Who is the best rookie? Raikkonen, Montoya ...

[awah]

I think ...

1.- Raikkonen
2.- Montoya
3.- Bernoldi
4.- Alonso

[Damon]

Howdy, you don't yet know the arrguments this post is going to cause . I'd put Montoya above Raikkonen, but hey, I would .

[LucaBadoer]

I'm sorry, but you're talking a load of rubbish. Alonso has done far better than Bernoldi and, although Kimi has done exceedingly well, he's not been as great as Juan-Pablo. Below is the 'proper' order:

1) Montoya
2) Raikkonen
= Alonso
4) Bernoldi

[economy_waffle]

Raikonnen without a doubt. this is because Raikonnen has been in 4th place with a slower car than Montoya, and Raikonnen has so far made only 2 mistakes to Montoya's 4 (i think). Montoya has also been in America for a while and cannot just jump in an F1 car and win straight away, but he came close...he just needs a little smoothing around the edges. As for Burti...he really has as much talent as marques and with both of them put together that doesnt even come close to Alonso's talents!!! Marques should have been left in 95'

[LucaBadoer]

I think that due to Luciano making his debut in 2000 (AUT), people tend to forget that he hasn't raced round most of the tracks in a F1 car. He (Burti) is by far a better racing driver than young Enrique.

[Speedworx]

Best rookie..........

In my view out of possible score of 100

1 - K.Raikkonen 98
2 - F.Alonso 90
3 - J.Montoya 70
4 - E.Bernoldi 49

Kimi Raikkonen socres most because he has come from Formula Renault (step below series Button came from) and has down very, very well and made very few mistakes.

[Minardi fan]

It's a tie between Raikkonen and Alonso. Raikkonen has been simply superb, whilst Alonso can do things to that Minardi no driver should be able to. Therefore both are equal in their status of ROOKIES OF THE SEASON!!!

As for Montoya, don't get me started...

[Alan Jones]

Although a fan of JPM, don't think he qualifies for this thread as he has a clearly superior car. That being said, Alonso gets my votes as he is giving Minardi more press this year than Minardi has had in the last 5 years!!. Kimi comes in a close second......

[kristof14]

although i'm a big montoya fan i reckon raikkonen is a better rookie as hes not been racing long and has achieved so much already i remember seein him racin in formula renault last year and he was good then, however im not wanting to take anything from montoya either he's had a stunning start and has shown he doesnt care who u are if he can pass u he will! take note schumacher(whom i despise with all my heart!!!!!! (especially after the "adeleaide incident""))

kristof

[Tiina]

Hi, I am a pretty new here (haven't I advertised that enough, ****!) and I would like to give my opinion about the rookie of the year- issue!
I think JPM is overestimated bigmouth who came to F1 only one thing in his mind... "I'm goin to win WDC 2001" and now he has learned, that he is in the tough series and he isn't so sure anymore!
Even though I'm Finnish, I have to say that our boy Raikkonen is the best rookie of the year! He is very competive in not so competive car, and he has managed to score a couple of points as well! He is a fighter and he isn't so egoistic than JPM.

I would have wanted to put here some smilies, who has sunglasses, but I don't know how....please help help finnish woman to survive in this jungle

But.... as you guys say T G F .... I say W D C 2001

Keep in touch !

[Maximum F1]

1. K Raikkonen
2. F Alonso
3. JP Montoya
4. E Bernoldi

Just my opinion, I have seen nothing from Montoya yet but I have seen both Raikkonen and Alonso put in brilliant laps considering the cars they are in. Raikkonen has rose above the more experienced Nick Heidfeld and well...when we prepare Alonso to Marques..I mean come on!

[kristof14]

uve seen nothin from montoya yet?????? how about leadin the brazilian grand prix until he was run into by a back marker or leadin in austria until his tyres went ****??????

foo's the lota ya foo's!!!!!

[RT]

Originally posted by Tiina
Hi, I am a pretty new here (haven't I advertised that enough, ****!) and I would like to give my opinion about the rookie of the year- issue!
I think JPM is overestimated bigmouth who came to F1 only one thing in his mind... "I'm goin to win WDC 2001" and now he has learned, that he is in the tough series and he isn't so sure anymore!
Even though I'm Finnish, I have to say that our boy Raikkonen is the best rookie of the year! He is very competive in not so competive car, and he has managed to score a couple of points as well! He is a fighter and he isn't so egoistic than JPM.

I would have wanted to put here some smilies, who has sunglasses, but I don't know how....please help help finnish woman to survive in this jungle

But.... as you guys say T G F .... I say W D C 2001

Keep in touch !

I agree with your opinions of Kimi and Juan. I'd add that if Fernando Alonso had over 830 horsepower of BMW engineering behind him, he'd make mincemeat of Juan. Then we'd have a good competition between two authentic rookie racers (Kimi and Fernando) who let their driving do the talking.

Apart from that, and last but not least:

Schumi for DWC in 2001 !!!

And this is an opinion from the American Midwest.

[mac]

I'll take Alonso, Montoya then Raikkonen in that order. For Alonso to qualify ahead of the final row in just about every race this year is a huge effort.

[Jay]

I wouldn't even consider Montoya a rookie. People seem to forget that he drove 1000s of kilometeres of testing for Williams, and then had 2 years in Cart. Not exactly a rookie.

Raikkonen on the other hand, only raced 23 times (or something like that) before taking his seat. Now, there's a rookie, and a good one at that.

Let's not forget Alonso's performances either.

[mac]

Of course Montoya's a rookie. His first f1 grand prix was the 2001 Australian Grand Prix. Hey, Kenny Brack claimed last year's CART Rookie of the Year title after winning the Indy 500.

[badoer fan]

1. Alonso is by far the best. He's doing brilliantly in a dog of a car, and to be beating Marques, who is still excellent, is absolutely fantastic.
2. Raikkonen has done very well, but has been slightly on and off, but his performance in Austria was fantastic.
3. Bernoldi went up absolutely miles in my opinion of him after Monaco, and he's outqualified Verstappen more times than vice versa.
4. And at the bottom, Montoya. In my opinion, the most overrated driver in aaaaages. I believe I'm still right in saying that he has been comprehensively outdriven by Ralf in every race and qualifying session so far, and makes too many mistakes, and is too reckless. I still don't think he has beaten Ralf in a straight fight this season.

[Speedworx]

Montoya is an overrated, arrogant driver. Another way to put it is that Montoya is a younger M.Schumacher and F1 does not need another one of those. He has done nothing to surprise me, he is useless! Williams should have kept Button and put Montoya in the Benetton to learn about F1.

[Sauber_16]

You all knew this comment would come I am sure...but here's my verdict on this rookie theme:

1) Raikkonen

2) Bernoldi - I have to say it...he's outqualified Jos what, 3 times now? He who was tipped to be a Ferrari driver, even though those light fuel loads don't impress me, Jos! Plus he handled this whole Monaco thing very well and with a mature drive, come on then..bring on the shouts or outrage at me!

3) Alonso - this little fella is doing a great job. I had my doubts at first, but he's certainly going to go far, especially with Renualt if they EVER get their act together. Can't wait to see what the change will be in Magny-Cours, it'd better be good.

4) It's going to have to be Montoya, but only because he's the last one. He hasn't impressed me that much, okay, he's pulled a move or two on MS, and maybe JB wouldn't have done that in the Williams last year...but how many races has he failed to finish? How many points? I was expecting this guy to be charging to the podium at least two or three times. But then, I guess to balance this argument, Ralf hasn't done that much better in terms of finishing only two or three races (it eludes me).

I'd point out though that JB has to win the 'it wasn't your fault' award and Nick gets the, 'excellent start to 2001, proving doubters wrong' award!

And what does Mika get? A kick in the rear...wing and I would say please hurry up and win a race! MS supporter I may be, but I enjoyed his tussles with MS. He's a great driver with excellent talent and respect for other drivers. Yay!

[Speedworx]

Montoya is not worth the hype. His move of MS only came about because of the safety car, had that not come out, MS would have disappeared up the road. Montoya is more of a try too hard, crash alot guy. Ralf has out done him in both qual and race. Qual 6-1 to Ralf and in the races, its 2 finished to 1. Button would have done better, but how much better we will never know how much better. Though Williams have not got the reliability they had last year.

[Ralf's Girl]

This is my order:

1. Alonso - he's far better than Marques (although granted, that's not hard) and he's definitely a star of the future.
2. (or equal 1st) Raikkonen - I'd rate him above Button in terms of natural ability because of him coming from Formula Renault, and he's done incredibly well so far.
3. Montoya - it's hard to class him as a rookie because he's had so much single-seater experience already. Still, he's good and that much is obvious. However, I'd love to know what all those people who said he would slaughter Ralf this season are saying now...
4. Bernoldi - erm, not much to say about him. He hasn't impressed me at all.

[Damon]

Originally posted by hakkiman
Montoya is not worth the hype. His move of MS only came about because of the safety car, had that not come out, MS would have disappeared up the road.

And the one that crosses the line first is the winner, you can't put down Montayas move on MS because of the safety car. Plus I believe that Montoya "disappeared up the road" having got past despite the fact he was carrying more fuel. From that I'd say your claims are a little unfounded.

[Maximum F1]

I'm sorry Kristof but he simply had the better car on both them days as was demonstrated by Ralf who was setting fastest lap after fastest lap down the back of the field in Brazil. The fact is that Raikkonen and Alonso, in my opinion at least, have done better considering the cars the have. Besides the first person you always have to beat, is your teammate and I don't think Montoya has been consistent about that...in Brazil it only happened because Ralf lost his rear wing and I think Ralf has been unlucky at other times too. To decide who the best rookie is Kristof is not to simply look at positions as you do but consider all the factors.

[Jay]

Originally posted by mac
Of course Montoya's a rookie. His first f1 grand prix was the 2001 Australian Grand Prix. Hey, Kenny Brack claimed last year's CART Rookie of the Year title after winning the Indy 500.

They also gave it to Nigel Mansell when he went to Indycars (cart at the time), would you call him a rookie?

[Maximum F1]

Actually people...Montoya was driving for Williams BEFORE he went to America...of course he wasn't driving in races but from what i hear he was driving the cars but when Frank Williams was given a choice he chose Ralf Schumacher. Remember both Ralf and JP are 25 years old.
I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure about his.