Better if on Equal Terms?
by Craig Normansell with others, on Oct 5th, 2011Welcome to another edition of all things debatable - otherwise known as the Scrutineering Bay. This week, we asked the fans a question which has cropped up as the season has worn on;
"Would Lewis be beating Seb if both were at Red Bull?"
Photo Credit: Sutton Images
As usual we had a myriad of responses from one end of the spectrum to the other. First one out of the mailbag this week is from...Lewis Smith!
That's a tough one to answer but I would have to say yes, he would. I'm a Lewis Hamilton fan myself but I would like to think that I am not biased towards him. For example some of the "scrapes" he has had this season has been his fault, but others I think have just been racing incidents and been taken out of proportion (the incident with Massa comes to mind). Although because he has had so many, it snowballs so unless he has a perfect, incident free season from now on he will be criticised for his driving style.
Getting back to the question at hand, I think both drivers are the best two drivers on the grid currently. Both have phenomenal talent and both are world champions. There is nobody better than Sebastian Vettel when he has some clear air. He will put the lap times in and he will win if he is ahead going into the 1st/2nd corner. I do however think that Lewis is the better driver, simply because he can win by coming from behind. So far this season we have rarely seen Sebastian off the front row of the grid therefore he hasn't had to fight for his position. Where as Lewis on the other hand, is a great fighter and he has more than enough ability to be able to challenge for a win. That much is clear from the wins he has had this season.
As for Sebastian, I don't believe he is as good as a fighter as Lewis is. Take Monza for example. People were raving about how amazing Vettel's overtake was on Alonso, but in my opinion, it wasn't amazing. Brave, yes, but amazing? No. Yes he was half on, half off the grass running side by side with Alonso and he managed to keep his foot in. But the fact is he managed to overtake a slower car in a part of the track that the RB6 is strongest. Not to mention that Sebastian's car was set up to be quicker in the corners. If you look at the passes that he has had to do over the course of the season, 9 times out of 10 he has always had the advantage, being fresher tyres or outpacing a slower running car.
To sum it up. Would Lewis beat Sebastian? Yes. Would he finish every race higher than Sebastian? No. Would he beat him over the course of the season in qualifying? No. Who would finish the season with the most points? Lewis.
All cracking points from Lewis there, who's on Twitter @LewisSmithF1. We think he's a little too old to have been named after the British driver though!
Speaking of Twitter, we put the question out to our followers and here's some of the responses;
@herr_brightside Lewis of course!
@sunkissedsmile lewis
@PapaGB I think button would win, Ham would take Vet out of the equation
@cargoeszoom Seb any day of the week! Including Sunday!
Plenty of dividing opinions there then!
The second, and final, entry this week comes from...duskyBlogger!
The short answer is UNEQUIVOCALLY YES.
The long answer is most teams adopt a 'split strategy' i.e. sign two drivers with different driving styles, run different strategies with tyre choices etc to cover most eventualities and maximise their 'success rate'.
If Hamilton was at RBR in a car designed by Newey, he would have THE best car on the grid. Compared to Vettel, I'd say he is marginally more aggressive in seizing opportunities to overtake but he'd be doing very little of that since he'd be qualifying on pole. Both drivers are skilled in wet conditions but Hamilton has a slight edge on Vettel, as the following video demonstrates...
So their relative performance would come down to their Race Starts and Tyre Management. Tyre Management is considered by most as Hamilton's weakness but his race starts are fairly good.
So with all this considered, I'd say Lewis would be beating Sebastian but the gap wouldn't be as big as the chasm between Vettel and Webber at the moment! - also available on Twitter @duskyBlogF1
Some more great points there too, illustrated all the better by using a video - nice work!
So that's it from the fans who submitted their thoughts - don't forget that you can just as easily share yours below!
Comments and Discussion
I'm sorry Lewis Smith but I have to totally disagree. You say Lewis is better "because he can win by coming from behind." when you look at his stats he has gone backwards down the grid more times than he he has improved see http://www.formula1.com/results/driver/2011/828.html
Vettel has been driving near perfect, his only obvious mistake i can remember was in Canada which can be credited to Button (whom Hamilton also drove into and had to later retire).
I wont deny Lewis is a prodigious talent but I don't think even with the same machinery he could beat Seb, not this year anyway. Maybe if in 2008 form he would but this year Lewis just doesn't look as good as he used to.
It's a nice debate, but we will never know.
On one side we have Vettel, really precise and very calm, simply because he's confident in his miraculous car.
On the other side there's LH, who's pushing hard on every possible occasion, because he doesn't have such a good car.
Talent? How do you measure that, really? I think we will be able to tell more after a few years.
Yes, last year - but not this year. Button's beating him, so I don't see how he could have beaten Vettel in 2011.
I think if they were in the Red Bull, Seb would be beating Lewis, sad but true.
If they were both in a McLaren Lewis would be beating Seb!
I don't think it's something "we'll never know". Lewis has got an eye on Red Bull particularly and both his and Webber's contracts run out at the end of 2012.
Although the drivers share different qualities and it's not a direct comparison, it can be likened to the super-team that never was at the end of the last century.
Hakkinen-Schumacher at McLaren nearly happened but fell apart due to a disagreement about hats(!), it's generally agreed that on raw speed the Finn was a nose ahead, but Schumacher was the 'thinking' driver (though sometimes this was debatable). In qualifying Michael would have lost out more, whereas in the race he was more likely to string together consistant laps and manage car/tyre issues better, thereby emerging in front after the last pitstop.
The same could be said of Hamilton and Vettel, except it's slightly less cut and dry as the comparison. Sebastian's the quicker driver over a single flying lap, whereas Lewis is the one who can string together the consistant fast laps. Though where it differs is Lewis is more prone to errors and is less thinkie, more instinctive.
Who would be better? Well let's ignore the fact that the Red Bull team would be more behind Vettel as he's their driver-program driver.
Vettel would qualify better sure, and is more likely to get better starts off clean-sides of the grid; Lewis could be anywhere behind him. But come the end of the race Lewis would've closed the deficit over the 60 laps and overtaken his team mate.
Because he's a more complete Sunday driver, Hamilton would come out on top.
Incidently i reckon Lewis would thrive in the more relaxed RB atmosphere and it's a move that will be welcomed from me. Besides, high chance of Vettel being poached by Mercedes for the 'National team', Schuey's setting it up ready for him.
Yes, a super-team is long overdue in F1. I also wouldn't mind pairing Vettel and Hamilton: it would be very exciting.
So, Jenson and Lewis together are not a super team? I believe It is far more exciting having Vettel and Hamilton on different teams.