Post here all non technical related topics about Formula One. This includes race results, discussions, testing analysis etc. TV coverage and other personal questions should be in Off topic chat.
Tumbarello wrote:It is impossible to drive a car faster than its potential. I'm sorry but there's no two ways about this.
I agree with this. I think its correct to say that the fastest drivers can drive at 99.9% of the car's potential, and lesser drivers only get like, say 99.5%. If you try to go past 100% then you're overdriving the car, and you'll either lose time or you'll crash
The car has a human potential, this is probably 90% of what the car can possible give.
Just like a fighter plane that uses a computer to control the control surfaces of the wings and tail. A human cannot fly as optimally as the computer.
Guys like Button and Massa are coming close to that comfort limit of 90%, but Alonso or Hamilton are probably getting 98% out of the car.
If the Mp4 26 is 95% as fast as the RB7 and Vettel drives the RB at 90% if Hamilton drives the Mp4 26 at 99% he will be a match or faster than Vettel in a redbull.
You get my drift? There a performance range where getting more out of your package compared to another driver getting less out his superior package could put you in his speed bracket.
At least that's how i see it.
Last edited by ringo on 28 May 2011, 18:40, edited 1 time in total.
ringo wrote:The car has a human potential, this is probably 90% of what the car can possible give.
Just like a fighter plane that uses a computer to control the control surfaces of the wings and tail. A human cannot fly as optimally as the computer.
Guys like Button and Massa are coming close to that comfort limit of 90%, but Alonso or Hamilton are probably getting 98% out of the car.
If the Mp4 26 is 95% as fast as the RB7 and Vettel drives the RB at 90% if Hamilton drives the Mp4 26 at 99% he will be a match or faster than Vettel in a redbull.
You get my drift?
At least that's how i see it.
agreed 100%
“To be able to actually make something is awfully nice”
Bruce McLaren on building his first McLaren racecars, 1970
“I've got to be careful what I say, but possibly to probably Juan would have had a bigger go”
Sir Frank Williams after the 2003 Canadian GP, where Ralf hesitated to pass brother M. Schumacher
ringo wrote:The car has a human potential, this is probably 90% of what the car can possible give.
Just like a fighter plane that uses a computer to control the control surfaces of the wings and tail. A human cannot fly as optimally as the computer.
Guys like Button and Massa are coming close to that comfort limit of 90%, but Alonso or Hamilton are probably getting 98% out of the car.
If the Mp4 26 is 95% as fast as the RB7 and Vettel drives the RB at 90% if Hamilton drives the Mp4 26 at 99% he will be a match or faster than Vettel in a redbull.
You get my drift? There a performance range where getting more out of your package compared to another driver getting less out his superior package could put you in his speed bracket.
To compare 2 drivers in different machinery is like comparing apples and oranges. Pointless, irrelevant, bound to end up as a massive barney and ultimately the thread gets locked. Waste of time and a fools errand to compare Vettel and Hamilton until they are in exactly the same machinery.
Agreed. Comparing drivers in non-identical cars is pointless. Too many variables to allow a comparison.
Comparing drivers in the same car is much more useful. It's possible to compare Hamilton/Button, Rosberg/Schumacher, Vettel/Webber, Alonso/Massa, Schumacher/Massa and Hamilton/Alonso out of the current "cream of the crop". In each comparison, the first named driver has been good enough to finish ahead of the latter in the end of season standings.
Any more than that is fan boy nonsense.
If you are more fortunate than others, build a larger table not a taller fence.
Legends tell of a legendary driver, whose driving skills were the stuff of legend. He traveled the land in search of worthy parts and mechanics for his car. Thank heaven, he did not charge for his awesomeness or atractiveness. Their competitors were no match for his bodacity.
Never before has a driver been so feared... or so loved.
With these two drivers, this is a question you simply cannot answer. There are many ways you could both interpret and therefore answer the question, which makes the responses to this thread nothing more than a matter of perspective and opinion.
Both of these drivers have immense potential, they are young, quick, both hold a WDC and have a very long career ahead of them. They are in the process of carving out a legacy that will be defined not just by driving skill, but they way that they handle themselves mentally on and off the track and deal with the inevitable highs and lows. Lewis has been in a top flight team and has been through bad times since winning a WDC, Vettel hasn't hit that low yet and it will fascinating to see what happens when it eventually does.
We should count ourselves incredibly lucky that we are in the position to watch this unfold. There are 3 drivers that have the ability to entertain us and have the ability to become the stuff of legend. Will we in 15 years time talk about the legend that is Lewis Hamilton winning 5 WDC, or will we rue the lost opportunities and talk about what he could have been, had he kept his cool? Will another German lad dominate our television screens for season after season, or will he slip back into the pack when the cars are on level pegging? Will Alonso's long term gamble with Ferrari pay off and see them come back to the forefront?
Quite simply we don't know and I, for one, am looking forward witnessing this incredible era of F1. It's only just begun.
Agreed. This season with 4 world champions* fighting for wins/titles is as good as it's been for a while. It's a shame for the title fight that one of them is in a dominant car - although that's not his fault of course.
*We can ignore Michael - he's past his best and in a car/team that doesn't help him as in the past. He should have stayed a retired legend rather than returned to tarnish his legacy.
If you are more fortunate than others, build a larger table not a taller fence.
