races.   And if you do that Latifi had to wait till his third year to win a feature race, and Mazepin his second year, even then thanks to Ilott's car failure at Silverstone and a safety car fluke at Mugello. 

[Zmeej]

IMHO, too early to say.

 

Apart from that, it's a nice change from last year when it was fuc8ken obvious who was.

Edited by Zmeej, 12 April 2022 - 02:17.

[jals]

If we take reserve drivers too, than Kubica for sure)

[YamahaV10]

Tsunoda. After watching DTS 21, it's evident that he doesn't have near the commitment of a professional athlete.

He says that he hates working out, hates where he was living. He's not even aware that those answers are not a good look even if it's the truth.

Look at his wreck today

[messy]

God no. He’s young, he’s still making mistakes, but he’s also quietly having a pretty good season against Gasly.

It’s Latifi, end of.

[Disgrace]

He made a dumb mistake, but Tsunoda is having a great season. He'll be back.

[FirstnameLastname]

Latifi is 21st in a 20-driver championship…

[William Hunt]

Well Latifi finally won a price
I don't see how one could vote for anyone else but Latifi. Yes Mick crashes a lot but at least he still showed speed in Miami & Montréal. Stroll's not driving well at all (this year) but at least he still scored a couple of points. Zhou & Tsunoda don't belong in this list at all.

Edited by William Hunt, 19 June 2022 - 21:21.

[TheFish]

Latifi is rubbish, Mick isn’t much better, Albon and Tsunoda also not great.