Top 5 best rising stars for F1

[miniman]

Originally Posted by runshaw

Mirko is in F2. Hulkenberg managed to finish 6th in GP2 Asia this year which is pretty good considering he missed 8 races. I assume his results will pick up in the main series this year after a not so great start in Barcelona. Time will tell!

Patrick Head on Hulkenberg

"I think he had the wrath of Sam Michael's tongue a couple of times," Head admitted. "Both last year and this year he's driven our new car first on the first day, and in both cases I think after a very short amount of running he ended up in the gravel trap when all one is actually trying to do is sort out systems, gather data and things like that.
"So that hasn't been particularly clever.

[runshaw]

Yeah, you've quoted Patrick Head. But you seem to have chosen a couple of sentences rather than posting the whole quote on what he was saying about Hulkenberg. And it wasn't all negative.

If you want to talk quotes then...Sam Michael on Hulkenberg- "Despite his age, Nico is immediately fast and clear in his head with each test lap". And just a couple of days ago, Frank Williams himself said Nico is, "on our list, obviously"!

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by runshaw

Yeah, you've quoted Patrick Head. But you seem to have chosen a couple of sentences rather than posting the whole quote on what he was saying about Hulkenberg. And it wasn't all negative.

If you want to talk quotes then...Sam Michael on Hulkenberg- "Despite his age, Nico is immediately fast and clear in his head with each test lap". And just a couple of days ago, Frank Williams himself said Nico is, "on our list, obviously"!

Sorry to stray a bit away from topic briefly but I seem to recall the team being pretty complimentary about Dixon, Pantano and Liuzzi when they tested them and look how highly Patrick Head rated Pizzonia!!!

We can never be sure about how good drivers will be until they race the things I suppose?

[runshaw]

Originally Posted by chunterer

We can never be sure about how good drivers will be until they race the things I suppose?

Thats true. Most people believed Piquet Jr would turn out to be good in a race seat but that hasn't worked yet. I do believe though that Hulkenberg has got what it takes, whether its in 2010 or 11. All you have to do is look at his achievements so far, his CV could hardly be any better. And his pace in testing is good anyway. Willi Weber knows a thing or two about getting young Germans into F1 as well.

[sauber11]

Topic up
More than one year passed and i wonder how ours opinions have been changed.

Last year top5 result was: Bianchi, Hulkenberg,Ericsson,Ricciardo,Bottas ( everyone except Bottas tested F1 recently which proves that we are on right path).
Above 30 drivers were mentioned & Grosjean,Senna,Hartley,Alguersuari,Guttierez,Bamber,Kobayashi,Clos and Di Resta were voted more than twice.

I didnt vote last year and my top5 now are(apart Hulkenberg and Senna who reached F1):
1.Bianchi
2.Rossi
3.Ericsson
4.Perez\Guttierez
5.Ricciardo\Bottas

[kipper]

I suspect that Bianchi, Ricciardo, Guttierez, Turvey and Nasr should all have good futures in F1.

[Fujer]

1. Bianchi
2. Ricciardo
3. Ericsson
4. Rossi
5. Turvey

[Shaddix]

1 Ricciardo
2 Bianchi
3 Ericsson
4 Vanthoor
5 Rossi

[N.A-D.R]

1. Ricciardo
2. Bianchi
3. Bottas
4. Ericsson
5. Vainio : Heard many good things about this guy, only 16 and has won many big karting titles and will compete in FRenault Eurocup next season for SG. He is also now managed by Nicolas Todt, same manager as Bianchi and Massa.

[Taprobane]

I think Vainio is a good pick. I can't see him making it to F1 as just another 'good' driver. He'll either be brilliant (as I suspect) or he'll fall away before F1.

[N.A-D.R]

I agree with you. At aged 16 he is already the most sucessful finnish karter ever, and he beat the likes of Ben Hanley and other big karting names in big world titles this year. He tested for SG formula and they were very impressed with his pace straight away jumping into single seater racing cars from karting. Nicolas Todt has even signed him up now so hes in the hands of a sucessful manager. So hes in good hands, but we will have to wait and see what results he can deliver. His first season he will be turning 17 so he has time on his side.

[Mak]

Topic is about rising stars for F1, Vainio has yet to race a car so not really a consideration now.. Just look at how many world class karters have stalled on there transition to cars. Soucek must be worthy of a mention after his very good F1 test earlier this week.

[N.A-D.R]

Yeah he is a rising star, but your right he hasn't raced cars yet, but im sure he will do well after his pre-season testing.

Another 2 drivers i rate are Charles Pic and Laurens Vanthoor. Pic has stalled a bit in WSR this season, after getting pole at round 1 and crashing on warm up lap to the grid, he seemed to just struggle all season. Hopefully he can do well in 2010. Vanthoor is another promising driver. If hes doing f3 euroseries it will be interesting to see how quick he can be in his 1st season. I think that if Baguette can't get an f1 drive then Vanthoor is Belgiums best hope.

[JamesRamone]

Bianchi
Ricciardo
Ericsson
Di Resta
Turvey

Mentions to Van Der Garde and Jon Lancaster

[jab]

Worth remembering that the criteria for new F1 drivers is going to change now - the current generation of drivers is quite young now, and most of the teams will be wanting paying drivers

That said, Bianchi is seemingly nearly certain to be in F1 in 2011 providing he does a decent job in GP2 - 2012 at the latest. I think Rossi's likely. I hope di Resta gets in. I'd also be looking at Perez with his Telmex money and no doubt Ricciardo will be the next RBJ in F1 as he now seems to be the favoured son

[chunterer]

Yes, those in jab's second paragraph are highly likely, Perez and Ricciardo are almost given's I would say.

[lauder]

Watch out for Mitch Evans. He has the support, and backing, and extreme talent.