47 replies to this topic

[HenryGoon]

I wanted to talk about driver pairings. There has been a lot of discussion about this on Sky this weekend but nothing that went into depth about it.

I’m talking about current and what could be the best.

Current

Lewis and George, the most successful driver in F1 is paired with a future world champion who has shown to be his match and beat him in 2022. At 38 Lewis has still got that magic and when given the car I believe no one can touch him apart from Max. George has won in F1 with multiple podiums and points in a poor Williams. This combo is honestly the best for experience and talent mixture.

What could be the best?

I’m just talking outright talent not the harmony within a team.

Max and Lewis, the two best by a country mile. Not great for the team because it would be a toxic environment, I can’t imagine them ever being together at Redbull and Redbull has no need for it but damn, Speed, racecraft, Mental toughness, little mistakes, car development. It would be scary.

[pUs]

I think Leclerc and Max would be the strongest driver pairing right now in terms of pure pace.

[HenryGoon]

I think Leclerc and Max would be the strongest driver pairing right now in terms of pure pace.

Over one lap I agree but not race trim still give that Max and Lewis and Charles does still make too many mistakes and has shown in 2022 to let pressure get to him slightly in a championship fight.

[lewislorenzo]

Lewis or Max or Nando…any 2 of those

[Spillage]

I would agree that Mercedes currently have the strongest driver pairing. I think the best possible would consist of Verstappen and one of Leclerc, Hamilton or Russell.

[Dan333SP]

Lewis or Max or Nando…any 2 of those

 

This, with George and Charles just behind. These 5 guys are the standouts on the grid in terms of the complete package for me. 

[George Costanza]

Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna for obvious reasons if we are talking nostalgia.

I would put Michael Schumacher with Fernando Alonso too. That would be quite crazy. I don't know who would win that one. I'd give edge to Michael in overall speed.

Current.... Max and Fernando Alonso. Two mega talented drivers. In the Red Bull, it would be one heck of a match. Lewis and Max as well but I don't see them getting along at all.

Edited by George Costanza, 06 June 2023 - 01:43.

[George Costanza]

I wanted to talk about driver pairings. There has been a lot of discussion about this on Sky this weekend but nothing that went into depth about it.

I’m talking about current and what could be the best.

Current

Lewis and George, the most successful driver in F1 is paired with a future world champion who has shown to be his match and beat him in 2022. At 38 Lewis has still got that magic and when given the car I believe no one can touch him apart from Max. George has won in F1 with multiple podiums and points in a poor Williams. This combo is honestly the best for experience and talent mixture.

What could be the best?

I’m just talking outright talent not the harmony within a team.

Max and Lewis, the two best by a country mile. Not great for the team because it would be a toxic environment, I can’t imagine them ever being together at Redbull and Redbull has no need for it but damn, Speed, racecraft, Mental toughness, little mistakes, car development. It would be scary.

I am surprised no Fernando in your selection. Fernando is an incredible talent.

Edited by George Costanza, 06 June 2023 - 01:35.

[Zmeej]

HenryGoon clearly sez:

 

Current.

[lewislorenzo]

Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna for obvious reasons if we are talking nostalgia.

I would put Michael Schumacher with Fernando Alonso too. That would be quite crazy. I don't know who would win that one. I'd give edge to Michael in overall speed.

Current.... Max and Fernando Alonso. Two mega talented drivers. In the Red Bull, it would be one heck of a match. Lewis and Max as well but I don't see them getting along at all.

You think Max and Alonso would get along fighting for the title😂

[jeffers]

I would love to see VER and ALO team up and HAM and LEC. All fantastic drivers and they get along, would be interesting.

[Beri]

I wanted to talk about driver pairings. There has been a lot of discussion about this on Sky this weekend but nothing that went into depth about it.

I’m talking about current and what could be the best.

Current

Lewis and George, the most successful driver in F1 is paired with a future world champion who has shown to be his match and beat him in 2022. At 38 Lewis has still got that magic and when given the car I believe no one can touch him apart from Max. George has won in F1 with multiple podiums and points in a poor Williams. This combo is honestly the best for experience and talent mixture.

What could be the best?

I’m just talking outright talent not the harmony within a team.

Max and Lewis, the two best by a country mile. Not great for the team because it would be a toxic environment, I can’t imagine them ever being together at Redbull and Redbull has no need for it but damn, Speed, racecraft, Mental toughness, little mistakes, car development. It would be scary.

 

To be fair, King George always struck me as a panicky driver. When he is on the radio it is almost always in full panic mode. Just slight drizzle caught him out at Barcelona being all over the radio in an anxious way. Only for being sweat droplets later on.

I dont think he will be champion any time soon. Beating Hamilton in a year where Hamilton has troubles adapting to a car which simply didnt felt like anything he had driven before, doesnt make me applaud Russell that much. It was easier for him to adapt to that car, as he was new in the team, than Hamilton.

[F1Frog]

For best in history, I think it comes down to two options.

In terms of just having the strongest drivers available, it surely has to be the McLaren lineup of 1988-1989. In my opinion, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost are the two best drivers since the invention of wings on cars, and they were teammates. In 1988 they also had the clear best car and it was total domination, but in 1989 they were still a class above the rest, and in 1990 when they weren’t teammates the gap to Mansell and Berger was similar to the year before, in terms of points. Senna and Prost were in a class of their own in a very competitive era, and in that sense there has never been a better lineup. But they did, of course, fall out and tear the team in two.

The other option would be the Mercedes lineup of 1955, and arguably this is the perfect driver lineup. In Juan Manuel Fangio, they had the reigning champion and best driver in the world. But they also had Stirling Moss, who wasn’t yet at his peak but would learn from Fangio (Moss once said ‘the greatest classroom of all time was about two car lengths behind Juan Manuel Fangio’), and who would develop into the best driver in the world once Fangio retired. Theoretically, if Mercedes had not quit and been able to keep that lineup with no issues in 1956 and 1957 when Moss was almost on Fangio’s level, they could then have continued to dominate with Moss into the next era, and thus have a domination spanning two great drivers’ eras, rather than just one, while having no issues within the team assuming Moss would have been happy to be second driver to Fangio for three years. I think this is the perfect driver lineup. However, Moss may have quit anyway at some point to drive a British car.

[Taxi]

Hamilton and George. Next Max (he's the best but I feel Sergio is a bit off George) Sergio and then Charles/Sainz. Honorable mention to Ocon/Gasly. 

 

For a "dream team" I would go with Max and Charles. The fights for pole would be imense but I feel in races Max would have a slight edge. 

Edited by Taxi, 06 June 2023 - 07:23.

[Beri]

Best in history, Id go for Clark and Hill. 

Best now is Hamilton and Russell

Best to, hopefully, come is Verstappen and Hamilton

[taran]

Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna for obvious reasons if we are talking nostalgia.

 

 

I would put my money on Piquet and Mansell.

Piquet was actually the better 'thinking driver' compared to Prost and Mansell has the speed and determination of Senna. While they didn't like each other either it didn't get as toxic as Senna-Prost.

[Beamer]

I think the question was CURRENT....

Ver with either ham or alo.

[Zmeej]

I would put my money on Piquet and Mansell.

Piquet was actually the better 'thinking driver' compared to Prost and Mansell has the speed and determination of Senna. While they didn't like each other either it didn't get as toxic as Senna-Prost.

 

Not sure about toxic, but Piquet-Mansell often got hilarious, particularly when the Brazilian was talking.

[Myrvold]

Oliver Bearman and Franco Colapinto.

Why? Because I say so obviously ;P

[KavB]

The best driver pairing in history in terms of talent is either Senna/Prost or Alonso/Hamilton (if only we had more seasons with them as teammates).

 

The best pairing today is Hamilton/Russell.

 

The best possible pairing today is Verstappen and either Hamilton/Alonso. I think the latter two are still performing at a high level but aren't quite at their peak. It would be hard to choose 2 out of the 3 at their peaks.

 

The best pairing for the future I think would be Verstappen/Leclerc.

 

 

[messy]

Best current existing lineup I'm so torn between Hamilton-Russell and Verstappen-Perez. And I think in all honesty I'd go with the latter because of how utterly great Max currently is - Russell beats Perez but overall Max pulls that lineup up so far and Perez is still perfectly fine. Why not the Mercedes lineup? Hamilton is 38 and had an iffy 2022, George is clearly really good but still only a one-time winner and has dropped back behind Lewis in 2023. A very strong lineup but enough question marks to put RB ahead, just.

Best potential current lineup - Verstappen and Hamilton. Best of all time - Hamilton and Alonso at McLaren.

Edited by messy, 06 June 2023 - 10:17.

[Risil]

Hamilton and Russell by a long way. They're the only team that combines a world champion with somebody who should be a future world champion.

 

Kinda funny though -- the teams with the best driver pairings in 2022 were almost certainly Mercedes and Alpine, and they both had pretty lousy years.

 

If you're going purely by results (a dangerous business) it's hard to argue that Red Bull aren't thriving off Max and Sergio. When you've got someone like Verstappen in one of your cars, having a clever driver who can execute a strategy correctly without tripping over his ego is a huge bonus.

[taran]

I think the question was CURRENT....

Ver with either ham or alo.

 

Fair enough.

I guess that would depend on what the team wants. In the past we have had teams run two #1 drivers and that has mostly not worked well unfortunately. In the very past, this was because teams were incapable of running two #1 cars due to limited funding. As that issue receded due to increasing budgets, two #1 drivers led to internal friction if both were equally fast.

 

There have been numerous examples of this. Jones-Reutemann at Williams, Piquet-Mansell at Williams, Senna-Prost at McLaren etc.

 

Where it worked well was when there was an (unspoken) hierarchy of speed. Prost and Lauda worked because Prost was faster and Lauda knew it and worked around it. Senna-Berger worked because Senna was simply faster and Berger accepted it.

 

The #1 and a fast but subservient #2 seems to be the best strategy for teams interested in winning rather than providing a show which may not provide them with the optimum results. Which is why a Rosberg was succeeded by a Bottas. Fast enough to keep the #1 on his toes, fast enough to win the occasional race and fast enough to provide enough WCC points to get the team title.

 

Perez ticks most of the #2 boxes except for speed and subservience. This is causing him to overdrive instead of reliably picking up the podiums. Speed will not change but when he accepts his role, he will be what Red Bull require.

 

There are a few drivers who are likely faster than Perez but they are not fast enough to wrestle #1 status away from Verstappen nor subervient so it would just became a catfight.

 

Finding a #1 driver is not that difficult. Pairing him with the right #2 driver is the challenge and very few have the combination of enough speed to get the job done without being fast enough to challenge the #1 regularly.
 

[Mat13]

Best current- Hamilton and Russel.

Most exciting- Norris and Piastri.

Best possible- probably Hamilton and Verstappen, provided they could race each other without crashing.

[Sterzo]

There's a case to be made for the best pairing being Verstappen plus anyone with a driving licence in the second car. However, I'd vote Verstappen plus Alonso on current form, but Hamilton might change my mind any race soon.
 

[Risil]

Where it worked well was when there was an (unspoken) hierarchy of speed. Prost and Lauda worked because Prost was faster and Lauda knew it and worked around it. Senna-Berger worked because Senna was simply faster and Berger accepted it.

 

The #1 and a fast but subservient #2 seems to be the best strategy for teams interested in winning rather than providing a show which may not provide them with the optimum results. Which is why a Rosberg was succeeded by a Bottas. Fast enough to keep the #1 on his toes, fast enough to win the occasional race and fast enough to provide enough WCC points to get the team title.

 

Perez ticks most of the #2 boxes except for speed and subservience. This is causing him to overdrive instead of reliably picking up the podiums. Speed will not change but when he accepts his role, he will be what Red Bull require.

 

I don't think it's psychologically sustainable for a top-level driver to deliver their best performance while a number two. What tends to happen is they make various bargains with themselves or rationalizations and when they are all exhausted the driver is worn out and is tossed away.

[pdac]

It's more than just about harmony within the team, though. If you have two drivers that both want to win the WDC, then they are going to be fighting each other on track and that could lead to incidents that damage the overall performance of the team as a whole. The solution is to have one driver that is expected to be a #2 driver and is there to help the #1 driver win the WDC. That's what teams do now. That's how you would go about figuring out the BEST driver pairing.

[Londoner]

Alonso and Hamilton, or any of those 2 with Verstappen. Rest of the field are miles apart.

For the future: Probably Verstappen & Russel

[GentlemanDriver091]

For best in history, I think it comes down to two options.

In terms of just having the strongest drivers available, it surely has to be the McLaren lineup of 1988-1989. In my opinion, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost are the two best drivers since the invention of wings on cars, and they were teammates. In 1988 they also had the clear best car and it was total domination, but in 1989 they were still a class above the rest, and in 1990 when they weren’t teammates the gap to Mansell and Berger was similar to the year before, in terms of points. Senna and Prost were in a class of their own in a very competitive era, and in that sense there has never been a better lineup. But they did, of course, fall out and tear the team in two.

The other option would be the Mercedes lineup of 1955, and arguably this is the perfect driver lineup. In Juan Manuel Fangio, they had the reigning champion and best driver in the world. But they also had Stirling Moss, who wasn’t yet at his peak but would learn from Fangio (Moss once said ‘the greatest classroom of all time was about two car lengths behind Juan Manuel Fangio’), and who would develop into the best driver in the world once Fangio retired. Theoretically, if Mercedes had not quit and been able to keep that lineup with no issues in 1956 and 1957 when Moss was almost on Fangio’s level, they could then have continued to dominate with Moss into the next era, and thus have a domination spanning two great drivers’ eras, rather than just one, while having no issues within the team assuming Moss would have been happy to be second driver to Fangio for three years. I think this is the perfect driver lineup. However, Moss may have quit anyway at some point to drive a British car.

Please tell me, what was that good about Fangio, what was his driving style like, what were his strongest points?

Because I have never seen him race and can’t remember much footage of him racing.

[F1Frog]

Please tell me, what was that good about Fangio, what was his driving style like, what were his strongest points?

Because I have never seen him race and can’t remember much footage of him racing.

 

I have never seen him race either but will try to answer your question.

 

From the footage that I have seen of Fangio, his driving style is actually a little like Senna's. He tends to really attack the corners, and then slide through them a bit to the outside of the track while correcting the slide. It isn't particularly a smooth driving style like Prost or Clark. But that makes it even more remarkable that I think one particular strength of Fangio was that he was so very consistent, rarely making mistakes (this is true of most of the greats but Fangio most of all, I think). He also never seemed to have bad days (again, true of most of the greats but none more than Fangio), apart from when there were obvious problems with his car such as Silverstone 1954. And in terms of why he was so good, I think his record of five championships and two second-places in seven full seasons of Formula 1 is probably the strongest of any driver, particularly as he did it with four different teams. And also, three of his titles were won against Stirling Moss in a similar car, while a fourth was won against Alberto Ascari in a similar car, so his opposition was as strong as anybody's, and stronger than most, even though the average level of 1950s drivers was probably the lowest in history.

 

But this is obviously very off topic. To answer the original question, Mercedes have currently the best driver lineup in my opinion and arguably it is similar to the aforementioned 1955 version with Hamilton as Fangio and Russell as Moss, but McLaren is also one of the strongest and peak Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could be the second and third best drivers of the next decade, after Max Verstappen.

Edited by F1Frog, 06 June 2023 - 16:00.

[Collombin]

three of his titles were won against Stirling Moss in a similar car, while a fourth was won against Alberto Ascari in a similar car

This is a fun puzzle, and I admit to being stumped.

[F1Frog]

This is a fun puzzle, and I admit to being stumped.

His 1955, 1956 and 1957 titles were won with Stirling Moss finishing second in a car of similar ability to those driven by Fangio, and his 1951 title was won with Ascari finishing second in a car of similar ability to the one driven by Fangio.

Unless you disagree and think one was driving a much better car than the other?

[Collombin]

Not especially, I took similar car to mean the same team rather than cars of similar ability - and this could vary quite a bit from track to track.

I half suspect the original question about Fangio was more a dismissal of anyone's ability to rate someone that they hadn't seen racing than a genuine query, but I could be wrong.

[FNG]

Current best pairing is Merc, that really isn't up for debate.

 

As for the best pairing, if it were for this year, for me it would be Max and Lewis or Max and Alonso. Leclerc would not factor in. His head is not in the same league as Max, Lewis and Alonso. His speed is, but he is  as of yet, not complete.

[HenryGoon]

Current best pairing is Merc, that really isn't up for debate.

As for the best pairing, if it were for this year, for me it would be Max and Lewis or Max and Alonso. Leclerc would not factor in. His head is not in the same league as Max, Lewis and Alonso. His speed is, but he is as of yet, not complete.

No doubt Max, Lewis and Alonso are the best drivers I just didn’t include Alonso in my best pairings because I think he is slightly behind Lewis and Max.

[FNG]

No doubt Max, Lewis and Alonso are the best drivers I just didn’t include Alonso in my best pairings because I think he is slightly behind Lewis and Max.

 

Can't argue age, so would agree a bit. But he is my guy, and as the team owner of this hypothetical team, Alonso would be in   Unabashed fanboy I am!

Edited by FNG, 06 June 2023 - 17:46.

[noikeee]

Current best pairing is Merc, that really isn't up for debate.

As for the best pairing, if it were for this year, for me it would be Max and Lewis or Max and Alonso. Leclerc would not factor in. His head is not in the same league as Max, Lewis and Alonso. His speed is, but he is as of yet, not complete.

This season I agree

Last year I thought Charles drove very well apart from that big mistake in France. I would've said Max and Charles

[Rediscoveryx]

The Alonso/Lewis pairing at McLaren must surely be the strongest of the modern era? With Lewis/Button and/or Alonso/Button also strong candidates.

Currently I think Lewis/Russell are so obviously the strongest pairing that the topic really doesn’t warrant any further discussion.

[Primo]

Beating Hamilton in a year where Hamilton has troubles adapting to a car which simply didnt felt like anything he had driven before, doesnt make me applaud Russell that much. It was easier for him to adapt to that car, as he was new in the team, than Hamilton.

Personally I think it was more disbelief than lack of adaptation that hit Hamilton last year. Hamilton trying more extreme setups and driving styles thinking "this car cannot be this bad" 

[HenryGoon]

Personally I think it was more disbelief than lack of adaptation that hit Hamilton last year. Hamilton trying more extreme setups and driving styles thinking "this car cannot be this bad"

This and mentally he just wasn’t there, the after effects of the ending of 2021 but still George did well.

[William Hunt]

Future driving pairing assumes that we know future line-ups but we can't predict the future. Current: Hamilton & Russell I guess, predictable choice though.

 

PS: if you have two drivers in the same team fighting fot the world title then there will always be tensions / trouble within that team. Hence why teams fighting for a title usually prefer a 1st & 2nd driver line-up instead of equal status. Red Bull certainly won't change their driver strategy and risk upsetting Max so forget about someone like Leclerc or Russell joining Max at Red Bull. Max would likely veto that anyway. 

The most likely Red Bull youngster who might become a challenger to Max in the same team is probably Arvid Lindblad. Far from certain off course that he will become exactly that but if you consider the odds he's the most likely one within the Red Bull family.?

Most likely potential Max beater (long term off course) outside the Red Bull family is most likely Mercedes Jr Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
So best future line-up? Russell-Antonelli in several years from now, assuming Russell will stay at Mercedes long term.

 

Interesting to see is what libe-up Sauber will have in 2026, when they will become Audi (don't know if the Sauber name will still be attached / included in the team's name).

Considering Audi's heritage (countless 24H of Le Mans wins, and they own the Auto Union name) and how big the VAG (Volkswagen Audi Group) is, they surely are entering F1 with very high ambitions.

Such a manufacturer (Audi) will want a driver line-up to reflect that ambition. Meaning either an established driver with top team experience coupled with a young hot talent (Théo Pourchaire?). Or a line-up with two established drivers with an reputation.

My guesses:

Norris-Pourchaire
Sainz-Norris
Russell-Pourchaire
Russell-Sainz

Lewis will probably have retired in 2026 and he's married to Mercedes anyway. Audi will probably have stopped in 2026 too and if he's still around then probably still at Aston Martin.

Russell might be lured by Audi with a lot of money but personally I doubt he will leave Mercedes soon.

Leclerc only will move to a team that gives him a higher chance to win the world title, that won't be Audi so soon so can't see him leave Ferrari.

Norris is end of contract at the end of 2025 at McLaren and he's likely to move to another team.

 

He would fit perfect for Audi to lead their team and I'm sure Audi will make Norris a big offer. But Mercedes & Ferrari or even Aston Martin might offer a deal to Norris as well (not Red Bull, Norris might beat Max and although Max & Lando have a good relationship that would end the moment Norris becomes his team mate, Red Bull wants a 2nd driver not one who could beat Max).

I can see Ferrari losing Sainz to Audi (or maybe Aston) for 2026.

2026 will probably be a bit too soon (although you never know, they did promote Leclerc after just one year at Sauber) for the likes of Ollie Bearman so Ferrari might need a stop gap before someone from their juniors (Bearman, Beganovic, Camara, Taponen) is considered for Ferrari's F1 seat. Leclerc should stay although Mercedes might look at him. I think Mercedes is the only serious alternative for Leclerc.

Mercedes will probably consider Ocon as a stop gap for Antonelli when Hamilton retires but they might consider Leclerc or Norris as well.

 

In a scenario where Mercedes considers Leclerc or Norris, Russell might leave (to Audi, Aston Martin or Ferrari) otherwise I think George will be at Mercedes pretty long.

Max won't move from Red Bull for a very long time and Red Bull surely only wants a 2nd driver who will support Max in that seat. Read: Alex Albon. Long term Lindblad will end up their I think..

Can't see McLaren keep Norris after 2025 unless their form dramatically increases in 2025 but even then Norris will likely be lured away by Audi, Mercedes or Ferrari or at Aston Martin to follow in Alonso's shoes by 2026.

I fear for McLaren that if they continue to struggle and on top of that without a works engine, that they might drop back to the status Williams has in F1 the past number of years: a midfield team at best).
McLaren also risks of not beiing amongst the top picks for top drivers? Ugo ugochukwu is their biggest long term hope / prospect.

Alpine has ben linked wit a return of Sainz in the Spanish press? Highly unlikely imho, Sainz will only consider Alpine if Ferrari decides not to extend him. And then Alpine may face competition from McLaren, Sauber-Audi, Aston Martin and maybe even Mercedes for Carlos' services. So It's far from certain that Sainz would end up at Alpine. 
 

 

 

So best future (2026? 2027?) line-up? Too hard to tell right now but it might be the line-up where Norris will end up post McLaren.

Edited by William Hunt, 06 June 2023 - 19:46.

[HighwayStar]

My ranking of the driver pairings on the current grid is:

 

1. Mercedes

2. Red Bull

3. Ferrari

4. McLaren

5. Aston Martin

6. Alpine

7. Haas

8. Alfa Romeo

9. Williams

10. Alpha Tauri

 

On the current grid, I agree with the consensus that Mercedes have the strongest driver pairing as I would consider both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell to be among the top performers on the grid. I would put Red Bull second on the strength of having the best individual driver in Max Verstappen, but I think Perez is definitely at least one notch below the Mercedes pair. I would rank Ferrari third, as I think Leclerc is one of the top drivers and Sainz is very good (I would rank him above Perez). However, Leclerc isn't as strong as Verstappen and Sainz isn't as good as either Mercedes driver.

 

Of the other two teams with at least one driver I rate very highly, I would put McLaren above Aston Martin even though on recent form I'd be inclined to put Alonso above Norris, because I think Piastri is the most promising rookie for several years and already looks like a capable performer, whereas I think Stroll is comfortably the weakest driver in the current top eight cars. I think both Alpine drivers are good, but I don't think either Ocon or Gasly will ever be true elite performers (this line up reminds me of driver pairings like Perez and Hulkenberg at Force India, or Webber and Heidfeld at Williams) and therefore I put them sixth.

 

Of the four remaining teams, I would give Haas the edge as Hulkenberg is still good (I think they would have scored significantly more points if he'd been driving for them last year) and Magnussen although inconsistent is decent. Alfa Romeo also has two relatively decent drivers, with Zhou improving, although I think Bottas is fading. I regard Williams and Alpha Tauri as having similar driver pairings, with one decent driver (Albon/Tsunoda) and one relative struggler (Sargeant/De Vries), although I give Williams the edge as I think Albon is more consistent than Tsunoda and Sargeant's performances are less disappointing than De Vries.

 

Thinking about the future, the McLaren pairing stands out as one that will be very strong a few years from now, although I'm not convinced they will be able to hold on to Norris if they don't give him a better car before a seat at one of the more competitive teams becomes available. The Ferrari pairing should also still be strong at this time, but doesn't have the same potential for improvement. Conversely, I don't think either Haas driver will be around when the next major set of regulation changes come into force in 2026.

Edited by HighwayStar, 06 June 2023 - 20:48.

[William Hunt]

@ HighwayStar: I personally disgree with Aston Martin as 5th best line-up and I certainly disagree that you rank that above Alpine. I'm an unashamed Fernando Alonso fan (Leclerc fan as well) and I rate Alonso very high off course but Lance Stroll is looking a bit better as he really is imho, because of the quality of the Aston Martin and the Aston no doubt is also an easier car to drive as say the McLaren, AlphaTauri or Haas (a tire eater it seems).

 

I personally find Stroll one of the weaker drivers in the current grid. Also don't forget that de Vries & Sargeant, who have both been underwhelming, are both rookies when comparing them to Stroll and Sauber's Guanyu Zhou just in his second year. Stroll has considerably more experience and he's okay for a pay driver but he's scored a lot less points as Alonso. Alpine has a better line up.

[RedKloud]

Lewis and George, without question.

[Anderis]

The best future driver pairing is without doubt Enrique Quinones and Ayotunde Kamau in 2067-2068.

 

[vlado]

LEC - VER would be a dream for us spectators.. 

[messy]

For me Stroll ranks among the weakest drivers on the grid and that lineup is carried by the presence of Alonso, while Ocon and Gasly is much more equal but neither reaching the heights of Fernando. Its a really, really hard thing to rank. 9 plus 5 and 7 plus 7 add up to the same thing, but also don't.

[Zmeej]

I don't think it's psychologically sustainable for a top-level driver to deliver their best performance while a number two. What tends to happen is they make various bargains with themselves or rationalizations and when they are all exhausted the driver is worn out and is tossed away.

 

Exactly what happened to Rubens Barrichello.