The 2019 Season - Your Verdict

[Zico]

I think you should read my post again. My point was Mercerdes could not match Ferrari on straightline speed but had to find speed in the corners to get ahead of Ferarri. This is a demonstration of the technology competition that makes F1 unique in its formula and DNA. The intellectual innovative competition between the brains in one team against the brains in other teams.

I've read your post again, it does not read that way at all, sorry.

I am not sure why you are making this about Hamilton. But if we go with your post. Schumacher was not the best of his time, neighter was Prost or Fangio. How do you work out who was the best? If you do not go with acheivements, then you are left with subjective criterias such as, you have to like the guy or he is your countryman etc.

Yep.. thats exactly my whole point, the cream does rise to the surface in a lot of cases.. but until they are racing in the same team you cannot definatively or objectively say for sure who is the best.
Personally, I dont need a driver to idolise but if I was that way minded, F1 would be the wrong sport for me.

You say they have to be in equal machinery to say who is the best. Even that is not possible, if we have learnt anything from F2. There would still be superior machinery and more than one tier of performances between the teams depending on their ability to build the car to the highest efficiency of the specification. Attaining equality is not going to be automatic or even attainable. There would always be some differences.

100% Agree. I do think it would be a lot easier to discern a pecking order when there is a closer performance baseline though.

As with life, the best drivers would end up in the best machinery. And they would perform exceptionally in those machinery which would translate to points, records and World Championship titles. That is just the way it is. You cannot deprive them of their status because they ended up in the fastest machinery. And it is nonsense to equate Vettel to Hamilton. They are two individuals dealing with their respective situations differently. Vettel has struggled to find the level of hungar that won him 4 WDCs. Yet Hamilton, due to the draught after his first WDC at Mclaren has found a way to sustain his hungar and keep at his best.

For me Vettel has shown some flashes of desperation against a very quick LeClerc which I dont see happening without there being the underlying hunger there.

You also miss the point on this one. My post was not neccessarily about dominating his teammate. It was the fact that his teammate had access to the same machinery available to him. Hence, had equal chance to win as many WDC as he has won. Proving the point that, not everyone can win WDC in the fastest car.

I dont think I missed your point at all and of course not everyone can win in the fastest car as I've stated a few times now.

Yes, the other drivers are not driving the Mercedes because they are not good enough by Mercedes standard to drive their car, Simple!.

Are you saying you think Valteri is the 2nd best driver on the grid now?
No, it really is not that simple at all, not even close.. There are quite a few drivers on the grid who are good enough, you can only pick 2 though... your number 1 and a support driver. Or if you have the luxury of a healthy performance advantage, give them equal status and allow them to duke it out for a spectacle for the fans.

Some will be seen to be more marketeable than others/have an image that the decision makers at the top see as more fitting to the Mercedes brand. Other suitable candidates will be under contract and unavailable. There will also be other politics such as drivers management teams, their links with manufacturers etc all at play too.

We must respect the achievement of those that excel. It shows we understand what it took to excel and appreciate the difficulties involved in being the best of the best drivers in the world.

I do respect them, I just think the difference between us is that I dont need an idol and this allows me to appreciate the many different strengths, but also able to criticise any weaknesses, in all of them.
Conversely, I get the feeling that any comment made by anyone that is not in addulation of Lewis, or could even be construed as negative, is taken to heart in a really negative way by the Lewis superfans that think he's the messiah of F1. I'm really glad I'm just a general fan of the sport.