So, who deserves this years WDC?

[Mr V]

So, who do you think deserves to win this years WDC?

There are 4 candidates, Michael, Juan Pablo, Kimi and Rafe.

All could be defined as deserving winners, and, for different reasons......

Michael has the most wins, but some of his performances this year have been very "un-Michael like" even though his Ferrari/Bridgestone package maybe didn't live upto expectation.

Juan Pablo, dispite throwing away a win in the first race of the season, had a slow start with a few non-scoring rounds, but has come on strongest in the last 6 races of the season.

Kimi, scored his maiden win at Maylasia and had a very strong start to the season, leading the championship until the midway point of the season, but his year old car, despite all the improvements McLaren have made is now seeming to show it's age maybe.

Rafe, scored 2 very good wins, but has showed that consistancy, despite only scoring 3 podiums so far this season is a way of getting to the title.

looking at the different ways these guys have put themselves into contention, makes them seem all quite deserving of the WDC, So, who do you think is most deserving?

(p.s, this is a thread about deserving, not who you think will actually win it )

[Mattracer]

Good thread! Deserves= most dominant, organised and complete approach.

I don't think you can say MS though the more wins than the others put him there mathematically, if not convincingly from a technical/engineering standpoint. Has not run away too much from the field with any regularity and has grafted his way along.

JPM- the most fight, the most tenacity especially lately, considering the slump in technical development after the first few races.

Kimi- great for an old car, but not yet. Maybe next year.

Ralf- a few poles, good turn of speed. Not angry enough.


Hard to separate MS and JPM. JPM has come along way in a hurry in the last few weeks, while MS has been there all along but not making headlines.

[ljakse]

MS - no way, IMHO, he is starting to show weakness - he was so used to have the best car out there, that he can't adopt well to the new situation.

JPM - I guess he desrves it most by now. Despite bad start he came back very strong, and he is obviously using the whole potential of the FW25 development

KR - he sure did good so far, but he had few stupid mistakes - qualifying and racing. However, he is the only one with an old car, so maybe those were just a result of his desire to be up there with the big guys.

Ralf - oh, c'mon!!!

[climb]

Kimi certainly has to be praised for doiing what he's done driving an old car, but rigt this problem will prevent him from winning the title.
Montoya is having a good time undoubtedly, but most of his performances seem due to extraordinary tires.
IMO MS is still the best performing driver this year; after all he's still on the top through a season which is not exactly lucky for him.
Just thihk of the first 3 races.
And if we remember the Canadian GP, when he won despite having a slower car than the Williams..

[f1manoz]

I think JPM deserves it most. He's really come on this year. He's had one 'bad' race - Australia - where he threw away the win, but everywhere else he's been competitive, even when Ralf scored his two wins, he's at least been mixing it with the top 3.

If anything, he's been the complete reverse of last year. Yet to get a pole, but he's finished nearly every race, barring mechanical failure, and has two wins to his credit and around six podiums in a row. He's finally discovered that key word: CONSISTENCY!

The only other driver who deserves it would be TGF, but I DON'T want him to win it. Kimi's time will come, while Ralf winning it would make a mockery of what a WDC is...

[Irv the Swerve]

Its a cop out maybe, but the person who deserves it most is the guy (and team) that can kick on from now on and push for the line. At this point, there are several mathematically with a chance (but Mick and JPM in reality), but to double up on effort and development is not a gimme. Its hard. Mick and Ferrari know all about what is required, so do Williams, but for JPM, this is the big step. Can he take the final step on to the next level and close out the race now that he has the momentum?. I think he can, and I think he will deserve it richly if he does.

[jetsetter]

I agree with Irv in the fact that all four deserve to be fighting it out at this stage of the year & i feel who ever winds up champion in a couple of months will have had to have earned it.

[perminder]

I dont think people wanna see Micheal Schu win it again this year.

I reckon Monty will pull it off to win the title this year

[ralf fan]

i think Montoya deserves the title .6 straight podium finishes including 2 wins ,your form cant get much better

[JohnSSC]

Keeping in mind the word "deserves" I would have to say JPM over Michael. While I think Michael most likely will take the title, JPm's and the folks at Williams have really applied themselves. They could have called it a season early on, but there is an undeniable fighting spirit there in the great Bushido tradition - except Frank is not Japanese - but that is beside the point!

JPM has really matched his performance to the car extracting the performance gains from the car and showing the results in points and wins.

Mattracer: your take on Schumi Lite ("not angry enough") is spot on!

[Liz]

JPM - people are bored with TGF winning every year so another "championship" by him would decrease audience size again; JPM's championship would bring in the North American audience because they have seen him win in Champ Cars and even the people who only watch the IRL 500 know who he is, and of course the South American audiences will follow him anywhere.

So, since F1 is not sports, but entertainment, and the real purpose of its existence is to maximize Bernie's ROI, I go for JPM.

Besides which I think JPM's winning would make the most other drivers angry.

[Adam43]

Sort of like what Irv said - Most of them deserve it, they all all close in the title race because they all have been evenly matched.

[BootsOntheSide]

Defiantely Montoya. His driving recently has been sensational, witha run opf form beyond anyone else 's wildest hopes. He's been ahead of Ralf most of the time, and really kept his courage up earlier in the season when he car was poor.

Kimi has made too amny msitakes to deserve it - qualifying and rce in Spain, qualifying in Canada, and Silverstone was an especially slack race, where he should neve rhave only beaten Michael by 1 point and lost 2 on Montoya from the position he was in. Inexperience and nerves ahve played a part recently.

Michael's not really done anythign amazing this eyar, Canada and France were the ebst.

As for Ralf, no chance - 3 podiums in 12 races is not championship form. Nor is qualifying 4th from last in Malaysia, ro taking out 5 cars last time out.

[GP Racer]

Still going with MS. He hasn't had an easy year and he's had to overcome more obstacles than ever, but he's still on top. Thats the sign of a real champ. His mother dying the day of the race, and he still goes out to win it. His nerves of steel during that pit fire.

I know alot of folks want to see somebody else take it, but I just don't think TGF is ready to hand it over yet.

[Bononi]

Jos Verstappen, for the whole of his career efforts...



* ducks behind the desk *

[Glen]

Some people seem to have re-read the question as "Who would you like to win?" - the answer to that, for loads of reasons (great team, traditional tough-fighting driver, risk taker, etc) is Montoya for me. As for who deserves it, well Michael has been just great, mostly (more often than the others anyway). OK, so he fell off in razil and Silverstone was not great, but for the most part he has placed far higher than the car deserved - if it hadn't been for that puncture the situation in the championship would be significantly different.

[krt917]

Originally posted by ljakse
MS - no way, IMHO, he is starting to show weakness - he was so used to have the best car out there, that he can't adopt well to the new situation.

Ay!? Apart from those early races, Michael's been driving his nuts off to keep the Ferrari with its square-like Bridgestones in contention!

I agree with Glen. In terms of overall season performance I think Michael deserves it. And he's had more wins (so far) which, I feel, should be more important than they are.

Thats not to say the others would be undeserved. Montoya and Ralf have had some strong races and Kimi's done a good job all year with the old McLaren. Don't really WANT him to win the title yet, either, as I think we could get quite used to that in the future!!

[garcon]

Whoever wins it!

* scuttles back into garden to find fence *

[beau]

well i say Micheal or maybe Rubens deserves it
and Micheal will win it



*Dives behind car*

[Thorstone]

Originally posted by ralf fan
i think Montoya deserves the title .6 straight podium finishes including 2 wins ,your form cant get much better

I agree

but I hope Kimi will win it

[Damon]

Kimi has made too many mistakes (especially in qualifying), which is to be expected given his age, but it has meant he has lost crucial points.

[Smokey 6 litre]

Montoya, for the entertainment value, for the fact that he has the balls to do and say exciting things and foir the fact that it shouldn't be TGF AGAIN.

[Inigo Montoya]

Fisichella - for his win in that laugher of a Jordan.

[b.luther]

Hope Kimi wins,although he has made mistakes he has had a lot of poor luck as well Australian GP, French GP, Pizzonia Stall, Ralf and Rubens clash. If it were not for his poor luck at the begining of the year he may still be leading.

[neilap]

I voted JPM because he has a teammate that will not roll over for him. There are only two teams now that look like real contenders. MS is the man at Ferrari and RB will be there to "help" him. RS on the other hand only races JPM. Juan has had to fight for everything, he is also being paid like a 2nd driver while racing like a champion.

I considered MS for awhile because he has had to deal with an excellent car that is being shafted by its tires. However, with that logic I would vote for Button or JV.