raymondu999 wrote:This is an interesting topic, actually. For example, how do we actually know that the Red Bull was the quickest car in 2010? It could be that it was the McLaren, but the drivers at Red Bull simply brought it to the limit more times (especially in qualifying) or that the McLaren drivers are slow. How do we know how much of a car's speed is driver, and how much is car? We say Kubica outperformed the Renault. How do we know the Renault wasn't of Ferrari level, but Kubica was underperforming? He wasn't after a known benchmark, after all. For all we know the Merc could've been a much slower car than the Renault.
It's that ambiguity that leads to so many disputes between fans who are convinced that their car or driver is the best for whatever reason. I think it would be fair to say that if all the top drivers were in equal machinery that magically suited all their driving styles, then they would all qualify within a tiny fraction of a second of each other. For me the difference between them is in how they get the best from a car that isn't perfectly set up or suited to them, and in their race craft - their ability to recover through the field from problems, and overtake cleanly.
The massive margin by which Red Bull was often able to qualify ahead of the field clearly shows, to me at least, that the car had amazing pace and was the fastest car out there. The McLaren and Ferrari were broadly equal over the course of the season, with each car holding the advantage at certain times in the development cycle and on certain tracks suiting one car more than the other. That is all subjective though, although at least supported by the general opinions in the paddock that you can read about online.
In terms of race craft and the ability to get the most out of the car far more often than not then I would rate Hamilton and Alonso as the best drivers on the grid. Alonso probably just edges it on ability to always set the car up, with Hamilton still making the odd error, but Lewis just edges it on race craft and ability to make his way through the field.
For me, and this is all personal opinion, Vettel is there with them on raw pace but lacks the ability to adapt his driving style to drive around problems and cannot overtake as reliably or cleanly - he's clearly at his best leading from flag to finish. It was reported that when Webber had his run of successes around Monaco time that Vettel was struggling with the driving style required to get the best out of the EBD, but that subsequent changes to the car helped adapt the car back to suiting Vettel's style.
Maybe he will get the chance to prove me wrong next year, but whereas I can see Hamilton and Alonso both being in with a shot at the title if their cars allow, if Vettel doesn't have a car advantage that allows him to routinely qualify on pole and run at the front and instead he has to battle the other drivers in a broadly equal car and fight for every point then I can't see him winning the title. I'm not yet convinced he can routinely snatch victory when he only has equal car performance rather than a distinct advantage - although maybe the adjustable rear wings will help him overtake.
Monty already said he was performing below expectations, and quite often he was pretty far off the pace of Alonso, who was in his first year at Ferrari...
