Scuderia Toro Rosso has announced that Alexander Albon will drive for the team in the 2019 Formula 1 season, alongside Daniil Kvyat. The 22-year-old British/Thai finished third in the Formula 2 Championship this year, having been in the running for overall victory until the final race.
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I'm just going to put this out there, but Perez or Sainz in a McLaren have a bigger chance of getting a wdc than bottas has in the mercedes. He's not close enough to Lewis to actually fight him for a wdc, so even if mercedes have the best car on the grid, he still won't be able to beat his teammate.
On the other hand, if you're just a good driver and, by some freak accident, McLaren end up having the best car, you've hit gold. They're not Williams yet, as they still have a good engineering team behind it, excellent budget and excellent facilities. With all the other tip seats taken, it's not a bad choice if you're looking to the future and you're not a top F1 driver.
Couldn't disagree more. If you are on a top top car like merc has been the last years, you can always win a WDC. Just look as Rosberg.
Rosberg was way, way more competitive with Hamilton than Bottas has displayed thus far, so its rather disingenuous to reduce Rosberg's Championship to simply 'the car'.
Over the course of their 4 year partnership:
Rosberg scored 1190 points to Hamilton's 1334 - 89.2% of Hamilton's total.
Rosberg managed 50 podiums to Hamilton's 55 - 90.9% of Hamilton's.
Rosberg had 22 wins to Hamilton's 32 - 68.75% of Hamilton's.
Bottas so far:
449 points relative to Hamilton's 594 - 75.6% of Hamilton's total.
18 podiums to Hamilton's 23 - 78.3% of Hamilton's.
3 wins to Hamilton's 14 - 21.4% of Hamilton's.
Rosberg was simply much closer to Hamilton throughout - including 2013 when Mercedes did not have a dominant car.
There is some truth to the statement that Rosberg was fortunate to win a Championship - Hamilton's Malaysia engine blow-up was ultimately all that separated them. I.e. 1 DNF. Bottas would need 3 to 5 DNFs from Hamilton to have any chance of gaining parity with him.
Look rosburg is a quick driver no question, but come on. He was in the Merc when it was 1.5 seconds faster than any other car. He, like all the other drivers at that time, except Lewis, would have never won a championship without being in that Merc at that time. It was a 2 horse race for years due entirely to that car. So yea those years (and other years for other teams) it really came down to the car mostly. But nobody is, well I'm certainly not, questioning rosburgs speed, but it's not dispariting, imo, to say those years the championship was mostly the car. Winning in a car that should not win, imo, those are the championships when it's almost pure driver skills and it becomes inarguable that driver has skills that surpass, well basically, the grid. Just my 2 cents. Peace-
Couldn't disagree more. If you are on a top top car like merc has been the last years, you can always win a WDC. Just look as Rosberg.
Rosberg was way, way more competitive with Hamilton than Bottas has displayed thus far, so its rather disingenuous to reduce Rosberg's Championship to simply 'the car'.
Over the course of their 4 year partnership:
Rosberg scored 1190 points to Hamilton's 1334 - 89.2% of Hamilton's total.
Rosberg managed 50 podiums to Hamilton's 55 - 90.9% of Hamilton's.
Rosberg had 22 wins to Hamilton's 32 - 68.75% of Hamilton's.
Bottas so far:
449 points relative to Hamilton's 594 - 75.6% of Hamilton's total.
18 podiums to Hamilton's 23 - 78.3% of Hamilton's.
3 wins to Hamilton's 14 - 21.4% of Hamilton's.
Rosberg was simply much closer to Hamilton throughout - including 2013 when Mercedes did not have a dominant car.
There is some truth to the statement that Rosberg was fortunate to win a Championship - Hamilton's Malaysia engine blow-up was ultimately all that separated them. I.e. 1 DNF. Bottas would need 3 to 5 DNFs from Hamilton to have any chance of gaining parity with him.
Look rosburg is a quick driver no question, but come on. He was in the Merc when it was 1.5 seconds faster than any other car. He, like all the other drivers at that time, except Lewis, would have never won a championship without being in that Merc at that time. It was a 2 horse race for years due entirely to that car. So yea those years (and other years for other teams) it really came down to the car mostly. But nobody is, well I'm certainly not, questioning rosburgs speed, but it's not dispariting, imo, to say those years the championship was mostly the car. Winning in a car that should not win, imo, those are the championships when it's almost pure driver skills and it becomes inarguable that driver has skills that surpass, well basically, the grid. Just my 2 cents. Peace-
This discussion has been conducted endlessly. There has practically never been an instance of a driver winning the championship without driving the fastest car.
The only examples that spring to mind are instances where leading drivers suffered terrible injuries mid-season. James Hunt beating Niki Lauda in 1976 being one. Keke Rosberg winning in 1982, as a result of Didier Peroni breaking his legs and missing 5 races being another.
Having the fastest car is the largest determinant of success; beating your teammate the next largest factor. Rosberg was able to compete against Hamilton far more successfully than Bottas has shown thus far; the fact he won a championship doing so is irrelevant.
Couldn't disagree more. If you are on a top top car like merc has been the last years, you can always win a WDC. Just look as Rosberg.
Rosberg was way, way more competitive with Hamilton than Bottas has displayed thus far, so its rather disingenuous to reduce Rosberg's Championship to simply 'the car'.
Over the course of their 4 year partnership:
Rosberg scored 1190 points to Hamilton's 1334 - 89.2% of Hamilton's total.
Rosberg managed 50 podiums to Hamilton's 55 - 90.9% of Hamilton's.
Rosberg had 22 wins to Hamilton's 32 - 68.75% of Hamilton's.
Bottas so far:
449 points relative to Hamilton's 594 - 75.6% of Hamilton's total.
18 podiums to Hamilton's 23 - 78.3% of Hamilton's.
3 wins to Hamilton's 14 - 21.4% of Hamilton's.
Rosberg was simply much closer to Hamilton throughout - including 2013 when Mercedes did not have a dominant car.
There is some truth to the statement that Rosberg was fortunate to win a Championship - Hamilton's Malaysia engine blow-up was ultimately all that separated them. I.e. 1 DNF. Bottas would need 3 to 5 DNFs from Hamilton to have any chance of gaining parity with him.
Look rosburg is a quick driver no question, but come on. He was in the Merc when it was 1.5 seconds faster than any other car. He, like all the other drivers at that time, except Lewis, would have never won a championship without being in that Merc at that time. It was a 2 horse race for years due entirely to that car. So yea those years (and other years for other teams) it really came down to the car mostly. But nobody is, well I'm certainly not, questioning rosburgs speed, but it's not dispariting, imo, to say those years the championship was mostly the car. Winning in a car that should not win, imo, those are the championships when it's almost pure driver skills and it becomes inarguable that driver has skills that surpass, well basically, the grid. Just my 2 cents. Peace-
Lewis would also have been unable to win a championship without being in the Merc.
I think it's very important to know that Rosberg had the full support of the Mercedes AMG F1 team. He was there before Hamilton, he worked (and suffered) in the years before collecting places in the midfield but catching a glimpse of what was going to happen.
Rosberg could crash into Hamilton and he would get away with it. While Bottas is clearly a 2nd rider that needs to know his place and will never fight Hamilton like Rosberg did.
It can simply be stated: if you can't beat your teammate over the course of a season then you have zero chances of getting the WDC. Rosberg was able to beat his teammate (doesn't really matter how) and they had the fastest car. What the drivers can control is the first part of that statement. For a driver that's just below the top tier of drivers, being in a team that's in a slump, but has a chance to recover it's way better than being the #2 driver in a top team. Realistically, is Kimi any closer to winning the WDC than Sainz or Hulkenberg? Not really.
You could win the championship by finishing 2nd to your team mate in every race.
Two ways,
1. would be your team mate being excluded from the final standings (like schumacher in 97)
2. Your team mate being replaced mid way through the season
GoLandoGo
Lewis v2.0
King George has arrived.
New found love for GT racing with Assetto Corsa Competizione on PS5 & PC
It can simply be stated: if you can't beat your teammate over the course of a season then you have zero chances of getting the WDC. Rosberg was able to beat his teammate (doesn't really matter how) and they had the fastest car. What the drivers can control is the first part of that statement. For a driver that's just below the top tier of drivers, being in a team that's in a slump, but has a chance to recover it's way better than being the #2 driver in a top team. Realistically, is Kimi any closer to winning the WDC than Sainz or Hulkenberg? Not really.
If Kimi had the reliability of Vettel and a bit more luck, he would be a title contender this year.
Same goes even more for Bottas, great consistent drives this year, just bad luck.
And imo many people still don't give Rosberg the credit he deserves. Many are making it sound as if he was nowhere in the years Hamilton won a title at Mercedes and he just got a lucky break.
Thank you really doesn't really describe enough what I feel. - Vettel
Exactly. Rosberg beat Hamilton on numerous occasions in qualifying too. He deserves full respect for that. Rosberg was way underrated. My guess he would give anyone on the grid a hard time, including Vettel and Alonso.
Not for nothing, Rosberg's Championship is the only thing that lends credibility to Hamilton's recent success. Otherwise, he'd just be the guy who's had the best car. — bhall II #Team44 supporter
It can simply be stated: if you can't beat your teammate over the course of a season then you have zero chances of getting the WDC. Rosberg was able to beat his teammate (doesn't really matter how) and they had the fastest car. What the drivers can control is the first part of that statement. For a driver that's just below the top tier of drivers, being in a team that's in a slump, but has a chance to recover it's way better than being the #2 driver in a top team. Realistically, is Kimi any closer to winning the WDC than Sainz or Hulkenberg? Not really.
If Kimi had the reliability of Vettel and a bit more luck, he would be a title contender this year.
Same goes even more for Bottas, great consistent drives this year, just bad luck.
I personally don't think that's the case, Kimi has been in the red car for almost 4 years now and he has been outscored by both Alonso and Vettel. I'd say that luck evens out over such a long period.
And imo many people still don't give Rosberg the credit he deserves. Many are making it sound as if he was nowhere in the years Hamilton won a title at Mercedes and he just got a lucky break.
Completely agreed and said as much. Rosberg was close to Hamilton and a top driver in his own right. Different style, different strong/weak points, but a very very good driver. Kimi and Bottas are consistently a couple of tenths behind their teammates.
Rosberg is an amazing driver, my points was just that he is worse than Ham and still got the title, thanks IMO to some luck with Ham reliability.
I just think it is a fair statement to say that you are closer to win a WDC being the n.2 in the dominant team (just need some bad luck/mistakes/crashes on the other seat) than if you are in a McLaren Renault. McLaren doesn't seem to be able to produce a good midfield chassis for years now (4/5?) neither will it be easy to win against the Renault team with their own engine.
To be honest, I don't get the obsession that many believe that it's better to be the better driver at a midfield team then 2nd best at the best team. In case of Valtteri; he is being measured against one of the very best and proven drivers of F1. To win a race, a qualifying or more is always good for your CV. Lets face it; The very least drivers will ever get an opportunity to win a WDC, even if they happen to drive for one of the works-teams. I don't know how many drivers have competed in the F1 championships since the last 20 seasons, but only a handful of drivers won the championships during that time: Häkkinen (2), Schumacher (5) , Raikkonnen (1), Hamilton (4), Vettel (4), Alonso (2), Rosberg (1), Button (1). 8 drivers. Accounting for the last 10 years, the count drops to 4 drivers.
It's a reality that most drivers who compete in this sport will never win one. Personally, I'd rather be a close enough 2nd against possibly the best, then all the way down the best in 7th or 8th. And with enough resilience, you can win and you're still a lot closer than doing that same accomplishment from all the way down the field. And since the 'formula' is always changing, who knows, even a worse driver can suddenly become the quicker one if that car or particular formula suits him.
Also; If you continue to drive against the best in the same team; you have a benchmark, learn how to improve and better yourself. If you're the best at your team; Who is to say you are actually pulling out the maximum out of your car if your only benchmark is a slower team-mate?
Not for nothing, Rosberg's Championship is the only thing that lends credibility to Hamilton's recent success. Otherwise, he'd just be the guy who's had the best car. — bhall II #Team44 supporter
Rosberg is an amazing driver, my points was just that he is worse than Ham and still got the title, thanks IMO to some luck with Ham reliability.
I just think it is a fair statement to say that you are closer to win a WDC being the n.2 in the dominant team (just need some bad luck/mistakes/crashes on the other seat) than if you are in a McLaren Renault. McLaren doesn't seem to be able to produce a good midfield chassis for years now (4/5?) neither will it be easy to win against the Renault team with their own engine.
In 5-10 years, who has more chance to win, Force India (or whatever will be called) or McLaren?
Apparently so, but I think if anything, it only rules out a 2018 switch. I think they're still in talks for 2019. But lots of observers believe Lando is already as good as signed for 2019. I still think there's a good chance that Esteban will move to Mclaren in 2019.
Q: (Stefano Mancini – La Stampa) Kimi, will you help Vettel to win his championship this year?
Kimi Raikkonen: I can only drive one car, obviously.
@2018 Singapore Grand Prix drivers press conference.
