Hamilton vs Vettel, which is better?

[kfzmeister]

Tell you what, Vettel and Hamilton in the same team, i would like to see! I think it would be a nazty dogfight all season. Sorta like ROS and HAM last year, without VET backing down like the puss that ROS is! VET ego is huuuuge and he would fight dirty (like the claim that he immediately contacted his lawyers after MULTI 21!).
It would be like the two Mercedes boys in Spa, except all year long!
I could give you my opinion on who would win that year, but honestly who really knows!
#FuerzaALO!

[Rollo]

Vettel won 4 WDC in a very dominant REDBULL, beating Alonso in a comparatively inferior Ferrari along the way. The question that most fans have been asking was; would Vettel be able to beat Alonso or Hamilton, driving the same car? Mind you this list, use to include Raikonen, whom Vettel is comprehensively beating at the moment.
...
The real question remains; how would Vettel fair, if he were teammates with either Alonso or Hamilton?

Alonso has come 2nd to Vettel thrice in cars that were relatively rubbish. The 2012 season though give the answer away for me though. In 2012, Alonso scored no pole positions and no fastest laps yet still scored 3 GP wins and 2nd in the title.
Alonso is better than Vettel at getting something from the car.

I think:
Hamilton > Alonso > Vettel > Raikkonen.

[rjbetty]

Uhoh well this is a proper can of worms now released isn't it?

Not an easy one, totally depends what you mean by 'better'. I think when Hamilton is on form he's the best out there, faster than Alonso, and faster than Vettel too. I would like to see what an on-fire Grosjean would achieve though.

Totally agree with Steveaki. If I had a dominant car, I would give it to Vettel first rather than Hamilton. If 'better' means who scores the most points, I would put Vettel.

However, Black Knight makes a totally rad claim which I'm on board with, is that Vettel under pressure might not lok so hot and metronomic. I believe Hamilton has been paired with much higher-calibre team-mates than Seb.

Look who Vettel has had: Liuzzi, Bourdais, Webber (who was subjugated by RB and aging in F1 terms), a completely past-it Kimi (this is why he wanted him at Red Bull for 2014)... and Ricciardo. Only one really good team-mate (who was in decent circumstances) and look what happened.

Hamilton however has had Alonso(!), the underrated imo Kovalainen, Button in his absolute prime, and Rosberg in his absolute prime years too...

It's easy to forget that all this Pirelli DRS saving everything crap probably plays against Hamilton more than most drivers, just look at Webber post 2010, yet Hamilton still makes a great case for being the best.

Hamilton has always seemed more likely to mess up, but he has always had tougher team-mates who will punish any slip much more.

Then again Hamilton has never been comprehensively outperformed as Vettel was in 2014. Button did score more points than him in 2011, and even outqualified Lewis 6 times out of 19, but we can see that though it was Lewis' fault a lot of points were lost, it was not due to being 'outperformed'.

Worth noting that 2011 was Button's best ever season while simultaneously being Lewis' absolute worst, and he only lost 2nd in the championship due to his own meltdown, as opposed to simply not being good enough.

If they were team-mates I'd suggest Hamilton would definitely have higher highs and be the fastest, but Vettel would play the percentage game a la Nick Heidfeld) and maybe come out with more points.

[rjbetty]

Alonso has come 2nd to Vettel thrice in cars that were relatively rubbish. The 2012 season though give the answer away for me though. In 2012, Alonso scored no pole positions and no fastest laps yet still scored 3 GP wins and 2nd in the title.
Alonso is better than Vettel at getting something from the car.

I think:
Hamilton > Alonso > Vettel > Raikkonen.

I think Alonso was on pole at Britain and Germany in 2012, both being wet. I agree though that there's no way that Alonso wasn't better than Vettel in both 2010 and 2012. I've noticed people criticising Alonso for throwing away those titles while saying Seb did the better job. It's interesting how there can be so many different viewpoints, and the way I've always tried to be is to try and understand and see what I'm missing. However over time, I have come to realise those who criticise Alonso in this example almost all seem to support Vettel. Some of you won't like that but I feel it needs to be said. Please point out if I am getting it wrong. So now I'm a bit more cynical. I also noticed they're the ones who are peddling this blaming Alonso for Ferrari's recent poor cars, which just makes me SMH.



I would like to see Vettel still be sunny and positive at Ferrari if he had to have the 5 years that Fernando just had - and win those 2 titles he 'lost' - THEN I will give Seb credit as being better

[Mia 01]

In my subjective opinion Sebastian is the best F1 driver on the current grid.

[rjbetty]

In my subjective opinion Sebastian is the best F1 driver on the current grid.

It's good that we have so many top drivers these days and it's so close between them, too close to call. Back in my early F1 years it was just Michael then the rest.

[Nitrodaze]

In my subjective opinion Sebastian is the best F1 driver on the current grid.

Mia, you have to say why, even if your reason is you have the hots for him.

[Nitrodaze]

It's good that we have so many top drivers these days and it's so close between them, too close to call. Back in my early F1 years it was just Michael then the rest.

I don't think there has ever been a time where you have 5 world champions racing in the same season in F1. You have to spare a thought for drivers like Ricciado, Grosjean, Bottas and Hulkenberg, who are trying to breakthrough these champions to establish themselves as champions. Drivers like Magnussen,Verstapenn, Sainz and Nazr are on a different curve to these World Champions. The future you might say.

[Nitrodaze]

Tell you what, Vettel and Hamilton in the same team, i would like to see! I think it would be a nazty dogfight all season.

A la Mclaren 2007. Two massive egos in the same team would always produce fireworks, bloody noses and high blood pressure for the operation manager. But would certainly have the fans at the edge of their seats salivating at the dogfight unfolding through the season. The Webber-Vettel dog fight was fun but not on par with Rosberg-Hamilton 2014, because there was some level favoritism at Redbull to Vettels benefit. Hence it is fair to say the real inter-teammate dogfight since 2007 was Rosberg-Hamilton 2014 where there was real parity of support by the team for both drivers.

We have to give credit to Mclaren and Mercedes for this exemplary even handedness to their drivers, allowing them to race each other. Some may argue that it cost Mclaren the WDC in 2007, that said, an unfair outcome would have transpired.

I think this also shows the difference in the types of F1 champions there are. The champions that would win their title at the expense of their teammate. And those that would take on anyone to win their title; including their teammate.

The first category of champions rely heavily on full team support and like to be seen as the number one driver. And the teammate is there to support the WCC and WDC campaign. Not challenge but to pick spare points in 2nd place. I think some may say Schumacher-Barrichello seasons at Ferrari are examples of this. Others may suggest that Alonso-Fisichella or Vettel-Webber are another examples.

In recent times, the only drivers l can think of that fall into the second category are Hamilton and Raikonen.

These category can be extended to teams as well l think. On paper, it would seem Ferrari always throw their weight behind the driver most likely to win the WDC. Some may argue that this is not the case, but Ferrari only backs a driver they have a love affair with; like Schumacher and now Vettel. Otherwise, Irvine would have won a WDC for Ferrari. There are plenty of grounds for discussion here.

[Mintexmemory]

I don't think there has ever been a time where you have 5 world champions racing in the same season in F1. You have to spare a thought for drivers like Ricciado, Grosjean, Bottas and Hulkenberg, who are trying to breakthrough these champions to establish themselves as champions. Drivers like Magnussen,Verstapenn, Sainz and Nazr are on a different curve to these World Champions. The future you might say.

1968 Clark, Hill, Hulme, Brabham, Surtees, with the next 2 WDCs also competing; Stewart and Rindt. I don't see any of the also rans in this field being WDC in the next 2 years, even Whiny Nick