Phil wrote:Schuttelberg wrote:The best driver won every year.
I find that angle very hard to justify in what is essentially a
team-sport. Think about that for a moment.
Team-sport. This isn't tennis. Or any other sport where the individual sans any tools is in a 1 vs 1 battle. F1 is a team-sport and as such, I really can't find it in me to attribute the WDC title on the single premise that he was the best in that year. Irregardless if Lewis won the title, Vettel, Button, Schumacher etc.
Kimi won as a team in 2007 when both Lewis and Alonso lost as a team.
Interesting statistics though; Ferrari enjoyed 9 wins in total that year, vs. McLaren with 8. Lewis and Alonso both shared 4 victories, where as Kimi won 6 races vs 3 for Massa. Arguably, one could say Kimi was better than Massa, where as Lewis and Alonso were nigh on equals and shared more victories with each other than Kimi/Massa. It does also say that both cars were very competitive.
I completely agree with you. But, the driver is a huge part of that team. In the given year, that driver was able to get the best out of that car and get the team to work at a certain optimum level. Could someone else do it in that moment? Impossible to tell.
I'm not a Raikkonen fan, far from it. But, to call his championship 'lucky' (as mentioned in an earlier post by another member) is really poor form. There's not a doubt in my mind that Alonso and Hamilton drove at an incredible level just like Raikkonen in 2007. But, the better man won. Even more thumbs up to Lewis for it was his first year. But, Kimi was able to keep his nose clean and not get involved in all the political drama. Actually, I feel he's driven better in other years but his quality of shutting up and doing his own thing for me won him the '07 title.
I'd just like to say that when a driver wins from behind in an unexpected way (2007,2010) we put it down to luck. We tend to criticise first and appreciate later or not at all.
When a driver wins after taking a handsome lead (2006,2009) we say 'oh he always had it in the bag.'
When a driver dominates like (2011,2013-15) we say 'oh he has the best car.'
I'm sure it's impossible to please everyone, but I feel it's alright to stop, take a deep breath and once in a while think about the effort that goes into such achievements. It gets taxing to watch sometimes, I can't begin to think what I would be like in the car. I'm not a professional sportsman, yes, but as I say so many times, we're all human. At least for me, I take it a bit personally when someone says that a champion of the sport I love 'got lucky.'
"Sebastian there's very, you're a member of a very select few.. Stewart, Lauda, Piquet, Senna, Prost, Schumacher, Fangio.. VETTEL!"
