F1's 2017 rising stars analysis

[cds_uk]

I am still far from convinced by Stroll, all his big hauls of points have come through high attrition in races, at no point has he put the Williams anywhere it shouldn't be on outright pace, he keeps his nose out of bother sure enough, and that is a good thing of course, but he is a long long way from being the next big thing, especially when you think of how prepared he has been this year. Put it this way, if he didn't have the cash behind him would he have the drive, of course not, he is average at the very best.

[BSchneiderFan]

I think average is a bit harsh, given his dominance in Formula 3, but I agree he's not looking like the next big thing at the moment, unlike Verstappen.

[Akrapovic]

He might not be the next big thing, but he's gone from completely out of his depth, to ahead of Massa and looking comfortable. There's not much more than can be asked from him so far.

Average at best, but beating his team mate.

[cds_uk]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

He might not be the next big thing, but he's gone from completely out of his depth, to ahead of Massa and looking comfortable. There's not much more than can be asked from him so far.

Average at best, but beating his team mate.

He is only beating his team mate because Massa got the puncture this weekend and had to retire in Azerbaijan, as i said, Stroll seems to keep himself out of trouble and that is a plus but i am sure we would all agree Felipe is a long way past his best anyway. Choosing the best rookie season so far out of Stroll, Ocon or Vandoorne and i doubt many people would go for Lance.

[Hawkwood]

Picking out of those 3 surely no-one would go for Vandoorne either?
Ocon seems to be by far the best choice.

[Razzzor]

Stroll's beating Massa about as much as Bottas was. And look where Bottas is now, in his 5th season. Stroll doing it in only his first season.

[cds_uk]

Originally Posted by Hawkwood

Picking out of those 3 surely no-one would go for Vandoorne either?
Ocon seems to be by far the best choice.

Yes, but at least Vandoorne is somewhere near Alonso who is still at or near the top of his game and arguably one of the top three drivers out there.

[cds_uk]

Originally Posted by Razzzor

Stroll's beating Massa about as much as Bottas was. And look where Bottas is now, in his 5th season. Stroll doing it in only his first season.

Stroll is 14 -3 down on Massa in qualifying, as i said earlier, he is only ahead of Massa in the championship because he scored well in races of high attrition, not because he did anything breathtaking.

[Razzzor]

Originally Posted by cds_uk

Stroll is 14 -3 down on Massa in qualifying, as i said earlier, he is only ahead of Massa in the championship because he scored well in races of high attrition, not because he did anything breathtaking.

He's a bit better in the races though isn't he? But yeah that qualifying stat doesn't look good for his 1 lap pace does it.

I wouldn't call Mexico a race of attrition though. Sainz, Ericsson, Hartley were all behind him anyway (and Massa). The only positions he picked up were Hulk and Dan.

[bella]

Originally Posted by Hawkwood

Picking out of those 3 surely no-one would go for Vandoorne either?
Ocon seems to be by far the best choice.

hard to judge vandoorne isn't it? especially when you see his engine penalty stats. talk about being thrown under a bus...

ocon's had the car to deliver, has delivered beyond what was expected, and he's outperformed perez far more times than his points count suggests. spanking perez at his home race must have been very satisfying in light of earlier season shenanigans.

[BSchneiderFan]

However, Ocon had half a season (albeit in a Manor) so is ahead of the game.

[Akrapovic]

Ocon has more experience than Stroll.

I'm no Stroll fan by any stretch, but if we're rolling out stats about qualifying and what not, then you could also say Stroll is the only rookie out scoring his team mate. Yes you could argue about retirements and what not, but points are what count. Could argue Ocon isn't a rookie.

[bella]

if you’re going to say that ocon has more experience then you have to remember that a lot of the thing we call ‘experience’ in f1 is in working with a team of size, and understanding the dynamics of that. on that basis you have to look at stroll’s experience in the old car as having similar value.

[cds_uk]

Originally Posted by bella

if you’re going to say that ocon has more experience then you have to remember that a lot of the thing we call ‘experience’ in f1 is in working with a team of size, and understanding the dynamics of that. on that basis you have to look at stroll’s experience in the old car as having similar value.

My thoughts exactly, i doubt there have been many young drivers who have been as prepared for their maiden season as Stroll, let alone the amount of private test miles he has racked up during the year. Absolutely nothing wrong with that of course, but as Bella said, 'experience' is all relative isn't it.

[Razzzor]

Time for the final analysis.

My first thoughts are what in the hell happened to Lance Stroll in the second half of the season?
After that superb podium mid season, the last several races he's been qualifying terribly and battling with the Toro Rosso's and Saubers while the long overdue retiring Massa mixes it up in the top 10. Except for the 6th he got at Mexico which really all came down to a brilliant start, Massa's been well ahead. So where' that leave him? Hamilton > Bottas > Massa > Stroll. Stroll really needs to get a bit more consistent next year because Williams should be regularly in the top 10 fighting with Force India and I think they would be if they had better drivers. I don't think Kubica is the right replacement for Massa either, not if he can't even get around that hairpin at Monaco.

Magnussen: boy he's not making friends. Even at Abu Dhabi he got into a tough tussle with someone, can't even remember who now. The start of the race was very aggressive as well. But hey nothing wrong with that for the spectators, just shows he has what it takes and frankly he's been faster than Grosjean for a while now, and Grosjean certainly is a decent driver. Kmag definitely deserves another season in the Haas. Despite some haters he could have done enough to show he has what it takes to have a career in F1 for a while.

Vandoorne: it'll be great to see how he goes in a faster car next season. Again he's not that far away from Fred, only 2 tenths in quali. Pitted far too early at Abu Dhabi which comprimised the rest of his race, but the terrible dirty air of todays F1 car meant no one could catch him to pass anyway.

Ocon: it's easy to say he's the star of newbies this year. But he isn't really convincingly beating Perez. Perez beat him at Abu Dhabi, although it was only by 6 secs, that still means he was slower. All the times this year Ocon has managed to beat Perez, usually Perez was faster. Still, if Ricciardo doesn't get the Merc seat in 2019, Ocon will be a nice comparison to Hamilton (assuming Bottas continues to be average). He'll need to more regularly beat Perez though, who isn't exactly next in line for a top seat. He had it in the McLaren and struggled. Both drivers shouldn't be getting beaten by Hulk in that dog Renault, though.

Wehrlein: good race at Abu Dhabi beating the Toro Rosso pair, Stroll and his team mate. But again not far ahead of Ericsson. I never rated Ericsson so Wehrlein only occassionally being much faster isn't helping his case. Wehrlein vs Leclerc will be interesting, but personally I'd probably put Wehrlein in the Williams and see how he goes. I think he'll be experienced enough to perform similarly to Massa as opposed to the wildly inconsistent Stroll. Although for that matter, Leclerc should be in the Williams first.

Hartley and Gasly: well first time in their third race together, Hartley wasn't as fast as Gasly. Previous 2 races they were fairly similar. Whether it's down to managing the car parts or Hartley just couldn't get it set up, I don't know. But quali and practise he was well down on Pierre. Then in the race Pierre couldn't keep it on the track so Brendon beat him. Still too early to really judge their performances having stepped in late in the season (remember how terrible Stroll and Palmer were early on) with Renault giving them scrap metal to put in the car for an engine. It'll be good to see them over a full season, but I hope Honda isn't a pos. Kyvat might have scored a point on his departure and Sainz a 4th place before he left for Renault, but I think there's no way either of those two would have been scoring points in those last races either with what Toro Rosso gave them.

On to 2019 then, where we can continue to watch Lando Norris and George Russells progress to possible F1 seats.

[S griffin]

Stroll I think did alright in the second half of the season, especially in Mexico, although he does need to sort out his qualifying if he wants to be up there more often

Ocon, I don't what else to say that hasn't already been said, he has been more than a match for Checo, so well done

Kevin has been a bit dirty at times and quite exciting others

Vandoorne, great character, and has really come on strong in the latter half of the season

Wehrlein, if that's his last race, it will be a travesty. He's pushed the Sauber harder than Ericsson

Gasly and Hartley seem to have joined STR at a bad time while they are struggling with engines, but both have done well under the circumstances