Hamilton vs Rosberg and Button vs Perez in 2013

[GrizzleBoy]

Well just think how many times Checo being on the podium was influenced by qualifying outside of the top ten and having a tyre strategy advantage.

He won't be able to do that with a McLaren.

He would happily qualify in 15th if it meant his first stint was longer/stronger. I guess you could say driving slower made Perez faster overall.

He'll need to push the limits from now on whenever he can and will not have the same cushion of "only" driving a Sauber when things don't go well.

Not saying he can't do it, but I think it might be tough at first.

[kaller]

I'm for Hamilton / Button. Hamilton for obvious reasons, it will be interesting to watch how Rosberg will perform compared to Hamilton. Although I think the gap won't be that much as some people think it will be.
Button and Perez will be closer I assume, but I think Button can pull it off as he has more experience and sometimes has those good races where he is really quick and without any errors. In 2014 however things might very well look different.

[zyphro]

Most will expect Rosberg to get trounced, I think most will be surprised.

I highly doubt Hamilton will be made mandatory number 1 - Nico gets racy and feisty when his team-mate is put into the equation.

[raymondu999]

Most will expect Rosberg to get trounced, I think most will be surprised.

I highly doubt Hamilton will be made mandatory number 1 - Nico gets racy and feisty when his team-mate is put into the equation.

Yup: Equal status: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/102913

[Nickel]

I picked Rosberg and Perez. I think Hamilton and Rosberg will be on surprisingly similar footing. I feel like Rosberg will have a chip on his shoulder. Being paired with Schumacher was a bit of a loose-loose. When he outperformed Schumacher, it was Micheal who is over the hill, so I think Rosberg will throw the kitchen sink at proving he can beat "one of the top 3 drivers in F1". It will be really interesting to follow this one.

I would actually be surprised if Button outclassed Perez...

[NathanOlder]

Perez wont beat Button, as someone already said (sorry forgot who it was) Perez has had his best races starting outside the top 10. So he could start on newer and different tyre compounds. Which does suit his style and gets results every now and again. In a Mclaren he wont have that luxury and will struggle as his Qualy pace is not great. Just like Jenson vs Lewis. Dont get me wrong, Perez is class but i dont think he will out class Jenson. not in 2013 anyway.

GP2 results dont flatter him either, 2nd fiull season in GP2 he ws beaten by Maldonado by 16 points in a 10 point format. This despite Maldonado not scoring a point in the last 5 races!

[NathanOlder]

I have just looked at the results for Perez and it doesnt look good when starting inside the top 10. Every race he has started inside the top 10 and had to use the tyres he qualified on, he hasnt scored a single point! So if he doesnt get his tyre advantage, he doesnt score. He has had 5 starts inside the top 10. The one time he scored points was in Malaysia, and that was started on Inters. the other 4 races were China, Bahrain, Spain and Spa. finishing 11, 11, DNF, DNF.

So is he as good as people make out ? just putting that one out there.

[GrizzleBoy]

It was me who hinted at Perez gaining through qualifying slowly.

Perez has effectively been able to go fast by going slow on his tyres.

Qualifying 15 or 17 (where he started from for two podiums) means he's barely pushing the tyres (especially when most of the cars behind you have no KERS at that part of the grid, so he could stay out longer on the alternative strategy and use his tyres in the race instead of putting hard quali laps on them.

Qualifying down there in a McClaren is not going to be acceptable.

They want their TV spot, possibly with a new gesture. The Perez "fist pump" maybe. The "Mexican Wave" even.

After pushing hard to qualify, he will no longer be the guy who seems to barely use his tyres as he will have to keep pace with front running drivers on similar tyre wear throughout the races.

[phillippe]

I have just looked at the results for Perez and it doesnt look good when starting inside the top 10. Every race he has started inside the top 10 and had to use the tyres he qualified on, he hasnt scored a single point! So if he doesnt get his tyre advantage, he doesnt score. He has had 5 starts inside the top 10. The one time he scored points was in Malaysia, and that was started on Inters. the other 4 races were China, Bahrain, Spain and Spa. finishing 11, 11, DNF, DNF.

So is he as good as people make out ? just putting that one out there.

That's insightful, as are the GP2 results, and McLaren would have made a similar analysis. Given DiResta's and Hulkenberg's availability, and overall career record of all the three, one would wonder if it is the commercial aspects that tilted McLaren's decision in Perez's favour.

[raymondu999]

What do you folks think though? Will he win races? Or at least A race?

[phillippe]

What do you folks think though? Will he win races? Or at least A race?

Assuming that the MP4-28 would have the same relative performance advantage of MP4-27, he should win at least one race (of course, barring reliability and pit crew mistakes). However, in my view, Button will comfortably finish ahead on overall points. Qualifying would be closer, but Button still leading Perez.

[NathanOlder]

Yeah, I agree. Perez will be decent enough, but as the thread title states I am just saying Button will be better than Perez in 2013.
As for Lewis & Nico its easy to say Lewis. Its tough to decide how good Nico is, He has a team mate who is retiring for a second time, and we all know Michael isnt as good as he used to be and Nico hasnt made Michael look slow. Going back to the Williams days, Nico had 4 years (i think) and only really dominated Nakajima in the last year he was there. Wurz certainly showed Nico was not anything special. If you compare that to Lewis' in his forst 2 years it makes Lewis look so much better. I still cannot believe Lewis matched if not bettered Fernando Alonso in the same car. Fresh Double world champion!

So after looking at this, Im saying Lewis over Nico.

[Shrieker]

Rosberg is most definitely a better driver than Button. Button could never have won a race with MGP in the past 3 years, yet Rosberg has. He has scored all the podiums MGP has achieved so far - bar one. Hamilton is entering the lion's den. But, is he aware ?

Maybe Hamilton's only advantage will be the fact that Rosberg has been underperforming lately. If he caries that into 2013, Lewis' job will be somewhat easier. But I fully expect Rosberg to return to form.

[fausto cedros]

Anyone speculating on perez performance being originated by being slow. Questionable. No one speculating on hamilton likely performance in a chassis that's been a hopeless tire eater for three years in a row now. Interesting.
Then, the whole button a mean driver and ham showing the real value of the car affair: there's much more to it than that.

[JimClarkFan]

If Lewis hasnt been able to embarrass Jenson, how will Perez manage this? Lewis has looked good against Jenson in 2 of the 3 seasons together. I think in the first year Perez wont have a chance at finishing infront of Jenson in the WDC.

Perez can be very fast. Him on the podium has shown that he can be fast but also gentle on the tires. Whether this is due to overall Sauber strategy or his skill I do not know, but I think Perez will have the outright speed and determination of Lewis, but is still young enough and GROWING enough to listen to strategies concerning saving tires.

Perez doesn't look anywhere near as fast as Lewis. His qualifying positions has never suggested that he had a ton of speed, what he seems to have though is a good head on his shoulders.

Rosberg is most definitely a better driver than Button. Button could never have won a race with MGP in the past 3 years, yet Rosberg has. He has scored all the podiums MGP has achieved so far - bar one. Hamilton is entering the lion's den. But, is he aware ?

Maybe Hamilton's only advantage will be the fact that Rosberg has been underperforming lately. If he caries that into 2013, Lewis' job will be somewhat easier. But I fully expect Rosberg to return to form.

Lewis is surely aware, he raced with Rosberg when they were younger. There is no doubt that Rosberg and Hamilton are both fast, however I'm going to go with the consensus that Hamilton has the edge on speed.