Ralf vs. DC

[freud]

Ralf vs. DC... both kind of have similar driving styles with DC a little more aggressive than Ralf. Ralf likes to brake early and accelerate at apex though DC brakes alightly more late. Both drivers like to turn in early. DC is better in rain. I say all in all, DC is a much better driver than Ralf.

[enemy-ace]

Agree with that!

[freud]

Had DC been with williams for the past few years we might have seen JPM become champion already. DC did a great job to support Mika at Mclaren and supported Kimi well last year. Ralf, on the other hand, has supported his brother against JPM and took crucial points off JPM last year. In the end he doesnt have the talent nor the inclination to become champion. Williams would have been better off with a driver like DC than Ralf.

[Teretonga]

Both have been inconsistent in some ways. However DC is much more supportive in a team situation and seems to have a more mature approach. If I was a team manager and had to choose between the two it would be no contest. Even at this stage in his career it would be DC

[climb]

Ability to support the teammate is not necessarily a sign of being fast, on the contrary you "discover" such a "vocation" when your team lets you know they don't count on you for the WDC .
Thus maybe DC is way more useful to Macs than ralf to FW from this point of view, but if we look at the driver's basic nature, i.e. an ego who aims at winning races, maybe Ralf's better.

[Gt_R]

They are really very similar drivers, and inconsistency is their bug (or rather, consistency to perform poorly).

DC's better than Ralf in that DC's a better team player and willingly settle to run shotgun to his teammate, Ralf doesn't. DC's also a professional in PR work and a playboy, Ralf not. If Ralf is on form however, Ralf can be much better than DC and there's little doubt DC can be quick too but non seem like able to put up a strong WDC fight.

Their results can only be counted as disappointing when we consider they had spent an awesome amount of time in really strong cars.

[Mattracer]

DC better when the car is good and bad.

[RWC]

(chuckle) is this serious?
(barely supressed laugh) You want us to vote who worse out of these two??
Hangon! you want us to vote whos the BETTER of these two??!!! (belly laugh-not rolling around on the floor just yet)
OK,i'm allright now (occasional spontaneous giggles)

No...really that was a good one (fall helplessly to the floor-the dog looks at me funny)

[James Kimbley]

DC is better at performing poorly even though Ralf has a good go at being worse.

At least DC has given up saying "This season I will be world champion" (Or something similar and just as ridiculous)at the start of evey season.

[Kicking-back]

If I was running a team I'd have DC not Ralf.

Incidentally, DC has never said that infamous "This year" quotation.

As a side note - doesn't this poll crop up every couple of weeks?

[dcp2685]

Originally posted by James Kimbley
DC is better at performing poorly even though Ralf has a good go at being worse.

That's one of the funniest comments I've seen. I voted DC because of his team player approach. Like someone mentioned before, Ralf has supported his brother more than JPM and no doubt DC would have been a better teammate.

Plus DC seems to just be a pretty cool guy.

[BertMk2]

DC is more consistent, Ralf appears to be blindingly quick one day and slow as arse the next. DC is also a better wheel to wheel racer than Ralf. The only person Ralf appears prepared to fight with is JPM, Ralf is a bit of a wuss most of the time. Ralf also sulks too much.

[BootsOntheSide]

It's gotta be DC. He's achieved a lot over the years, is still fast and makes few mistakes, whereas Ralf is still error-prone and infuriatingly inconstant. Coulthard's only weakness is qualifying, but at least he hasn't put a perfectly competitive car 17th the way Ralf did in Malaysia last year. Also, DC hasn't been off in a qualifying lap or set appallingly slow times under the current system - of the frontrunners only he, Michael and Montoya can claim that.

Once you factor personalities in, DC has to be ahead - he may be relatively dull, but Ralf comes across as arrogant, greedy, self-centred and generally hateful.

[Bononi]

No doubt DC. I remember sometime ago, we had a thread (started by who...) which we pointed out DC the best 2nd driver in the grid.

[fog_shadow]

calling ralf a bad team player could be a tad premature. all we see is his attitude to JPM. just how much of the responsibility belongs to Ralf, and how much to JPM is not something i would feel comfortable commenting on, simply because i do not know all the details, and i doubt i ever will.

JPM a team player? hmmmm wasn't he the wise one who dissed his team when ralf made a tactical move that he (ralf) was perfectly entitled to make?

it takes 2 to tango...

2 hands to clap...

[BARrouette]

They both had their chances to win a WDC and they failled and they will never get that WDC. What a waist of time for MClaren DC should have stay as a test driver for them.

[F1Pete]

Compare DC's stats to RS.

[Raven]

Close one to call. I think Ralf is potentially the faster of the two. DC had a poor year in 2003 and has been shown up by Kimi. Ralf also hasn't impressed in terms of consistent race results and has been put in the shade by Monty. Ralf was good and fairly consistent in 99, 00 and 01 although that has fallen away over the past two years.

[facco]

Come on, when Ralf was #1 at Williams we saw the pooooor improvement they got. Button showed as a giant and british potato bag with the input Ralf brought for the crew work.
DC is good with sponsors had worked with Frank and Patrick a loooooong time ago, they keep in good terms and it will be a great comeback; I think the only new person he will find in the team will be this engineer, Antonia.
I acknowledge JPM move to Mac is a big mistake, the most important fact is that now I will have to cheer for 2 different things: Him and the BMW engine.

[Kirk]

In my view, no contest, DC by a country mile.

[Thorstone]

DC is more consistent

[Adam43]

Crickey that is hard.

[freud]

Originally posted by fog_shadow
calling ralf a bad team player could be a tad premature....

JPM a team player? hmmmm wasn't he the wise one who dissed his team when ralf made a tactical move that he (ralf) was perfectly entitled to make?

Let me remind you that leading upto the final races of the season Ralf was realistically in no position to win the title.. JPM was. Yet Ralf made sure that he doesnt help JPM. Yes he kept himself aloof but that didnt help JPM much. Compare that with role of DC at Mclaren in 1998. DC was at forrfront of taking the battle to MS (e.g. Spa 1998) and that took the pressure off Mika. When it mattered most, Mika dominated MS (i.e. nurburgring 1998).

I would say that DC is the best second driver ever.. this because DC supports his teammate yet he isnt a lapdog like Rubens. DC is a balanced act. He has gone for the title in first half of the season and afterwards helped out his teammates.

Ralf on the other hand has been dominated by all of his teammates, yet has always been a nuisance.

[f1manoz]

DC gets the nod. He's proven he can mix it with the best on occassion - wheel-to-wheel with TGF at times, beat Mika occassionally and has taken a couple of wins over the past years where he shouldn't have simply by staying smooth and consistent (in that race.)

Ralf, frankly, doesn't have the 'bottle' to be a real race driver. He lacks nerve to race wheel-to-wheel most of the time, preferring to simply sit back and rarely seems to be attacking. Really, he's just BORING.

[oziengineer]

I don't understand DC's lack of performance last year. He was quite fast and looked good at suzuka, but it was just an odd year who has been one of the few drivers capable of giving Schumi kurri for so long.