70 replies to this topic

[Richard Jenkins]

Well, all in all, not a bad season at all.

Now, I may be on a hiding to nothing here, but I'm going to go ahead and rate all 24 drivers this year. I'm an OP fan but generally neutral, so no hidden agenda here

FERRARI:
Michael Schumacher 8
6 wins, a 6th championship & at times class of the field. But quite a large number of, by his standards, unpredecented, mistakes. Deserved the title by the end & worked bloody hard to do it, but will have to work as hard as he's ever done to a win a 7th - I would prefer he retires at the end of 2004, because he's acheived virtually everything & will only be on a hiding to nothing from now on.
Rubens Barrichello 7.5
Deserved a 10 for both wins, deserved a 4 for some of his early season offerings. Did the job expected of him, but stil left me with the impression he under-performed. Much better in qualifying.

WILLIAMS:
Juan-Pablo Montoya 8.5
Took his time to get going, but very consistent & still capable of some of the best moves seen in modern racing. Like the other two title challengers he had bad luck, but like the other two, that was of his own doing at times. Much improved.

Ralf Schumacher 7
Hard to say really. When he was good, he was brilliant. When he was bad, he was awful. But took two wins, was consistent & his Imola drive was impressive, as were others, but I can't really justify a higher mark.

Marc Gene 8
First race for four years - qualified high, led for 3 quarters of a lap, brought the car home in 5th. Top drive. Deserves a seat, but I understand why he stays at Williams.

McLAREN
Kimi Raikkonen 9
Consistent, fast, very, very impressive & a world away from the so-so driving at Sauber. Before this season people said "why not Heidfeld?". No longer. But the Spain debacle & a number of other untidy moments mean only a 9.

David Coulthard 5
Did what he could in the races & deserves a 10 for sheer effort. But was very, very poor in qualifying & not really inspired in many races - not the Coulthard of the Hakkinen championship days. Lucky to regain his seat, mainly on past efforts & 2004 is now his last chance to finally come good.

RENAULT:
Fernando Alonso 9
Would be 9.5 but I rated his year the same as Kimi's. Not too many mistakes, certainly not disgraceful ones. Very consistent & deserved better than his car's reliability in the second half. Throroughly deserved win - much, much more to come & I for one, am very excited by his 2003 season & what it bodes for the future.
Jarno Trulli 6
Genius on Friday - Dunce on Saturday - Middle of the Class Sunday. Capable of multiple wins, but he must learn to handle pressure & stay awake - this after 111 GP's! Another driver who has to perform in 2004, although he was unlucky with reliability & did a sound job.

BAR:
Jenson Button 7.5
Button did a have a stinker or two, but his points haul, despite BAR's reliability said it all. A podium at America would've been on but for another Honda Engine blow up. Clearly not the great white hope of 2000, but worthy of his seat & maybe better in future but he must remain focused.
Jacques Villeneuve 5
When the car was good, Jacques was average. When Jacques was good, the car was shite. Deserves a seat in F1, but remaining at BAR, was not the option for either party. Capable of doing much better but this year complaency set in.
Takuma Sato 7
Like Gene, came in & spot on. Points finish, strong all weekend, albeit a little hairy with his driving. He loves Suzuka, but still has a bit to prove in 2004, me thinks.

Sauber:
Heinz-Harald Frentzen 6.5
Gets the .5 for America. Gets a 6 for every other race bar Australia, in which he drove very well. Solid, but not spectactular. Perfect time to leave F1 before he really embarasses himself & he will be missed.
Nick Heidfeld 5
Lost his seat & his McLaren contract. Car wasn't as good as before, but neither was Nick. Very good driver indeed, but evidence of it this year was rare.

Jaguar:
Mark Webber 7.5
Another one who blew hot & cold although his colds weren't that bad. Did well with a car that didn't deserve as many points as it got & deserves the big-team surveillance on him.
Antonio Pizzonia 5.5
Harshly treated & the .5 is what he may've done if left to do the job. But he failed to impress me that he was worthy of a mid-field seat, no matter what the set-up at Jagaur, although he clearly isn't a complete no-hoper.
Justin Wilson (Jaguar only) 6
Blew his big chance & may suffer for it. The lightening starts were nowhere in evidence & fighting spirit was there, but it wasn't enough. Beats Pizzonia due to scoring that point in the US.

Toyota:
Olivier Panis: 6.5
Probably deserves a 6 on results but in Spain & (I think) Austria, it really was looking good until the car let him down. Having said that, when the car was better, he did alright, but not as much as I'd hoped. But I belive he's fully capable of stepping up that gear if Toyota do, for one last Indian summer of a season.
Cristiano da Matta 8
At the start of the season, he was the only one who I felt didn't deserve an F1 seat - how wrong I was! Excellent, although his start was sluggish, but that's not surprising. Both CdM & OP can spring more suprises next year if they keep it up & if Toyota do improve, then I honestly see CdM winning next year - very good qualifier by the end.

Jordan:
Giancarlo Fisichella 7
Average. Deserves extra points for winning & for doing his best with a horrid car, but I just felt he could have wrung a little bit more out of it. No more excuses next year however, so he has to be bang on pace in Melbourne.

Ralph Firman 5.5
Not atrocious, but the performances shown in lower formulae were lacking here. Hungary set him back a lot, alos had a poor car & reliability but didn't make the impression I thought he would.

Zsolt Baumgartner 6
I don't think he deserves a full year but he deserves another sub appearance. Wasn't too sluggish & whilst not a match for his team-mate, mostly kept it on the road & respectable.

MINARDI:
Jos Verstappen 6.5
Extra half point for sticking through & doing his best but despite the woeful car, Jos wasn't as good as he's been in similiar machinery I thought. Less gravel-traps this year though, probably because the car was too slow that outbraking himself wouldn't have meant the difference between tarmac & grass
Justin Wilson (Minardi only) 8
Did a fine job in the little car. Great starter & some rugged, cracking drives but let down by the car's performance. Stoddart said a long time ago he had a seat for JW in 2004, even if no-one else did - Stoddart would do well to get JW back if Jaguar say no.
Nick Kiesa 3
The car was bad, yes, but Kiesa was an embarrasment & whilst he brought it home, never showed anything special. 5 GP's were 3 GP's too many. I suggest alternative racing series from now on.

Well, that's me done, what about youse all?

[ensign14]

I think we're on the same wavelength...I would rate Firman and Heidfeld higher, the former because he was trying to polish a turd whilst being completely unused to F1 and the latter because he outshone HHF on the odd occasion...and Webber a lot higher, because the Jag did not look that good...and only Zsolt and Kiesa were really unworthy of an F1 seat. Perhaps the strongest permanent line-up ever? Maybe the 1969 and 70 field was stronger?

[speedmaster]

Originally posted by Richie Jenkins
Well, all in all, not a bad season at all.

Now, I may be on a hiding to nothing here, but I'm going to go ahead and rate all 24 drivers this year. I'm an OP fan but generally neutral, so no hidden agenda here

FERRARI:
Michael Schumacher 8
6 wins, a 6th championship & at times class of the field. But quite a large number of, by his standards, unpredecented, mistakes. Deserved the title by the end & worked bloody hard to do it, but will have to work as hard as he's ever done to a win a 7th - I would prefer he retires at the end of 2004, because he's acheived virtually everything & will only be on a hiding to nothing from now on.
Rubens Barrichello 7.5
Deserved a 10 for both wins, deserved a 4 for some of his early season offerings. Did the job expected of him, but stil left me with the impression he under-performed. Much better in qualifying.

WILLIAMS:
Juan-Pablo Montoya 8.5
Took his time to get going, but very consistent & still capable of some of the best moves seen in modern racing. Like the other two title challengers he had bad luck, but like the other two, that was of his own doing at times. Much improved.

Ralf Schumacher 7
Hard to say really. When he was good, he was brilliant. When he was bad, he was awful. But took two wins, was consistent & his Imola drive was impressive, as were others, but I can't really justify a higher mark.

Marc Gene 8
First race for four years - qualified high, led for 3 quarters of a lap, brought the car home in 5th. Top drive. Deserves a seat, but I understand why he stays at Williams.

McLAREN
Kimi Raikkonen 9
Consistent, fast, very, very impressive & a world away from the so-so driving at Sauber. Before this season people said "why not Heidfeld?". No longer. But the Spain debacle & a number of other untidy moments mean only a 9.

David Coulthard 5
Did what he could in the races & deserves a 10 for sheer effort. But was very, very poor in qualifying & not really inspired in many races - not the Coulthard of the Hakkinen championship days. Lucky to regain his seat, mainly on past efforts & 2004 is now his last chance to finally come good.

RENAULT:
Fernando Alonso 9
Would be 9.5 but I rated his year the same as Kimi's. Not too many mistakes, certainly not disgraceful ones. Very consistent & deserved better than his car's reliability in the second half. Throroughly deserved win - much, much more to come & I for one, am very excited by his 2003 season & what it bodes for the future.
Jarno Trulli 6
Genius on Friday - Dunce on Saturday - Middle of the Class Sunday. Capable of multiple wins, but he must learn to handle pressure & stay awake - this after 111 GP's! Another driver who has to perform in 2004, although he was unlucky with reliability & did a sound job.

BAR:
Jenson Button 7.5
Button did a have a stinker or two, but his points haul, despite BAR's reliability said it all. A podium at America would've been on but for another Honda Engine blow up. Clearly not the great white hope of 2000, but worthy of his seat & maybe better in future but he must remain focused.
Jacques Villeneuve 5
When the car was good, Jacques was average. When Jacques was good, the car was shite. Deserves a seat in F1, but remaining at BAR, was not the option for either party. Capable of doing much better but this year complaency set in.
Takuma Sato 7
Like Gene, came in & spot on. Points finish, strong all weekend, albeit a little hairy with his driving. He loves Suzuka, but still has a bit to prove in 2004, me thinks.

Sauber:
Heinz-Harald Frentzen 6.5
Gets the .5 for America. Gets a 6 for every other race bar Australia, in which he drove very well. Solid, but not spectactular. Perfect time to leave F1 before he really embarasses himself & he will be missed.
Nick Heidfeld 5
Lost his seat & his McLaren contract. Car wasn't as good as before, but neither was Nick. Very good driver indeed, but evidence of it this year was rare.

Jaguar:
Mark Webber 7.5
Another one who blew hot & cold although his colds weren't that bad. Did well with a car that didn't deserve as many points as it got & deserves the big-team surveillance on him.
Antonio Pizzonia 5.5
Harshly treated & the .5 is what he may've done if left to do the job. But he failed to impress me that he was worthy of a mid-field seat, no matter what the set-up at Jagaur, although he clearly isn't a complete no-hoper.
Justin Wilson (Jaguar only) 6
Blew his big chance & may suffer for it. The lightening starts were nowhere in evidence & fighting spirit was there, but it wasn't enough. Beats Pizzonia due to scoring that point in the US.

Toyota:
Olivier Panis: 6.5
Probably deserves a 6 on results but in Spain & (I think) Austria, it really was looking good until the car let him down. Having said that, when the car was better, he did alright, but not as much as I'd hoped. But I belive he's fully capable of stepping up that gear if Toyota do, for one last Indian summer of a season.
Cristiano da Matta 8
At the start of the season, he was the only one who I felt didn't deserve an F1 seat - how wrong I was! Excellent, although his start was sluggish, but that's not surprising. Both CdM & OP can spring more suprises next year if they keep it up & if Toyota do improve, then I honestly see CdM winning next year - very good qualifier by the end.

Jordan:
Giancarlo Fisichella 7
Average. Deserves extra points for winning & for doing his best with a horrid car, but I just felt he could have wrung a little bit more out of it. No more excuses next year however, so he has to be bang on pace in Melbourne.

Ralph Firman 5.5
Not atrocious, but the performances shown in lower formulae were lacking here. Hungary set him back a lot, alos had a poor car & reliability but didn't make the impression I thought he would.

Zsolt Baumgartner 6
I don't think he deserves a full year but he deserves another sub appearance. Wasn't too sluggish & whilst not a match for his team-mate, mostly kept it on the road & respectable.

MINARDI:
Jos Verstappen 6.5
Extra half point for sticking through & doing his best but despite the woeful car, Jos wasn't as good as he's been in similiar machinery I thought. Less gravel-traps this year though, probably because the car was too slow that outbraking himself wouldn't have meant the difference between tarmac & grass
Justin Wilson (Minardi only) 8
Did a fine job in the little car. Great starter & some rugged, cracking drives but let down by the car's performance. Stoddart said a long time ago he had a seat for JW in 2004, even if no-one else did - Stoddart would do well to get JW back if Jaguar say no.
Nick Kiesa 3
The car was bad, yes, but Kiesa was an embarrasment & whilst he brought it home, never showed anything special. 5 GP's were 3 GP's too many. I suggest alternative racing series from now on.

Well, that's me done, what about youse all?

Rubens had a not suitable car for his style until the weeklong test before Silverstone (or one before I don't recall). After those changes the car become far more stable and suitable for his style. Just look an onboard camera from previous races and after. His handwork was much less and fine. He did it all for Ferrari and in the end would have granted Michael his championship if he didn't finish 8th as he did.

Liked that you gave DaMatta a better score than Panis. He, in the whole, had a very good year albeit some opinions in this forum.

Schumacher: I don't like him, his personality but I wouldn't give less than a 10 to a six time WDC.

[BuonoBruttoCattivo]

Schumacher: 10

Raikkonen: 9

Montoya: 8

Fisichella: 8

Alonso: 8

Barrichello: 7.5

Trulli: 7

Webber: 7

Ralf Schumacher: 6.5

Coulthard: 5

Villeneuve: 4


Ferrari: 9

Williams: 8

Renault: 8

McLaren: 6

[MuMu]

JPM: 8.5
still the best overtaker in F1
too many spins

KR: 8.5
very fast and consistent; did well in the third best car
some of those qualifying mistakes were really embarrassing...

MS: 8
Some good and inspired races
too many mistakes for somebody of his calibre and experience.

FA: 7.5
great season, some great performances
sometimes mediocre, sometimes stupid

RB: 7
Silverstone
half of the other races

RS: 7
somtimes sublime,
too often ridiculous

JT: 6.5
still the best qualifier in F1
needs to be more consistent in the races

MW: 6.5
excellent qualifier
sometimes merely OK in the races

JB: 6.5
maturing nicely
mistakes aplenty

GF: 6.5
always fast
as thick as a brick

CDM: 6
some pretty good races; not out of his depth
mistakes

HHF: 6
OP : 5.5
RF : 5

DC: 5
great opening rounds
shitty for the rest of the season

JV:
decided to retire
got his ass kicked by Button

[zengiman]

Originally posted by Richie Jenkins
Well, all in all, not a bad season at all.

Now, I may be on a hiding to nothing here, but I'm going to go ahead and rate all 24 drivers this year. I'm an OP fan but generally neutral, so no hidden agenda here

Cristiano da Matta 8
At the start of the season, he was the only one who I felt didn't deserve an F1 seat - how wrong I was! Excellent, although his start was sluggish, but that's not surprising. Both CdM & OP can spring more suprises next year if they keep it up & if Toyota do improve, then I honestly see CdM winning next year - very good qualifier by the end.

Well, that's me done, what about youse all?

So Damatta was one of the best this year. Only Kimi and JPM were slightly better....

Is this the same Christiano Damatta that had the worst qualifying record of all drivers (13-3, this against OP)...

The same man that started third today and ended a heroic seventh, while four of the fastest runners were unable to finish ...

Care to explain, OP fan?

[Richard Jenkins]

Originally posted by zengiman


So Damatta was one of the best this year. Only Kimi and JPM were slightly better....

Is this the same Christiano Damatta that had the worst qualifying record of all drivers (13-3, this against OP)...

The same man that started third today and ended a heroic seventh, while four of the fastest runners were unable to finish ...

Care to explain, OP fan?

Hey, it's just my opinion, not fact

Both Panis & da Matta's races were compromised by Toyota's poor strategy which only paid off in a couple of races. I felt da Matta deserved a high mark for the fact that he did far better than my & many others original expectations of him. Schumacher, who also has 8 was slightly lowe in expectations for most of the season.
Really, it comes down to effort & quick adjustment. Da Matta worked his socks off in the race, Panis, whilst easily the better qualifer for most races, yes, sometimes dozed off a little bit. Just look at Toyota this year & the combined efforts of Salo & McNish last year - I didn't think it then but Toyota made the right decision. I hoped more from Olivier & would happily give him 10 but.. I just felt OP could've done more.

[Todd]

FERRARI:
Michael Schumacher 9
Rubens Barrichello 8

WILLIAMS:
Juan-Pablo Montoya 8
Ralf Schumacher 8
Marc Gene 8

McLAREN
Kimi Raikkonen 7.5
David Coulthard 7

RENAULT:
Fernando Alonso 8
Jarno Trulli 6.5

BAR:
Jenson Button 8
Jacques Villeneuve 6.5
Takuma Sato 8

Sauber:
Heinz-Harald Frentzen 8
Nick Heidfeld 7.5

Jaguar:
Mark Webber 8.5
Antonio Pizzonia 6.5 .
Justin Wilson (Jaguar only) 6.5

Toyota:
Olivier Panis: 6.5
Cristiano da Matta 7

Jordan:
Giancarlo Fisichella 7.5
Ralph Firman 6.5
Zsolt Baumgartner 5.5

MINARDI:
Jos Verstappen 6.5
Justin Wilson (Minardi only) 6.5
Nick Kiesa 5.5

[molive]

FERRARI:
Michael Schumacher 9 Not perfect, made some mistakes, but when it counted he stepped up a did his job.
Rubens Barrichello 8 Closer to MS than his final points show. Made a few errors but also got terrible luck.

WILLIAMS:
Juan-Pablo Montoya 7.5 Fast and ballsy but too erratic and hot blooded.
Ralf Schumacher 7 Made mistakes and threw himself out of contention. Coulda, woulda, but didnt. Again.
Marc Gene X Too little to tell, but didnt embarrass under pressure.

McLAREN
Kimi Raikkonen 8 The kid is good. Just needs to take some speech classes.
David Coulthard 4 Seat waster, had better years. Now getting killed by KR. Time to move on already.

RENAULT:
Fernando Alonso 8 Very Good but not as consistent as Kimi. May be the next big thing, maybe not. Will go as high as Renault go.
Jarno Trulli 7 He's good, but had some terrible luck (almost as bad as RB's). Still, he's the best Italy has to offer, imho.

BAR:
Jenson Button 7 Improved a lot and embarrassed a former WDC. Not top material, but good enough to be in a BAR for a few years.
Jacques Villeneuve 4 Well, what can one say that hasnt been said already...the real Jacques didnt show up this year, and may never do so again (at least not in F1).
Takuma Sato X Same as Gené. Too little to tell. Was good at Suzuka, like last year, but he may be a one track guy. I'll reserve my judgement till next year.

Sauber:
Heinz-Harald Frentzen 4 Indy was the last bright moment of a good (nor great) career. Time to go DTM.
Nick Heidfeld 4 Shoulda killed HHF to make his McLaren bid stand out. Didnt, and may have thrown his career in a downward spiral.

Jaguar:
Mark Webber 8 Flashes of brilliance, specially in that crappy Jag. Like Alonso.
Antonio Pizzonia 6 Well, what can one say...getting fired mid season while starting to do better....maybe he coulda get a 7 if he had stayed...
Justin Wilson (Jaguar only) 6 Not better than AP. But had fewer races. Enough for #2 Jag though.

Toyota:
Olivier Panis: 7 Suffered terrible reliability, but showed he's still a solid driver and an asset for Toyota.
Cristiano da Matta 8 Hes DA MAN. Suffice to say he shut up a lot of people during the year. Next year is a make or break though as the only way is up...

Jordan:
Giancarlo Fisichella 6 Had crappy car, but did not show why such high ratings. Beating Firman and Zsolt was definetely not a great measuring stick.
Ralph Firman 3 Too weak
Zsolt Baumgartner 2 C ya.

MINARDI:
Jos Verstappen 5 Good enuff for Minardi, but so are 1k others.
Justin Wilson (Minardi only) 6 Same as above, but at least got himself an upgrade.
Nick Kiesa 2 C ya.

[Arrow]

Michael
Scrappy year under scrappy regulations but was still the best of a scrappy bunch and deserved it.

Montoya
Sometimes great,sometimes bad but usually good.
Overall a strong year but at the same time disappointing and frustrating.
With the tools and talent at his disposal he should of done more and he never fully got the upperhand on his team-mate all year.
I am not really happy with his season.Mainly because i know he could and should of done better.

Kimi
Great season.
Drove hard and fast and challenged for the title in the 3rd best car of the year.You have to respect that.
Somewhat flattered by a weak team-mate though.

Alonso
Overall very very impressive.Kicked trullis ass throughout the year and put in some startling performances.
Lost the plot mid season and got outraced by his anti racer team-mate too many times during that period something which is worrying.
Still a chance hes the next big thing but im not so sure.

Ralf
Untouchable at time times,yet farcical at times.
His highlights are matched and probably exceeded by his lowlights,but he showed again that he had genuine speed and talent to be a WC if he can ever bring it all together.


Too tired for the rest atm :

[StickShift]

Michael Schumacher: 8
Rubens Barrichello: 6

Juan Montoya: 7
Ralf Schumacher: 6

Kimi Raikkonen: 7
David Coulthard: 4

Fernando Alonso: 7
Jarno Trulli: 7

Jenson Button: 8
Jacques Villeneuve: 3

Frentzen: 3
Heidfeld: 3

Webber: 8
Pizzonia: 3
Wilson: 3

Panis: 5
Da Matta: 7

Fisichella: 4
Firman: 3

Verstappen: 3
Kiesa: 1

Ferrari: 8
Williams: 8
McLaren: 8
Renault: 9
BAR: 6
Toyota: 7
Jaguar: 7
Sauber: 3
Jordan: 2
Minardi: 0.5 (being kind)

Bridgestone: 8.1 (Their wet tyres saved them the championship)
Michelin 8

[GhostR]

Par score: 7.5. Anyone I score 7.5 had a solid, yet unspectacular, year. Performed up to my expectations.


FERRARI:

The car: 10. Other than tyres, probably the best all-round package over the entire year. MS's car awesomely reliable.

M. Schumacher: 7.5. A solid year. But by his standards, far from perfect. Too many mistakes, didn't excel in qualifying under the new format.

R. Barrichello: 8.5. Did his job for Ferrari and has improved a lot. Genuine threat for the WDC next year IMO. I would have given him a 9 except for some errors. Silverstone and Suzuka results balance against the errors.


WILLIAMS:

The car: 8. In the early season, lacked pace and that ultimately cost them both titles. Second half of the year, with the Michelin tyres, clearly the best package.

J-P. Montoya: 8. Like his car, JPM's season was one of two halves. Early season form was poor, second half of the season 8 podium finishes in a row made him a genuine title threat until the Indy debacle. Outdrove RS. Scores a bonus mark for aggresive overtaking (even if that did bring his title challenge unstuck).

R. Schumacher: 6.5. Other than his wins, I think he generally underperformed. At times failed to put in 110% when needed. Also appeared to lack the killer instinct of his brother and JPM.

M. Gene: 7.5. Did everything that was expected of him when called upon, but didn't sieze the moment the way he could have.


McLAREN:

The car: 9. They managed to keep an old car in the WDC title chase all year. Ultimately the failed MP4-18 may have cost them one, or both, championships. But it's the 17D being marked here, and it clearly performed above and beyond.

K. Raikkonen: 9. If he could only develop a personality... Performed very well in an old car. Let himself down with a couple of qualifying errors. Coming so close to the WDC when driving under the conditions he had to deal with this year, he deserves a little extra praise.

D. Coulthard: 6. Struggled in qualifying. Ultimately, Coulthard's form this year was beneath what could be expected of him based on previous years. Raced well at times, but didn't deliver enough points for McLaren.


RENAULT:

The Car: 9. Performed beyond expectations. A beautiful chassis let down by an engine lacking horsepower. Launch control perhaps the best on the grid.

F. Alonso: 8.5. Thoroughly deserved his win. Raced hard all year, though he made some mistakes. Mistakes can be forgiven this year, but must eliminate them next year.

J. Trulli: 7.5. Did nothing to raise my opinion of him formed over previous years, but also did nothing to lower it. Solid yet unspectacular year. Needs to translate Friday speed across entire race weekends.


BAR:

The car: 6. Good but loses marks for reliability issues. Second best Bridgestone runner when they could finish. Showed good speed to finish the season.

J. Button: 8. Two very solid races to finish the season. Deserved at least one podium. Clearly outperformed his senior teammate.

J. Villeneuve: 5.5. Was let down by his car too many times, but still completely failed to impress. Comprehensively beaten by Jensen after pre-season comments; loses marks for that.

T. Sato: 8. May be a one-track special driver, but performed very solidly. Raced hard and kept it on the tarmac; forced Schumi into an error.


SAUBER:

The car: 6. Failed to live up to previous seasons. They had perhaps the best engine of the teams that finished 5-10 and yet failed to take advantage of it.

H-H. Frentzen: 7. Solid but lacked ultimate pace.

N. Heidfeld: 7. See HHF.


JAGUAR:

The car: 6. Good qualifying pace, lacked race pace and reliability needed to be a top team. Launch control may have been weak. Lost ground compared to BAR and Toyota in second half of the season.

M. Webber: 8.5. At times mixed it with the big boys in a clearly inferior car. Outperformed both AP and JW. Extracted as much from the Jag as it was able to give him.

A. Pizzonia: 6.5. Didn't deserve to be sacked, but clearly lacked the pace he has shown in testing with Williams.

J. Wilson (Jaguar only): 7. Thrown in at the deep end. Jag reliability issues make it hard to judge. Indy result scores him the extra 0.5 ahead of AP.


TOYOTA:

The car: 8. Clearly taken a large step forward compared to last year. Failed to translate good qualifying speed to race day, but showed signs of being ready to challenge the top 3 or 4 next year.

O. Panis: 7.5. Solid year. Shame that's the only thing I can really think of when marking his season. Nothing to mark down, nothing to mark up.

C. da Matta: 8. Impressive first year in F1. Having watched him in his CART years I was not expecting him to do as well as he did. Could be a revelation next year.


JORDAN:

The car: 4. What a heap of junk. Lost a lot of ground compared to the competition.

G. Fisichella: 8. Made the most of a bad car. Impressive in the wet when driver ability became more important.

R. Firman: 7.5. Solid year given the circumstances.

Z. Baumgartner: 5. Trundled around at the back barely keeping ahead of the Minardi's. If he's the best Jordan can come up with as a replacement, I hate to think who they'll have next year.


MINARDI:

The car: 5.5. Rates higher than the Jordan only because they operate on a shoestring budget and because they didn't really lose ground on the competition.

J. Verstappen: 7.5. Solid year. See Panis comments.

J. Wilson (Minardi only): 8. Impressed enough to land the Jag seat.

N. Kiesa: 4. Go home. Don't come back next year. Please. I don't care how much sponsorship you have.

[ehagar]

My ratings:


FERRARI:


Michael Schumacher 9 - Did the job but it was closer this year. The off days are mostly down to the uncompetitiveness of the tyres.

Rubens Barrichello 8 - When the conditions didn't favour the Bridgestone tyres, he seemed to do better than Michael... Pulled the ocassional surprise

WILLIAMS:

Juan-Pablo Montoya 8 - His ocassional errors cost him dearly but he was very, very good this year.
Ralf Schumacher 8 - After a dodgy start with te qualifying he really got on with it and was impressive. Montoya-Schumacher are a good pairing.

Marc Gene 7 - Solid, but unspectacular job in his one appearance.

McLAREN

Kimi Raikkonen 8 - Was consistent enough to be in it at the end of the season

David Coulthard 6.5 - Terrible during single qualifying

RENAULT:

Fernando Alonso 8 - Very fast, but I find his accident in Brazil unforgivable. He should have been suspended.

Jarno Trulli 7 - He did pretty good this year, but he can be inconsistent.

BAR:

Jenson Button 8 - Very solid year.

Jacques Villeneuve 6 - Oops.... Sure the car was bad, he completed 54% of his laps this year, but we expect more out of him than what happened this year.

Takuma Sato 7 - I would have given him an 8 but he messed up qualifying and was slightly slower than Button.

Sauber:

Heinz-Harald Frentzen 6.5 - I think the score for both of these drivers is more reflective of the car than their talent...

Nick Heidfeld 6.5

Jaguar:

Mark Webber 8.5 - Great qualifying sessions, more points than that car probably deserved.

Antonio Pizzonia 4 - I don't think he should have been in an F-1 car this year. I realize he tested for Williams but I was not impressed with his wildness in F3000. It was never going to be easy at Jaguar at the best of times....

Justin Wilson (Jaguar only) 5 - Not really impressive. Probably out of F1 next year.

Toyota:

DIfficult to judge these drivers with the car sometimes lacking race pace... I give CDM a higher ranking on getting more points.

Olivier Panis: 6.5
Cristiano da Matta 7

Jordan:

Giancarlo Fisichella 7.5 - A fluke win, but still a win...
Ralph Firman 6 - Is a passable driver
Zsolt Baumgartner 5 - Dodgy driver...

MINARDI:
Jos Verstappen 7 - Had a decent year considering
Justin Wilson (Minardi only) 6.5 - Measured reasonably well to an experienced teammate.
Nick Kiesa 5 - Mr Excitement in F3000, I was floored that he would get in an F1 car. I thought he would be a disaster worse than Pizzonia. Was passable, for Minardi.

[HBoss]

Schumacher - 9 - even with so many mistakes and incidents during the season, he once again proved himself as the one to be beaten. Montoya could learn from Schumacher's cold head and consistency. Still, considering his own standards, one would have expected Schumacher to have had less trouble than he did. He seems to be past his prime, but he is still up there with Raikkonen as the two best drivers in F1 today.

Raikkonen - 9 - he gave the best driver of all times a very hard time and showed that he has the speed and consistency to be a champion. Some lucked could have helped him at Nurburgring, he should have not screwed up at Barcelona and Montreal, but I still beleive he had an outstanding season in what wasn't the best car on the grid

Montoya - 7,5 - he did fine, but then, looking at Schumacher, Raikkonen and Ralf through many points of the season, he missed a great opportunity to be the one to dethrone Schumacher. He commited too many mistakes during the season, losing valuble points at Melbourne, Montreal and Indy, and being undoubtfully outclassed by his teammate at Nurburgring and Magny-Cours. Raikkonen and Schumacher showed more consistency and enough brains to not choke under pressure. It still was his best season, but there is still room for much improvement.

Barrichello - 8 - a great season with the usual load of his bad luck, but terrible mistakes/performances at Melbourne, Magny-Cours, Monaco...

[ruther]

Originally posted by Richie Jenkins

Rubens Barrichello 7.5
Deserved a 10 for both wins, deserved a 4 for some of his early season offerings. Did the job expected of him, but stil left me with the impression he under-performed. Much better in qualifying.

Marc Gene 8
First race for four years - qualified high, led for 3 quarters of a lap, brought the car home in 5th. Top drive. Deserves a seat, but I understand why he stays at Williams.

[ruther]

Originally posted by Richie Jenkins

Michael Schumacher 8
6 wins, a 6th championship & at times class of the field. But quite a large number of, by his standards, unpredecented, mistakes. Deserved the title by the end & worked bloody hard to do it, but will have to work as hard as he's ever done to a win a 7th - I would prefer he retires at the end of 2004, because he's acheived virtually everything & will only be on a hiding to nothing from now on.

Kimi Raikkonen 9
Consistent, fast, very, very impressive & a world away from the so-so driving at Sauber. Before this season people said "why not Heidfeld?". No longer. But the Spain debacle & a number of other untidy moments mean only a 9.

[ruther]

Originally posted by Todd
Kimi Raikkonen 7.5

Takuma Sato 8

[logic]

Raikkonen: 10
Alonso: 9
Sato: 8
Schumacher: 8
Montoya: 8
Barrichello: 8
Coulthard: 8
Villeneuve: 8
Button: 8
Trulli: 7
Ralf: 7
Webber: 6


Ferrari: 9.5
Williams: 8
McLaren: 7.5
Renault: 7

Bridgestone: 8
Michelin: 7.5

[ferrari_forever]

Hmmmm I cant help but wonder if people are judging Schumacher on this years performance, or comparing him against previous years?

[GhostR]

In my case, I compared everyone against the expectations I had at the start of the year, which are obviously based on previous years performances. MS was far from perfect this year, especially compared to last year. The title came down to the last race of the season ... MS at his best really should have had the title sealed a lot sooner. He had 100% reliability from his car, he had the most consistently performing car all year. He made mistakes, and those mistakes cost him points.

[ferrari_forever]

Anyway my opinion

MS - 8.5 some great drives, marred by some mistakes especially at the beginning of the season.

RB - 7 Silverstone and Japan fantastic drives

JPM - 8 I feel he threw it away at the USA GP, could have taken it to the wire

RS - 7 a better season than most, but still outshined by his teammate

KR - 8 a great season, future WDC

DC - 6 couldn't get to grips with new qualifying

FA - 8 some great drives, and some rookie mistakes, talent of the future

JT - 6 qualifying supremo

JB - 7 drove some great races, outshone JV

JVi - 5 always someone else to blame

HHF - 6 sorry to see him go, hampered by poor reliability and some silly mistakes

NH - 5 where was he this year?

GF - 6 let down by a poor car, got very lucky at Brasil

RF - 5 brief flashes of being good

AP - 3 hmmmmm

MW - 7 got the Jag up there, especially in qualli

OP - 6 some great qualifying runs on light fuel

CDM - 6 did better than I expected

JV - 4 hard to tell with that car

JW - 4 did better at Minardi than Jaguar

[ERD1]

2003 Provisional in % relative pace

0.0 MS, Rk, JPM, FA, Wb
0.1 RB, RS, Fs
0.2 JB, Fz, Tu
0.3 DC, Vv
0.4 OP, dM, Hd, JW
0.5 Fn, St,
0.6 Vp
0.7 Gn
0.8 Pz
0.9
1.0 Bg
1.1 Ks

[Pilla]

I would rate HHF at least an 8. He has more than twice the point hall of his supposedly talented team mate.

[ERD1]

OK. The CART Race just finished.

For comparison to what I posted above, here is the end YR2002 version.

0.0 MS
0.1 RB, JPM, DC, RS
0.2 Rk, Fs
0.3 JB, Wb, Fz, Iv, Tu
0.4 OP, Dv, dR, Vv
0.5 Ma, Hd, Sl, St
0.6 MN
0.7 Bd
0.8
0.9
1.0
1.1 Yg
1.2

Note I rated Massa (Ma), who returns, alongside Heidfeld (Hd), who departs. But both always lower than Frentzen (Fz).

Another thing to note is that Michael (MS) was on his own level last year, but he now has a lot of company.

Cheers

[Pilla]

ERD1 what are the criterea you look at for those statistics? Race finish compared to qualifying? Qualifying compared to previous sessions? races compared to previous races? Team mates compared to team mates? Anyways its interesting who Frentzen out performs

[Alexandros]

MS: 7
RB: 9
Kimi: 10
Ralf: 8
JPM:8
DC: 7
Alonso: 8.5
Trulli: 7
Button: 9
Villeneuve: 7
Fisi: 7
Firman: 7
Webber: 8
Pizzonia: 6
Wilson: 6.5
Kiesa: 5.5
Vertappen: 6
Heidfeld: 7
Fretzen: 8.5
Panis: 7
Da Matta: 7
Gene: 7
Baumgartner: 5
Sato: 7.5

Teams
Ferrari: 9
Mclaren: 8
Williams: 9
Renault: 8.5
BAR: 5.5
Jaguar: 5
Sauber: 4
Toyota: 5
Jordan: 3
Minardi: 0

[Rene]

Originally posted by Pilla
ERD1 what are the criterea you look at for those statistics? Race finish compared to qualifying? Qualifying compared to previous sessions? races compared to previous races? Team mates compared to team mates? Anyways its interesting who Frentzen out performs

Ya...and could you also use accepted abbreviation for drivers initials, or at least be consistant...why is OP Olivier Panis, and Fs(sic as you say Fz but then use Fs) Heinz Harold Frentzon? Shouldn't it be consitant? I have no idea which driver is JV?!

[gerry nassar]

Kimi Raikkonen - 9.5
Fernando Alonso - 8.6
Juan Pablo Montoya - 8.5
Michael Schumacher - 8.3
Ralf Schumacher - 8.1
Heinz Harald Frentzen - 7.8
Mark Webber - 7.5
Jenson Button - 7.5
Rubens Barrichello - 7.5
Jarno Trulli - 7.5
Christiano DaMatta - 7.4
David Coulthard - 6.9
Giancarlo Fisichella - 6.9
Olivier Panis - 6.7
Jaques Villenuve - 6.7
Nick Heidfeld - 6.6
Justin Wilson - 6.2
Ralf Firman - 5.9
Jos Verstappen - 5.9
Antonio Pizzonia - 5.9
Nik Kiesa - 5.0

I wont rate the following as they didnt do enough races....

Takuma Sato
Marc Gene
Zolt Baumargartner

[ERD1]

Originally posted by Rene


Ya...and could you also use accepted abbreviation for drivers initials, or at least be consistant...why is OP Olivier Panis, and Fs(sic as you say Fz but then use Fs) Heinz Harold Frentzon? Shouldn't it be consitant? I have no idea which driver is JV?!

I got locked into the names by having a two letter code in many worksheets that were started some time ago with what I related to. Now it is a monster job to convert to anything else but I try to remember to change them when I post something. Like I did for JPM who is My and I did change Ps to OP as a noticed other posters using that for Panis. Fs is Fisi, Fz is Frentzen, Fn is Firman. I do not use JV so if you saw this it is a mistake. JW is Justin Wilson, Vv is JAX, Vp is Jos. Sl is Salo, St is Sato, MN is McNish as opposed to Mn that is Minardi (not used in these drivers ratings). If there are 2 agreed letters for each driver than I'd change to those before posting anything or I could use a key block to the full name along with each post. Perhaps that is the best solution.

[baddog]

Originally posted by Arrow
Michael
Scrappy year under scrappy regulations but was still the best of a scrappy bunch and deserved it.

Montoya
Sometimes great,sometimes bad but usually good.
Overall a strong year but at the same time disappointing and frustrating.
With the tools and talent at his disposal he should of done more and he never fully got the upperhand on his team-mate all year.
I am not really happy with his season.Mainly because i know he could and should of done better.

Kimi
Great season.
Drove hard and fast and challenged for the title in the 3rd best car of the year.You have to respect that.
Somewhat flattered by a weak team-mate though.

Alonso
Overall very very impressive.Kicked trullis ass throughout the year and put in some startling performances.
Lost the plot mid season and got outraced by his anti racer team-mate too many times during that period something which is worrying.
Still a chance hes the next big thing but im not so sure.

Ralf
Untouchable at time times,yet farcical at times.
His highlights are matched and probably exceeded by his lowlights,but he showed again that he had genuine speed and talent to be a WC if he can ever bring it all together.


Too tired for the rest atm :

Who stole arrow's login details? that lot made sense!?!

sorry arrow ;)

Shaun

[cavedog]

Kimi - 9.0
JPM - 8.5
Alonso - 8.0
Ralf Schu - 8.0
Rubens - 7.5
M Schu - 7.5
Mark Webber - 7.5
Jarno Trulli - 7

All in all an ok season...would have been great if either Kimi, Ralf or Jpm won it instead.

[holiday]

Yeah. That was a good one by Arrow.

[HardRock]

FERRARI:
Michael Schumacher 8
Rubens Barrichello 7.5

WILLIAMS:
Juan-Pablo Montoya 9
Ralf Schumacher 7.5

McLAREN
Kimi Raikkonen 9
David Coulthard 6

RENAULT:
Fernando Alonso 8.5
Jarno Trulli 7.5

BAR:
Jenson Button 7.5
Jacques Villeneuve 6

Sauber:
Heinz-Harald Frentzen 7
Nick Heidfeld 7

Jaguar:
Mark Webber 8
Antonio Pizzonia 6
Justin Wilson (Jaguar only) 6

Toyota:
Olivier Panis: 7
Cristiano da Matta 7.5

Jordan:
Giancarlo Fisichella 7
Ralph Firman 6

MINARDI:
Jos Verstappen 6.5
Nick Kiesa 5

[HardRock]

Originally posted by holiday
Yeah. That was a good one by Arrow.

Are we talking about the same Arrow.
Great post anyway whoever did it.

[ERD1]

Originally posted by Pilla
ERD1 what are the criterea you look at for those statistics? Race finish compared to qualifying? Qualifying compared to previous sessions? races compared to previous races? Team mates compared to team mates? Anyways its interesting who Frentzen out performs

It has got a bit complex to explain but here goes:

The basic idea for the driver rating is to try to extract portions of each race where both cars are healthy, both cars not held by others and both cars in flat out as opposed to cruise mode and compare teammates on this basis. Lap times are adjusted for any different distances between pitstops and are smoothed to remove pitstops and when overtaking or temporarily held up by others. The distance involved must be at least 20% of the race with preference for using the longest stretch that meets the criteria for the pace comparison.

Independent of this, a rating for each car type is produced that basically covers the whole race and utilizes the best smoothed adjusted time of either car for each particular lap. In cases of DNF, or easing up, the trend is continued to the full race distance in a conservative manner. Each car type then has a comparative rating that is iterative in the sense that it takes out the rating of the drivers used that is, in turn, used to produce the relative driver ratings. Each driver initially has a pace rating compared to his teammate that is then added to the car rating and compared with each car/driver combinations fastest 20% of the race. This establishes a comparison of drivers in different teams - for instance if Driver A in Car B, that does not perform as well as Car D that has Driver C, is ahead of C/D then Driver A must be better than Driver C.

Usually a car rating is obtained for each race but the driver ratings less often. In either case the last 5 results are used to come up with the current rating that it based on the median of the last 5 results. When less than 5 ratings are available the results are interpreted in a conservative manner to avoid overrating the new entity.

A further smoothing is used to iterate the current with past ratings to come up with a less extreme current rating.

The relative car ratings that go along with the already posted driver ratings are as shown below, for end YR2002 and YR2003 up to Japan (it will take me a few days to add Japan) .

YR2002 thru Japan
0.0 Fr
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7 Wl,ML
0.8
0.9
1.0
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7 Rn,BR
1.8 Jd
1.9
2.0 Jg,To
2.1 Sb
2.2
2.3 Ar
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
3.0
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4 Mn
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.8
3.9
4.0
4.1


YR2003 to Japan
0.0 Wl
0.1 Fr
0.2
0.3 ML
0.4 Rn
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
1.1
1.2 To
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6 Jg,BR
1.7
1.8
1.9
2.0 Sb
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
3.0
3.1 Jd
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.8
3.9
4.0 Mn
4.1

Sorry that I cannot put these tables together. When I try it jumbles up in the 'preview' window.

Cheers

[HardRock]

Originally posted by Arrow

Montoya
Sometimes great,sometimes bad but usually good.
Overall a strong year but at the same time disappointing and frustrating.
With the tools and talent at his disposal he should of done more and he never fully got the upperhand on his team-mate all year.
I am not really happy with his season.Mainly because i know he could and should of done better.

Don't forget that Montoya only had a good car from Monaco onwards, and as you can see Montoya has more points from Monaco until Japan.

JPM 67 Points
KIMI 51 Points
MS 55 Points

[Monty Payton]

Michael Schumacher 9
6 wins, more than most drivers careers, 6th WDC, in aleague of his own. However, RB got closer in qual, a sign Michael's time is eventually coming to an end. He is still the Numero 1, but in 1 or 2 seasons the Alonso and Webber of the world will take over. Not a negative for Michael, just life.

Rubens Barrichello 7.5
When he is in his day, NOBODY can beat him, he is fast, determined, flawless. But when he is in his bad Karma, God help you. Fast driver, but too incosistent to ever become WDC (unless he pulls a Mansell and from bonehead he becomes a Lion....). Top level in qual, that shows he is fatser than some of the Ferrari haters would credit him for.

WILLIAMS:
Juan-Pablo Montoya 7.5
His best season, which shows he is improving and above all maturing. Monaco was a great win, although the cheating scandal from Michelin reduced its impact. He can be the driver of the future, fighting it with Alonso and Co., but he was so disappointing in Indy. The day he HAD to deliver he totally melted. Crashed into Bari, went off in the grass, Indy destroyed a good season. To become WDC he must learn to control his Latin temper and avoid crashing into drivers on lap 2.....0

Ralf Schumacher 7
He is better than most say. Every season he wins more races than Montoya, it MUST count for something. His Monza default and a few too many spins ruined a season he could have won. Overall, he dominated Monty until 2 month ago, then let the Columbian dominate him

Marc Gene 7
Did what any good driver would have done given one of the 2 best cars (maybe the best in Monza)


McLAREN
Kimi Raikkonen 8
Dennis makes sure nothing is missing for his boy and the boy is delivering the goods. Both Ralf and JPM deserved to have a chance in Suzuka more than Kimi, since the Finnish was in that position more because of attrition and never attempting daring moves. But while raikkonen is unable to deliver passes ala Montoya, he is way more reliable and consistent than the Columbian, It is up to you: if you are looking for the next Schumacher, DEFINETLY look elsewhere. But is the next lauda is what gets you going, he could be the guy.

David Coulthard 7
Was outperfomed by his teamate, but considering his obvious Number 2 status, he did pretty well. He won just as much as Kimi, but watching Suzuka and his team "brilliant" strategy (DC leas Kimi ALL race but after last pitstop, he comes in.....just 1 second behind Kimi.....SURPRISE.........). Kimi is strong and will win more, but he is quite overrated. He ain't in Senna or Schumacher's league and the Alonso of the world will prove it

RENAULT:
Fernando Alonso 9
Best driver of the season. He made mistakes (Brazil....dude, yellow flags mean slow the hell doen, he almost killed himself), but at 20 you would have expected him to drive like Massa and Sato in 2002, instead he dominated his fast teamate and won his first race, scoring a record that means a lot: youngest driver in 53 years to win a GP!!! it puts Kimi's accomplishments (1 win....) in perspctive and in a lesser car........

Jarno Trulli 6
Fast, no doubt, but being outperformed by a 20 year old (OK supertalented, but still....is finishing your career)......Super fast but super inconsistent.

Jenson Button 7
OK< he had a decent season and he did better than JV. But i cannot forget that Fisichella destroyed the bloke 2 years ago. So, he was good but he will never be top level, Fisichella deserved his car

Jacques Villeneuve 5
Unmotivated and outperformed by an average driver like Button. Sad demise by a driver with a huge potential but with too big of a head. If his dad was still alive, he would have kicked him in his ass years ago.

Takuma Sato 7
Good drive after a long time off. Looks like Button is in for another rough season in 2004. After an Italian, it will be a Japanese to show Jenson mediocrity

Sauber:
Heinz-Harald Frentzen 7.5
Just the fact that he came back from being fired and outperformed a much younger driver, gives a good idea of the guy. He is no Schumi or Mika, but the guy really like racing. It's a petty he wasn't alligned with his teams for a good part of his career.

Nick Heidfeld 5
End of his F1 career, He was mediocre all season. Being outperformed by a fast but old driver sealed his fate

Jaguar:
Mark Webber 7.5
I likes his performance despite the annoying Jaguar's qual's antics. OK, maybe someone at Jaguar is so stupid to fall for scoring a top 6-8 in qual all the time, but when you see your driver stop after 15 laps to fuel......don't you get it???????????? anyone, Mark terminated both Pizzonia and Wilson's careers, he is fast and exciting, I just wish he would get...say, DC's car and fight it out with Kimi to show who is the real deal from last season's emerging drivers.........

Antonio Pizzonia 5.5
Uninspired and uninspiring. Brazilians haven't found the next Senna for sure

Justin Wilson 4
Less than Pizzonia, it says it all. OK, last year got a seat based on the discrimination lamentation (poor 6'3" boy....), but he ain't fast and he isn't F1 material. Just to confirm that winning F3000 just shows you are good in F3000.

Toyota:
Olivier Panis: 6
Disappointed. I thought he would blew DaMatta away, but it just didn't happen. And CDM had 0 experience in F1. I'd keep him for car development, but for one more season only. He is done.

Cristiano da Matta 8
Much better than I ever suspected. He blew Panis away and he managed to race well at the end. Next year with a better car, a more experienced team and finally knowing all the circuits, he could do very well. Positive note of the year after Alonso

Jordan:
Giancarlo Fisichella 7
Finally won his first and much deserved race (finished Wurtz and almost finished Button's career). However, he eventually entirely lost his motivation (Eddie, your team is becominh amlost as emabarssing as Minardi). I know that when you are a top 5 driver driving a last 3 row car it is demoralizing, but you are still paid millions to do it. However, ee will ruin Ferrari and Massa' s plans next year by blowing the Brazilians socks off. Mark my words.

Ralph Firman 4
Why has this neverbeen, old, Japanese formula, mediocrity ever raced in F1???????

Zsolt Baumgartner NA
Whatever. There are at least 10 drivers in F3000, F3, IRL and CART I can think off who would put this guy in his right perspective. No F1 material.

MINARDI:
Jos Verstappen 6.5
Why is he bothering still, it is a mystery to me. He will never get a top drive at his age and with his results. Why race when nobody will "upgrade" you and you will never score any points with a car that is ridiculous??? should spend more time with his beautifuk wife than driving cars which a re 4 seconds a lap slower. He deserves the lifetime "F1 wanker achievement", he tried so long but never really got the real thing.

Justin Wilson 4
Much younger and slower than Jos. 'Nuf said

Nick Kiesa 3
Who?????????????? embarassing.

[Pilla]

ERD1:

Wow that is complicated, do you work with statistics?

anyway keep up the good work.

[black magic]

what exactly were all these ms mistakes?

hungary being overtaken by ralf, suzuka, malaysia

aussie was due to being forced onto grass by kimi

any others?

[umapathypon]

Originally posted by Arrow
Michael
Scrappy year under scrappy regulations but was still the best of a scrappy bunch and deserved it.

Montoya
Sometimes great,sometimes bad but usually good.
Overall a strong year but at the same time disappointing and frustrating.
With the tools and talent at his disposal he should of done more and he never fully got the upperhand on his team-mate all year.
I am not really happy with his season.Mainly because i know he could and should of done better.

Kimi
Great season.
Drove hard and fast and challenged for the title in the 3rd best car of the year.You have to respect that.
Somewhat flattered by a weak team-mate though.

Alonso
Overall very very impressive.Kicked trullis ass throughout the year and put in some startling performances.
Lost the plot mid season and got outraced by his anti racer team-mate too many times during that period something which is worrying.
Still a chance hes the next big thing but im not so sure.

Ralf
Untouchable at time times,yet farcical at times.
His highlights are matched and probably exceeded by his lowlights,but he showed again that he had genuine speed and talent to be a WC if he can ever bring it all together.

That's pretty much how i see the season as well.

[Arrow]

This is the rest of my top 10 for 2003.

Webber
It was benetton 1994 all over again at jag such was the destruction layed out the by laconic aussie.Even the once schumacher exclusive "preferential treatment" excuses were brought out of the closest in the futile search for justification.
Webber is the man!

Rubens
Has solidified his standing as the premier doormat of F1.Seems to not only have accepted it but has come to enjoy it.
Flew to great heights at silverstone and Suzuka but soared even higher at Hockeinheim and Indy when he collectively neutred the WC campaigns of michaels 3 main rivals.
Expect more of the same next year.

Button
Came into Jacque villeneuves house and promptly evicted him.

Trulli
Flashes of brilliance without the brilliance.

Coulthard
Was lead contender for my dunce of the year award but saved by the fact he took his beating gracefully.Years of experience have served him well in that regard.
Sunk to depths even I didnt beleive he was capable of and for the first time in his career,I was trully impressed

Dunce of 2003

Villeneuve
Talked smack and was promptly smacked.
The only thing worse than being beaten by a driver like button is being beaten by a driver "called" button.
JV lost out on all counts in 2003.

[zengiman]

Originally posted by Monty Payton

Cristiano da Matta 8
Much better than I ever suspected. He blew Panis away and he managed to race well at the end. Next year with a better car, a more experienced team and finally knowing all the circuits, he could do very well. Positive note of the year after Alonso

Blew Panis away? CDM had the worst qualifying record of any driver this year.
He lost 13 - 3 against Panis. Usually the slowest Michelin driver out there.

Do you have shares in him?

[raceday]

FERRARI:
Michael Schumacher 8.5
6 wins, 5 poles and a 6th championship. His highest level is as high as ever. His lowest level has sunk and on top of that become more frequent. Still he deserved to win. I think the deciding moment in my mind was at that second chicane at Monza. When he manage to fend off Montoya there and then kept it all together for the rest of the race then I thought he’s not gonna crumble and will probably bring it home this year as well. In my mind it’s all in all his worst year so far and it was the beginning of the end of the Schumacher era. Still mighty impressive to still have what it takes in his 13:th season and being soon 35.

Rubens Barrichello 7.5
Would have been a worthy successor of Senna if he would keep it at the level of his Silverstone and Suzuka performances. As it is now, he’s been too uneven. Rubens is generally underrated IMO. When he has a good day then he’s up there with anybody, not least in the overtaking department.

WILLIAMS:
Juan-Pablo Montoya 8.0
lost a lot of his qualifying skills as it seems with this new qualifying format. Started off badly with a spin, crash and a spin out. Had several impressive performances mid season and then a few mistakes again at Monza and indy. Very colourful character and will likely win the WDC within a couple of years.

Ralf Schumacher 7
A bit like Montoya, only worse. He’s swung between great and quite simply awful. His race at Suzuka was a complete mess to put it mildly.

McLAREN
Kimi Raikkonen 8.5
Evan Steven. Kept it together and stayed out of trouble, bar a couple of qualifyings, bringing it home throughout the whole season. Nothing mind boggling in my mind but that might be down to McLarens complete mess up with the new car forcing them to use an old car with a hell of alot of added new bits?

David Coulthard 6
Has had his worst season imo. Has been overall very pale. Seemed strong the first three races. Was a bit unlucky there though and after that it has been pretty bad until Suzuka imo. The perfect number 2 for KR.

RENAULT:
Fernando Alonso 8
A bit like an early MS. Great racecraft and not quite that impressive in the qualifying. Will develop into a big star, I think.

Jarno Trulli 6
You just cant be unlucky that long imo. Great at qualifying and then he’s “unlucky” in the race. We’ve been reading/hearing that for years. I don’t buy it any more. Good support for Alonso in the future imo.

[TT6]

Fernando Alonso: 7
- Started great, towards the end Jarno seemed better

R.Barrichello: 7
- Good driver, consistent, got better towards the end

Z.Baumgartner: 1
- Daddy's gonna pay for my crashed car

Jenson Button: 6
- a bit too soft, looked better than Villeneuve

David Coulthard: 6
-lousy qualifier, good races.

Ralph Firman: 3
- lousy qualifier, bad races

G.Fisichella: 7
- yet another lousy team mate made him look good, did all he could with a crappy car

H-H.Frentzen: 6
- Did beat Nick convincingly, flawless

Marc Gene: 6
- one ok race, hard to judge

Nick Heidfeld: 5
- failed to make Frenzen look old and slow

Nicolas Kiesa: 2
- nothing to rave about

C.da Matta: 5
- got better towards the end, didn't match Panis

J.P.Montoya: 8
- sometimes brilliant, sometimes erratic, too evenly matched with Ralf. Hard racer, some stupid moves

Olivier Panis: 7
- solid, beat DaMatta

Antonio Pizzonia: 2
- based on his performance a failure, for whatever reason

Kimi Raikkonen: 9
- 3rd best car, 2nd on WDC, two bad qualies lowered his grades to 9

Takuma Sato: 5
- one good race, hard to judge based on just that

M.Schumacher: 8
- Well, he's obviously a great driver and he showed moments of brilliancy and good spirit many times. More erratic than before, time to retire?

Ralf Schumacher: 7
- Matched Montoya quite often, sometimes even outpaced him. Crashed a lot, was too soft sometimes

Jarno Trulli: 6
- The start of the season he was quite awful but got better. Crash prone in races

Jos Verstappen: 6
- Nothing spectacular.

J.Villeneuve: 5
- maybe he was screwed but Button did make him look old

Mark Webber: 7
- obviously looked good, but what if his team mates sucked, what if Jaguar is a one car team?

Justin Wilson: 4
- didn't match Jos, didn't match Webber

[MaDDim]

Fernando Alonso: 8.5
- Great driver, lot of potentials, lot of mistakes too

R.Barrichello: 7
- Looked better than MS (lots of failures) particularly in the end

Z.Baumgartner: 1
- Just too slow to be in F1

Jenson Button: 6
- not thrilling, looked faster than Villeneuve, but slower in race trim

David Coulthard: 4
- the qualifing was awful, good races.

Ralph Firman: 3
- bad qualifier, bad races

G.Fisichella: 8.5
- the best he could do with this car. Still very fast

H-H.Frentzen: 7
- fast almost everywhere, beat Heidfeld

Marc Gene: 6
- for one race, did excellent

Nick Heidfeld: 5
- I was expecting more. He was fast in the past but looked bored or unhappy with the Sauber for one more year. He should have changed team

Nicolas Kiesa: 1
- nothing to show fast trim

C.da Matta: 5
- if he couldn't match OP now then nothing great to expect from him

J.P.Montoya: 8
- Hard racer, very fast guy, not steady though. Made mistakes that cost him the WC

Olivier Panis: 7.5
- solid performance overall, outperformed DaMatta

Antonio Pizzonia: 3
- for whatever reason his performance was very poor

Kimi Raikkonen: 9.5
- with not a good car he managed to challenge MS for the title till the very end. No mistakes, except 2 in qualifing due to overdriving the slow McLaren

Takuma Sato: 7
- for one good race

M.Schumacher: 6
- he's obviously a great driver but expected more from a 6 time WC. Lots of mistakes, slow in qualifing almost beaten by Rubino. Nearly lost the title by a stupid mistake whit Sato

Ralf Schumacher: 8
- Matched Montoya in the trim, sometimes even outpaced him. Unlucky and sometimes overdriving in the race causing accidents

Jarno Trulli: 6
- At the end got better. Poor in race trim for one more year.

Jos Verstappen: 7
- Fast as he could.

J.Villeneuve: 5
- Unlucky (or something else?), looked old and slow due to mechanical failures or wrong strategies.
When the car was in good condition (2 times only) he was faster than JB overall.

Mark Webber: 9
- He did a great job with a slow car even if it was one car team finally.

Justin Wilson: 5
- didn't match any co-pilot. just average

[HSJ]

MS 7 in decline, next year is probably going to be even worse, saved by the car and #1 position in the team
RB 6.5 one of his best seasons, but unfortunately that doesn't mean all that much
JPM 8 improving as ever, now just come to McLaren...
RS 7 not improving at all anymore it seems
KR 9 a big jump from last year, easily the fastest, most consistent, and simply the best driver currently
DC 6.5 in decline probably, still quite solid as a season average though made to look bad by his car and team-mate, next year might be even tougher
FA 7.5 improving in driving, but perhaps not between the ears, has some work to do but a promising future, has to out-pace JT next year rather than be roughly equal like this year
JT 7 same old, same old
JB 7 a significant improvement this year, probably found his niche in F1 finally
JVi 6 in decline, out of motivation, or both
NH 6 hasn't shown much year-to-year improvement unfortunately, perhaps he needs some source of motivation that's lacking right now, might suffer from Fisi syndrome: "gimme gimme gimme, I'm better than Kimi, I deserve a top car NOW!"
HHF 6 a good effort from the grand old man, picked the right time to quit F1 and is leaving when he still has the goods pretty much
MW 7 very promising (might be the next Schumacher but unfortunately for him that's not going to be good enough to make it really big ;) )
AP 4.5 pfft!
JW 5 pfft! pfft!
OP 5.5 not too shabby, but perhaps getting a bit old, probably stays with Toyota more because of car development skills than actual speed
CDM 6 quite good, should be stronger next year after gaining a year of F1 experience
GF 6 "gimme gimme gimme, I'm better than Kimi, I deserve a top car NOW!"; not as good as he thinks he is, has a slight attitude problem which reflects on his driving me thinks
RF 4.5 eh...
JVe 5 why don't you give up your seat to someone new already...
NK 3 well, nice to see a Dane in F1, sort of... but maybe I'd rather see Wirdheim in your place

Not rated: Sato, Baumgartner, Gene because they did too few races to rate.

[Group B]

HSJ Good stuff as ever

You have many imitators, but still no one tells 'em quite like you

[HSJ]

Originally posted by ERD1
2003 Provisional in % relative pace

0.0 MS, Rk, JPM, FA, Wb
0.1 RB, RS, Fs
0.2 JB, Fz, Tu
0.3 DC, Vv
0.4 OP, dM, Hd, JW
0.5 Fn, St,
0.6 Vp
0.7 Gn
0.8 Pz
0.9
1.0 Bg
1.1 Ks

I like your approach, but looking at the above, and then what you posted later about the cars:

YR2003 to Japan
0.0 Wl
0.1 Fr
0.2
0.3 ML
0.4 Rn

So how, if Williams was fastest, then Ferrari, then a gap, then McLaren, then Renault, do you then come up with MS, KR, JPM, FA, and MW being equal? I guess you mean equally FAST (i.e. pace only), but that's only pace? On the other hand looking at results, KR scoring almost as many points as MS, despite having more DNFs and, going by your stats, a clearly slower car, then you can't really rate MS and KR equal...

[HSJ]

Originally posted by Group B
HSJ Good stuff as ever

You have many imitators, but still no one tells 'em quite like you

Glad you liked it.

[ERD1]

Originally posted by HSJ


I like your approach, but looking at the above, and then what you posted later about the cars:

YR2003 to Japan
0.0 Wl
0.1 Fr
0.2
0.3 ML
0.4 Rn

So how, if Williams was fastest, then Ferrari, then a gap, then McLaren, then Renault, do you then come up with MS, KR, JPM, FA, and MW being equal? I guess you mean equally FAST (i.e. pace only), but that's only pace? On the other hand looking at results, KR scoring almost as many points as MS, despite having more DNFs and, going by your stats, a clearly slower car, then you can't really rate MS and KR equal...

The Driver Rating is pace only and should be viewed as if they are all driving the same car. It is also not an attempt to rate what may most favorably be described as 'race craft' or at the other extreme 'blind luck' although these are factors that could be evaluated. I attempted this earlier this year but gave it up until I was satisfied I had the pace thing fairly well under control ('under control' may mean no big short-term surprises when it comes to driver performance - if you can play the piano with a given degree of accomplishment your ability does not vary much overnight or within a year)(although some drivers do not give-their-all all the time. It looks like this was so with Heidfeld this year and Irvine last).

The points thing is a great unequalizer whatever the scoring system, because of the soap opera. I posted a pace based prediction for Suzuka partly as a way of assessing this, I had JPM winning by combining the Wl car with JPM's driver rating but the soap opera intervened. Also, on the sum total of results, the final positions compared to the prediction was only about 25% more accurate than if a random selection had been made. So it is quite possible that gross differences can exist between my output and a points based assessment (and you can argue justifiably along the lines of the points being the name of the game that the participants are driven to maximize) and it impossible for me to answer your KR/MS question from the basis of these pace results BUT some subjective judgments are involved in these pace rating and MS was somewhat held up at the top level by me having a getting shaky 0.1 faster than RB and RB being at the 0.1 down level.

It is quite interesting how some of these numbers have come out. Earlier in the year, thru Brazil, FA was coming out on a level of his own, Rk 0.1 lower and MS 0.2 lower. But it looks like FA was driving close to killing himself and nearly did in Brazil. After that Kimi and FA were coming out equal with MS still 0.2 lower. So the other point to make here is that my pace ratings are an iterative rating applying more particularly to the latest 5 to 10 races rather than a whole season. In addition, and unlike the points system, they do not start afresh with the first race of the season but add this to the later races of the earlier year. (This too, I mean my rating not covering the whole of the year but being progressive, could be a reason for the KR/MS difference in that Kimi was performing better at the beginning of the year.)

Cheers