Hamilton best driver in F1 next to Vettel... but Vettel not on his level yet

But Is records are all that matters and not what people think. Good post by the way and hopefully I did not come off in any way as disrespectful to you or anyone else .

 

Can't believe I am doing this, but A g r e e with TifosiUSA

 

Alonso, Ham then Vet for me

 

I believe Lewis races with his heart, rather than his head too much...

That's where Seb is on the contrary, maturing very quickly IMO. However I think if you put both in the same car, Lewis will be on pole. But it's maintaing yourself and your car throughout an entire race which F1 (sadly) is all about today. I remember Nico Rosberg told F1 Racing magazine recently that he thought F1 these days reminisces endurance racing too much. It's all about those damn tires and fuel conservation, when it should be all about flat out pace!

Still, F1 wouldn't be the same without them both, and I think Lewis is a great spice and addition to races that can get a bit boring and artificial. I consider him much more of a driver, than a sponsorship-concerned performance robot. Even though it hasn't been going too well for him lately, I'm sure Bernie's glad to have him there to generate extra PR. Hopefully Lewis will claim to at least as many WC's as his great hero, Mr. Senna himself.

 

Last year, Lewis was out of his mind. Now, it seems he's getting back to himself again. I suppose turnoil with Nicole had much to do with it. This year, he's been driving like he used to- with his head. Both Button and Hamilton are great drivers, so McLaren has fantastic drivers and a real shot at the Constructor's Championship. As for Ferrari, Alonso can drive anything, so they are blessed to have him at the wheel. Vettel needs to prove himself "more" in a car that can't compete as well, in order for me to judge him as the best in the field (which I don't)...just my opinion.

 

^^^
Hammy is definitely showing alot more decorum this season than previous years and I have never doubted his skill. He will only get better imho.

 

And like most sports conversations unresolvable.
But fun.

 

How do you explain Perez then? He's got the same car as Kobayashi. Checo will do one stoppers, yet Kamui hasn't done the same.

 

I also disagree as "proof is in the pudding".

JB is also a perfect example of taking care of your tires or the virtues of having a smoother driving style.

 

It's not just wear that degrades tires these days. The way they're brought up to operating temperature has a large effect on how long their grip lasts.
It would be interesting to know if some drivers use up front tires before the rears and vice versa. A driver who wears them equally front and rear should be able to pull longer stints.
Driving style can also explain how some drivers can run on tires that others would find too slippery.

 

agreed, Button manages his tyres better than Hami IMO


not to be off topis, but i was impressed with Senna's lap times, it showed some speed in race.....no predictions about him, but was interesting to note

 

So many variables now David one cannot choose just one, I'm a victim of that aswell.

 

If we're lucky we'll find out what's happening now when the memoirs come out in a few years

 

LMAO, good one!

 

Not at all, Gregg. We're all kindred spirits on here..with a mild proclivity to quibble....

 

There's a difference between being the fastest, and the most complete driver.

Right now, i rank, in no specific order, the drivers above Hamilton..

MS
Alonso
Button
Kimi

 

I agree with your list.

 

This is a difficult one...IMO no one is as good as Shumy was, not even near!!!
At present, i think vettel is the best.
Let´s see, i would choose : Shummi, Kimi, Alonso, Hamilton, Button, Vettel, Rosberg and massa. From this 8 i would trake out Massa (to me he was thes best in 08 and 09) because he clearly as lost it after his accident. I would also take out Button because no matter what, he is slower than Hamilton, and to me f.1 is above all about speed. Nico is to me very, very good, unfortunatly he never had a car to prove it, so i cannot vote on him before he as a chance to fight the others in a winning car. I doubt Shummi is able to be consistently as fast as the best, he is still amazing, i believe if he had the car, he would still be able to win a wdc but at present, i don´t think he is the best anymore. Alonso is to me clearly slower than Hamilton, vettel or Kimi, and he makes some mistakes, a good driver but to me a bit overrated. KImi is probably the most talentde of them all. In raw speed no one can match him, and in his best days he was bullet proof, making no mistakes....i think he´s weak spot is the rain, Hamilton an Vettel are better in this element....this days i´m not sure wich Kimi do we have but, he still looks pretty good to me. Hamilton is fast but not the sharpest one during a race, he also is not as good as Vettel in the rain (although pretty good!!) and he cannot keep his tyres....Vettel´speed is impressive both in qualifiing and in race, he is amazing in the rain, at present i think he is the man to beat.

 

Hamilton best driver in F1? Not even close-i think he's very fast-maybe the fastest on a single lap-but there's so many more factors involved today (race pace/tire management) that if we limit ourselves to last year's results he's not even the best driver on his team. He's in his 6th year of F1 and hasn't matured well IMHO.

Vettel is good and will get better....but IMHO Alonso is currently the most complete race driver in F1.

 

perhaps it really is necessary to list some of the reasons why a fast, single-lap qualifier may continually fail to bring home the points after a full race ...

- may suck at starting from a dead stop
- may be terrible at judging the best time to pass, may feel entitled to a spot that others just "need to vacate"
- may not have the skill to execute a clean pass, even at a correctly-judged opportunity
- may be terrible at tire management over the course of a race
- may be lacking in fuel management over the course of a race
- probably plenty i'm missing

I'm not saying that all of these apply to Hamilton, although some clearly do. I'm just saying that's there's plenty of real reasons why the single, fast-lap qualifier doesn't always equal the "best" driver in F1. And i think last year's McLaren results prove this point in spades.

I hope we continue to see some increased maturity from Hamilton, the dude clearly has more than his share of raw talent.

 

+1

 

+2