Which of the 'B' Team drivers have impresed the most so far?

[chunterer]

3 new teams, 6 drivers (plus the remains of Sauber if you wish to count them....)

Who has impressed so far, who has done the best job?

Essy to say the Lotus drivers, but they've had the only car (incl Sauber) that seems interested in keeping running!

For my money it's Glock. Has generally annihilated Di Grassi and has kept a sense of humour even though up until Barcelona he knew he had a car that couldn't last a race without several safety cars.

I reckon he's driving as quickly as he showed in the Toyota, and it appears that although rhe Lotus is quickerm he is managing to hang onto their coat tails. Can he get himself back into a more established team or is he really committed to the Manor born?

Kovalainen is driving Trulli into retirement I would say?

Senna and Chandhok seem fairly evenly matched and despite the slow HRT car, seem pleased as punch just to be in F1.

Not impressed with either Sauber driver so far this season.

[Super Hans]

Glock is the cream of the crop from the new teams. Kovalainen is doing well too and I've never really rated him, so that is praise indeed. My favourites are the HRT lads, 'cause I admire the way they go about things.

[Knowlesy]

With Lotus I think Trulli is driving himself into retirement. I guess he and Kovi are coming at it from different angles; Jarno just seems to be hanging onto F1 for the sake of it at the tail end of an extraordinarily average career (why do drivers do this?) and looking rather dispirited, whereas Kovi simply has to go all out to have even a remote chance of an F1 career upswing. I fear then, that the Lotus situation was inevitable.

Virgin. Well, Glock is in much the same situation as Kovalainen, although rather less justifiably. He impressed many of us when he drove for Toyota, as well as during his stints in GP2 and Champcar. Someone, anyone, give that man a good car! di Grassi I feel sorry for a bit, a top driver with absolutely no hope thanks to making his debut for a half arsed team that designed its car on Windows 3.1 or whatever it was.

Sauber have been painfully bad, car and driver wise. de la Rosa is one of the most average drivers ever to sit in a GP car and here we are, eleven years after his debut, and he is still getting drives. Unbelievable! Kobayashi is fun but just cannot cut it either I am afraid, in a bad car at least. He is, however, welcome on the grid and one you would like to see in a good car at some point. Speaking of points, Sauber don't have any which says it all. BMW at least have not managed to 'do a Honda' and pull the plug just as things got good!

HRT, well, Chandhok has been very good as well as being an absolute pleasure to listen to. Senna has his moments I suppose. Very hard to judge both really.

[ECW Dan Selby]

Kovy and Chandhok for me. Kovalainen has really impressed me with his driving (running 13th in Malaysia or China) and his overall attitude. I think he'll be a much better driver by the end of his Lotus spell.

And Chandhok has also driven well given the circumstances. Had a competitive race in Monaco, and has had a wonderful attitude. Seems like a genuinely down to earth fella.

Selby

[duke_toaster]

It's not easy to tell about the lower team drivers, as the car makes so much of a difference. I think all of them are doing a reasonable job driving a car that is still in the development phase.

With regards to Kobayashi, I don't think it's fair to judge him on this year. Also bear in mind something that I've said before (call it Toaster's Law if you must) - a driver in a bad car will make more mistakes because they need to drive it beyond its limits to gain a good result. I think he's a great talent, probably WDC top six material, but his talent is being wasted in an unreliable (not helped by the Ferrari engine) and slow Sauber.

[Born Racer]

Kovalainen. Poor at McLaren, but rejunvinated at Lotus and beating Trulli consistently. You have to say it's a pity he didn't show this form when he was with a winning team though.

[GT6]

Hard to judge any of them really, but Kovalainen is trying hard and perhaps shines more that we expected after his previous outings in what was avery competative car. Glock and Senna have been a little less impressive.

[ralf fan]

Originally Posted by Born Racer

Kovalainen. Poor at McLaren, but rejunvinated at Lotus and beating Trulli consistently. You have to say it's a pity he didn't show this form when he was with a winning team though.

Probably doesn't have the mentality to handle the expectation of being in the front. See Fisichella.

[jab]

I think Kobayashi has been very, very unlucky so far this year. He has put in some very good qualifying sessions beyond the level of the car, but then keeps getting hit by unreliability in the races. No one seems to be judging him fairly at the moment for some reason. He's doing all he can. He's done nothing wrong

Other than that, Heikki has impressed but then he had nothing to start with so it just looks better, and Chandhok has done well to keep pace with Bruno considering how comprehensively Bruno beat him in GP2. But I honestly don't know if we can judge these guys at all - it's pretty much impossible to do because the cars are so far off the pace

[Ralf's Girl]

Kovalainen for me - not just because he's had the best results of the 'B' teams' drivers, but because of his attitude. Yes, he underperformed at McLaren, but I think he's approached Lotus, which is a totally different challenge, in exactly the right way. He looks like he's genuinely enjoying it, and is in it for the long haul, whereas Trulli looks like he's just treading water until it's time to go back to his vineyard.

It's difficult to really judge either of the Virgin drivers because their car has been so hideously unreliable - Glock's qualifying pace has seemed reasonable, and di Grassi has put up some decent fights in races, but it's not much help when they can't get to the end of the race.

Similar story for HRT, except it seems to be pace rather than reliability that's the problem for them - I've been surprised by how often they've managed to get a car to the end of the race, considering their lack of pre-season running. Difficult to judge the drivers though, as they're so much slower even than the other new teams.

I don't consider Sauber to be a 'B' team - just an established outfit that's really disappointing this year.

[chunterer]

It's right to suggest it's hard to judge drivers in bad cars, but we've seen most of them in better cars before.

Kovalainen has impressed most of us it seems, but is it simple for him to look the best of the backmarkers when his car is the best prepared?

Glock was outqualifying them in the early rounds, and he then and Heikki were generally in a league of their own in the races, but whilst the Lotus has gone forward the Manor car has stayed still but Glock still seems to be able to keep relatively close to the Loti. I would imagine that after a couple more races, Timo will again be right with them (as long as the Simtek sims come up with the right numbers!!) again?

I'm not sure about the earlier comment of Kobayashi being a top 5 level driver as mentioned earlier by Selby I think. We only have the basis of 2 late season Toyota drives, when those inside Cologne may already have been sure they were pulling out so i'm guessing that Kamui was given all the help he needed to make an 'impression'. Yes he impressed alright but that TF109 was a pretty good chassis late on, as Glock had showed in Singapore.

For me he will need a bit more than what seems to be at best a parts bin Sauber to prove he really is the real deal.

[ECW Dan Selby]

Originally Posted by chunterer

I'm not sure about the earlier comment of Kobayashi being a top 5 level driver as mentioned earlier by Selby I think. We only have the basis of 2 late season Toyota drives, when those inside Cologne may already have been sure they were pulling out so i'm guessing that Kamui was given all the help he needed to make an 'impression'.

Selby

[BootsOntheSide]

Kovalainen and Chandhok ar ethe two who are really impressing. Kovi's clearly back on form, consistantly ahead of Trulli and not makign mistakes. Chandhok's not a future world champioon, but unlike some he seems aware of this - he's working hard, driving within the limits and seems like a very positive and motivating prescence in a team which desperately needs a ray of hope.

Glock and di Grassi are both doing okay, with the kind of margins you'd expect between an experienced driver and a rookie. Senna hasn't truly shone yet, clearly he hasn't accepted his circumstances as well as Karun. Trulli ought to call it a day, he's clearly not motivated or on form. Sauber haven't really had any bright spots all year - I never expected them to consistantly be the weakest of the established teams.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by ECW Dan Selby

Selby

Sorry Dan a senior moment, it was Duke who mentioned the Kobayashi bit!!!!

Will you forgive me?

[ECW Dan Selby]

Ohhhhhhhhh, i'll have to get back to you on that one, mate.....

You're lucky i'm in a good mood

Selby

[Ralf's Girl]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Kovalainen has impressed most of us it seems, but is it simple for him to look the best of the backmarkers when his car is the best prepared?

His car is no better prepared than Trulli's, though, is it? Admittedly, it's only Trulli we're comparing him to, but they always say that the first person you want to beat is your team-mate. And it's hard to overlook the fact that Lotus had less time than Virgin and HRT to get themselves ready for the season, yet they look like the most serious and professional outfit of the three. They've taken the right approach by putting an experienced team together, and that applies to the drivers too - Heikki clearly has a point to prove after two years at McLaren did his head in, and it's good to see that he's really up for the challenge.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Kovalainen has impressed most of us it seems, but is it simple for him to look the best of the backmarkers when his car is the best prepared?

I'm sure that Trulli's car is prepared in exactly the same way mate

For me, Kovi and Karun.

[Super Hans]

What I've learnt is that to get the best from Heikki Kovalainen, you must pair him with a lacklustre Italian.

[Bononi]

Sorry to spoil the subject, but that wouldn't be "C" teams more appropriate ?

[wnut]

Originally Posted by Ralf's Girl

His car is no better prepared than Trulli's, though, is it? Admittedly, it's only Trulli we're comparing him to, but they always say that the first person you want to beat is your team-mate. And it's hard to overlook the fact that Lotus had less time than Virgin and HRT to get themselves ready for the season, yet they look like the most serious and professional outfit of the three. They've taken the right approach by putting an experienced team together, and that applies to the drivers too - Heikki clearly has a point to prove after two years at McLaren did his head in, and it's good to see that he's really up for the challenge.

I agree with your Lotus sentiments exactly.

Trulli has always disappointed me imensely. He seemed to have so much promise and yet only delivers pace in a race every two years or so.
Clearly Gascoigne is impressed and has worked with him at Toyota so I would like to know what he sees in Trulli - his feedback must be very good? I just don't know why they wanted him.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by wnut

I agree with your Lotus sentiments exactly.

Trulli has always disappointed me imensely. He seemed to have so much promise and yet only delivers pace in a race every two years or so.
Clearly Gascoigne is impressed and has worked with him at Toyota so I would like to know what he sees in Trulli - his feedback must be very good? I just don't know why they wanted him.

They're 'great' mates.....

Jarno hasn't really done anything of note since the beginning of the 2005 season.

[GTRMagic]

I actually feel sorry for all 6 of them. Any footage of these 3 teams you see later in the races sees the rear tyres shagged, that the sprintcar suspension setting is activated, and they manoeuvre between plough understeer or (under)power(ed) oversteer on exit, all while trying to keep out of the way of the serious guys

Its an interesting scenario to move from the penthouse to the outhouse, where experienced but arguably not front line drivers like Christian Klien get in the HRT and declare it unwell..

Does that make the drivers' efforts more acceptable, in driving a dog with fleas, pushing as hard as they can, not throwing it at every fence every session...?

Seeing Lotus have given up on the 2010 car, I presume we are now looking to the Virgin drivers to step up and show what that car is capable of? Finishing a race with some gas in the tank would be a start

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Seeing Lotus have given up on the 2010 car, I presume we are now looking to the Virgin drivers to step up and show what that car is capable of? Finishing a race with some gas in the tank would be a start

Well for the last couple of races, one of them ought to have been finishing (reliability permitting). I'm guessing both of them will be able to from Turkey onwards?

Bit brave of Lotus to be thinking 'big' like that. They must be pretty sure of themselves to be leaving the current car alone from now on. Don't think it would take very long for the Virgin/Manor to be with them again?

[Born Racer]

One thing to add is that with the testing ban in force, I can see that Lotus want to switch development to the new car because any testing of new developments on this year's would take place solely on a race weekend, thus limiting how much they can make of 2010 anyway. They perhaps feel that it is best to focus on 2011 and use 2010 track time to learn anything from this year's car to apply in the big focus on next year.

[Super Hans]

Originally Posted by wnut

I agree with your Lotus sentiments exactly.

Trulli has always disappointed me imensely. He seemed to have so much promise and yet only delivers pace in a race every two years or so.
Clearly Gascoigne is impressed and has worked with him at Toyota so I would like to know what he sees in Trulli - his feedback must be very good? I just don't know why they wanted him.

Gascoigne has said that Trulli's one-lap pace is so good that he can be used as a definitive indication of the true speed of a car.