Grid Crasher looks at the big-name drivers yet to score in 2008

1. Nelson Piquet Jnr (Renault)

No points in five races is a tight spot to be in, especially when your team-mate is Fernando Alonso and your car is crap. Piquet Jnr looks the part and he has an impeccable pedigree, but his father’s name is not going to help him drive any faster. Alonso has massively outperformed the rookie Brazilian so far this season, and that’s not about to change. Renault is starting to think seriously about replacing its second-string driver. Its sporting manager, Steve Nielsen, said of Piquet: “He needs to start having more good bits than the bad bits, and he needs to start doing that as soon as he can.”

Verdict: More half Nelson than full Nelson. Won’t last the season.

2. Rubens Barrichello (Honda)

Rubens may now be the most experienced driver in F1 history, but he’s having a horrible season - his highest finish so far is 11th, in Bahrain. He turns 36 next week and we see no reason why Honda should retain his services for 2009 - at this rate, he will be lucky to see out the season. There are rumours of him going to IndyCar in the States - a much more sensible option for Barrichello, who appears to have lost his hunger for F1.

Verdict: When you can’t keep up with Jenson Button, you know something’s wrong.

3. Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India)

Yes, Fisi is in a crap car this year - he’s finished no higher than 10th in his first five races - but that’s no excuse for the amateurish start he made in Turkey at the last GP, when he drove over the top of poor Kazuki Nakajima on the first lap. He should know better. On his day, everyone knows that the 34-year-old Italian can be devastatingly quick - but he hasn’t had one of those days for way too long.

Verdict: Surely there must be hungrier, younger and cheaper drivers out there?

4. David Coulthard (Red Bull)

Why does DC keep going, when he’s so obviously a spent force? Mika Hakkinen thinks it’s because the Scot has still not won a driver’s title, but that’s never going to happen. Coulthard has been unlucky to be involved in so many racing incidents (we call them crashes), but a couple have been of his own making; like Fisi, he should really know better at his age (37). Plus he’s been massively outshone by team-mate Mark Webber. Paddock rumours say DC may be replaced mid-season by Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Vettel. That would be nothing more than the Scot deserves.

Verdict: He’s past his best, by at least a couple of seasons, and should make the switch to TV pundit now.

5. Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso)

The youngest driver ever to lead a GP (he briefly led the 2007 Japanese GP, aged 20), Vettel has been marked as a potential future world champion. McLaren reportedly tried to sign him as a replacement for Fernando Alonso at the end of last season, but the deal never came off. The German has had no luck at all this season, finishing just one race in five, and getting into several on-track scrapes. However, since everyone seems to rate him so highly, his job in F1 looks much safer than anyone else on this list.

Verdict: One for the future. He’s in a rubbish car, but we expect him to finish in the Top 10 at least once this season, possibly in a Red Bull.