Young Driver Test

[Massa 0]

Outside of Montréal, this is the only exciting part of the 2011 season.

Red Bull

Jean-Eric Vergne (Everyone will declare him the next WDC when he sets fast lap, even though you'd have to be a complete hack to not set fast lap in a Red Bull. But he's actually good. Runner-up in WSR this year).

McLaren

Gary Paffett (How is he a young driver at age 31, and having been testing in F1 for years now? What a waste. McLaren are cheating and they know it).

Oliver Turvey (He has no hope of ever amounting to anything. Sorry bud).

Ferrari

Jules Bianchi (Competent in GP2, but also very sloppy).

Mercedes

Sam Bird (Meh).

Lotus

Robert Wickens (WSR champion over teammate and the much-higher-rated Jean-Eric Vergne. I've followed him for years since he was racing in America so I can't give you an unbiased opinion on him. Test is a prize for the aforementioned title).

Kevin Korjus (Impressive in WSR. Needs more time. I think he's 12 years old or something).

Jan Charouz (Rich kid playing with a cool toy. Good for him).

Force India

Max Chilton (Rich kid playing with a cool toy. Bad for us).

Johnny Cecotto, Jr. (Communist).

Sauber

Esteban Gutiérrez (Biggest disappointment in GP2 this year. Seemingly has talent, but got whooped in a very weak field).

Fabio Lemier (Meh).

Toro Rosso

Stefano Colletti (Meh).

Kevin Ceccon (Meh).

Williams

Valtteri Bottas (GP3 champion, has potential, don't know much about him).

Mirko Bortolotti (F2 champion, testing as the prize for that. He's never really done much for me but whatever).

Caterham

Alexander Rossi (Finished somewhere in WSR with at least two wins last year. Very boring guy, aggressive overtaker, will likely make F1 based on his nationality alone, even though I don't think he's really that stellar).

Luiz Razia (Who)?

HRT

Dani Clos (Meh).

Marussia

Robert Wickens

Charles Pic (Allegedly he's already signed for a race seat next year with Marussia. He's about as underwhelming as the team is).

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs (Who)?

[HandyNZL 1]

Outside of Montréal, this is the only exciting part of the 2011 season.

Red Bull

Jean-Eric Vergne (Everyone will declare him the next WDC when he sets fast lap, even though you'd have to be a complete hack to not set fast lap in a Red Bull. But he's actually good. Runner-up in WSR this year).

McLaren

Gary Paffett (How is he a young driver at age 31, and having been testing in F1 for years now? What a waste. McLaren are cheating and they know it). He must be on a good retainer, otherwise he would have left years ago to actually race in something, somewhere. I guess he gets to go out because he meets the rules in terms of never raced an F1 car.

Oliver Turvey (He has no hope of ever amounting to anything. Sorry bud). This is more of a prize for doing well in a junior category more than McLaren are looking long term at him...lets face it, both Button and Hamilton will be at Macca for two if not three years, and McLaren will sign their replacement from someone that is on the grid with at least two years experience racing the cars. Hamilton was the exception to this rule.

Ferrari

Jules Bianchi (Competent in GP2, but also very sloppy). Agree...not seeing "it" from him.

Mercedes

Sam Bird (Meh). The great British Hype....

Lotus

Robert Wickens (WSR champion over teammate and the much-higher-rated Jean-Eric Vergne. I've followed him for years since he was racing in America so I can't give you an unbiased opinion on him. Test is a prize for the aforementioned title). Could be good if given time to develop his race craft and not rushed into the sink-or-swim one year contract that gets given out these days. Should do at least a season with GP2 to integrate with the F1 teams and race on their circuits more.

Kevin Korjus (Impressive in WSR. Needs more time. I think he's 12 years old or something). No...he's 9

Jan Charouz (Rich kid playing with a cool toy. Good for him). There's one word for kid's like that....b#####d!

Force India

Max Chilton (Rich kid playing with a cool toy. Bad for us).

Johnny Cecotto, Jr. (Communist).

Sauber

Esteban Gutiérrez (Biggest disappointment in GP2 this year. Seemingly has talent, but got whooped in a very weak field). The 2011 GP2 field was the weakest yet.

Fabio Lemier (Meh).

Toro Rosso

Stefano Colletti (Meh).

Kevin Ceccon (Meh).

Williams

Valtteri Bottas (GP3 champion, has potential, don't know much about him). Got his a## spanked by young Richie Stanaway on the drivers circuit, otherwise known as Spa...Richie was 7-secs up in three laps. Pity Richie only raced the last two races.

Mirko Bortolotti (F2 champion, testing as the prize for that. He's never really done much for me but whatever). F2 is another way to F1, and given time, should field grids as strong, if not stronger on some years to that of GP2. Has shown he can put enough drives together to win a championship which is one factor teams look at for future drivers.

Caterham

Alexander Rossi (Finished somewhere in WSR with at least two wins last year. Very boring guy, aggressive overtaker, will likely make F1 based on his nationality alone, even though I don't think he's really that stellar).

Luiz Razia (Who)?

HRT

Dani Clos (Meh).

Marussia

Robert Wickens

Charles Pic (Allegedly he's already signed for a race seat next year with Marussia. He's about as underwhelming as the team is).

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs (Who)? He's ok...from GP3...but again, too young and needs more time to develop.

A lot of the guys getting these drives are for winning a championship, which is cool, but doesn't take into account that sometimes the guy in fourth or fifth is as good, if not better, just he had a worse car due to the experience of the mechanics of the team. Or the best guy only raced one or two rounds due to money or other things.

If I was managing any of these teams, two guys that would be on my list that are not here would be RIchie Stanaway and Carlos Sainz Jr. Both young. Both gifted. Both have a future. So get them into the fold, get them testing, get them on the simulators, then get them into the better teams in GP2 or WSR or F2 so they can show what they can do when they don't have to be too worried about nursing a car. These two guys need a clear and planned path in the way that both Hamilton and Vettel had....under the wing of the F1 team...a season in WSR, a season in F2, a season in GP2, then onto the grid in their early twenties (20-22).

[Ikyrotz 0]

Valtteri Bottas (GP3 champion, has potential, don't know much about him). Got his a## spanked by young Richie Stanaway on the drivers circuit, otherwise known as Spa...Richie was 7-secs up in three laps. Pity Richie only raced the last two races.

You failed to point out that Bottas actually won the race 1 in Spa, Stanaway the race 2. Bottas has, in fact, impressed me greatly this season, he was in a class of his own on the latter half of the season, especially in difficult (rain) conditions. Could very well be the next big Finn in F1.

[Rainmaster 7]

I haven't seen a lot of most of these guys, but from what I have seen none of them ever seemed particularly impressive (and by that I mean an F1 star of the future). We'll see.

[Massa 0]

A lot of the guys that I think have real potential are just too young and not at a level where having a test is going to do much but hurt their confidence given a lack of experience. The guys who usually get tests are from GP2 and WSR, and GP2's field gets worse and worse every year. WSR has Kevin Korjus is a few years away from something big, I think. Ricciardo obviously can't test, and while he's supposed to be the best guy in the field, even if he had run the full season, with ISR the top team, he would have likely lost the championship (if you multiply his points total to adjust it to a full season, he comes third behind Wickens and Vergne).

The guys I'm ready to rate:

Jean-Eric Vergne sominated British F3, starting winning right away in WSR and nearly won the title in his rookie season against teammate Wickens who had already run WSR before. Showed well in Friday runs.

Kevin Korjus really impressed me going from primary schooler to race winner in WSR. I think he has potential to do big things if they're smart and manage him correctly. Move him to F1 too fast and it's game over; move him up too slowly and it's game over, too. He's had enough flashes that I believe he'll get it together regularly.

Robert Wickens...I love the guy, but to be realistic, he's just not at this level. He'd be an absolutely dominant force in American racing, I would think, and I really hope he'll make it in F1. I just can't see how. He's either pretty underwhelming for having won the WSR title, been runner-up in GP3 and F2 with race wins, and having won in A1GP for the weak Team Canada, or he just looks underwhelming because he doesn't have your typical F1 image and personality and background...which is why I like him, but also why I think he can't succeed.

Jules Bianchi is the next Felipe Massa.

Esteban Gutiérrez was supposed to be the best driver ever!!! He avenged his loss to Alex Rossi in the Formula BMW World Final at his home track in Mexico City by beating him as his teammate in GP3. Then he moved to GP2 and he just **** the bed. And today, his teammate, James Calado, in his GP2 debut, won the race while Gutiérrez rode around in fifth. Nothing there but hype and Telmex money.

Charles Pic is just okay.

Alex Rossi, as I've said, can be an exciting overtaker, and can be really relentless to the point of sometimes crossing the line to being a bit dirty. But he's also really good at forgetting that there are races from May through October and disappears between his flashy starts and flashy finishes.

[HandyNZL 1]

You failed to point out that Bottas actually won the race 1 in Spa, Stanaway the race 2. Bottas has, in fact, impressed me greatly this season, he was in a class of his own on the latter half of the season, especially in difficult (rain) conditions. Could very well be the next big Finn in F1.

Yes, Bottas did win race 1, but that was Richies first ever GP3 start, and he came from the back of the field up to 8th, then just drove away from the field in the second race. This was one of those instances where the champion was not the best driver, and was clearly shown up by a complete rookie to those cars.

Yes Bottas won the series, but had Stanaway had the funds to do the whole series, I doubt Bottas would have won.

[HandyNZL 1]

A lot of the guys that I think have real potential are just too young and not at a level where having a test is going to do much but hurt their confidence given a lack of experience. The guys who usually get tests are from GP2 and WSR, and GP2's field gets worse and worse every year. WSR has Kevin Korjus is a few years away from something big, I think. Ricciardo obviously can't test, and while he's supposed to be the best guy in the field, even if he had run the full season, with ISR the top team, he would have likely lost the championship (if you multiply his points total to adjust it to a full season, he comes third behind Wickens and Vergne).

The guys I'm ready to rate:

Jean-Eric Vergne sominated British F3, starting winning right away in WSR and nearly won the title in his rookie season against teammate Wickens who had already run WSR before. Showed well in Friday runs.

Kevin Korjus really impressed me going from primary schooler to race winner in WSR. I think he has potential to do big things if they're smart and manage him correctly. Move him to F1 too fast and it's game over; move him up too slowly and it's game over, too. He's had enough flashes that I believe he'll get it together regularly.

Robert Wickens...I love the guy, but to be realistic, he's just not at this level. He'd be an absolutely dominant force in American racing, I would think, and I really hope he'll make it in F1. I just can't see how. He's either pretty underwhelming for having won the WSR title, been runner-up in GP3 and F2 with race wins, and having won in A1GP for the weak Team Canada, or he just looks underwhelming because he doesn't have your typical F1 image and personality and background...which is why I like him, but also why I think he can't succeed.

Jules Bianchi is the next Felipe Massa.

Esteban Gutiérrez was supposed to be the best driver ever!!! He avenged his loss to Alex Rossi in the Formula BMW World Final at his home track in Mexico City by beating him as his teammate in GP3. Then he moved to GP2 and he just **** the bed. And today, his teammate, James Calado, in his GP2 debut, won the race while Gutiérrez rode around in fifth. Nothing there but hype and Telmex money.

Charles Pic is just okay.

Alex Rossi, as I've said, can be an exciting overtaker, and can be really relentless to the point of sometimes crossing the line to being a bit dirty. But he's also really good at forgetting that there are races from May through October and disappears between his flashy starts and flashy finishes.

On things GP2 and being young...the dumbest rule in GP2 is that if you win the series, you are not allowed to race in the series again. This may have the utopian ideal of giving everyone a fair shot year on year, but if you are young, come in and win in your first season or the second, and you don't land yourself a cush ride in an F1 car the next season, you get left in a motor racing wilderness of no driving, no racing, and no way to prove you have it (or not).

[Massa 0]

Last year, Daniel Ricciardo got massive hype for being fast in the Red Bull, even though any half-competent go-kart racer could be fast in the Red Bull.

I expect similar "HE'S THE NEXT WDC" about Jean-Eric Vergne now.

And that's not a knock on Ricciardo or Vergne, who are both obviously among the best young talents. It's just a knock on the fact people don't take which cars the drivers are in into any kind of account in these tests. Of course, I will now proceed to list the results without including the car in them, so if it's so important...

1. Vergne

2. Bianchi

3. Wickens

4. Leimer

5. Paffett

6. Chilton

7. Bottas

8. Turvey

9. Bird

10. González

11. Coletti

12. Clos

13. Pic

14. Quaife-Hobbs

[Massa 0]

Don't care about Wednesday results because Wickens wasn't there.

Today:

1. Vergne

2. Bird

3. Bianchi

4. Turvey

5. Chilton

6. Gutiérrez

7. Bortolotti

8. Ceccon

9. Rossi

10. Charouz

11. Coletti

12. Berthon

13. Wickens

14. Pic

Charouz and Coletti are all kinds of awful to be behind Rossi in the Caterham.

Glad Wickens was a few tenths up on Charles Pic, who has had more running this week. The reality is that Pic has the race seat for 2012 just about locked up if not already, and Wickens is on his own. Nice that at least Wickens beat him, even if I don't think anyone who has tested this week is really F1 material at this stage other than Vergne, who could easily go to STR next year and be competent.