Mark Webber: 'F1 driver pool has never been weaker'

[Lorenzo Bonder]

Folks, stick to the topic, here is the last place you want to start a fight whether how many drivers from someone's country is currently on F1 or not. Both Australia and South Africa had F1 World Champions and that's where all go. Now back to the matter at hand, please.

 

[Ho3n3r]

How many South Afrikans are in the sport!!!!

Who cares!!!! Certainly not me!!!! And I love Ricciardo!!!!

 

[fortyfivekev]

Which is EXACTLY why I'm not a Hamilton fan. Senna could finish 2nd from the back in a Toleman at a very wet Monaco, but Hamilton definitely could not do the modern equivalent i.e Manor. The only reason Hamilton did the same was because of his superior car.

I was at Donington in 1993 to watch Senna win and also at Silverstone in 2008 to watch Hamilton win in similar conditions so I rate his talent right up there with Senna. Where he falls down to me is he doesn't have anything like Senna's character and charisma and is way too concerned with his own image which often makes him look like a bit of a twat. Listening to music at the Justin Wilson remembrance at the weekend just shows you where his head is at.

Unfortunately rain is not the equaliser it used to be. The teams (and the rules) are all too conservative now so you don't see people taking chances on set-up, tyres, etc. like they used to. Also, years ago a lot of the circuits were dangerous especially in the wet and the young guys at the back would be prepared to take chances to get noticed but nowadays all the F1 circuits are much safer so that doesn't happen.

 

[Dux]

I disagree that the driver pool is weak, other than Marcus & Pastor,
Grosjean puts in some fantastic performances, Hulkenberg do I need to say anything, Button & Alonso again do I need to say anything, Max and Sainz have proven themselves as great talents for the future, Massa has shown that he still has it, Bottas has put in some great performances as well, Vettel, Hamilton & Ricciardo have proven to be the top drivers of this generation, Kvyat is not too far from Ricciardo and Rosberg is a nice number two to Lewis and Webbo knows a thing or two about being number two doesn't he the talent pool is NOT weak, the points about the cars I accept but the drivers are not weak Webber

I entered to give my opinion buy this guy said it all already

 

[Lorenzo Bonder]

I was at Donington in 1993 to watch Senna win and also at Silverstone in 2008 to watch Hamilton win in similar conditions so I rate his talent right up there with Senna. Where he falls down to me is he doesn't have anything like Senna's character and charisma and is way too concerned with his own image which often makes him look like a bit of a twat. Listening to music at the Justin Wilson remembrance at the weekend just shows you where his head is at.

Unfortunately rain is not the equaliser it used to be. The teams (and the rules) are all too conservative now so you don't see people taking chances on set-up, tyres, etc. like they used to. Also, years ago a lot of the circuits were dangerous especially in the wet and the young guys at the back would be prepared to take chances to get noticed but nowadays all the F1 circuits are much safer so that doesn't happen.

About rain, I think the last great rain filled race I can remember has to be Barrichello's win @ Hockenheim (and I'm not even counting Hamilton's win @ Interlagos where he won the championship in '08 - Damn you Timo Glock , I think I cried for two minutes because of that moment - because that race had only a part of race with rain) in 2000 (edited). Coming from 18th in the start, passing the WHOLE field, and stayed in the field with the slicks where everybody had intermediate tires and held the whole race 'til the finish.

 

[fortyfivekev]

About rain, I think the last great rain filled race I can remember has to be Barrichello's win @ Hockenheim...

Of course they bring out the safety car now when the rain is heavy so the kind of things Senna did back in the day wouldn't happen so much now anyway and maybe that guy at the back who could be a hero doesn't get the chance.

 

[Lorenzo Bonder]

Of course they bring out the safety car now when the rain is heavy so the kind of things Senna did back in the day wouldn't happen so much now anyway and maybe that guy at the back who could be a hero doesn't get the chance.

Agreed to a certain point. Because in that race the SC was deployed 'cause an invader entered the track mid way through the race (I was going to say it was Cornelius Horan, but he invaded the British GP in '03, won by Barrichello too ) and again because pieces of carbon fiber were left in the middle of the track. Either way I think that was the last great race I can remember. I'll try to remember other races as I go.

But back to the matter, later tonight I'll do an analysis to what Webber's "rant".

 

[Breakjito]

Kvyat not F1 material? Guess you didn't see his junior records then, pretty much as good as you can possibly get.

Its all about money. Otherwise you would have Felix Da Costa instead of Kvyat. BUT Kvyat deserves to drive in F1 too. Its red bull's fault not his. You saw last season he did great races.
Also Mehri and Stevens are just like Bruni, Baumgartner, Pantano,
Andrea De Cesaris There always will be "bad" drivers cuz the teams are also "bad".
But my opinion the one who doesnt deserve an F1 seat is Maldonado xD He cant drive fast for so much time ;D

 

[aka2k]

Couldn't agree more with Webber. But the main offender is not really the drivers skills but how bland they are. F1 is a snooze fest for me now. Can't stay awake for more than a couple of laps. It's booooring. Really boring. Especially for us who grown up watching likes of Senna, Mansell, Prost and so many others racing. Heck even Ricardo Patrese, Satouru Nakajima and Gerhard Berger were far more interesting. Well damn... even Phillip Alliot was more interesting!