sporting fairness, mclaren, ferrari and red bull…
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On a sporting theme McLaren are the only one of the three who have 2 top line drivers, lets face it Ferrari are albout Alonso and Red Bull are all Vettel, maybe if McLaren are to challenge for a title in the next couple of years they would have to ship one of their superstars out and concentrate on only one driver like the other two
I reckon Alonso/Ferrari will do the business next year, lets face it they have to or else the Alonso era will be on the wain.
Wonder what odds I can get on him for 2012?Well, i think the key man at the moment is not Vettel, not Alonso or Button, but Adrian Newey. His cars are just too good for the likes of Mclaren and Ferrari. If the RB8 is on the same pace as the 2012 Ferrari, then yes, I think you may be right, Alonso can win the championship.
But in terms of Ferrari winning the championship, having one driver who can dominate isn’t the way for the constructors championship. Had Button been in the form he is currently in at the moment at Mclaren in 2008, they would have been Constructor Champions. The other driver is very important. Kovalainen held Mclaren back in 08, and I hate to say it, but I can’t see Massa doing any different for Ferrari in 2012.
For teams fighting for the championship, I think the ideal situation is to have 2 first-rate drivers, but have one who is slightly better than the other.
You need to be able to distinguish between #1 and #2 because at some point in the season you’re going to need to back one over the other for the championship, and you don’t want them taking points off each other.
At the same time you need two strong drivers so that while #1 is winning #2 is right behind him taking points off his challengers, and ensuring a maximum points haul if something happens to #1.
If they’re too evenly matched you get a lot of friction e.g. Senna/Prost, Alonso/Hamilton and Vettel/Webber in 2010. If there’s too much of a gulf you end up with one driver challenging for the WDC but being nowhere in the WCC.
This year I’d say Red Bull have been closest to the ideal: Webber has supported Vettel well, taking points off McLaren and Ferrari and contributing nicely to the WCC without taking points off Vettel.
At McLaren there isn’t a clear #1, although this season Button has just started to edge it. I expect Hamilton to bounce back though. They’ve been able to score consistently in the WCC, but if things stay as they are and both end up fighting for the WDC next year they could well get in each other’s way.
Ferrari have the worst balance, in that Massa isn’t really pulling his weight. He’s usually much further behind Alonso and not much help to him in the races, and hasn’t had as great a contribution to the WCC, as evidenced by the fact that Ferrari are nearly 100 points adrift of McLaren.
Sbl- I hear you about have to do the business, but have and will are two different things.
Witty weasel- to be fair the Newey-cars are only untouchable in qualifying, and rarely in the race; and even that looked rocky in Suzuka
I kind of agree with Don. The best combination is two top line drivers, Which are very closely matched, but one is consistently faster than the other across all tracks and conditions. One who will always, without fail, finish 1 place behind the other guy, ideally
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