My point is that there may have been more speed in the car to begin with. Clearly Gio has stepped up his qualy efforts recently, but if someone like him can make Q3 a few times, what would a top ten driver be able to do with that car throughout the whole season? I do think they’ve been somewhat hampered by their…

Thankfully, Schumacher has not caused any damage yet.

Should they be?

For a rookie, I’ll take speed over consistency every single time. But it’s A leading and intentionally deceptive way of phrasing the question, anyway. Unlike Mick, Tsunoda was a rookie in the series, and is 14 months younger. Take away the growing pains of his first three F2 events, and Tsunoda would’ve handily won…

I mean, it could say something about the car. Perhaps it’s been a little better than people give it credit for, and it should’ve been up in the top 10 more often. I don’t see Gio getting into Q3 a couple of times as a sign of his speed; particularly when it happens when Kubica is his teammate.

Technically, no. But he’s probably the best junior right now, and he’s already borderline ready at 18. Unlike Schumacher, he has superstar potential. I just don’t see any situation where he doesn’t get to drive an Alfa in 2023.

Because Tsunoda was better.

I hear ya. He’s certainly done OK for the most part. I just don’t really see why Alfa would give him the drive when it’s going to be a one-year deal with Pourchaire coming in... doesn’t really seem to make sense for either party. I would assume the short-term $ from Guanyu Zhou is a more likely option. The longer…

Just to get this straight: you’re talking about the guy who ended pretty much every F1 related item last year with ‘Vettel, retire bitch’?

Thanks. And I agree with your assessment insomuch that Lance certainly has grown as a driver. While I don’t think he’s one of the twenty best drivers in the world, he certainly can hold his own in F1 nowadays without getting embarrassed.

That’s not really fair. While Hülkenberg has had chances at a podium and thrown them away, in general he’s a faster and more consistent driver. Stroll’s podiums all came in races where crazy shit happened.

Problem is, we have these things called junior teams...

To be fair, 3 of Mazepin’s retirements weren’t his fault. And Schumacher has caused a lot more damage than Nikita.

Giovinazzi’s qualy speed this season is all about perception.

Well, sort of. He ain’t bad, but he’s no mega-talent. His teammate won more races in his rookie season than Mick did in his two-year F2 career.

It’s probably another year of laughing at Giovinazzi mistakes, or the benefit of a short term funds increase that comes with giving Guanyu Zhou a seat.

Williams gave Lance a drive because Lawrence bought him the seat. They would’ve never signed an 18 year old Lance on merit. Simple as that. Racing Point only took on Lance AFTER Lawrence’s group purchased Force India in mid-2018, with Lance debuting for the team in 2019.

14 of 16 poles for Mansell, about half of which were by more than a second from the next guy.

So you decided to go with 1992 as your example of ‘back when F1 was good’? Bold choice.

That’s not correct. Currently, drivers can get a free practice only SL by competing in 6 F2 events or if they have 25 SL points. It’s how Latifi managed to got some FP1 running back in 2019.