F1 Fanatic

One of the most common & complex debates in F1 is who out of the renowned ‘top 3′ drivers on the grid today is the best. It is always difficult to answer that question due to the fact that albeit Hamilton & Alonso at McLaren in 2007, they haven’t gone head-to-head with the other in equal machinery, of course it’s easy & feeble for some to say Hamilton is better than Alonso because he beat the latter in equal machinery in their indelible & turbulent stint together as team-mates but a lot has happened & changed in five years & many have claimed Alonso to be the most complete driver of them all as well as Vettel being almost impervious once he goes past the first corner in the lead with superior machinery & Hamilton coming into his own in wet conditions. Tangible & intangible facts & stories have left us with strong & not so strong opinions as there is always something to support why one of the three excels or lacks in certain areas. Anyway, today – I may have found the answer as to who is the most complete of the three & subsequently, the best.

So I’ve listed several primary elements involving what makes a driver great or successful, the following:

-Qualifying speed/Speed over 1 lap – It’s all natural & uncanny talent.
-Overtaking – Audacity & tenacity as well as intelligence.
-Consistency – In driver performance, not just results.
-Technicality – Concerning the finest details in regards to the regulations, rules, fundamentals of car & track layout.
-Car-setup
-Race starts – Self-explantory!
-Speed in wet/mixed conditions – Feeling for the track in varying conditions can alter the normality in terms of consummate speed in the dry.
-Decision-making – You can’t always lean on the team for answers, acknowledging the car’s behaviour & feel it has on the track (drivers actually have the better knowledge of the car when they’re out on track, team-personnel just have telemetry) as well as the surroundings & situations, all should come down to personal choice.
-Communication with team-personnel, particularly race engineers & pit-crew – Slightly inconceivable in some aspects.
-Personality – There is more to the driver than what they do out on track

Of course, they’re likely to be more elements that form a driver’s quality overall but these are just what I think are the most vital elements required for one. What I want you guys to do, obviously there’s still the factor of opinion involved, is to list from 1 to 3, who excels & lacks for every area covered above & it would be helpful to explain why that driver excels in the particular area with a real-life example.

Example to clarify:

- Qualifying speed/Speed over 1 lap
1. Hamilton
2. Vettel
3. Alonso

THEN – Add up the amount of 1s, 2s & 3s each driver has – & perhaps you’ve got your answer. Good luck! (and do not be biased!).

Quite the scientific method you’ve come up with! I have tried to approach this as dispassionately and unbiased as possible.

- Qualifying speed/Speed over 1 lap
1. Vettel – The man is a master at stringing together “ultimate laps”. Looking at his record, he has 34 pole positions to his name, more than Hamilton and Alonso.
2. Hamilton – He’s widely credited as one of the fastest drivers on raw pace, has 24 career pole positions
3. Alonso – Alonso is quick, but doesn’t strike me as a qualifying master as much as Hamilton or Vettel. Has 22 career poles.

- Overtaking
1. Alonso – He’s famed as a master of the swift first lap overtake. Furthermore, China 2010 comes to mind, where he cleaved his way up the field from 15th to 4th.
2. Vettel – Despite all the naysayers, Vettel has quite a few impressive maneuvers under his belt, with Italy 2011, Belgium 2012 being some examples.
3. Hamilton – He staked his reputation as an overtaking master, and proved it with his tactical pass on Vettel in China 2011.

- Consistency
1. Vettel – 2011 was a demonstration of Vettel’s near-clinical consistency, when he rarely put a foot wrong.
2.. Alonso – The man has consistently pushed the limits of his car’s performance, and almost always extracted the best possible results.
3. Hamilton – Hamilton’s form strikes me as more erratic than Vettel or Alonso, highly susceptible to external factors, evident from his 2011 slump.

- Technicality
1. Alonso – This category was a tough one to call, but I’ll give it to Alonso. Look at this year’s German GP, and you’ll see how he, in skirting the track border and playing the DRS game, knows how to use the rules to his advantage.
2. Vettel – From a discussion on the Forum about Vettel’s domination of Tilke circuits, it was suggested that he learns track layouts quickly.
3. Hamilton – Let’s just say he’s had his fair share of run-ins with the stewards.

- Car Setup
1. Vettel – Has almost always optimized the car for the given situation.
2. Alonso – Same reason as Vettel.
3. Hamilton – Hamilton seems to have relatively more issues in configuring his car setup, such as the recent Japanese GP.

- Race Starts
1. Alonso – He’s had some great starts, and, if I have my facts straight, has a good record of gaining track position on the opening lap.
2. Vettel – When starting from pole position, Vettel has proven a master at eking out the all-important gap to the chasing pack.
3. Hamilton – Hamilton’s starts have been, in comparison, rather hit or miss.

- Speed in wet/mixed conditions
1. Hamilton – Japan 2007, where he took a hat trick, proved that Hamilton can perform especially well in the rain.
2. Alonso – This year’s Malaysian GP showed that Alonso is also capable of good results in changing conditions.
3. Vettel – Somehow, it strikes me that some of Vettel’s weakest showings (such as Belgium 2010 and Germany 2011) have been wet races.

- Decision-making
1. Alonso – Another tough category to call, and I’ll give it to Alonso, for the reason that he’s good at pacing himself relative to tire wear, and at strategy calls.
2. Hamilton – Has the same strengths as Alonso, albeit to a somewhat lesser extent.
3. Vettel – At times, like this year’s Hungarian GP, he’s come on the team radio complaining about the need for strategy to get him out of a bind.

- Communication
1. Alonso – Yet another difficult category… I’ll say Alonso. His team radio excerpts spoken in Italian show a certain level of communication with the team.
2. Vettel – Looking at Red Bull’s development pace, Vettel’s feedback has to be of some standard so as to provide useful info for Newey and company.
3. Hamilton – Tough to ascertain from his team radio calls, but I’d place Hamilton third here.

- Personality (I consider myself biased for this one, so instead, I asked friends and family for their opinion on the drivers)
1. Vettel – My acquaintances who follow F1 usually cited him as the “nicest” of the trio here. Several cited his general candor during his interviews and Top Gear appearance.
2. Alonso – Those who I asked were relatively neutral on Alonso, though some were passionate supporters of his. Many said he was the most pragmatic of the three.
3. Hamilton – Not sure why, but my family members have an irrational hatred of Hamilton, and many referred to his generally sulky demeanor. Personally speaking, I don’t see what’s wrong with him, save for his occasional trip-ups like careless comments and the Tweeting Telemetry fiasco.

TOTAL
Alonso – 5 (1s), 4 (2s), 1 (3s)
Vettel – 4 (1s), 4 (2s), 2 (3s)
Hamilton – 1 (1s), 2 (2s), 7 (3s)

Which is pretty much how I would rank them. Alonso seems to be the most “complete” driver, but I must credit all three – each excels in his own speciality.

-Qualifying speed/Speed over 1 lap – It’s all natural & uncanny talent.
Unquestionably Vettel at the moment is the fastest over one lap, probably helped by his Red Bull but he’s the one that makes it count, shortly followed by Hamilton and Alonso. Fernando hasn’t been the pole sitter king recently but tends to make it up in the races.
1. Vettel
2. Hamilton
3. Alonso

-Overtaking – Audacity & tenacity as well as intelligence.
Tough one to call this as none of them stand out this season. It’s probably Alonso for me based on Valencia and the fact he hasn’t got into as many incidents overall than the other two.
1. Alonso
2. Hamilton
3. Vettel

-Consistency – In driver performance, not just results.
Alonso is still the best in this category, it definitely won him the 2005 championship. Vettel’s 2011 championship winning season put him a close second. Hamilton has improved since the 2011 but he falls short.
1. Alonso
2. Vettel
3. Hamilton

-Technicality – Concerning the finest details in regards to the regulations, rules, fundamentals of car & track layout.
Well Red Bull are the masters/bad boys in regard to the regulations which helps Vettel somewhat. Alonso is much more adaptable to situations though which gives him an edge.
1. Alonso
2. Vettel
3. Hamilton

-Car-setup
Certainly with the monopoly of Tilke tracks, this has played nicely into Vettel’s hands as his driving style suits the long straight-hard braking-tight slow corner. The McLaren is very sensitive to set-up perfectly so 3rd may sound harsh on Hamilton but let’s not forget that Vettel and Alonso have one more champion each than Lewis.
1. Vettel
2. Alonso
3. Hamilton

-Race starts – Self-explantory!
Alonso has always been mega off the line dating back to his early Renault days of 2003. The Red Bull’s system can be a little inconsistent but Vettel usually gets his starts right. Hamilton isn’t too bad on his starts either. None of these three are bad at starts.
1. Alonso
2. Vettel
3. Hamilton

-Speed in wet/mixed conditions – Feeling for the track in varying conditions can alter the normality in terms of consummate speed in the dry.
All three of these drivers are half-decent in the rain but none of them in my view can be classed as the next Jean Alesi. If I had to pick one, Alonso would just edge it ahead of Hamilton and Vettel. Lewis is better when it’s wetter but something goes wrong for him in changing conditions. None of these three are as good as Sergio Perez in terms of raw speed in the rain.
1. Alonso
2. Hamilton
3. Vettel

-Decision-making – You can’t always lean on the team for answers, acknowledging the car’s behaviour & feel it has on the track (drivers actually have the better knowledge of the car when they’re out on track, team-personnel just have telemetry) as well as the surroundings & situations, all should come down to personal choice.
None of these three beat Jenson Button but none of these three can be classed as bad. Tough to pick just one of them, but Vettel seems the most reliant on his team.
1. Alonso
2. Hamilton
3. Vettel

-Communication with team-personnel, particularly race engineers & pit-crew – Slightly inconceivable in some aspects.
All three drivers communicate with their personnel very well but Alonso’s communication in different languages help him. ;)
1. Alonso
2. Hamilton
3. Vettel

-Personality – There is more to the driver than what they do out on track
Definitely Vettel seems to have the more enjoyable personality off track. Tough one between Alonso and Hamilton, to give Alonso the benefit of the doubt, he hasn’t been on top gear yet ;)
1. Vettel
2. Alonso
3. Hamilton

Of course it’s all opinions so don’t over read them. Lets also consider that Alonso has at least 5 more season’s worth of experience than Vettel and Hamilton.
Alonso. 1st – 7, 2nd – 2, 3rd – 1
Vettel. 1st – 3, 2nd – 3, 3rd – 4
Hamilton. 1st – 0, 2nd – 5, 3rd – 5

What an absolutely fascinating experiment.

-Qualifying speed/Speed over 1 lap
I don’t believe that anyone can beat Vettel in this regard, and I’m dead serious. Vettel has a fantastic immediate feel for the grip and surface while his peers seem to need to build up to a bit more of a rhythm, as is demonstrated by how Vettel always leaves them for dead at race starts and restarts when he’s in the lead. Though there are times when Lewis is able to do this, he doesn’t do it as often as Vettel.
1. Vettel
2. Hamilton
3. Alonso

-Overtaking
Since 2007 Hamilton’s overtaking prowess has never been in doubt. Alonso shines in this in that he picks his fights – he’s more likely to pull out of a 50/50 manoeuvre with Maldonado because he knows of Maldonado’s history, while he would do it with a Di Resta or a Button because they’re the cleaner drivers who keep their noses clean. Vettel is actually quite good at overtaking in the wet – see China 2009 or 2010 for example. However I’ve never considered dry weather overtakes to be a Vettel strength, and his fight backs such as Silverstone 2010 are quite clumsy, such as using Sutil as a brake on the penultimate lap there. Spa seems to be a turning point, but I think this is still a skill-in-training rather than a matured ability.
1. Hamilton
2. Alonso
3. Vettel

-Consistency
Tough one IMO, but I think this season and last puts Hamilton and Alonso as standouts, though sadly at opposite ends of the spectrum.
1. Alonso
2. Vettel
3. Hamilton

-Technicality
Vettel IMO is the quickest learner of the three. One just has to look at his record at “new” circuits to see this. Valencia and Singapore 08, Abu Dhabi 09, Korea 2010 and India 2011 all saw him driving extremely well – and even on track he likes to experiment with new lines, and he commented in Suzuka 2012 qualifying and Belgium 2011 qualifying that he found new racing lines. Alonso is a Prost-like master of the behind the scenes politics, and he seems to know how to skirt the regulations without knocking them over
1. Alonso
2. Vettel
3. Hamilton

-Car-setup
We’ve very often seen Vettel struggle in FP1 and FP2, only to make overnight changes to see him back on the pace in FP3. Hamilton seems to not really be strong on setup. It’s telling that over his F1 career, his setups have reportedly been basically copies of Alonso’s/Kovalainen’s/Button’s.
1. Vettel
2. Alonso
3. Hamilton

-Race starts
This is a dicey one. The Red Bull often does not seem to be the best off the line, so we have to compare between teammates. There was a time in 2010 when Alonso would get killed at each and every race start by Massa. Vettel generally seems to be a better starter than Webber, but Webber has always been a rubbish starter anyways. Hamilton seems to be average in race starts. If you were taking first laps into account, I’d give it to Vettel. But if you were talking of until the first corner, when the pack shuffles into a line, then I’d have to give it to Alonso on balance of good 1st corner tactics.
1. Alonso
2. Vettel
3. Hamilton

-Speed in wet/mixed conditions
Have to say I think this goes to Vettel. He’s generally been very good in the wet. The last two full wet (not changing) races in F1 have been won by Vettel. Alonso has only ever achieved his good wet results this year IMO, and in my view that’s down to the car. One just has to look at Friday practice in Silverstone and Malaysia – that Ferrari was brutally murdering the softer tyres by putting too much heat into them. However in the cold weather that extra heat became a boon. Hamilton in the past has been good in the wet, but his teammate has generally been close in the wet except for Kovalainen. I think there’s wet speed in there, but I think it’s also due to car. After all – the McLaren was the only car to actually go quicker in the wet in Belgium 2010 qualifying, and the recent McLarens have always been earliest onto the drier slicks or intermediates, and other teams that copy the move can’t get heat into them quickly.
1. Vettel
2. Hamilton
3. Alonso

-Decision-making
Hamilton is babied a great deal by his team, and asks for it too. His inability (or fear) of saying no to his team is apparent from Melbourne 2010 and Hungary 2011. I feel that Vettel has a better strategic nous on the fly, and on track he is able to think of alternate strategies, such as his mid-stint switches to 1-stop strategies in Belgium 2012 or Monaco 2011. Alonso has a similar split-second ability to judge a situation to see whether or not an overtake is possible. Vettel seems to be catching up in this department though, and he beat Alonso to the punch in converting to a late 2-stop in Canada which IMO edges him over Alonso.
1. Vettel
2. Alonso
3. Hamilton

-Communication with team-personnel, particularly race engineers & pit-crew
I’ve had the recent good luck of being in the paddock in Singapore – Korea, including the pit lane on some occasions. I saw at several points that Vettel was going as far as making cool drinks (I’m talking along the lines of iced tea or lemonade rather than opening cold canned drinks) and actually making them sandwiches. You saw that Vettel really was a loved character, a central hero around whom they rallied about. Alonso I didn’t see doing these, but we have to give him credit – he was always all business. Hamilton, I think his “tricking terrible idea” and “Don’t talk to me while I’m racing PLEASE!” radio messages tell a big part of the story.
1. Vettel
2. Alonso
3. Hamilton

-Personality
In the last 3 races where I’ve had the good fortune of being a paddock goer I met all three folks. Vettel was such a good sport – even when you asked to take a photo with him he would be the one to make funny faces or be doing something silly, rather than the “look into the camera and smile” style. I have to say I was rather peeved with Hamilton – who said he was going to be right back as he had to do something, but never came back. Alonso is actually, funnily enough – quite shy. He’s not the kind who will directly joke with you, though he will offer smiles to his fans.
1. Vettel
2. Alonso
3. Hamilton

Personally I don’t think personality should fall into deciding a driver’s greatness – if you had two teammates, one with a title, the other just a race winner but Mr. Congeniality, I’d still rate the champion higher (most probably). I also think some of these shouldn’t be weighed in the same weighting – I think some deserve more weighting than others. But in the spirit of keeping to the thread…

Vettel 1st-6, 2nd-3, 3rd-1 (13 total)
Alonso 1st-3, 2nd-5, 3rd-2 (19 total)
Hamilton 1st-1, 2nd-2, 3rd-7 (26 total)

Qualifying speed

1.) Vettel
2.) Hamilton
3.) Alonso

Overtaking

1.) Alonso
2.) Hamilton
3.) Vettel

Consistency

1.) Vettel
2.) Alonso
3.) Hamilton

Technicality

1.) Alonso
2.) Vettel
3.) Hamilton

Car-setup

1.) Vettel
2.) Alonso
3.) Hamilton

Race starts

1.) Alonso
2.) Vettel
3.) Hamilton

Speed in wet

1.) Hamilton
2.) Alonso
3.) Vettel

Mixed Conditions

1.) Alonso
2.) Hamilton
3.) Vettel

Decision-making

1.) Vettel
2.) Alonso
3.) Hamilton

Communication with team-personnel

1.) Vettel
2.) Alonso
3.) Hamilton

Personality

1.) Vettel
2.) Alonso
3.) Hamilton

Final Ranking

Assuming first place is 3 points, second is 2 points, and last is worth 1 point; right?

1.) Alonso – 25 points
1.) Vettel – 25 points
3.) Hamilton – 16 points

It is very hard and too early to make these statements about these 3 drivers. Alonso we have more data on and the 2007 season with Lewis will always loom as the question mark in everyone’s minds. How can anyone be the best and lose to a rookie? That makes no sense…
However, Lewis may have pushed Alonso to become an even better driver at Ferrari just as Alonso initially spurred Lewis on to try and be as good as Alonso. Alonso 2012 might be way better than Alonso 2007…

Hamilton 2012 is absolutely flawless – just incredible and very reserved (even with Twittergate) given the disastrous season he has had.

Vettel is impossible to gauge in the RB7/RB8. Anyone who has seen Vettel driving from the onboard camera knows that the car is self-steered literally (I make more corrections taking my 5 yo to school at 40 mph) and perhaps Vettel’s real skill lies in his ability to let the car do its job with minimal intervention while Mark Webber overdrives the car.

The true test for Vettel would have been having Hamilton/Alonso/Raikonnen/Button as a teammate. Then we’d probably be able to see or extrapolate his overall skill. Of course, Vettel would rather die than have Hamilton or Alonso as his teammate so fat chance of that happening. He’s smart enough not to let Raikonnen near him but might have the ego to accept Button but that won’t happen now that Button is so firmly entrenched at McLaren.

We just have to wait and see.

@raymondu999
yes, but if Vettel’s not making corrections and able to dominate as he does then it means the car is fast, not Vettel. Sometimes the RB can pull 0.5 second over a single corner over the 2nd fastest car…

I’m not saying it doesn’t take skill or that another driver could do it better. It’s just that the car is too much of a factor to assess Vettel.

Like Alonso has said when a car poles pretty much 80% of the time, “all you can do is tip your hat off and say good job!”

Vettel is very smart and he has witnessed first hand what a 1-man team strategy has done for him at RB. He has also seen what a 2 driver team strategy has done to Alonso in 2007 and to Hamilton since 2009 and he’s smart enough to know that these two guys are pretty good. If he ever accepts an equal driver, I would be very shocked.

@freelittlebirds

Driving withut needing to correct can also mean you’re hideously slow to the point that you’re always driving within the car – which IMO is what you’re getting at, saying that Vettel is driving within the car and still getting poles – but at such an elite level of motorsport as F1, it can be assumed that this won’t be the case.