Valtteri Bottas - World Championship Challenger or Able Support Act?

[mrbungle83]

How exactly was Hamilton matched by Nico Rosberg in 2016? Nico could go flat out all season while Hamilton had to worry about reliability every other race. Yet, Hamilton still had more poles and more wins. I don't think we watched the same F1 season last year because anyone who did wouldn't utter such a statement unless you have absolutely no idea of what you are talking about.

Im not particularly a Hamilton fan but how anyone can deny his raw speed is beyond me! Hamilton is one of the fastest drivers in the history of F1 he will break the pole position WR very soon and he is up against world class talent in the current grid. The guy gets under my skin but he's going to be an F1 legend. People forget what Senna and Prost acted like... Petulant just like vettle and ham.

 

[Rob]

Oooops! Lol, late night finger trouble

I've had that. In a different scenario. lol.

Really, your whole point can be summed up (and sadly, F1 too) with the words "will allow" instead of a merit based statement. It's sad that we will never know who is better. And it's something F1 needs to fix. I'd outlaw team orders far faster than I'd outlaw talking to your engineer.

As for Bottas, he's from Finland....so he's gotta be good, no? Their drivers test is harder than most people ever even think about when behind the wheel. That's my in depth analysis.

I still think over the course of the season he Outperformed Fernando though.

Nobody will "outperform"' Alonso these days unless they strap their ass to a 230mph missile for two hours and take on the best oval racers in the world. F1 is not the end all and be all of racing, and to call it a "world" championship is a cruel joke, but I get the marketing. In fact, as my profile pic sort of insinuates, , I think Fernando has blown away all other F1 drivers this year by a country mile, even if you take Indy out of the equation. What he has done in that P.O.S. McLaren is nothing short of stunning, in my book. Every time I see him get out of the car after an engine failure, or an "electrical" issue, I think he's one step closer to leaving F1. If you offered him a ride in the Mercedes, it's clear to me he would think twice, because he's raced free of most political hogwash this year...once. Every time I see his qualifying position, which is the only thing we have to (barely) determine who is a good driver in F1 it makes my jaw drop. It's like 5-8 positions above his teammate. (I also think Magnusson is way way underrated, due to the the press bias, much like they handed to Michael Andretti).

The second best driver is harder to determine. It always is in F1. But Sainz would be my pick. You can't ever look at finishing position in F1 if you want to determine who is good. Raikkonen is my guy, but I'll admit he has seemingly gotten a bit bored, or frustrated with the bureaucracy. I'm not sure which...as F1 always paints him as a complainer, when all he wants to do is race. But Sainz has not gone outside of F1, so I'll have to reserve judgment. As far as the STR and Sainz' performance, it's a slam dunk, if you eliminate team B.S. (If you asked me about Vettel, I'd say third best, not because I know, but because I don't know...he's only been in F1, and within that realm, I'd say he's as good as any during my generation. Nigel Mansell will always be #1 until someone wins the WDC and IndyCar Championship back to back. Think about that for a moment.)

It's not just his talent either. He speaks his mind, like Vettel and Hamilton. And that's not too common in F1, because they were all afraid of Bernie. But consider this, with which I agree:

"Haas in the end is a Ferrari B [team], so it is a bit of a surprise that they haven't performed better up until now," said Sainz.

"If you look at the car and the engine itself, it's more a Ferrari than anything else.

"They performed really well in Australia, they performed massively in Austria.

"So on tracks where they don't struggle with brakes, with bumps or with kerbs, they put the downforce they have and the engine that they have and you look here and they have a very competitive car.

"It is still a young team but they have a really competitive package."
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/130659

The real interesting thing here is that STR was supposed to be the "Ferrari Jr." team.

Don't be shocked when he gets a Ferrari ride after one of them goes racing elsewhere. Ferrari is not perfect (team orders and all) but they know driver talent like nobody else, and they can afford it.

 

[apex11]

Well you can either say the Williams was stopping Bottas wining races or you could say the Merc is helping him win races.... end result is the same.
Had Lewis stayed at McLaren and been in Alonso's shoes he would not be wining races let alone WDC.
However good you are a driver if the car isn't right you are not wining stuff. Lewis is clearly very good but he is able to win stuff because of the car he is in. Clearly Bottas was always able of wining races but he wasn't in a car that could achieve that before....

Its all about the car...

 

[mikhail000]

I've had that. In a different scenario. lol.

Really, your whole point can be summed up (and sadly, F1 too) with the words "will allow" instead of a merit based statement. It's sad that we will never know who is better. And it's something F1 needs to fix. I'd outlaw team orders far faster than I'd outlaw talking to your engineer.

As for Bottas, he's from Finland....so he's gotta be good, no? Their drivers test is harder than most people ever even think about when behind the wheel. That's my in depth analysis.


Nobody will "outperform"' Alonso these days unless they strap their ass to a 230mph missile for two hours and take on the best oval racers in the world. F1 is not the end all and be all of racing, and to call it a "world" championship is a cruel joke, but I get the marketing. In fact, as my profile pic sort of insinuates, , I think Fernando has blown away all other F1 drivers this year by a country mile, even if you take Indy out of the equation. What he has done in that P.O.S. McLaren is nothing short of stunning, in my book. Every time I see him get out of the car after an engine failure, or an "electrical" issue, I think he's one step closer to leaving F1. If you offered him a ride in the Mercedes, it's clear to me he would think twice, because he's raced free of most political hogwash this year...once. Every time I see his qualifying position, which is the only thing we have to (barely) determine who is a good driver in F1 it makes my jaw drop. It's like 5-8 positions above his teammate. (I also think Magnusson is way way underrated, due to the the press bias, much like they handed to Michael Andretti).

The second best driver is harder to determine. It always is in F1. But Sainz would be my pick. You can't ever look at finishing position in F1 if you want to determine who is good. Raikkonen is my guy, but I'll admit he has seemingly gotten a bit bored, or frustrated with the bureaucracy. I'm not sure which...as F1 always paints him as a complainer, when all he wants to do is race. But Sainz has not gone outside of F1, so I'll have to reserve judgment. As far as the STR and Sainz' performance, it's a slam dunk, if you eliminate team B.S. (If you asked me about Vettel, I'd say third best, not because I know, but because I don't know...he's only been in F1, and within that realm, I'd say he's as good as any during my generation. Nigel Mansell will always be #1 until someone wins the WDC and IndyCar Championship back to back. Think about that for a moment.)

It's not just his talent either. He speaks his mind, like Vettel and Hamilton. And that's not too common in F1, because they were all afraid of Bernie. But consider this, with which I agree:

"Haas in the end is a Ferrari B [team], so it is a bit of a surprise that they haven't performed better up until now," said Sainz.

"If you look at the car and the engine itself, it's more a Ferrari than anything else.

"They performed really well in Australia, they performed massively in Austria.

"So on tracks where they don't struggle with brakes, with bumps or with kerbs, they put the downforce they have and the engine that they have and you look here and they have a very competitive car.

"It is still a young team but they have a really competitive package."
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/130659

The real interesting thing here is that STR was supposed to be the "Ferrari Jr." team.

Don't be shocked when he gets a Ferrari ride after one of them goes racing elsewhere. Ferrari is not perfect (team orders and all) but they know driver talent like nobody else, and they can afford it.

Meh let me know we he pulls a Damon Hill like with the A18,
now that was a dog of a car, his teamate only finished 5 races.
Vandoorne already done 6 out the 10.