AndreaModa wrote:Faustus wrote:I think Lewis Hamilton will never again be Formula 1 champion.
That's interesting because I was thinking something similar a couple of days ago, although he's still young and got plenty of time ahead of him, I can't see him having the overall complete package as a driver in comparison to a driver like Alonso. Granted, Hamilton did well in 2009 when the McLaren was nothing like competitive, but in general he's just been good, not outstanding in my opinion, certainly in these last couple of years anyway.
I would say that whilst the odds may be much longer than once they were, given that Hamilton could still be racing for nearly another decade (he is 27 this year) it is possible that the grid could yet be shuffled in such a way that McLaren find, and maintain, a performance advantage that gives Hamilton a title.
The recent major rule changes have seen a lot of turmoil up and down the grid in the past few years - in the past few years since Hamilton took his title in 2008, we have seen one team vanish altogether (Toyota) and three teams go through major restructuring (Sauber, after BMW pulled out, the former Honda team that is now Mercedes and Renault Sport selling the Renault F1 team to Genii Capital).
Red Bull Racing have only come to the fore since 2009 after Newey's third car for the team finally paid off (helped in no small part to Toro Rosso, with whom they have been sharing data with ever since they bought the team out), whilst the Renault engine, initially considered to be at a slight disadvantage, is now a distinct advantage thanks to its slightly lower fuel consumption compared to the other teams.
A fair amount has changed in barely four years, so given that another major rule change is due in 2014 - one which should shift the balance slightly back towards manufacturer backed teams - and that Hamilton is likely to remain driving for one of the major teams - McLaren - for a number of years yet, I wouldn't entirely dismiss the notion he could take another title (albeit considering it unlikely given that there are a number of promising younger drivers in the field at relatively competitive teams).
Pamphlet wrote:FMecha wrote:Pamphlet wrote:Yes, I'm going to say it - Alonso is overrated. And this is coming from not just a tifosi, but also someone who heavily respects him for his actions in 2007. I consider him to have won 2005 (Newey messed up) and 2006 (Renault and Ferrari shared the top spots) by merit, but he was insanely lucky to stay in the championship fights in 2007 and 2010.
Except that the fact he stayed in championship fight in 2010 was, IMO, helped by the German GP Team Orders.
No, Ferrari did the right thing there. Sure, Massa wasn't too far off from Alonso in the championship, and he even led after 3 races, but this is Ferrari we're talking about. They want the drivers' championship more than anything in the world. They pulled the same moves with Raikkonen in 2008 (China) and, yet again, Massa in 2007 (Brazil, he had slightly better pace than Raikkonen but the oddly-timed last stop put him in traffic.) And let's not forget about Barrichello.
Plus, it was only 7 points. It's nothing compared to the 19 points he gained on Vettel in Bahrain, or the monstrous 32 points he gained in Korea (also on Vettel.)
To be more accurate, I think that they would have rather had both the drivers and constructors title for the additional prestige (something that they have alluded to both in the past and at the moment). Because they get a special cut from FOM because of their historic status, the WCC is perhaps slightly less important because the financial hit of finishing one place lower is less - but they still pay attention to it.
Mathematically, you are right that the use of team orders in Germany had a limited impact on the championship that year: Alonso would still have been leading the championship in the final race in Abu Dhabi, albeit by just one point instead of eight, although the odds would have been slightly more against him (given that both Red Bull and McLaren were faster in Abu Dhabi).
