NathanOlder wrote: ↑24 Mar 2017, 08:24
Even as a maasive Lewis fan, I was thinking the same. Nico was better than he was given credit for. Although 2015 and a reliable 44 car was a little one sided.
But I would say if Lewis retired and Nico stayed, Nico would be well up on Bottas right now also.
Without doubt Nico was much better than many give him credit for and would likely be a 3x WDC winner if were not for Lewis being his team mate. No, I don't think Nico would've given up after his 1st WDC if he had another beatable team mate.
I just wonder though if the previous F1 formula with feeble tyres didn't flatter him against Lewis? When the car was difficult to drive i.e. in the wet Lewis disappeared into the distance by some margin. It was very obvious in these circumstances Lewis had an extra something than Nico didn't. I sure we can all remember Nico's engineer coaching him in qualifying to get him close to Lewis' times before it was banned.
It may well be that in the 2017 version of F1 Lewis would've been able to put more distance between himself and Nico had Nico been driving? I remember Lewis hauling some dreadful McLaren cars much further up the grid than they had any right to be maybe this formula will allow him to show his true potential in the car.
Anyway, Melbourne is an odd circuit that can bunch up the teams and it isn't until a couple of races on permanent race tracks we know just what pace everyone has. It's unfair to hammer Bottas' pace based on what are still 2 test sessions, FP3 and quality sim is a better guide and then, obviously quali itself.
