Rate the Rookie - Justin Wilson

[BootsOntheSide]

I'll do the same thing for Pizzonia later on, but how do you all think Justin is doing with Minardi?

[ASCII Man]

He's doing pretty good with that of a car.
I give him an 8 out of 10.

[Brandy_snap]

Hey thanks for doing the next ones, I don't mind Justin isn't too bad but the hype over him is a bit much

[Dani Filth]

he's gonna graduate too

[Knowlesy]

Better than Jos by a long way. His starts have been class.

Considering he's driving what can only be described as a large, carbon-fibre turd, he gets 9/10!

[MichaelH]

7/10.

Good start, not amazing, a bit much hype considering he's been outqualified by Verstappen more often than not, not quite as sparkling a rookie as Webber and Alonso before him in my view....

[Testure]

Doing fairly well. He's showing well against his team-mate, not out-classing him at all, but very close especially considering the difference in experience between them. Not making too many mistakes on track, I think? Plus, I'm sure we've all noticed his abilities at negotiating first-lap traffic

On the other hand, I've never rated Jos as particularly great. Justin drove some good races towards the end of last year in the Nissan series so I might have expected him to be doing better. Comes across as a really nice chap and as an F3000 champion is absolutely deserving of his place on the grid. 6/10.

[MrSal]

Reasonably impressive. Superb in the early stages when he appears to be alone in taking risks and overtaking. Rotton reliability has meant we can't really rate him though. Worth a drive in a mid grid team(Jag with his F3000 mate Webber?) next year

[pb btcc]

8/10

He is doing a Good Job so far but is having a Bit of Bad Luck during the races

Hopefully he will be in a Better car next season

[rdjones]

7/10 - I think he is doing a good job, lets hope he get a better car next year.......

[MichaelH]

the one thing which worries me a bit is that even Enrique Bernoldi and Pedro De La Rosa-as rookies-were able to outqualify Jos more often than not, and Wilson just isn't. In the races he seems good.

[bacon sandwich]

I think he's doing great - his start's have been fantastic and he seems a really lovely bloke - still down to earth and concentrating on getting the best job done possible - in one of the top three by 2006!

[Raven]

In previous years I'd give Webber an 8 and Alonso a 9. I'd give Justin a 7.

[EERO]

I gave him an 8. He needs to bring the thing home. After running as high as 9th early in the race, points should be his just by attrition.

[Lee Yue Yang]

He's doing a great job in a lousy car.I gave him an 8 too.

[climb]

I think that he hardly could have done better, provided he's driving a Minardi.
But if Minardi can't make fast car, nevertheless is proving an excellent talent scout (remember Alonso?), and I hope this season in the it-oz team is just a "bridge" for him to get a better seat next year.

[high contrast]

You can only judge him by his teammate, He's not convinced me hes that much better yet!

A Minardi is no Renault at starts! So he must be just be being lucky dodging trouble, not lifting off and throwing a bit of caution to the wind and benefitting at the first corners of the opening laps by others getting wrong footed and having lifted off to avoid contact. Running a light car helps too. I'd give him a 6

[Mark Webber]

9/10 he has done nothing wrong and will be Rookie of the year wow a minardi driver has taken that 2 years in a row

[R]

If it happens nearly all the time, it can't be just luck... It'll be very interesting to see where he is after the first lap today, seeing as the Minardis are starting heavy. After watching what happens at the front, the next thing you look for after the start is where Justin Wilson is!

9 out of 10 for me. He's been magnificent. But, as EERO says, he needs to bring the thing home too.

[Speedworx]

10/10.

Makes great starts and beats more experienced team mate.

[RussianFriend]

6/10. Promising but still not brilliant. Alonso and Webber showed better drive for Minardi.

[Attila]

That is true, what you all say but you seem to forget that Justin have not tested before the season. After winning the f3000 championship he had two days of Jordan test and after that he only drove the Minardi with Avon tires. OK he did half a day of shake down but I would not consider that a test. Both Webber and Alonso had some experience prior to their season with Minardi. So for me that puts Justin par with them.
In the last two races he beat his teammate constantly and doesn't look like a rookie any more. So I would give him a 9.

[PaulSands]

Alonso & Webber didnt really have good drivers as teamates did they...hard not to shine out against Yoong & Marques
Justin Wilson is having to race with a vastly more experienced teamate and qualifying aside has pretty much matched him...I think in many ways hes been more impressive than either Webber or Alonso who didnt have to keep down a day job at the same time as be an F1 driver

[PaulSands]

another thing...given the huge quantity of sponsorship that Jos has brought with him I would expect a small amount of preferential treatment towards him from the team..probably gets the less used exhausts