A list of drivers below, In no order... well I alphabetised them.. but that's it. So rank these safe hand drivers in the order of best to last. This breed of safe hand drivers are the traveling men of F1 appearing for many teams during their careers and also end up being the old men of F1 due to their longevity. They may not become the hero and bath in glory, they are often #2 drivers and nearly men. They also sometimes get paired up resulting in safe results for their team. So...Who is the best of the rest and who is not so much? Alesi Barichello Berger Brundle Coulthard De La Rosa Fisichella HH Frentzen Heidfeld Herbert Irvine Kovalainen Massa Ralf Schumacher Trulli Webber Also of the current crop of drivers, Who do you think will become a travelling safe hand?
Salo? Maybe not for longevity but always seemed to get decent results in midfield teams and deputised twice for drivers in 1999 at BAR and Ferrari where he was an effective number two for a few races.
In no particular order, I would regard these as safe hands Barichello Berger Brundle De La Rosa Heidfeld Kovalainen Webber The others IMO are not safe hands, down to driving style, penchant for mistakes, accidents ,attitude, inconsistency etc
I'll do a list later but I'm surprised Patrese doesn't get a mention, to 3rd and a 2nd in WDC during the era of Senna, Prost, Mansell, Piquet et al.
he has only has one season at at the worse team on the grid. Where do you expecting him to finish 10th or what.
On his Williams-Renault years alone I'd agree with you on that one. Was Mr Podium for nearly 4 years once they ditched the Judd engine.
Safe hands..... How about Andrea de Cesaris? Do any of these count? Jacky Ickx Robert Kubica Ronnie Peterson
Kubica a safe hand?.......... no he doesn't qualify as he only drove for 2 teams and was a #1 contender in his teams. Ickx was also a contender at one point finishing 2nd a few times. Peterson maybe
I was avoiding putting Hulkenberg on this list as I see him having potential and talent of a winner but the more his chances of going to a top team drags on the more I fear he will only be a midfield runner.
My opinion: Berger Alesi HH Frentzen Heidfeld Webber (currently underrated thanks to being humiliated by Vettel) Trulli (although the Trulli train is boring from a fan's perspective, it can get results which his teammate wouldn't manage with good strategy) Massa Barrichello Brundle Coulthard Fisichella Ralf Schumacher (although if you just consider pre USA '04 crash, he deserves to be higher) Irvine Kovalainen Herbert De La Rosa (I was a fan of his during his junior career, so it hurts a bit putting him last, but based just on F1, that's where I think he goes in this list ) (Well done el_bando, it's rare for me to be enticed into posting on the main board )
