Spencifer_Murphy wrote:De Jokke wrote:put hammi in the second brawn, button is going to get seriously beaten.
Button is a good average driver, end of story. He just happens to be in the best car on the grid at the moment.
Nonsence, Button has proven he can race well and drive quickly. And while I admit he isn't as fast ultimately as say Lewis, Kimi or Fernando, he is a bloody good driver, with an excelent driving technique.
He won in Hungary 2006, and while he had a helping hand from lady luck, he drove very well, especially in the wet, in what was a poor car.
His best car thus far has been the BAR from 2004 (with the exception of course of this year's Brawn) and he proved then he was capable by beating everybody that year in the championship except the two dominant Ferrari's.
While it is clear the car has heled, no driver, no matter how good, is going to shine in a --- car, especially the last two Honda's which were, to say the least, abismal in all areas. When a car is understeering, and you crank on from front wing, only to find it understeers more (Button & Rubens complained of this at Hungary in either 07 or 08) you know there's something SERIOUSLY wrong with that car.
Jenson has finally been given a car fast enough to challenge for a title and although I'm not saying he's a great driver, if he wins the title this year you cannot claim it to be just the car. By that logic it was "just the car" for Schumi in 2002 & 2004. Or "just the car for Senna in 1988 which, although true to a point, we are forgetting they had the two best drivers in F1 at the time in that car which compouded the issue for their competetors.
I really dislike the "Its just the car" argument, because there is almost no way to prove it and its an easy way to demean the skills of a driver. If its "just the car" there is no point in watching F1 because the driver has nothing to do with it. The sheer fact that teammates like Piquet can be so comprehensively outclassed by drivers like Alonso proves that, in F1, the car is not everything.
With regards to the bold, he had arguably the second best car on the grid but didn't win a single race whereas Raikkonen, Trulli and Montoya each won a race a piece in arguably inferior cars. (Also fair to note is that Raikkonen was the only one to go toe to toe with Schumacher and win)
Each driver on the grid right now is obviously VERY talented but they certainly aren't equal by any manner or means. It is a largely held belief that Alonso is right up there in terms of skill, ability and smarts. Kimi is quick but doens't have the same technical mind which makes him increadibly sharp and speedy in race conditions but he tends to struggle in quali which loses his lustre. Barrichello proved himself to some extent against Schumi but never really troubled him consistantly. I could go on but right now,
in my opinion, the only drivers on the grid who have the ability and/or have outperformed the car and hauled into places it should never be in normal hands are as follows:
Alonso - His wins in '08 against Ferrari and McMerc might were largely proof of that
Raikkonen - If he is on the ball he is largley unbeatable - Spa 2004, Japan 2005 etc
Vettel - '08 alot of the season he was MILES above his teammate best time in Q2 at Silverstone etc
Hamilton - While his only just been presented with a dog or seriously adverse conditions he has made it happen at times when it seemed unlikely, so far this year he has been mostly lucky IMO.
that's largely it, some drivers have done the same but only in terrible conditions and so don't really get the nod from me at least.
They finished tied in points at 109 each. Hamilton didn't whoop ass either--whooping ass is what Schumacher did in 2004: 13 wins out of 18 races. And I wish people would say "I think Hamilton is great" instead of "We know Hamilton is great" because I think that's what starts a lot of arguments that are mostly opinion anyway...
