Formula 1 - 2011 - Page 11

If i rank people in F1 right now i will go:-
1. Hamilton
2. Alonso
3. Kubica
4. Vettel
5. Button
6. Rosberg

Ok, while i agree it is hard to rate drivers ability there are many ways you can get indications. So why are Hamilton and Alonso the best two?

Lewis Hamilton- In junior formula this guy has no equals, not even close. You can say that this has no bearing on his ability in F1 but i disagree, his level of success in a wide variety of cars shows versatility. As a result of this, for his debut in F1 at just 22 he was given the seat of one of the prestigious two teams (McLaren and Ferrari). This however comes with pro's and con's. He woud be able to showcase his talent and be given a car capable of winning races and possibly the title, on the downside he would be up against Fernando Alonso. At the time Alonso had just ended the domination of Schumacher quite brilliantly whilst driving for Renault winning back to back titles, and was the completely undisputed best driver. It was a daunting task to not look outclassed let alone compete with him. This was the only year i believe McLaren have had the best car, albeit not by much. From the very first race Hamilton was on the pace of Alonso, and as the season progressed he became more and more dominant. Going into the final two races he was clear favourite for the title despite the ridiculous in-fighting between the two drivers (read up on it if your interested) mainly caused by Alonso's pride being hurt. McLaren made a bad call in China which cost him dearly, trying to stay out on tyres until they were down to the canvas, something i have never seen before and as he pitted Lewis understeered into the gravel trap of the pitlane. In Brazil he suffered a gearbox malfunction in the opening laps which relegated him down to almost last. In the end he lost out on the title to Raikonnen but still finished ahead of his illustrious team-mate. This season is the best indicator of his talent. In 2008 he managed to take the title, despite some questionable penalties shall we say, and an inferior car to the Ferrari of Massa and Raikonnen. It was very close, winning it in the last corner of the very last race. He became the youngest ever world champion until it was beaten last year by Vettel. In 2009 McLaren produced a dog of a car, partly due to the fact they invested so much in the battle with Ferrari of 2008. He vastly over-achieved in this car and actually took two race wins as it was developed throughout the season. Last season he was given a decent car once again, however it wasnt close to the Red Bull, and was helped massively by the F-Duct. However as is the case in F1 the other teams will copy a successful concept and by the second half of the season it was clear the McLaren was the third fastest car. Despite this, he was able to fight tooth and nail for the title with Vettel, Webber and Alonso and had quite a large advantage at one point. Three races ended this though, a gearbox failure and two racing incidents both very similar to each other with fairly light contact resulting in Hamiltons car retiring. It cost him the title in my opinion. To summarize, no team-mate has ever beaten Hamilton, and only Alonso has come close to doing so.

Fernando Alonso- Fernando has had quite a career so far, very colourful and entertaining at times but no objective person can deny the immense talent he has. He was one of the first of the "new generation" of drivers benefiting from allowing kids to compete at a younger age in karting, and had a very successful junior career. This earned him a spot in F1 at a very young age (not so uncommon now) although it was only at Minardi who were the slowest team by some margin. All he could do really was beat his team-mate. He did this by a huge margin though which made eveyone take notice of him, even if some discreditted his team-mates rather than credit Alonso. He even beat other teams on a couple of occassions, quite remarkable really. He was promoted to test driver of Renault the next year with a race seat the following year (ousting Jenson Button and nearly costing him his career). He managed a great win at Hungary to become the youngest ever race winner (later to be beaten by Hamilton and Vettel). The real magic however began in 2005, at the time Ferrari and Schumacher were cruising to championships (5 on the trot) for a variety of reasons but not this year. Alonso and Raikkonen had an insane battle for the title with the McLaren having more speed but less reliability. After he secured the title in Brazil, Alonso drove perhaps the greatest race i have have ever seen at Suzuka passing people left right and centre. Unfortunately for him he didnt get the credit he deserved as Raikkonen won the race from 20th on the grid in the much superior McLaren. In 2006 he again won the title, this time with an epic battle with Schumacher where he completely dethroned the German and essentially ended his career. Alonso had some magnificent drives this year, notably in Hungary where he carved his way through the field only to be cruelly denied victory with his wheel falling off after a pitstop. Due to his incredible performances and Raikonnens decision to replace Schumacher at Ferrari, Alonso signed for McLaren (see above^^). He terminated his own contract with them the following year to return to Renault who had become a midfield team and had a fairly uneventful couple of years albeit winning two races in 2008 (one as a result of cheating). Last year the Ferrari was clearly inferior to the Red Bull but yet Alonso was only denied the title by a bad call from the Ferrari team in the final race and his inability to overtake the Renault of Petrov. To sum up his career so far, it has been quite brilliant, his only flaw being 2007 which i think came as a bit of a shock to him. It seems he is back on track now though.