A Driver A Day - Keeps The Boredom Away

[goferrarigo 0]

The major problem with Ralf is his inability to be consistent IMO. When Ralf is on form, he is one of the best drivers on the grid, when he is not which is more often than not, he is rather ordinary to say the least.

Next...........................

Where is the next kay???

[Kay 0]

Driver 13: Robert Kubica

Height: 184cm

Weight: 73kg

Teammate: Nick Heidfeld

Races : 6

Victories : 0

Podiums : 1

Pole positions : 0

Fastest Laps : 0

Points : 6

Races finished in points : 1 (arguably two)

Kubica started karting at the age of 11 and improved rapidly, resulting in him competing and winning the title in the World Series by Renault in 2005 where he began to catch many an eye. BMW decided to play the game of risk and reward and signed him up as a test driver for them in 2006. They were heavily rewarded and Kubica impressed them from the word go with his speed and ability on the race track, so much so, that when relations broke down between BMW and former world champion (1997 - only two years after Kubica had begun karting) Kubica took over from his race seat and by many an opinion, immediately showed more speed and potential than Jacques (and indeed his team mate - Heidfeld) had done all season (well...part season). Unfortunately however, through no fault of his own, the point he managed to get on his debut was taken away after he was disqualified in Hungary. However, this disappointment was soon to be but a distant memory when he stood on the podium in his debut season, in Italy (Button eat your heart out). In 2007 he will continue to sit alongside Heidfeld, but will he continue to appear the better of the two and does his future lie with another team?

Note: Delay due to my travelling week which meant when I got back last night I needed my 'beauty'* sleep.

*One can always aim high.

[pumpdoc 2]

While showing promise, I'll wait till he has a season under his belt to judge him..............

[goferrarigo 0]

but will he continue to appear the better of the two and does his future lie with another team?

Which other team? reno? ferrari have rossi, mclaren got hammy, so reno/mclaren is a potienal place.

I thhink he has good potienal lets see how it goes, should be beating his teammate and come on the podiums quite a bit

[Jem of the Shire 0]

While showing promise, I'll wait till he has a season under his belt to judge him..............

me too. too much hype and too much of talk of 'he'll beat heidfeld'

[Autumnpuma 0]

Note: Delay due to my travelling week which meant when I got back last night I needed my 'beauty'* sleep.

*One can always aim high.

You are hardly in need of 'beauty sleep' so get writing!!

Kubeetza. Impressive. His style is almost exactly like Alonso's and he's got quite an aggressive streak in him. By JV's account, he's still a bit weak on the technical side, but he delivers on-track. If the goal of Max and the assembled FIA is to create a fun to watch spectacle, more drivers like Kubeetza should be on the grid. Fly or fail he has delivered some entertaining races; I love watching this guy kick his car in the arse round a bend. Beautiful.

[aussief1 4]

From what I have seen of RK I must say that I have been more impressed. I believe that the guy is the real deal and will be one to watch as the 07 season transpires. Weather or not he manages to beat NH this year, one thing will be clear; he is a future champion in the making.

[goferrarigo 0]

From what I have seen of RK I must say that I have been more impressed. I believe that the guy is the real deal and will be one to watch as the 07 season transpires. Weather or not he manages to beat NH this year, one thing will be clear; he is a future champion in the making.

Yup he has the spirit in him

Can we have NH's profile now, kay?

[Kay 0]

No not at 4am in the morning you couldn't - I was fast asleep.

[Kay 0]

Driver 14: Nick Heidfeld

Height: 164cm

Weight: 59kg

Teammate: Robert Kubica

Races : 117

Victories : 0

Podiums : 5

Pole positions : 1

Fastest Laps : 0

Points : 79

Races finished in points : 31

Heidfeld's Formula One career began in 1997 when he was signed as a test driver by Mclaren and after becoming Formula Three champion he made his racing debut in F1 in 2000 with Prost. He found it difficult though, especially with reliability and moved to Sauber in 2001, staying there until he signed for Jordan in 2004. Still Nick couldn't find a competative edge in his car and hoped that by signing for Williams in 2005 his luck would change, however it did not and despite winning in the previous season, Williams delivered another fairly decent but unreliable car, however the first few races provided Nick with three podiums, so he could at least take some positive from the season, which saw BMW splitting with Williams and taking Heidfeld with them after spending the end of the season out injured. At BMW Sauber, Nick drove well and at some points was impressive against Jacques, but lost ground when the former world champion was replaced with Kubica. This year he remains at BMW Sauber for the second season and arguably his third in concession (BMW were part of Williams) and partners Robert Kubica. In the media he seems very positive for this season which he believes will be his best yet... he's not the only one though. Will he ever win a race?

Note: Tonight will be driver 15 so we will have caught up after Wednesday's blip.

[Jem of the Shire 0]

Nick Heidfeld, the most under-rated driver in F1. Embarrased Webber, embarrassed Villeneuve, and still people dont rate him highly. Kubica gets 1 podium at Monza and suddenly everyone thinks he's now better than Heidfeld. At that Monza race, Heidfeld was bumped onto the grass at the start, lost a load of positions as a result, and later suffered a drive thru penalty. He's consistent and rarely makes silly errors. Deserves a chance in a top car to see what he can really do!

[Sato 0]

Kubica is just plainly overrated, which makes Nick look even more underrated.

[Jem of the Shire 0]

Kubica is just plainly overrated, which makes Nick look even more underrated.

that will all change in 2007. These silly myths surrounding Massa and Kubica will be put to rest!

[Quiet One 15]

Heidfeld-Kubica is the best driver's line-up of all teams, except Alonso-Hamilton. Both Heidfeld and Kubica seem to be excellent drivers, fast and not prone to make stupid mistakes. Hope the car this year is on pair with the drivers they have. Otherwise, it's just a waste of talent.

[pumpdoc 2]

I rate "Quick Nick", at the time(and still do) I thought he should've got the McLaren seat over Kimi..........

[Jem of the Shire 0]

I rate "Quick Nick", at the time(and still do) I thought he should've got the McLaren seat over Kimi..........

yeah I think we all did, but would Heidfeld achieved as much as Kimi did at mclaren? Difficult to tell. If BMW have really jumped up to 3rd best team, then now is his time to shine. If he doesnt shine, then it will be all downhill from here

[pumpdoc 2]

yeah I think we all did, but would Heidfeld achieved as much as Kimi did at mclaren? Difficult to tell. If BMW have really jumped up to 3rd best team, then now is his time to shine. If he doesnt shine, then it will be all downhill from here

Agree.......................

[Quiet One 15]

yeah I think we all did, but would Heidfeld achieved as much as Kimi did at mclaren? Difficult to tell. If BMW have really jumped up to 3rd best team, then now is his time to shine. If he doesnt shine, then it will be all downhill from here

Indeed

[Kay 0]

I rate Nick as someone who is able to deliver at a constant level, but not really someone who is massively fast - that has the advantage of not having many bad days though!

[DarkLord 0]

I rate Nick as Fast but under rated driver.

[aussief1 4]

I like the way that NH just goes about his business with a minimum of fuss. He is one of them drivers who in my opinion do enough to retain their place but for some reason find it hard to do enough to take their driving to the next level. A good driver yes, and a perfect driver for BMW - Sauber. I'm looking forward to the battle between NH & RK this year, NH will have to lift and I believe that he can, just like he did in the last quarter of 06 when RK replaced JV.

[Kay 0]

Driver 15: Rubens Barrichello

Height: 172cm

Weight: 74kg

Teammate: Jenson Button

Races : 236

Victories : 9

Podiums : 61

Pole positions : 13

Fastest Laps : 15

Points : 519

Races finished in points : 110

Barrichello made his Formula One debut in 1993, which saw him in many midfield drives with poor reliability and (inconsistant) pace until 2000 when he signed for Ferrari. It was in this year that he was to see his first, very emotional, race win at Hockenheim and was a good support to the Ferrari team, but failed to do very well in the drivers championship - finishing 4th overall. 2001 was not as good a season for Rubens who failed to win or make any impression that he was a competative driver in the Ferrari, although many began to believe this was not strictly down to Rubens talent alone, but the set up at Ferrari. 2002 saw the 'team order' fiasco, where Michael Schumacher claimed to be trying to finish with the same time as Rubens, the crowd reacted badly and the situation was made worse when Schumacher indicated that Rubens should take the top step of the podium. Rubens continued to play 'number two' in Ferrari and was labelled the lap dog of Formula One. Eventually, Rubens decided a change of team was needed to improve his prospects and so he signed for Honda for the 2006 season, however he did not shine well next to Jenson Button and instead found that during most of the season he had to continually adapt the car to his very different style. Despite this, even at the end of the season, it was clear he still was not completely happy with the car and was beaten by distinct margins in many races. Surely Rubens will be targeting his first podium with Honda in 2007 and perhaps even a race win, otherwise, what will become of his Formula One career?

[Quiet One 15]

Rubinho. I always liked him despite never having delivered a convincing season. He had to struggle with either the worst cars or the worst teammates (even MS fans must concede that it is not easy to be his teammate and shine, right?). He almost died a couple of days before Ayrton (who was his friend), he had to adjust his driving style, he had to run having MS as his team mate and playing second fiddle to him, yet he always kept trying and he did show some stunning performances. I will always maintain that his performances at Stewart were impresive despite the car being utter crap, same goes for Jordan. And his win at Hockenheim will always remain as one of the finest victories of all times.

I doubt he has too much left to give to F1 (unless someone gives him another chance in a decent car) but he DID gave a lot to F1 and for that, he has all my respect.

Wish you the best for this season, good old Rubinho!

(Oh, and the fact that he is rather bald also adds to my respect for him )

[Autumnpuma 0]

Rubens, Rubens Rubens. You've scored more wins than many better drivers have. Be happy with that and bow out of the sport after this year. In other words, stick a fork in him, he's done.

[Sato 0]

He was never that good anyway.