There's all this "Alonso rah rah rah Alonso" going on. To me, it certainly appears that Hamilton is a much more capable driver. I want to point out one specific thing: Hamilton is not afraid to overtake Button. Alonso has shown he won't push the edge against Massa. OK, one other thing. Hamilton appears to be more aggressive when battling Alonso directly. I'm thinking back to Australia. If it were the other way 'round, I just don't see Alonso pushing Hamilton like that.
Hamilton is aggressive full stop, in one way it's his achilles heel. Although he did cut his mate Sutil some slack the last race, however he would have probably ended up like Alonso did had he tried. Theres not alot in it IMO between the two of them.
It may just be that Alonso is older and more mature than Lewis. Both are highly capable, motivated and aggressive. Alonso has the edge, IMO, when it comes to judgement at this point.
This is a bit like saying Tsonga is a crap tennis player because he's never been higher than no 6 and is currently 'only' no 10 in the world. Or James Blake. 30yo. currently 51 in the world but peaked at 4. All the drivers in F1 are awesome....just some are more awesome than others. None of them are has beens or never weres. Just the fact that they're driving in F1 is a win. Alonso blew me away with his skill when he didn't falter with all that pressure from MS a few years ago. Aggression is great, controlled aggression is better I reckon.
And just how is Hamilton "much more capable"? Alonso doesn't wreck his tires like LH seems to do and he's less prone to stupid mistakes. If you want to say they are around equal, I would agree with that for the most part, but to say LH is more capable, hogwash!
The no-refueling races are fundamentally tire conservation races. Hamilton has not figured this out, Alonso has to some degree. It is almost impossible to make up for the 30 seconds it takes to get through pit lane in the 10-15 laps of best performance one has on new tires compared to worn tires. Hamilton could not get past Massa and Alonso in the Australian race because he consumed his tires getting up to the back of them at 2 seconds per lap, and had no tires left to get past. This harkens back to the olden days when pit stops basically did not happen. Conserve the car, conserve the tires, and after doing the first two, go as fast as possible.
The McLaren is much harder on its tires than the Ferrari is. It's not just Hamilton being hard on the tires. The McLaren is quicker for a few laps on fresh tires.. they are equal for a few laps, then the Ferrari is quicker for a lot of laps after that. I believe Hamilton has more speed and ability than Alonso, but Alonso is certainly more tempered. In identical machinery, with identical chances, Hamilton beat Alonso, and it would have been by a greater margin, had Hamilton been a bit less aggressive. Nobody could doubt that Hamilton has improved over the last 2 years. Has Alonso? I think he was already at the top of his game - still is. Faced with a choice, I'd take Hamilton every day of the week over Alonso.
I am really impressed with Alonso's chameleon like driving ability. He used to have such an aggressive driving style back in 2005/6 with all-or-nothing turn in. But he has changed his style to adapt to the Mclaren and now he has done it once again to suit the 2010 heavy fuel tire conservation game. The way he was managing in Sepang sans clutch was amazing - kinda got a MS flashback from way back when. Sheer genius. I am glad Ferrari got rid of Raikkonen. I think Kubica is another guy in the same league as Alonso and Hamilton. He is fast and consistent and an awesome racer. Just never had the same opportunities as Alonso or Hamilton to prove himself as a top line racer. Vettel is probably the fastest driver out there but I am not so sure about his wheel to wheel racing abilities - he has never won a race from mid grid spot or even say 8th or 9th position. Last year he was on pole in Turkey but lost out to Jenson in the first few laps. The saving grace is that Vettel is still young and can develop into another Alonso easily enough. I still am giving Michael 4 races to get back up to speed. But it is not looking so good I have to admit. Hopefully he will be able to at least match Rosberg and if not beat him. As a dyed in the wool Shumi fan I am disappointed.
Yeah, he really walked all over Alonso with his 109 points. Oh wait, isn't that how many Alonso won as well? You say that he beat him but I see them with the same exact number of points at the end of the year. Hamilton is the new Alonso. Very aggressive and almost all-or-nothing in his approach. The '05-'06 Alonso was the same exact way. I think Alonso has the same aggression today but can harness it when need be (for example, coming from the back of the grid in Australia but then not risking a potential team accident disaster at the end of the race). He's a much more mature driver, and for that reason I think he's the better of the two. Driving ability I think they're equal, but I'm convinced that sometimes Hamilton doesn't know when to leave good enough alone and it's going to bite him in the ass more than once until he realizes it.
Agree. They're younger also, so we should see some sustained rivalries between talented drivers. I think I'd say that Hamilton is much more risky/aggressive than Alonso, but Alonso is a master at controlling everyone behind him. Vettel just runs away and hides until his car breaks down. He's an excellent technician on the tarmac.
Disagree. Alonso admitted he did not have enough power to pass on a track where passing is next to improbable. With that in mind, why take a chance of wrecking yourself and your teammate early in the season? That, would be stupid. I do not like Alonso, but given the right track, the right circumstance, and the right moment in the season he would be as agressive as anyone else on the track. Just probably not as wrecklessly Hamilton. Additionally, McLaren's Whitmarsh has admitted that so far Hamilton is MUCH harder on tires than Button, so the comment about the McLaren car being the culprit is inaccurate. Hamilton may be better than Button, but Button drives smarter. Spectacular passing during a race to appease the peanut gallery is not as intelligent as finishing a race with as many points as possible.
So far Hamilton has only been racing in F1 with McLaren, and probably always received preferential treatment there too. Hamilton is very combative and is a fighter, even when the car is below par or after some penalties have been inflicted upon him. The guy just drive hard. After his aprenticeship at... Minardi (?), Alonso has been driving for Renault, McLaren, Renault again, and now Ferrrari and has been winning with each team. To me that shows so adaptation skills, which we don't know if Hamilton is capable off. Alonso is more measured in his approach and doesn't bully the car like Hamilton. It's a far more poised drive.
very true, I watched Button every lap of the AGP and it was very obvious he was driving far smoother than most which is how he won the race , by getting the best performance from the tyres ...... Kubica was sensational for someone nobody noticed in the race
You'll notice I never said he walked all over Alonso. But it was Hamilton's rookie year, and fact is that he beat Alonso. It wasn't a tie, Hammy was ahead. And this was considering rookie mistakes like he made in his last 2 races. I'm sure Hammy has improved, and I think Alonso was already at the top of his game. I think there is little doubt that Alonso was at the top of his game in 07.. fresh off two WDC's and having driven good and bad cars through his career and having developed his racecraft. And in identical cars, Hamilton beat him. One could argue they are equal, if one believes Hamilton hasn't improved at all from his very first season. I say that isn't the case.
I think you are right... although I haven't seen lap times of Button after 20 laps on the tires compared to Hamilton after 20 laps on the tires.
you REALLY dislike FA, we get it! yeah, it wasn't a big deal how FA willed that broken gearboxed car around and still produced excellent lap times (where's that 'rolls eyes' icon)your examples are poor ones. perhaps FA won't push Massa and risk a bad outcome because it's early yet, and the 'team' comes first at this point? as the season goes on, FA will not continue to play patty cake. and maybe, just maybe, Mac doesn't really care if Hami and Button duke it out so aggressively this early, as opposed to Ferrari...
well, Whitmarsh has admitted that both guys produce their lap times quite differently...Button doesn't muscle the car around like Hami.
Some said that Button's biggest problem last year was his style was so smooth that his tires didn't get hot enough. Sooner or later someone's going to take notice of Kubica and Renault. No offense to our Russian friend but the car must be pretty good for Petrov to be doing as well as he is. BTW How much does PK Jr. wish he could have kept that seat instead of setting the truck racing world on fire?
