Does anyone here rate Sebastian Bourdais?

[AndreaModa]

Now you see in my opinion he's just another in the long line of drivers who have been successful in other forms of motorsport, but can't make the step up to F1. He lived in the shadow of Vettel last season and now after the evidence of Melbourne looks like being outdone by rookie Buemi this year.

Thing as the experienced member of the team now, he should be the one leading the way forward and helping Buemi out. Something tells me that won't be happening this season...

Admittedly with Berger gone the team may struggle more in general anyway but that doesn't excuse Bourdais' driving ability!

So what do we think about the bespectacled Frenchman?

[Ide]

When Sebastién was in F3000, I thought he was an alright driver, not anybody that had the ability to set the world on fire. Thought he looked pretty good when he went to ChampCar, but he actually looked less impressive after each year as the ChampCar field got weaker. When he was beaten by Doornbos at Mont-Tremblant in 2007 I thought he was whining for no real reason, and he acted very unprofessional on the podium and during his interview. Was pleasantly surprised by him at Melbourne last year, but as Vettel got up to speed he got less and less impressive. I don't think he's really a top flight driver, and needs to concentrate on his driving instead of whining so much! He was completely overshadowed by Buemi in Oz, which I found surprising, I just think Sebastién looks less and less impressive at each meeting. Still more deserving of a drive than that "ePIQ fail" over at Renault though

[BB01]

I always got the feeling that the people that were saying how wonderful he was and deserving of an F1 drive were really not taking into account the advantages he had in ChampCar. He was with the best team with a hopeless teammate as the field became less and less strong - of course he was going to win plenty of races.

And has been said, then there's the non-stop whinging....

[AndreaModa]

Still more deserving of a drive than that "ePIQ fail" over at Renault though

haha i think we can all agree on that!

i think Bourdais has definitely earned the title of whinge-meister in the current F1 paddock! unless anyone else has any suggestions?

[Captain Hammer]

Do I rate him?

Kind of hard to tell, actually.

He progressively got better last year, but over the winter he seemed to forget it all. But then, we've only had the one race ...

[RejectSteve]

i think Bourdais has definitely earned the title of whinge-meister in the current F1 paddock! unless anyone else has any suggestions?

Bourdais has it a little difficult that his second season is in the wake of these major technical regulation changes, but with that said it is the same for everybody, save teammate Buemi. If he doesn't get his act together by the European season, he should be dumped for Sato at the end of the year.

If we really want to see him whinge, get Paul Tracy in F1.

[Alexander]

i think Bourdais has definitely earned the title of whinge-meister in the current F1 paddock! unless anyone else has any suggestions?

I still think Alonso is the biggest whinge-meister. He was quiet this winter, but ever since he won his first championship, he felt entitled to complain about everything. He annoyed the crap (can I say that here? Or should I make it "crab"? out of me.

Bourdais is an okay driver, like Webber, Coulthard, Barrichello and Sutil. Pretty good in the junior series, but just not the best of his generation in F1. One day, when everything comes together, he might have a very good result, but he won't take your breath away on a bi-weekly basis.

[Chilled Phill]

i think Bourdais has definitely earned the title of whinge-meister in the current F1 paddock! unless anyone else has any suggestions?

I still think Alonso is the biggest whinge-meister. He was quiet this winter, but ever since he won his first championship, he felt entitled to complain about everything. He annoyed the crap (can I say that here? Or should I make it "crab"? out of me.

Bourdais is an okay driver, like Webber, Coulthard, Barrichello and Sutil. Pretty good in the junior series, but just not the best of his generation in F1. One day, when everything comes together, he might have a very good result, but he won't take your breath away on a bi-weekly basis.

Have to agree with you on that sense, AndreaModa.

In the car, his Prost like approach is certainly a good driving taste in my book. But his off-track remarks can be a little extreme in the moaning sense at times. The last time I recall having any sympathy for Alonso's moaning was back at the 2006 Italian Grand Prix after that joke the stewards called a "penalty" which I think earned them the Reject of the Race for that particular Grand Prix, no?

On the subject of Bourdais, he could do with a little more time, tbh. He's proven he's fast, he just doesn't have the luck, in my opinion - France's answer to Mark Webber in that sense then...?

[captainhappy]

I've been supporting sebastien to carry the champcar flame into the F1 world, which is funny since I'd do anything but support him in the states. Say what you want about the strength of open wheel in america, dominating in a spec series comes down to the driver more than anything else. Ever since I saw him out qualify the field by 2 seconds at road america, I had to give him his due. Or his will to win a classic in mexico city 2006, that is what a champion is made of.

On the other side, more performances like that crap in melbourne and I'd kick him to the curb straight away!

[Cynon]

Sebastien Bourdais I actually rate quite highly (but no better than 14th overall of all drivers last season), but I don't think he's suited to Formula 1 cars and was more at home in Champ Cars. Not quite as hopeless as Michael Andretti, though. All the second-year drivers are going to have a rough time this year, though, because they just got suited to the old regulations, and then a big epic change like this could mean that Bourdais, Piquet (his suckiness will put anything Seabass does in the shade)

About Sebastien Buemi beating Bourdais in Melbourne -- where do each of them specialize? Buemi does very well on low-grip tracks, and seeing as he did better than Bourdais during the off-season testing, is this really a surprise? I sort of expect Swiss Sebastien to be ahead of French Sebastien because they'll both be learning the new cars. If Bourdais gets a third year in F1 and there are no major technical rule changes, he might do very well.

Well, if Bourdais becomes World Champion this season, then I think this thread will have to be inducted in a hall of shame!

[wombat]

I similarly rate Bourdais highly with the Prost-like drivers who get the most from precisiely driving a stable car quickly and smoothly

A modern F1 car however is like a modern fighter plane. It appears that to get the best from it you it has to be a little bit unstable and held on the ragged edge.

I don't think his style suits modern F1 car, although with the current specs and higher levels of mechanical grip, a smooth precise style might be coming back into vogue

[Revelo]

Is he good? Well last year I was not sure initially. Both Toro Rosso drivers seemed to struggle. Then Vettel suddenly bloomed and left no doubt in my mind who the better of the two drivers were. I am surprised that he was kept on over Sato, a driver who might not be the best talent but has tons of determination. Reminds me of Jean Alesi in some respects.

At least this year he has a bit more equal ground alongside Buemi. But if how Melbourne looked is a sign of things to come hes going to be put in his shadow quickly too.

[Captain Hammer]

Revelo, I suspect Bourdais was given the nod over Sato for the sake of keeping a little continuty within Toro Rosso with all the changes that came into effect for this year.

[LukeB]

If Bourdais tries his very hardest, pours his blood sweat and tears into improving himself, pushes himself to his very limits, he may (MAY) reach the giddy heights of dingy competence. The next Jarno Trulli?

[Yannick]

Bourdais' driving style is reportedly better suited to the classic, flowing tracks than to those that have sharp turns in overabundance. Additionally, he's rather experienced in US-style street circuits. Hence his good showings last year in Melbourne, Spa, Monza, Singapore and Fuji. So I guess, he might be one of those drivers who are great on certain tracks and so-so on others.

I guess he's in a similar situation at Toro Rosso as Scott Speed was when his final F1 season began: having been signed at the last minute, his team mate did the bulk of the team's winter testing. So even though Bourdais is back within the same team, he's kind of a late arrival, whilst his rookie teammate is very much settled in already.

Once the Toro Rosso team have a better understanding for their car, they are probably both going to be in the upper midfield, with points in reach on regular occasions. I think Bourdais will do better in Sepang than at the first round.

May he quickly succeed in being uneligible to this site!

[LionZoo]

I may be a little late to the party, but I don't rate Bourdais at all. When the STR came good last year, he was far off of Vettel's pace and this year he's struggling against a rookie that isn't highly rated.

Then again considering I'm probably the biggest Sato fan in North America, I might just be bitter...

[tastyhouse]

I rate him poorly only because he thinks its okay to play tennis in spandex.

[StoneColdSpider]

ive never really rated him at all....
hes a decent driver but nothing special....
he defiently wont ever put in a drive that u will remember forever for the right reasons...

[alvaro3d]

I wish Bourdais get replaced by Sato too, he is not a pussy that cries when the sun hit his glasses or when starts too rain to hard, I know that drivers safety is important but after that horrendous encounter with the wall by Kubica in Canada we can say that a pretty good job has been made there so there is nothing to cry about.

Sign the online petition for the return of Takuma as Toro Rosso's first driver

http://www.petitiononline.com/sato2009/petition.html

[LionZoo]

I think it's the duty of all denizens of F1Rejects (F1Rejectees?) to sign that petition!

[PayasYouDNPQ]

I rate him about the same as other CART/Champcar champions. Very good, but with a slightly different skill set that may or may not transfer over to F1. I'd rate Bourdais below Montoya and Jacques Villeneuve but slightly above Zanardi, da Matta and Michael Andretti. Since 2002 Newman/Haas was so far ahead of everone else that it was difficult to rate the drivers there, and the opposition slowly fell behind over the years.

[thehemogoblin]

I rate him about the same as other CART/Champcar champions. Very good, but with a slightly different skill set that may or may not transfer over to F1. I'd rate Bourdais below Montoya and Jacques Villeneuve but slightly above Zanardi, da Matta and Michael Andretti. Since 2002 Newman/Haas was so far ahead of everone else that it was difficult to rate the drivers there, and the opposition slowly fell behind over the years.

Actually, in my opinion, the opposition fell precipitously when CART lost Ganassi and then Penske.

[PayasYouDNPQ]

I rate him about the same as other CART/Champcar champions. Very good, but with a slightly different skill set that may or may not transfer over to F1. I'd rate Bourdais below Montoya and Jacques Villeneuve but slightly above Zanardi, da Matta and Michael Andretti. Since 2002 Newman/Haas was so far ahead of everone else that it was difficult to rate the drivers there, and the opposition slowly fell behind over the years.

Actually, in my opinion, the opposition fell precipitously when CART lost Ganassi and then Penske.

That was in 2002 like I said, wasn't it?

[thehemogoblin]

I was arguing that it fell faster than you said it did, not when it happened; however, I know that Ganassi and Penske left in different years.

[CarlosFerreira]

Well, Buemi went through to Q3 in Shangai, Bourdais didn't go through Q1. I wished I knew of something was wrong with the car; Buemi hadn't ever driven a race car in Shangai until last Friday...

[captainhappy]

Oh dear Monsieur Bourdais,
I can hear the sound of a wonderful French invention, cranking up in the background.

It's a guillotine.

If he doesn't win this weekend, that could be it. . . . .

[tristan1117]

Well, after seeing him be completely out done by his rookie teammate, finish 11th and still have 2 less points then Buemi means that the guillotine is just moments away. He needs to score some more points quick. HE was showing some signs of speed in the middle of the race but still has nothing to show for it.

[Keirdre]

Taku must be warming up ready now, surely?

[TomWazzleshaw]

Taku has been warming up ever since Melbourne
*Points in Renault's general direction*

Anyways I don't rate Bourdais highly at all.
I think many people were willing to let him off the hook last year because Bourdais had Vettel as a teammate and the fact that it was his first year in F1.

But now he's back on the hook he's got some serious issues to solve or his only drive might be on the XBOX.

[Ross Prawn]

I was quite excited when SB found his way into F1, good Champ car pedigree, surely he would do well.

But......no

Last year was the first year, and well anything can happen.

But this year, he has a good car and a rookie teammate, and still it looks very poor. He's wasting his opportunity.

Actually I don't rate Sato much either, but at least he would produce more entertaining crashes.

Anthony Davidson ..........................

[Paul Hayes]

This can't be true, can it?

http://en.redbulletin.com/articles/airhead_drivers/

But a bad day for Bourdais, who reckoned the race shouldn’t have been run, spun behind the Safety Car, but saved his biggest accident for an hour after the race.

For some reason, he took it upon himself to dry out the inside of his crash helmet. His tool of choice was an airline he found in the team garage – normal operating pressure about a zillion Psi.

So when he switched it on with what his fellow Frenchies would call nonchalant insouciance, the hose and its heavy metal end promptly spun out of his hand and clonked him on the forehead. The result – a bump slightly bigger than the pre-accident head itself.

Will he manage to get a crash helmet over it next Friday when practice starts in Bahrain? Or will David Coulthard, official reserve driver for both Red Bull teams, post the shortest retirement prior to comeback in history.

[Nuppiz]

Well, after seeing him be completely out done by his rookie teammate, finish 11th and still have 2 less points then Buemi means that the guillotine is just moments away. He needs to score some more points quick. HE was showing some signs of speed in the middle of the race but still has nothing to show for it.

Yes indeed, the latest rumors ('nother article I read from Iltalehti) say that Toro Rosso wants Bourdais to make a good result in Bahrain, or else...

Rumored-to-be replacements are Romain Grosjean and good ol' Takuma Sato.

[LionZoo]

The Takuma Sato campaign begins here! He should've started the season in STR anyway.

[Pedro_Diniz]

My only fear is that if they draft in a replacement for Bourdais, that they might outshine Buemi!