Driver predictions for 2017

Interesting that Newey is predicting bigger gaps between cars. That's not good news. Power-wise it sure did seem to me that no one was really close to the performance of Merc. Closer... but not close. Renault would have to make a huge leap. If it really does come down to power, Merc is going to be hard to beat. Even if they have to give up some aero with the suspension, they have the extra power to make it up elsewhere it seems. I think this year will be a repeat of last as I doubt Ferrari will be able to make heads or tails with their car.

 

you from Switzerland or Missouri? lol

 

Switzerland and I don't get the joke

 

Ham, Max or Ricci will be WDC. Depends on if Ham can keep a level head and one of the Red Bull guys getting the consistent advantage over the other.

 

Honestly I doubt that someone will be able to put a fight against Hamilton. Now I´m afraid that he won´t even have to worry about his team mate.

I see that many of you think that Red Bull will be on par with Mercedes. I´ll remember you the huge gap that there was between Mercedes and the rest in 2016. Without a concurrence of unfortunate situations, nasty driving by Mad Max and brain fades from our 4 times world champion, Red Bull could have ended the season even behind Ferrari, so thinking about beating Mercedes is premature.

Unless the current champions get the new regulations totally wrong (it has happened in the past, and I hope it happens again), I think that 2017 will be a quite boring season. Maybe in 2018.

 

Agreed, but I can't remember Newey ever exaggerating something...if anything, he downplays quite a bit...

 

+1

 

Missouri is known as the "show me" state here in the USA. The phrase is now used to describe the character of Missourians; not gullible, conservative, and unwilling to believe without adequate evidence.

Who says you don't learn anything on Ferrarichat?

 

Gotcha! Tks!

 

Hamilton is good, but over the entirety of his career he has driven better cars than anyone in F1 history. Not even debatable.

 

The exact same argument can be made about MS

 

No it can't, sorry. The cars he drove weren't as good as Hamilton has had from day 1.

Not to mention LH has had the luxury of 3 years straight driving a car more dominant than MS ever had. This is backed up statistically.

LH:

2007: Rookie, gets arguably best car on the grid, WDC contender
2008: Arguably best car on the grid, WDC contender
2009: Mediocre car
2010: Good car, WDC contender
2011: Good car
2012: Fastest car on the grid, WDC contender
2013: Decent car
2014: One of the most dominant cars of all time
2015: The most dominant car of all time
2016: One of the most dominant cars of all time

Verdict: WDC capable car 7/10 seasons (70%), 3 with some of the most dominant cars ever (30%)

MS:

1991: Mediocre car
1992: Decent car
1993: Decent car
1994: Arguably the best car, WDC contender
1995: Arguably the best car, WDC contender
1996: Mediocre car
1997: Good car, WDC contender (Williams much faster)
1998: Good car, WDC contender (McLaren much faster)
1999: Good car, WDC contender, but MS hurt so I won't count this
2000: Arguably the best car on the grid, WDC contender
2001: Best car on the grid, WDC contender
2002: One of the best cars of all time
2003: Arguably the best car on the grid, WDC contender
2004: One of the best cars of all time
2005: Mediocre car
2006: Arguably best car on the grid, WDC contender
2010: Mediocre car
2011: Mediocre car
2012: Mediocre car

Verdict: WDC capable car in 10/19 seasons (52.6%), including 2 with some of the most dominant cars ever (10.5%)

Hamilton has had better equipment.

 

Nice to see some maths with this.

 

Except that the math is based on subjective judgements.

And: MS' career was twice as long. Let's see where Hamilton ends up in 10 years.

Regardless: Both drivers had exceptional equipment at times of their careers and thus were able to clinch the title. But (as said here many times before) first they had to earn their drives in that superior equipment. And they did so by being superior.

 

Which judgements are inaccurate? Even if you want to compare the first 10 years of Michael's career with the first 10 of Hamilton, LH has still driven better cars.

Also, Michael never drove a car as dominant as the past 3 years Merc (statistically proven), nor did he drive a dominant car for 3 successive years like Hamilton has, nor did he drive a dominant car in the first 10 years or his career, nor did he waltz into F1 as a rookie and immediately get a WDC capable car. He had to work his way up.

Now if you want to talk teammates, etc. you have a legit argument but there is no question Hamilton has enjoyed better equipment than MSC.

 

You did a good job m8. Just saying that we should not get too carried away with stats based on subjective measurements

 

Schumey was able to take Ferrari out of the "also ran" category by re-building the team into a juggernaut-something that Hammy hasn't done and never will. Hammy shows up and drives a winning car;wouldn't have a clue how to set up a car today-could you imagine him in Lauda's day?

 

Based on Tifosiusa he inherited a mediocre car and turned it into a dominant one

 

It's amazing he made it through karting, Formula Renault, F3, and GP2 and never learned about car setup!

LOL.

You guys are loving the smell of your own farts.

Let's assume what you are saying is true. It actually means he's insanely talented because he can drive anything with no adjustments or communication with his engineer.

 

I don't debate that. I debate discrediting his ability solely on that.

 

Lol, i know youre being facetious but obviously different circumstances. There was a giant rules shakeup. Merc had been working on their 2014 challenger for years in advance and got the drop on everyone. Hamilton had nothing to do with how dominant that car was, if anything Schumacher had more (albeit very little).

Thats like saying Jenson Button turned a backmarker 2008 Honda into a world beater in 2009 through his input. Rules shakeups lead to crazy stuff

 

I agree. Hamilton is obviously a great driver. Anyone that says otherwise is delusional. You dont come into F1 and go toe to toe with Alonso unless youre a mega talent

 

His own team has stated that he just gets in the car and goes fast, that set up and the technical aspects are not his strong suit, so he is not missed in testing per Toto Wolff. He is very fast and a great racer, but has benefitted by being in the most dominant car in the history of Formula 1 for the past 3 years. The only other driver to enjoy such superiority that I am aware of was Mark Donohue in the Porsche 917/30 Can-Am car in 1973 that he was instrumental in developing.

Lewis in the top 5 drivers in the field now, no doubt. Is he better than Alonso, Ricciardo, Vettel and Verstappen, tough to say as he has only had to race Rosberg for the last 3 years. He did not really beat Button during their time at McLaren, yet many say Button was a weak world champion.

I hope for all of us, next year is competitive and someone can compete with Mercedes, otherwise another dull year awaits us.

 

Imagine how fast he would go if he could understand all those pesky buttons and also set up the car properly