2008 half-term driver rankings part 3
There was plenty of discussion yesterday about how to rank the top three drivers of 2008 so far.
Here’s how I rated Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen and Robert Kubica’s performances so far this year. What’s your verdict?
3. Lewis Hamilton
Lewis overachieved quite a bit last year I feel and he appears to be suffering a case of “second season syndrome” as known in football circles.He hasn’t lost any of his speed but he’s certainly lost his sang froid. – Francois in the forum
Inevitably Lewis Hamilton’s failures and fortunes have been exhaustively documented in the media. No other driver seems to attract as much scathing criticism for his mistakes and fawning adulation for his successes. Putting the hype and hate to one side, how has he actually done this year?
Compared to the first half of last year Hamilton has made an alarming number of mistakes. It’s been a trend among many drivers in the championship this year. But while Hamilton racked up podium finishes in his first nine Grands Prix in 2007, he’s been more ‘crash and win’ over the same events this year.
To reiterate: he was penalised in qualifying at Sepang and blew the start at Bahrain, after which he first nudged and later walloped the rear of Fernando Alonso’s Renault. At Istanbul his qualifying lap was messy, making his three-stop strategy all the more unrealistic. He didn’t see the red light in the pit lane at Montreal and crashed into Kimi Raikkonen, and picked up a drive-through penalty within the first half-lap at Many-Cours.
At Monte-Carlo he burst his rear tyre against the barrier… and survived, winning the wet/dry race by a healthy margin. Indeed, he has thrived in adverse conditions, decimating the field in the rain at Silverstone, and cruising serenely to victory on a messy day in Melbourne. And he was well in charge of proceedings at Montreal before that fateful safety car intervention.
It was obvious from the rare snatch of McLaren’s radio broadcast we heard at Silverstone during qualifying what Hamilton’s problem is: “Don’t over-drive” was the clear message. He’s been too reluctant to settle for a comfortable points finish on the days when that’s all that’s available to him. Unless he tempers his aggression in the second half of this season one can quite easily see him losing the title for a second year to…
2. Kimi Raikkonen
Disappointed to be honest, none of the brilliance I remember him producing in his McLaren days when he won races in terrible cars. Now he has – by quite a margin – the best car on the grid and has won twice in 8 races…I think he is slightly disillusioned with F1, will retire sooner rather that later. – Ben in the forum
Raikkonen invariably defies easy categorisation. On his day he is untouchably quick and Felipe Massa cannot live with him, as we saw quite plainly at Sepang. On other days he follows Massa around a few seconds adrift and no-one can quite tell why.
And some times he just goes to pot. His first race as world champion started as a spirited drive from the middle of the pack (due to a misfortune in qualifying) but was interrupted by two unforced spins on a dry day. He went off twice in the rain at Monaco as well.
Raikkonen is undoubtedly one of F1’s best drivers. These problems and Massa’s often superior qualifying performances have blunted his championship campaign this year but some poor fortune as at least as much to blame.
He was taken out of the race at Montreal when a victory was on the cards. A win looked a certainty at Magny-Cours until an exhaust problem let Massa through. And at Silverstone it seemed Ferrari’s decades of racing experience were discarded and the team instead relied on the toss of a coin to determine strategy, chucking a certain podium and possible victory away.
Even with these problems he’s still joint leader of the championship and, with better luck in the second half of the year and still with the quickest car in F1 underneath him, I’d bet on him being champion. But I don’t think he’s been the best driver so far this year.
1. Robert Kubica
Driver of the year so far. – Omarky on the forum
After a shaky 2007 Kubica has been exceptional in 2008. Simply put, no other driver seems to have consistently got as close to the potential of his car while making so few mistakes.
The banning of traction control seemed to transform Kubica’s performance overnight. After often being behind Nick Heidfeld last year, Kubica has dominated him in qualifying. Heidfeld has only started ahead of his team mate once – when Kubica had a car problem at Silverstone last week.
In the races too Kubica has maintained his advantage over Heidfeld. Had he not been taken out of the first race by Kazuki Nakajima – in an incident where Kubica was clearly blameless – he would still be leading the world championship.
He scored his – and BMW’s – first pole position at Bahrain. He might have done it at the first race of the year at Melbourne but for running wide at one corner. Nevertheless the lap was still good enough for second on the grid.
Other mistakes from Kubica have been pretty rare. He was error-free in the wet at Monaco and finished second on a day when even the winner hit the barrier once. And at Montreal when the cards fell his way he was in the perfect place to capitalise, scoring his first Grand Prix win.
That put him in the lead of the championship and, despite his first major mistake of the season at Silverstone costing him several points, remains just two points off the leaders.
It’s still too much to expect he can win the championship with a BMW that’s up with the front runners often enough, and seems to be drifting off the ultimate pace as the year goes on. But I wouldn’t rule him out picking up one or more further wins as the year goes on, especially with two new street circuits coming up which should play to his strengths.
Kubica is in excellent form and if he keeps driving like this he would be a very worthy world champion.
Who do you think has been the driver of the year so far?
S Hughes said on 11th July 2008, 12:39
Rubbish, Kubica wouldn’t be a worthy world champion. He is a charisma-free robot without style. Let’s hope Lewis trounces everyone in the final half of the season as he deserves it the most for being a real racer and exciting to watch, as well as being the best personality on the circuit.
Nathan said on 11th July 2008, 12:49
^ Personally, I don’t understand why personality should even come into it. The world champion should be the person who drove best that season, it’s as simple as that.
Internet said on 11th July 2008, 13:03
Kubica is strong in street circuits but Lewis is stronger. And I would bet on Lewis winning on the two new tracks as 3 out for 4 races Lewis won last year were on tracks he never raced before.
Kubica has been strong like Lewis last year but will soon get his own fair share of mistakes just like Lewis. Heidfeld is only 10 points behind Kubica and with his improved qualifying pace and better racecraft I wouldn’t be surprised if Heifeld beat Kubica at the end of the year.
Sebastian said on 11th July 2008, 13:11
I agree wholeheartedly. Had Kubica been racing in the same equipment as Hammy or Iceman he’d be top dog, no question about it. A real class act.
Internet said on 11th July 2008, 13:15
@Sebastian: No one can say for sure. This year he has absolutely no pressure because no one expects much from him. How would be handle himself when the pressure is on? Look at what happened to Webber, been driving flawlessly all year, gets his car into a position where he could win the race at Silverstone and then blew it on the first lap when the pressure was on.
Likewise, if it was Hammy or Iceman on the BMW they would most likely still be leading the WDC by not crashing out at Silverstone.
sChUmAcHeRtHeGrEaTeStEvEr said on 11th July 2008, 13:22
hamiltons problems is that last year he was team mate to alonso, a double world champion and highly regarded as the most complete driver in f1. if hamilton beat him on occasion then superb but if he didnt people would say well hes a rookie and alonso is a double champion.
that said he was remarkable last year, people can whine that hes stepped into one of the best cars on the grid, but surley that has just raised expectations?? he was never going to be able to match last years perfromance but he hasnt done bad. like keith said he is just too aggressive at times he needs to play the percentage game at tracks he cant win.
Good drivers at melbourne, istanbul, monaco and awesome at silverstone (which i had the pleasure of watching from becketts)
the trend im noticing with hamilton is when hes put on the back foot, malaysia, bahrain mangy cours, he does over drive.
raikkonen has been up and down just really confuses me because when he wants to be he is nigh on unbeatable and great to watch.
kubica has just done nothing wrong and got the maximum out of every opportunity that came his way and definitley been the best this year
Jean said on 11th July 2008, 13:49
If you look at Lewis’ performance in the rain at Silverstone , and going by the fact that most previous multiple champions have excelled in wet weather conditions , on driver skill alone , I would say Lewis is the best driver . Man , he made that McLaren look as though it had traction control even though we know they no longer do. But as it is , this is a look at the overall performance of the year to date. It turns out Lewis , Kimi and Felipe’ have all had up and down races so far . while Robert has been more consistent , so I must agree with the order of Keiths rating , possibly if I were to change anything , it would be dropping Kimi to fourth , Lewis to second and Massa to third.
KB said on 11th July 2008, 14:18
GOOD CHOICE -
Nirupam said on 11th July 2008, 14:24
I will absolutelygo by Keith, this first half of this year has to be Kubica’s. He has every bit potential to be amongst the winners. He had such a horrible crash at Canada last year, and this year in wet condition he stood first in the podium there!
Kimi’s story has really been a mystery to explain. And his misfortune (like that broken exhaust), poor strategy(not changing tyres at silverstone) add to his misery. I think he needs to be a bit more down the leaderboard so that he can stage yet another comeback!(Like he did last year!!!)
As far as lewis is concerned, apart from wet Silverstone, there is not much to write about, I think, (Obviously I am talking about race only!)
My guess is he’ll loose more in the second half if he does not control himself. May be Dennis should tell him how can one does not get carried away ;)
TommyBellingham said on 11th July 2008, 14:30
I agree with you completely. Kubica has done the best this season. To be in the championship hunt with a car thats still not really competitive enough to be up there is amazing.
Becken said on 11th July 2008, 14:56
Keith,
In terms of consistency, I think you´re right, Kubitza deserves the first place.
But looking back to Lewis and Kimi´s mistakes I would consider that is shame a World champion lost the control of the car as Kimi did twice in Australia, twice at Monaco (crashing Sutil!) and twice at Silverstone. This is absolutely driving flaws. I think we´re still forgetting that Lewis has under his belt only 27 races (and Kimi more than 160 races) but the guy can drive as veteran trouncing everyone as he did at Silverstone.
In this case, the Veteran Kimi´s mistake has more importance than Lewis´s on the equation. Another matter about Kimi is how boring a race could be when this guy wins. He´s bored and bores everyone around him…
I would put Lewis above Kimi.
Sav22 said on 11th July 2008, 15:04
This is an interesting fact:
“This season so far Lewis has led for most laps compared to the competition, 179 from 571 in total that is 31 percent, a little less than one third of all laps and kilometres that have been completed.”
From Mclaren’s Germany preview press release.
Zebra said on 11th July 2008, 15:07
“I think we´re still forgetting that Lewis has under his belt only 27 races (and Kimi more than 160 races) but the guy can drive as veteran trouncing everyone as he did at Silverstone.”
Not everyone gets to start their careers in a silver car.
Zebra said on 11th July 2008, 15:11
@Sav22
Another couple of intresting facts:
Australian GP Heikki Kovalainen 1:27.418
Malaysian GP Nick Heidfeld 1:35.366
Bahrain GP Heikki Kovalainen 1:33.193
Spanish GP Kimi Räikkönen 1:21.670
Turkish GP Kimi Räikkönen 1:26.506
Monaco GP Kimi Räikkönen 1:16.689
Canadian GP Kimi Räikkönen 1:17.387
French GP Kimi Räikkönen 1:16.630
British GP Kimi Räikkönen 1:32.150
Zebra said on 11th July 2008, 15:12
^ fastest laps