Opinion from someone a bit more neutral than either of you...
Pedrosa_4_eva wrote:
2007-Probably the greatest rookie season ever. Stunning. A computer glitch away from the title. A 2-time world champion teammate beaten.
2008-Won the title. Nothing more needs to be said.
2009-Put some great drives in while in a crappy car and helped develop it into a race winner. Scored the most points over the second half of the season when he had a car that could peform.
2010-Stayed in the title fight until the final race despite not having the best car
2011-Granted
2012-Should/Could have won the title if the team hadn't let him down.
One bad season out of six and you're judging him on that? Get real...
2007 - Agree for the most part. His first half was truly epic for a rookie, and he continued that form most of the way until a strategic error by he and the team, and a car issue.
2008- Title or not, his 2008 is littered with mistakes if you look. At least four serious driver errors. Even with the Spa penalty which I did not agree with, the title should have been wrapped up before Brazil by Lewis given his team support and quality of his car. And in Brazil, it was clear that he nearly choked under the pressure while Massa absolutely delivered.
2009 - Lewis' colors showed a bit with his team. Much like Vettel, he has a bit of a hot head and got frustrated pretty significantly that year. I don't recall any significant errors on his part, but I'd have to go back and look to verify. Think his driving was pretty spot on that year.
2010 - Was decent given his machinery which was indeed competitive. But he had several accidents with other cars - Massa and Webber come to mind. Some of these were in key moments later in the season as the title fight was becoming more clear.
2011 - Pretty awful from a driver of his caliber. Has there been a driver with a high as high as Lewis's and a low as low as his 2011 season in terms of driver mistakes?
2012 - Awesome driving by Lewis and purely robbed of a title opportunity by team errors and car reliability. Period. Only real mistakes IMO was not letting Pastor to overtake him in Valencia and possibly tapping the wall in Singapore qualifying IF that led to his failure there. Beyond that, can't really say he put a foot wrong.
So, yes... I feel he has a right to take Lewis's whole body of work and come to his conclusion. He's made some serious errors in his time (like any driver). And that's where this comes from. If you look, it seems erratic. 2007 is great. 2008 is off despite a title. 2009 is good despite the car. 2010 was good minus a few errors on his part. 2011 was awful. 2012 was great. Lewis fluctuates a lot season to season.
Vettelmessi wrote:
2007-probably the biggest ever choke in any season
2008-Won the title with equal best car and massively favoured by his team Nothing more needs to be said.
2009-showed he is noything without a decent car
2010-fast car failed again
2011-worst season by any top driver in history
2012-Should have won the title but didn't again.
2007 - Depending what you want to believe and take from media reports, it was a choke in Brazil or simply electrical error (possibly due to Lewis going off track racing Alonso). Driver error in either case, but I don't consider racing Alonso and making an error a serious sin in your rookie season.
2008 - McLaren wasn't quite up to spec with the Ferrari so Kimi or Massa SHOULD have won the 2008 title. 2008 was definitely not Lewis's best year though in the same way people speak of Kimi's 2007 title season.
2009 - Errr... are you serious? Can't you say the same for Vettel in the Toro Rosso? Or any driver? An odd win is possible but you won't be contending for a championship for sure.
2010 - Car was fast. Lewis did make mistakes when it started to matter but did close out decently. I wouldn't call it failing but simply being outbeaten by a few others. Not like he did poorly in the last race like Webber and Alonso.
2011 - Yeaaaa... I may have to agree.
2012 - Saying he should have won the title but didn't again is like saying Seb should have won the title sooner in 2010 than he had but didn't. The driver isn't always accountable for team errors and car reliability. Lewis had A LOT of potential points erased this year due to car failure. You can't let that detract from his splendid driving. He was very fast and basically error free. Same can be said for Alonso and Vettel.