Top 10 Junior Single-Seater Drivers of 2014

WSR Fan · 20 Dec 2014, 13:09 (Ref:3486682)

Right, time for some friendly debate!

Over at http://www.paddockscout.com they have just released their annual list of Top 50 drivers of the year, and this is their Top 10:

1. Esteban Ocon (1st in European F3)
2. Max Verstappen (3rd in European F3)
3. Stoffel Vandoorne (2nd in GP2)
4. Carlos Sainz Jr. (1st in FR3.5)
5. Jolyon Palmer (1st in GP2)
6. Alex Lynn (1st in GP3)
7. Pierre Gasly (2nd in FR3.5)
8. Roberto Merhi (3rd in FR3.5)
9. Oliver Rowland (4th in FR3.5)
10. Dean Stoneman (2nd in GP3)

Obviously, lists like these are EXTREMELY subjective, and its not easy to compare drivers from different series due to the level of competition, experience etc, but as its the end of the year and for a bit of fun, what would be your Top 10 of the year?

**bella** · 20 Dec 2014, 15:28 (Ref:3486707)

i never know how to take these lists, especially the cross-formulae ones. is it expectations vs. reality? performance relative to resources available? a list of the authors favourite drivers?

the only bit i can totally agree with is ocon. the rest...

kotkot · 20 Dec 2014, 15:56 (Ref:3486712)

Sure they are subjective but we also put some thinking to the order, it wasn't made in 10 minutes. Still, the purpose of a list like this is not to analyse every position and discuss why this driver was better than that.

The main reason is to summarize the year, to look back at the season, to show which drivers were really the most impressive and which others were to be noted.

For example, maybe we had a Gasly-Merhi-Rowland order but it really doesn't mean we declare Gasly to be that better than Rowland this year. I'm pretty sure not everybody would say the top three of the year was Ocon-Verstappen-Vandoorne but the fact these people were some of the best drivers is without doubt.

Rf1 Fan · 21 Dec 2014, 21:21 (Ref:3486982)

I can understand the logic behind the classification.

And i agree with.

Ocon and Verstappen case are interesting as they were tipped to impress but not as much as Hulkenberg was tipped to dominate back in 2007 in F3 euroseries.So to that extent both of them broke the boundaries of their categories.

Then Vandoorne even if he came from 3.5 series is the best ever GP2 rookie of the Pirelli era. Sainz Jr ,Palmer and Lynn did what we expected from them.

Biscuits In A Red Bull · 22 Dec 2014, 15:14 (Ref:3487168)

All I can say is that I agree totally with the top 3 and the order of it. The rest would be impossible for me to decide...

**bella** · 22 Dec 2014, 15:29 (Ref:3487174)

i'd rate vandoorne above verstappen, but that's because to me, vandoorne did a wicked job as a rookie being very strong in a series which is allegedly very difficult for a rookie to be very strong in. it took the champion 3 seasons to get to the level of consistency and relative speed that vandoorne had developed by late season. in comparison, verstappen was beaten by a fellow rookie, albeit by one with more experience. his speed was superb, but could he have beaten ocon to the title, or blomqvist to second place? vandoorne couldn't have beaten palmer to the title.

which i guess shows why it's difficult to be impartial about it. i favour both ocon and vandoorne over verstappen for reasons, whilst others will feel strongly about verstappens form relative to what was expected of him.

Biscuits In A Red Bull · 22 Dec 2014, 15:40 (Ref:3487175)

Well they were all mega. Someone on another forum did raise the point that if Mr Verstappen was an unrelated Mr Linke, then maybe he wouldn't have the same hype about him. Or maybe he'd have even more. But he wouldn't be in F1 next season.

Rf1 Fan · 22 Dec 2014, 18:49 (Ref:3487211)

Well if he wasn't called Verstappen with all his management he would not have got into F3 in first place. Not saying that his place wasn't in F3 but himself and his management had enough belief to make the jump and be competitive rather going for a title fight with Tech 1 or JKR in 2.0.

A bit like Ocon who was tipped to do a 3rd year in 2.0, they proved in testing that they could give a shot to championship by blitzing lap times in testing.

Verstappen in Valencia in 2013 with the Motopark German F3 car and Ocon at Imola they properly blitzzed the opposition in the name of Kirchofer for Ocon by example.

Day 1

1 Esteban Ocon Prema Powerteam F3 1:39.344
2 Marvin Kirchhofer Prema Powerteam F3 1:39.656
3 Tom Blomqvist EuroInternational F3 1:40.301
4 Bruno Bonifacio Prema Powerteam F3 1:40.239
5 Ed Jones Prema Powerteam F3 1:40.547

Day 2

2 Tom Blomqvist EuroInternational F3 1:38.602
3 Esteban Ocon Prema Powerteam F3 1:38.869
4 Ed Jones Prema Powerteam F3 1:39.058
5 Marvin Kirchhofer Prema Powerteam F3 1:39.479
6 Bruno Bonifacio Prema Powerteam F3 1:39.496

As a pure rookie to F3 learning manual gearbox

Formulahistory · 23 Dec 2014, 10:41 (Ref:3487370)

What's your top ten list?

Mine:
1. Max Verstappen
2. Stoffel Vandoorne
3. Esteban Ocon
4. Alex Lynn
5. Marvin Kirchhöfer
6. Carlos Sainz jr.
7. Roberto Merhi
8. Jolyon Palmer
9. Lance Stroll
10. Nyck de Vries

Rf1 Fan · 23 Dec 2014, 10:54 (Ref:3487373)

1. Max Verstappen
2. Esteban Ocon
3. Stoffel Vandoorne
4. Alex Lynn
5. Marvin Kirchhöfer
6. Carlos Sainz jr.
7. Roberto Merhi
8. Jolyon Palmer
9. Pierre Gasly
10. Oliver Rowland

TR Motorsport · 26 Dec 2014, 23:47 (Ref:3488012)

Quote:

Originally Posted by WSR Fan

Right, time for some friendly debate!

Over at http://www.paddockscout.com they have just released their annual list of Top 50 drivers of the year, and this is their Top 10:

1. Esteban Ocon (1st in European F3)
2. Max Verstappen (3rd in European F3)
3. Stoffel Vandoorne (2nd in GP2)
4. Carlos Sainz Jr. (1st in FR3.5)
5. Jolyon Palmer (1st in GP2)
6. Alex Lynn (1st in GP3)
7. Pierre Gasly (2nd in FR3.5)
8. Roberto Merhi (3rd in FR3.5)
9. Oliver Rowland (4th in FR3.5)
10. Dean Stoneman (2nd in GP3)

Obviously, lists like these are EXTREMELY subjective, and its not easy to compare drivers from different series due to the level of competition, experience etc, but as its the end of the year and for a bit of fun, what would be your Top 10 of the year?

Talking of subjectivity - I think your list is spot on! Apart from maybe one tiny thing - would swap Rowland for Felipe Nasr (3rd in GP2) - only reason Nasr didn't really take the fight to Palmer for the title was because he had such bad luck early on in the year with low finishes/retirements etc.

Mekola · 27 Dec 2014, 15:15 (Ref:3488104)

1. Esteban Ocon
2. Max Verstappen
3. Stoffel Vandoorne
4. Alex Lynn
5. Jolyon Palmer
6. Carlos Sainz Jr.
7. Roberto Merhi
8. Pierre Gasly
9. Marco Sörensen
10. Will Stevens

simon drabble · 9 Jan 2015, 12:38 (Ref:3491257)

I reckon 4 of those named should have sufficient funding for at least one season of F1 based on the figures released asto what Max Chilton's dad paid...

**bella** · 9 Jan 2015, 14:47 (Ref:3491299)

Quote:

Originally Posted by TR Motorsport

Talking of subjectivity - I think your list is spot on! Apart from maybe one tiny thing - would swap Rowland for Felipe Nasr (3rd in GP2) - only reason Nasr didn't really take the fight to Palmer for the title was because he had such bad luck early on in the year with low finishes/retirements etc.

late reply, omg, but the only reason oli rowland couldn't take the fight to the red bull boys and the "rookie" merhi in 3.5 is that the car kept breaking down. swings and roundabouts

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