Half term grades

[steve nielsen]

Well Wrex: qualifying was always a strong point of Hakkinen, if he's just as strong as in his WDC winning days, why is'nt the qualifying magic there......(BTW: he's also behind in points on DC)

[Speedworx]

Qual means quite alot. Anyway, its only an opinion, its not something to get this upset about.

MH will stay ta McLaren for another year atleast.

[Ralf's Girl]

I'm going to wade in with my mid-season grades for all the drivers...

TGF = A (brilliant but boring)
Barrichello = C (mediocre)
Hakkinen = D (where did the champion go?)
DC = B (would get an A but seems to have a problem with other drivers defending positions)
Ralf = A* ('nuff said)
JPM = C (a lot of hype, not much delivered so far)
Fisichella = C (doing the best he can with a bad car)
Button = D (he just can't beat Fisichella)
Panis = B (has been faster than Villeneuve)
Villeneuve = B (dropped off a bit now, but he's had a podium)
Frentzen = D (not convincing at all this year)
Trulli = B (good in qualifying, but it doesn't seem to convert in the race)
Verstappen = C (in the middle because he's a very mixed package)
Bernoldi = E (only redeeming point was keeping DC behind him for 40 laps at Monaco)
Heidfeld = B (some good performances, let's hope it doesn't drop off now)
Raikkonen = A (no explanation necessary!)
Irvine = C (he hasn't done much apart from that podium)
De la Rosa = C- (it's not easy joining mid-season and he's done well for a points finish already)
Alonso = A (to get a Minardi into 18th you have to be something special)
Marques = F (would anyone really notice if he wasn't there?)
Alesi = C (sometimes he has it, sometimes he doesn't)
Burti = D (could be better...but then again he could be Marques )

[RT]

Originally posted by renaultbel
It's half way through the season, so how do you rate the drivers so far? My ratings are:

M Schumacher - A = has made it look easy all season
R Barrichello - B- = should be getting closer to Schumi
M Hakkinen - C+ = seems to have lost interest this year
D Coulthard - A- = very quick and consistent performances
R Schumacher - A- = challengine Schumi on more than one occasion
J Montoya - B = has his moments but too inconsistent
G Fisichella - B = doing the best he can in that awful car
J Button - C- = thrashed by his team-mate regularly
O Panis - B = put Villeneuve in the shade
J Villeneuve - C+ = podium aside, a poor showing overall
HH Frentzen - C- too many mistakes and just too slow
J Trulli - B+ = excellent qualifier, plucky racer
J Verstappen - B = sensational starts in his average car
E Bernoldi - C- = totally off the pace in most races
N Heidfeld - B+ = very mature and a future star
K Raikkonen - A- = beating Nick - revelation of season
E Irvine - B = working hard and grinding out results
P de la Rosa - C = Canada aside, very average
F Alonso - B = hauling his Minardi where it shouldn't be
T Marques - D = appalling driving consistently
J Alesi - B = finished every race, Jean still has it
L Burti - C+ = finishing races but not very quickly

I tried several rankings but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Renaultbel had it just right...

Cheers,

RT