A Message For The Hamilton Supporters

[Shrieker]

No no no no. Don't tell that to the haters. Alonso and only Alonso was shafted that year according to them

IIRC, Hamilton was going to post a better time than Alonso if not for Coulthard blocking him in rascasse/noghes. I remember cursing Coulthard very well.

[Stradivarius]

I am quite sure I read back then, that Alonso and Hamilton alternated between starting Q3 first in 2007. I believe that this was said during all the discussions about Alonso's penalty after qualifying in Hungary. I would like to emphasize the following statement from the race stewards:

At the commencement of the third period of the Qualifying practice it had been agreed within the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Team ("The Team") that Fernando Alonso would leave the pit exit ahead of Lewis Hamilton in order to benefit from the possibility for purposes of fuel burn allowance of being able to complete an additional lap.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/61373

Hamilton ignored this agreement and went in front of Alonso, and he also ignored repeated requests over the team radio to let Alonso pass. The reason why I mention this is that Hamilton had been faster than Alonso in Q2 (and he was also leading the championship at the time), but he still was asked by the team to yield position to Alonso. Hamilton did a lap of 1:19.301, while Alonso did 1:19:661. So the claims that McLaren decided who should run first in Q3 based on Q2 times do not seem to be correct.

I don't know if the Q2 times is a good measure of the driver's performance back in 2007. I would actually think that the Q3 times gives a better idea, especially under normal circumstances when we could see how much fuel they had been carrying based on when they made their first stop. Q2 was usually no concern for the McLaren (and Ferrari) in 2007, as they usually had a margin of at least 1 second to the 11th fastest driver. I am sure there would be some correlation, as an excellent driver would still be faster than a mediocre driver. But I think this correlation would be greater in Q3 than in Q2, so I don't really see the point of looking at the Q2 times.

[PlatinumZealot]

What if you remove the 3 worst results for each driver? Hamilton was only a baby in 2007.

[raymondu999]

Why 3? Why not 2? Why not 4? Why not eliminate the first year?

[Nando]

They were equal in everything let´s just say that.
Alonso as good as he always is and Hamilton having a yard stick to show to the world he belongs at the very top of driver lists.
(in the top, not necessarily nr1 as that can be discussed for enternity)

Was a great season to watch, now let´s just hope Vettel gets to have one of them as his teammate in the future.
Always nice to compare drivers in the same machinery and see how they deal with everything.

[raymondu999]

Always nice to compare drivers in the same machinery and see how they deal with everything.

Yeap. One of the reasons why I was so disappointed that Webber didn't go Ferrari - we would at least have had some deductive conclusions based on how Vettel and Alonso both fared against Webber.

[PlatinumZealot]

Webber himself is too variable for a yardstick. The only way is for Vettel to join Alonso not 2015, not 2014 but 2013!

[raymondu999]

not 2015, not 2014 but 2013!

I'm curious about this bit. Please explain why.

[WhiteBlue]

Webber himself is too variable for a yardstick. The only way is for Vettel to join Alonso not 2015, not 2014 but 2013!

There are wishes that are realistic and others that sound unrealistic when subjected to some scrutiny. The Vettel to Ferrari saga is one that got played out to lesser probability this season.

I don't doubt that Vettel intends to drive for Ferrari at one stage in his career probably when Red Bull comes off their current high. It is also a convenient plot to increase his salary negotiation power. But the red camp used the issue cleverly in their attempt to destabilize him mentally at a crucial point in the WDC campaign this year. It has made such a move very unlikely for several years. I don't see Vettel at Ferrari anytime before 2016.

2014 will be another opportunity for Newey to use his superior talent for ground braking concepts in chassis design and packaging. I doubt that any competitive advantage of Ferrari or Mercedes over Renault would be able to cancel out that advantage.

So the earliest time for Ferrari to break the strangle hold of Newey at the top slot would be 2015 IMO. If that happens they could have a nice opportunity to lure away Vettel for 2016 when Alonso nears the age of retirement. That could be a realistic scenario IMO. I would not mind five Red Bull/Vettel championships in a row to match Ferrari/Schumacher's winning streak.

[raymondu999]

I doubt that any competitive advantage of Ferrari or Mercedes over Renault would be able to cancel out that advantage.

I think the level of unknown-ness will make taking conclusive statements quite useless.

[PlatinumZealot]

not 2015, not 2014 but 2013!

I'm curious about this bit. Please explain why.

Only because Alonso's skill will only degrade as he ages.

As per Vettel to Ferrari I think it is inevitable, but at being realistic, Whiteblue is right that it may be another 4 to 5 years before we see him there. A 30 year old Vettel in his prime at Ferrari.

[Nando]

I want to see Hamilton versus Vettel, a real dog fight.
I mean who in their right mind would say no to that?

(because i just wrote that people will obviously not concur)

[raymondu999]

I'd love to see any of Hamilton-Vettel-Alonso as teammates to be honest - even if it's Alonso vs Hamilton again. though sadly given that there are only 2 cars per team in F1, it would have to be 2 out of 3.

[Nando]

The best part about being an F1 fan is that the movie "Formula 1" changes it´s story every single time you hit play"
This is why i love F1. There´s just no substitute...

[ArchAngel]

Straying off-topic now but, wouldn't it be cool if HAM & ALO (& maybe RAI, too) also got invites for this (or next) year's Race of Champions? VET & MSC are already regular returnees for team GER. Team UK/GBr always gets their butts kicked with BUT & DC representing. I think it would be good fun to see F1's cream-of-the-crop going up against each other in equal (albeit non-F1) machinery.