Best F1 driver right now- Vettel or Alonso

[Bobby Jr]

Originally Posted by rainingaces

Thats the media speaking. Alonso was given the number 2 car hence the fallout between him and his team especially

No he wasn't... not only did his car have the #1 on it, he also got the same opportunities as Hamilton - he just famously spat the dummy and threw his toys out the cot when he realised that not being in a completely Alonso-centric operation he would have to put a little more effort into stuff.

Likewise, the Mike Coughlan scandal also put him on the back foot when it was revealed Alonso was actively complicit in using information on Ferrari's set-up (from Nigel Stepney) - when he knew he shouldn't have. He was just lucky as hell they offered the drivers an amnesty to say what they knew. In another situation he would have been banned along with Coughlan, (test driver) Pedro De La Rosa and others. Hamilton kept his head down and nose out of the business (publicly at least) and Ron Dennis was probably just repaying the loyalty of Hamilton imo.

Alonso also seemed to the instigator of Renault getting into crap over their having other teams' technical info. He had a lot of insider knowledge on Renault having just come from them and, mysteriously, not long after he went to McLaren, stories about Flavio Briatore and Renault's technical rule-bending started surfacing.

Clutter aside, for natural pace and overall consistency Alonso rules the F1 grid in the average to above-average competitive teams. Hamilton is lightning quick when he is, but has also had plenty of times when he's been rather meek - not to mention the patches of error prone driving he had also. Kimi would be right up there too but he seems to swing between blind brilliance and not giving a ****.

[West Coast Ace]

Alonso. Doing more with inferior equipment. Vettel is very good though. If you were starting a team you would do well with either.

If Hamilton makes the jump to Mercedes as rumored (old Mike needs to hang it up for good), there are going to be a ton of changes. Let the Silly Season begin.

OT: anyone who hasn't should watch the 'Senna' documentary. Excellent.

[tistrapukcipeht]

Originally Posted by rainingaces

Thats the media speaking. Alonso was given the number 2 car hence the fallout between him and his team especially ron dennis. Towards the end hamilton was being favoured in every way you can imagine, even though he was a rookie and alonso a 2 time wc.

Hamilton has the best car in testing this year and would probably be winning the title but for a slow start and some reliability problems. Hamilton will have the best car again next year when he moves to mercedes because of new regulations coming in 2013.

I wouldn't doubt, just think about, Hamilton has been sponsored and helped by Ron Dennis since He was a kid, He is almost like a son to Ron Dennis. Ron as sneaky as He is I would not doubt if they gave Hamilton a slightly more powerful engine since the beginning, this is my opinion, now, towards the end of that season, Mclaren clearly sabotaged Alonso and favored Hamilton, just look at the Hungarian Fiasco in which unfairly had FIA's intervention and unfairly punished Alonso. Mclaren has always been sneaky and cheated with the consensus of FIA.

Honestly, Hamilton is a poor man's Mansell, there was a championship He lost to Kimi having so many points difference with only 3 races to go, pressure came down on him, He lost it. He is not in the same league as Vettel and Alonso, if Kimi gave a damn, when He is on, he is one of the best, but He is too unlucky.

Lastly, no top driver wants to share anything, that's how it is supposed to be, if a driver is a top driver they need to have it all working for them, they earned it, so Alonso and Vettel are better than their team mates so they need to be prioritized.

[Pete.Sampras.]

Originally Posted by NadalAgassi

Well Rosberg won a race this year. Is there any race Michael could have won this year even without DNFs. I just looked up some info online and it seems Schumacher is not retiring at the end of this year, atleast not volunteeringly. That case the only way I could see Lewis joining Mercedes (if he even wants to which I am far from convinced) is if they dump Schumacher on their own accord in favor of Hamilton. I dont think Rosberg is going anywhere anytime soon.

The latest news, although not officially confirmed by McLaren, is that Lewis stays in the british team. I guess if Schumacher wants to continue, he will.

Rosberg won a GP, but in this race, Schumacher was just 4-5 seconds behind him. Then he went to the pit and lost a tyre shortly after he was back on the track again. A few seconds in the first half of a race is nothing in the modern F1 with all the problems that, for example, tires can cause. MSC could have had a chance. Rosberg was strong in this race though. He probably would have won anyway, but sadly, we will never know

[Vcore89]

Fernando Alonso is the best F1 driver imo with his current stop-gap setup.

[Pete.Sampras.]

Originally Posted by tistrapukcipeht

I'm glad you are a sport journalist, because I do follow F1 and have been since 1986 as far as I can remember.

Schumacher Is nowhere near his best, I'd say he is around 40% or lower than his best. He had a lot of investments when the stock marketing in 2008 had that big down side He lost a lot of money, I don't know details about it, since you're in the business you should know about it.

Of course I'm comparing only Vettel and Alonso, that is the poll.

I started in '93. Looks like you have a headstart

All we can tell is that Schumacher is not as great as he once was. But a lot of teams, drivers and experts still consider him one of the best. Of course there are always those who critisize (just look at Federer). Once Mercedes has a winning car again, we'll see what Schumacher does compared to Rosberg (a teammate is the only true comparison).

This year Schumacher was ahead of Rosberg, who is considered one of the best these days, many times and MSC was very unfortunate with all the problems on his car. In the first race he was in third position when his gearbox failed for example and he was ahead of or at least close to Rosberg in other "MSC, dnf" races as well (also, see my post above)... and that pole position in Monaco was oustanding. And in the last races he was ahead of Rosberg most of the time, even in qualifying where MSC leads 8-6. He drives better now than he did two seasons ago. I think that says something...

I have never heard of any big financial loss for Schumacher and even google did not show any results. Even if it was true and he lost half of his money, 500 millions are still more than enough to never do anything for money in your life. I'd say it is a fact that he did not return for money.

[chrischris]

I miss Senna.

[finalfantasy7]

chris you around when senna/prost?

poll should be who's sexier michael/ralph???, anyone see pictures of ralph when he was go karting/ michael was slightly looking after him, proper porky ralph was

[chrischris]

Nope, but saw the movie called Senna. Thats why.

[Pete.Sampras.]

You can't rely on any info these days. Today it seems that Hamilton is going to Mercedes. Yesterday McLaren said that he will most likely stay in their team. I wonder what's true. But for some reason, I guess Hamilton will go to Mercedes...

Just for those who are interested. I'm sorry for this off-topic post.

[tistrapukcipeht]

Originally Posted by Pete.Sampras.

You can't rely on any info these days. Today it seems that Hamilton is going to Mercedes. Yesterday McLaren said that he will most likely stay in their team. I wonder what's true. But for some reason, I guess Hamilton will go to Mercedes...

Just for those who are interested. I'm sorry for this off-topic post.

I'm interested, in Schumacher's retirement, it just hurts to see him on vacation in F1.

[Pete.Sampras.]

Originally Posted by tistrapukcipeht

I'm interested, in Schumacher's retirement, it just hurts to see him on vacation in F1.

I would tell him to stop now if I were his manager, but I have no idea what he will do now.

Sauber seems to be an option but not a "winning" one. And even if Ferrari would take Schumacher for Massa, he would be in a team with a prime Alonso who is Ferrari's new leader.

But I guess driving a F1 car is a lot of fun and it's hard to let go. If Schumacher still enjoys it and teams want him...

[tistrapukcipeht]

Originally Posted by Pete.Sampras.

I would tell him to stop now if I were his manager, but I have no idea what he will do now.

Sauber seems to be an option but not a "winning" one. And even if Ferrari would take Schumacher for Massa, he would be in a team with a prime Alonso who is Ferrari's new leader.

But I guess driving a F1 car is a lot of fun and it's hard to let go. If Schumacher still enjoys it and teams want him...

He is already old enough, plus with the concussions He had racing motorcycles and the loss of reflexes it is time to hang up the gloves. Schumacher is the best there ever was, but his come back was disastrous, only made his image look worse, F1 nowadays isn't much about the driver but all other variables, I only watch because I still have a hope He could win one race to have as much as Senna and Prost together, but it won't happen.

[tistrapukcipeht]

Anybody still thinking Alonso is faster?

Overall Alonso is a little better than Vettel, but Vettel is faster.

Vettel now isn't making any mistakes like before, maturity is finding him, great races as of late, hence almost another title, he really deserves it.

[PSNELKE]

Originally Posted by tistrapukcipeht

Anybody still thinking Alonso is faster?
.

Definately.
Vettel got a freakin Jet under his butt, whilst Alonsos Ferrari sucks balls to say the least.

[NadalAgassi]

My best F1 drivers in order would be:

1. Alonso
2. Vettel
3. Raikonnen
4. Hamilton
5. Rosberg
6. Button

Everyone else sucks so I wont bother going down from there, lol (that includes grandpa Schumacher btw). I could see some arguing Vettel as best driver, but this year atleast I think he definitely only came out ahead of Alonso due to the faster car.

[Fedfer]

I think that Alonso is still the best driver...followed by Vettel , Raikkonen and Hamilton

[NadalAgassi]

Originally Posted by Fedfer

I think that Alonso is still the best driver...followed by Vettel , Raikkonen and Hamilton

Same as me. I do think the last 2 years Vettel was the best driver though, and even this year I still think he is the 2nd best. So to people like Peters who ask if I have changed my mind on anything, not really. I definitely stand by all my past opinions.

I know some Hamilton homers say he is the best or atleast better than Vettel yet he struggles to stay ahead of Button in the same car, and in fact last year was well beaten by Button in points. Sorry he is not the best, if he had Alonso or Vettel as a teammate naturally he would be well behind in points, if someone like Button was leading him in season points at times each of their 3 season together, and did the entire season last year, unless someone is going to seriously argue Button is better than either of them, lol! On his day he can be faster than anyone but he is erratic as heck and makes tons of driving errors and car management errors.

[Gonzalito17]

What happened to Robert Kubica?

[AlfaAce]

Juan Manuel Fangio. G.O.A.T.!!!