Alienturnedhuman wrote:
[color=#000057]With Hamilton now only needing an average of 5th place to guarantee himself the championship regardless of what Vettel does, it seems the Hamilton/Merc package defeated the Vettel/Ferrari package, however there has been a lot of debate over who had the superior car.
There has been debate? No there hasn't.... both teams were almost equal and it came down to race specific... Merc dropped off for a bit and now Ferrari have done the same... Like the old days of Mclaren/Ferrari. Mistakes made a big impact because of how tight the field has been. If Merc V Merc made a mistake.. usually... they'd still finish 1-2 except for major failures etc. It was rare for another team to remotely challenge.
Alienturnedhuman wrote:
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It's been a particularly strange season in terms of the relative performance of the top two cars. The first third they seemed roughly equal, the middle third the Ferrari appeared to have an edge, but in the final third is like 2016 reborn for Mercedes.
I'd agree with this except the final part. In 2016 Merc V Merc they were miles ahead of the field... at times the qualifying pace would make other teams look like a joke... and it was normal for them to finish half a lap down the field.... Max showed otherwise when he came chasing down Bottas.. that's with two incidents and a penalty. This wasn't a pure Merc dominance but more driver related like this season has been for most of the time.
Alienturnedhuman wrote:
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Much has been made of the high profile errors Vettel has made, but then while he has had an equal amount of time in the faster car, his car was not as dominant as the Mercedes is now. He also arguably carries more pressure, as Ferrari rolls over into a 12th year of hurt. Both drivers have benefitted from one clear instance of team orders this season.
I disagree again with the Merc dominance comment. Also as for extra pressure.. the only two parts will add pressure on to an experienced champion... 1. driving for Ferrari and 2. His own pressure. Which again.. he should have the experience of winning, fighting and being intelligent. He; like Ferrari have made too many mistakes and for once they have a race package capable of winning and it has been quite a number of years since they've had it... (bar last season). The mistakes made should be highly criticised because it is again costing them a championship. Merc are not just winning this another trophy... but Ferrari have lost it...
Alienturnedhuman wrote:
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It begs the question, what if Hamilton hadn't been facing Vettel in the Ferrari, what if he had been facing himself - in some strange Star Trek esque episode - how far would Hamilton in the Ferrari have taken the WDC fight compared to Vettel?
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I think it would be much closer if Hamilton in a Ferrari Vs Hamilton in a Merc.... Lewis is also used to winning for a team that expects success... would RBR get the same criticisms as Mclaren have faced in recent years from sponsors, pundits and fans? unlikely.
It also reminds me when people criticised Lewis for having such a high profile personal life and even questioned his retirement last year and this year... yet he is here.. winning.. not making costly mistakes.. while Ferrari and Vettel implode.. which frustrates fans who want it to go to the wire. We all know what needs to be said.. it has been said often... Ferrari should have made Vettel number 1 or got another driver in to replace Kimi. He and Ferrari should have avoided mistakes by not playing huge risks..