How do you rate Boutsen?

[santori]

Following on from the Patrese topic....

He was unlucky (obviously) to start his Williams career with a serious crash but in 1990 his edge over Patrese was maybe about the same as that Mansell held in '91 (though not as large as that Mansell held in '92 or Piquet in '83). He was often excellent at Benetton.
I think of him as the Frentzen to Senna's Schumacher. Or as Tambay was to Villeneuve. A hugely talented driver who didn't always capitalise on his talent.

[deeks6]

I always rated him a pretty good driver. He got the better of Patrese in 90 and his drive at Adelaide in the wet in 89 was a particularly good drive. He was generally pretty good in the wet. Some of his old Arrows drives were good too and he drove consistently well for Benetton, having the better of Fabi and Nannini.
Whilst he may not have been a real WDC threat, he was certainly an "A" class driver who well and truly deserved a spot on the grid.

[BootsOntheSide]

He was certainly pretty good, a worthy race winner but he didn't have championship mettle. He looked better than he was in the junior formulas, but was at his ebst when thigns were right for him. 1988 in the Benetton was ideal, as he collected a string of podiums. 1989 wasn't the ebst time to join Williams, and he didn't do enough to persuade them to keep him when they expected a truly competitive car.

His victories were as much down to persistance and determination as outright speed, although in Hungary 1990 he did take pole and withstood Senna's pressure as if his life depended on it. He was a letdown at Ligier and Jordan though.

[ceeslm]

specialy in sportscars he was good but in belgium he was never accepted or regonized as a f1 driver.
I remember once in spa he was shopping in that very nice shop with the models in francorchamps but almost nobody regonized him ,
can you imagine that same thing happening now to schumacher in germany or button in england?

[Knowlesy]

He was solid yet unspectacular. A good driver, but nothing more.

When Mansell had a go in the 1990 Williams and went faster than Thierry had all year by a country mile (and Patrese for that matter) he looked a bit silly.

Having said that, his Hungary 1990 win was masterful!

[Mattracer]

Now here's a driver that should have got a lot of wins but didn't. Kind of like Berger, very talented, quick and intelligent but missed the mark somehow.

[ASCII Man]

Originally posted by ceeslm
specialy in sportscars he was good but in belgium he was never accepted or regonized as a f1 driver.
I remember once in spa he was shopping in that very nice shop with the models in francorchamps but almost nobody regonized him ,
can you imagine that same thing happening now to schumacher in germany or button in england?

People here generally leave famous people alone and don't feel the need to bother them.
Doesn't mean that nobody recognized him.
We're quite relaxed people, unlike others...

[Aysedasi]

Its funny after all the hype in the other thread about how marvellous Irvine was - Thierry may not have been spectacular, but I rate him higher as an all-round driver than Irvine any day....