Sebastian Vettel vs Lewis Hamilton

[tribolik]

Its like comparing aples and oranges... to each his own.. they are both great drivers.

 

[Toyinster]

Its like comparing aples and oranges... to each his own.. they are both great drivers.

Sure, which is fastest, the apple or the orange?

 

[hawkeye122]

I see it this way:

I feel that Hamilton was much better with the '08 spec cars. He made some crazy moves, and they typically paid off. At that point in time, he WAS the BEST driver on the grid, no doubt. If we had kept the same regs, I think Hamilton would have had a great chance at the "Hat Trick".

When they switched to the Current aero rules, I think he found the car not to his liking. Less rear grip, and making a pass move was much easier, and thus, more expected. People saw him about to make a move, and would adjust accordingly. Throw in that the McLaren was a dog in '09 and part of '10, he wasn't able to keep pace with people who were up the field.

Hamilton seems to put it all on the line, and the Tyre Gods punish him for it. If you took tyres out of the equation, I think you would find that Hamilton has the best race craft, and could set the quickest lap time.

Vettel, on the other hand, seems to have a good grasp on knowing what sort of lap times he needs to set to bring the Tyre/pitstop strategy on his side, and use that to his advantage. He seems to be very calculating, and very precise.

Few times have i seen Vettel make a sensational move on someone, or make a pass in a place one would not expect. He races fairly conventionally, and that can swing in his favor.

However, I feel that in a Sprint race, say 5 laps, him and Hamilton in the same cars, Hamilton would have him. Vettel gets more luck on overall strategy, but in short blasts, I feel that noone can touch Hamilton. Vettel is gifted, just not in raw speed.

Another issue Vettel seems to have is when his back is against the wall, he slips up. (Canada, Spa) He goes harder than he and the car are capable of, and spins. Hamilton, in my eyes, when he is in a low place, can put in a stellar stint, and pull off what few thought he would.

I don't think there is a definitive answer to this, but all I can say is I'd love to see Lewis and Seb in a round of the BTCC. That would be great to watch.

 

[DoomtrainUK]

i agree with greycap, but i think in identical cars lewis would pip vettel almost every time

 

[Ardius]

He didn't see it as finishing 3rd though, he saw it as throwing away a win, which it kinda was to be fair, the Safety Car was unfortunate timing. I agree he could've acted less like a child, though.

I just think he should stick to the positives such as the fact he's clearly sitting in a great car and should have a good shot at another WDC. Rather than becoming lost thinking about he got schooled by Button or lost through strategy. I think this is his main weakness - when things go wrong he gets stuck thinking why it went wrong and how he should improve (or thats how it appears).
Really, Lewis isn't doing anything directly wrong in his driving, he just needs to think what he's doing more often and to keep focused. It seems laugable to suggest a WDC needs to be told to keep focused but I can't understand otherwise why he seems to look so dejected after only one race.

Perhaps if we were talking about the last race after losing the WDC - yeah, no surprise being dejected. But after nearly missing out on a win at the start of the year in a very promising car? It seems a little too defeatist a little too early in the season to suddenly appear dejected for not making the most in one race.

Thats not to say he can't feel gutted from losing a win - but the body language on the podium and his post-race interviews seemed a little more dramatic than slightly gutted.

Lets compare it with Alonso - Alonso doesn't look dejected, he gets angry! He doesn't stand there and look glum about how it all went wrong, he gets all fired up and shouts at his team to do a better job! Perhaps in this sense, Lewis needs to be more selfish or arrogant haha. Hypocritical for me to say this, but perhaps he would be a more complete driver if he was less self-questioning and more arrogantly confident.
Or at least, arrogantly confident but still 100% committed like Alonso.

Either way, its an interesting subject and it seems like we will forever be discussing if Hamilton really is top material or not. But one thing no one will argue is that he had undeniable speed. Its all in his head the problems appear to lie.

 

[Toyinster]

Ardius, don't be too quick to judge, the glumness reminds me of the infamous clip where Lewis' Dad is trying to get out of his son what he was thinking about after a karting heat. They are walking up the paddock pushing the kart and his dad is saying, "...we can't fix it unless you tell me what it is!...". That's Lewis and he will bounce back - he has amazing resolve and he has to think it through. He will be back stronger and focused, that's what he does.

I was impressed with how Seb reacted/interacted with Button on the podium, he is a sportsman and not as arrogant as appeared last season.

 

[Ardius]

But he hasn't bounced back has he? The expectation is that he would bounce back from 2011 but straight away the first race of 2012 he is dejected despite a better car? Something still isn't right with him.

The fact that Vettel and Button joke about only makes it worse and contrasts so badly in the podium ceremonies and press conferences. It happened last year too - the other drivers seem more focused and at ease with the result.

 

[lbsf1]

I think they are slightly like Senna and Prost actually. Senna being like hamilton quite agressive and prepared to take risks, amazing in the wet, however where he falls down is in making rash decisions. Vettel like prost, fast and precise, will calculate what needs to be done to win with strategy.

I prefer Hamilton's risker style, makes more action. However both equally as good just in different ways.

 

[SagarisGTB]

If someone starts winning consistently in an inferior car, it becomes hard to still consider that car inferior.

Put all the F1 drivers in a GP2 car and then compare them. The problem with comparing them in F1 cars is that they are all different in specs. One car is clearly superior to another. With GP2 you can get some parity at least.

We don't know how fast each car is relative to another, just how fast two drivers in one car are relative to two other drivers in another car. So you can only compare drivers that drive the same car, but even then that's not so simple. The classic example is that of D. Hill, J. Villeneuve and Frentzen. There's too many variables when the drivers are already generally close (it is the pinnacle of motorsport after all). Some cars suit drivers better than others, and the same thing applies to tires and even brakes. For example, when Barrichello used the Hitco brakes in 2009, Button was beating him badly and running away with the championship, but when Barrichello switched to Brembo brakes, we was able to decisively out-qualify Button and win races. Throw in questions of confidence and motivation and throw in changes that occur over the years, drivers will improve or become worse, and that makes comparisons over longer periods of time even more complicated. Comparing drivers in the same car is not simple; comparisons involving drivers that have never been teammates have the precision of throwing darts at mosquitoes in the dark.

 

[tribolik]

Sure, which is fastest, the apple or the orange?

Probably Hamilton by a very few tenths but lacks the consistency and cool head of Vettel...