If everyone drove a Minardi...

[Ralf's Girl]

Thanks Eero, there's not much to be added to that.

Dino, the reason for my use of the word 'rubbish' in a previous thread was because your statement was absolute twaddle, to put it very mildly.

As Eero has already said, Ralf has matured incredibly since 1997. I myself had doubts over how he would fare in F1 when I saw the number of accidents and spins he had in 97. However, all I have seen from Ralf since the middle of 1998 is increasing maturity. He has been improving ever since his incredible drive at Silverstone in 98, and I believe that Williams have a future world champion in Ralf. I see you, Dino, as being someone with an unreasonable prejudice. I think that, seeing as I have explained what it is that makes me think Ralf is a good driver, you ought to explain what it is that makes you think he would be a backmarker with the same equipment as everyone else in the field.

[Bononi]

Well, I never been too much for Schuey family. BUT Ralfie is one driver that gained my respect last year. He seems to be in that point of a driver career when good and reliable driving are important achievements. Remember he is a Williams/BMW's driver and that means they are uphill fast and strong. Despite all the hype around Button and Montoya, none of them has the mileage of Ralfie, and this is fundamental no matter when or where... I know all of us would expect a driver who will blast the grid and kick out everyone in his rookie year, but this is not old F1 anymore, be in the car or out of it, all is set up and decided before the championship begins.
So, Williams/BMW had a great season last year, and I believe it will be stronger and come to be the third in the line, closing tight the gap from the top two. And Ralfie will be the one to make it, and I am not saying that Montoya will fail, but he will be close behind... and if it happens, well watch out next season !!
BUT still Ralfie is a doubt for the future. I mean if he will be greater than his old brother... truly I believe it will be a game of strategy,right decisions and a close look in the teams that will lead in the short future.

[RussianFriend]

If you had expected from Ralph to repeat his brother's career you would consider him as over-rated. But they are different and drive in different ways. Anyhow he's more easy-going than he's older brother is and didn't suffer of his selective blindness. Just forget that Ralph's surname is Schumacher and you see a realy talented racer.

[Marshal]

All this talk about Ralf is interesting but I'd like to question the decision of many of you to put Mika H at number 2.

As we're all driving Minardi's in this thread, I'd be less certain we'd see Mika near the top. As he's proved throughout his career, when the car is good, he's blindingly fast, but he doesn't seem to cope well with a car that is less than perfect for his style. So its possible the Minardi would have been ideal for him, but its equally possible it wouldn't have been and he'd have been tootling round in the midfield half asleep.

[Sykes]

This topic could well have been started off by putting all of the 2000 season drivers in McLarens or Ferrari's. I suppose that would be quite an expensive exercise.

[Wiki]

That's true it could have been any car just as long as they were all the same with the same spec engine... after careful consideration I'm going for:

1 TGF
2 JV
3 Ralf
4 Coulthard
5 Hakk
6 Barrichello
7 Heidfeld
8 Bunson
9 De la Rosa
10 Irvine