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In order which of these drivers is the best and why?

I have found myself in a dilemma as which drivers I should pursue with. I have just been upgraded to level 10 and up until now I have been using the standard cheap drivers that I started 6 seasons ago, so they have very low wages however I am in Elite and the competition is starting to heat up now so I want to know which is the better option for me to keep. The 'per click' is the amount they're progressing in training with each click.

So in your opinion in order, which would be the best two drivers to keep, factoring the stats and wages and which two should perform the best?

Driver A 4.5*(10) +16 per click
19T 6C 18ST
8F 5E 0
9S 9F 5'10
11D 8M 77kg
4A 9K age 20
Wage 565k

Driver B 4.5*(10) +21 per click
20T 9C 18ST
6F 3E 0
8S 8F 5'7
10D 6M 62kg
5A 13K age 17
Wage 611k

Driver C 5*(11)Red +3 per click
2T 10C 20ST
10F 13E 0
10S 10F 5'4
11D 10M 51kg
11A 11K age 26
Wage 121k

Driver D 3.5*(8) +37 per click
13T 7C 20ST
7F 3E 0
7S 5F 5'4
7D 5M 51kg
7A 7K age 19
Wage 313k

Driver A and D.
You will want to make sure your wages are under control, and the wages are determined by driver level.
Talent is also important, as that determines how fast the driver is, along with experience.
Full order: A,D,B,C

A is worth paying the wages, and if you put him as an active driver, the experience should help him drive faster round circuits.

D has youth academy driver type wages, and his talent is worth paying the wages for him. Experience will grow over time if active but training will also be a good source of improvement as he improves by 45 each time, as stars also matter.

B has high wages, and putting A and B together will cost you 1.2 million in wages, which will 100% not work, so choose either A or B but not both of them. I decided to put A here as he has higher experience, but B is younger, so you decide where A and B go.

C is not worth keeping at all. (1) He is 26, so training won't be very effective, (2) his talent is low so he won't be able to keep up with the other drivers, but the experience can counteract that and finally, (3) If you do buy him, it will be very hard to sell him on, as I had found when I sold a few drivers with 1 or 2 talent .

I already have these 4 drivers under contract, however I need to keep only two as I simply cannot afford the wages. C has the lowest wages and lowest talent but he is currently the best performer.

How much effect does Talent have over driver stats? Why does C perform better than the rest? How do we know which one should be the better performer without testing and going only on the stats we have?

C probably performs better because either (1) you are using 2 different strategies, or (2) he has higher experience, stars and stats, which make him go faster, if he's performing like you are saying now, keep him and one of the others instead.

This is the link for Driver C
https://igpmanager.com/app/d=driver&id=1327970

yeah, I suggest keeping Driver C instead then, if he's won 4 titles already, but the league you are racing in has 6 managers, which could be the reason why he is superior to the others.

Problem is one of my rivals has bought a 20 Talent young driver and is quickly building his stats, so I am wondering if I keep C would this be wise long-term and how does the performance of the drivers really work ie when does Talent start to play a major part in the driver's performance?

I don't normally take talent into account myself, but it is said that he will be faster than the other driver.
The weight also determines speed, and so does experience, they affect lap times and overall race pace of the driver.
For now, I'd keep him, but when you start losing races to him, you'll know it is time to use a better driver in future races and sell him on.
For now, if C is performing, keep him long term, you should know when it is time for a change anyway.

You lack a critical element in your "question"...you want short term or long term benefits?
You ask for opinions then argue with what is provided....

I'll go at it this way: C is only "better" because he has had a chance to race over 8 years while the others are just starting. It also sounds like you have not had much competition or your opponents are not very tactically savvy.

Short term and blow your budget: A B
Short term to save money: A C
Long term: B D because D can be sold a lot easier

I'll also note that driver C as you linked in post #5 only has a talent of 1, not 2 as you put in the OP

Yes I guess I didn't make myself clear whether it was short term or long term. It's long term that I am wanting but just wondering if it would make any sense to keep C in the long-term plan and then get rid of him and replace when I am a couple of levels higher.

You're correct about me not having much competition but I have now as my partner races against me and knows as much as I do (basic) so we are identical in ability with strategy etc.

Regarding C having 1 talent, you're correct I made a mistake because I actually have two of these guys and the other one has talent 2 but for some reason this guy performs slightly better than him.

I am leaning towards what you suggest and going with BD I just need to see if I can sustain those 930k wages.