Re: Re:
RadNomad":fx3ac0ss said:
Vettel can do consistent fast laps in a fast car on a clear track, but somehow panics and makes mistakes and poor decisions in wheel-to-wheel racing. Not anywhere close to Schumi's race craft (yeah a few dumb moments but generally brilliant over a long career). Of the current crop Alonso is the most complete and Hamilton more than Vettel's equal.
I think it's out-of-date rhetoric that Vettel can't race, and he can only lead from the front.
Earlier in his career, maybe it was fair observation, but in the last 2 or 3 seasons, he's not shown to be lacking in being racy. Perhaps not to quite the same degree as Schumi was, but all the same.
And I'm not saying that as a fan of him - far from it. He's just bludgeoned me with being superb, in the last couple of seasons.
I think Hamilton may live to - or perhaps may have already, elevated himself to being on terms with Vettel, but so far, he's not shown anything like the consistency that Vettel has. Sure, you could say that Vettel has had a very good / the best car for the past 4 years. But up to the time Hamilton left McLaren, they were one of the front runners.
Difference seems to be lifestyle - Vettel seems to demand his privacy, and not get too distracted by the celebrity aspect of it all - Hamilton seems to like being in the public eye - and perhaps that's been (or he's let it be) too much of a distraction too early on / at a key point in his career. Whether he could have had any more championships over his time, I'm not sure, but I think it's fair comment he's underperformed on the whole, for sizable chunks of it anyway. Flashes of brilliance, and consistency when everything has being going OK
Whilst Hamilton arrived with a bit of fanfair and commotion, all the same, both seem to have had very similar career paths, and expectations. Do I think Hamilton is capable of all that Vettel is? Pretty much, well there, or there abouts, all except consistency - which seems conditional for Hamilton. And yes, I get there's a certain poignancy in Vettel's season so far, but you'd have to say, in his performances in the last few years, on the whole, underperforming wouldn't be the normal accusation you'd level at him.
As much as it irks me to say it, Vettel certainly has something, even if there's a degree of the hubris Schumacher was inferred to display during his prime (Vettel appearing to demonstrate that team orders are for teammates to adhere to, and for people like him a challenge to be broken). That so far he's been struggling this season - well I think great drivers overcome, and I believe he will. Ricciardo being so strong is a pure delight to watch. If the boy has got consistency, then he very much appears to have the temperament.
I'm hoping Rosberg can take the fight, on equal terms, to Hamilton - 'cos so far, Team Merc seem to have been willing to let them find their own level.
Alonso, well if there's a sniff of performance out of the car, then he'll get it. Perhaps he doesn't quite show as many flashes of brilliance that people like Vettel and Hamilton can pull off - "These go to eleven", but all the same, the times he's managed to out-race other driver / car combinations, shows his class. And I'm still waving the flag for Kimi.