Stradivarius wrote:These discussions will never end until the drivers in question end up in the same team. I think history has told us that we can't really say who is best before we have direct comparison. For example, people were very excited about Fisichella and Alonso both racing for Renault in 2005. But it turned out that Fisichella was not anywhere near Alonso. At the same time Montoya came to McLaren, but he was a big disappointment. Kimi was expected to outperform Massa when he moved from McLaren to Ferrari. But when he came to Ferrari, the two of them were clearly at a very similar level over a period of almost 3 seasons (until Massa got injured). And when Button moved to McLaren, many people believed that he would not stand a chance against Hamilton.
Some even still claim that he didn't, although he scored more points over 3 seasons. So it might even not be enough to see the same drivers in the same team for 3 seasons. Sure, Hamilton had some bad luck in 2012, but in my opinion, a driver can't be outscored over 3 full seasons at the same time as being substantially better than his team mate. If you are substantially better, that means you will score more points despite some bad luck. If it's luck that determines who scores the most points over several seasons, that means the drivers are performing at a very similar level.
I agree with your general point, but "substantially" is a bit much there, I do not think many fans would say Lewis is better to that extreme over Jenson. I consider Lewis to be better, but I would not go that far. Plus, there are too many variables to judge teammate comparisons on just points. But that is a debate for another day.
The Fisichella example is a excellent one, I watched the 2005 season review recently and I felt that Fisichella on his day could match Alonso, but his day did not come often enough. Alonso had the consistency. Montoya as much as I love him, was a bit of a flop at McLaren for various reasons also and Kimi out scored him over the 2 years there by a significant advantage.
Vettel will face a new test next year, and I cannot wait!. I want it to be Riccardo, but Kimi would be a good choice also.