http://f1insight.madtv.me.uk/ Keep up to date with this post on F1 Insight Clive Allen RSS Feeder-breeder by Mad I completely agree. I have to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of Hamilton in the world, but he's far and away the best rookie of the year, and very likely better than any rookie we have ever seen. In fact a comparison to past rookie sensations would be very interesting! I think he would certainly rate better than Jacques Villeneuve, my former racing hero and the other rookie sensation Lewis seems to be most often compared to. But I agree that for all the advantages Hamilton had by being in the Mclaren, I can't imagine the other drivers you mentioned giving Alonso as much difficulty as Lewis did, had they been in his seat. None of them had a reigning world champion as a team mate, none of them had the added pressure that must surely come from driving for a frontline team, and none of them made as few mistakes through it all as Lewis did! The guy is the real deal, and his WDC crown is only a matter of time. 05/11/2007 19:39:21 http://madtv.me.uk/f1insight/default.aspx?blogid=153 I am no Hamilton fan either, Eric, but he has earned my grudging respect this year. Some of the in-car footage of his laps is astounding - nothing spectacular, just inch perfect placement and smooth transitions from acceleration to braking. If he's this good now, how good will he be in five years time? The mind boggles slightly... 05/11/2007 19:57:46 http://madtv.me.uk/f1insight/default.aspx?blogid=153 Pretty balanced that Clive. Are you writing off Mr Vettel a bit quickly though? I sense you still feel an injustice regarding Scott Speed and perhaps it shows in your appraisal of his replacement? He has had less drives than those that you are comparing him with, lacked the pre-season focus that they did and in my opinion showed good mental strength after his mistakes. Future champion? Who knows? But I am less unconvinced than you! 05/11/2007 22:19:43 http://madtv.me.uk/f1insight/default.aspx?blogid=153 Naturally I will compare Vettel with Speed since he was the one to replace the American, Punter, and I will be pretty hard on him too - if only to balance the exaggerated hype the youngster seems to be getting. If it's too early to rubbish him, it's also too early to make huge claims for him. It's quite annoying really. Vettel impressed me when he drove the Beemer at Indy so I wanted him to do well - but then he goes and takes Scott's seat! No fault of his, I know, but, if the STR bosses are going to congratulate themselves on their brilliant taste in drivers, I will take every opportunity to point out that they swapped a good driver for one who has done no better so far. When Vettel proves me wrong, I'll be gracious enough. ;) 05/11/2007 22:27:33 http://madtv.me.uk/f1insight/default.aspx?blogid=153 That's fair! 05/11/2007 22:44:23 http://madtv.me.uk/f1insight/default.aspx?blogid=153 For us to compare "rookie" drivers we must look at the meaning of rookie. Is it fair to say that Vellenueve was a rookie in his first year? He had a few years of CART first. So what I do is us their age as a barometer. I like Hamilton but he is not my favorite driver. Having said that I feel confident to say that no 20 year old driver impressed me more than LH. His youth and arrogance kept him from the championship. But it is his youth that ensures that he will be back. I also have to look at the equipment that LH had at his disposal. Imagine how Vettel may have fared in such a car? We all have to us guidlines to judge these young drivers. I think the fact that we can have discussion about so many young drivers says alot for our sport!! 06/11/2007 00:59:26 http://madtv.me.uk/f1insight/default.aspx?blogid=153 Rookie seems to mean those who are in their first year in any particular formula. I agree that, in some ways, it was strange to call Villeneuve a rookie after all the experience he had in other formulae - a bit like calling Michael Schumacher a rookie if he decided to drive in Champ Cars. Yet each form of racing is different and requires different skills; many drivers who have done well in the lower formulae fail in F1 and, occasionally, one will succeed in F1 after being merely average in other formulae (Mansell was one). So I think it's more than just age that makes a rookie. The matter of how Vettel would have fared with Hamilton's McLaren is really what I'm getting at in the article - I don't think any of this year's rookies would have done as well even had they had access to the same car. That's a subjective judgment based mainly on how they fared against their team mates and is all we can do without actually putting them in the car. And no doubt we could argue each case until next season begins! 06/11/2007 01:18:43 http://madtv.me.uk/f1insight/default.aspx?blogid=153 You are right Clive we could argue this forever. But I think it is safe to say that all the rookies would have performed better in a McLaren. How long do we have to wait (how many days) for the first race so we can get back to some intense disagreements and/or arguements. 06/11/2007 01:35:46 http://madtv.me.uk/f1insight/default.aspx?blogid=153 March 16 2008 - that's the date of the Australian Grand Prix that kicks off the new season, John. Seems an age away, doesn't it? 06/11/2007 02:13:26 http://madtv.me.uk/f1insight/default.aspx?blogid=153 on. I would not make much of the pit lane incident, even more experienced drivers perform some interesting pit lane stunts from time to time. When judging his race performance have to remember, he only had 2 weeks notice before his first F1 race, and he raced on a track he never been to before. What I would look at is how he improved in a course of the Brazilian weekend... 06/11/2007 02:24:11 http://madtv.me.uk/f1insight/default.aspx?blogid=153 Ah, you spotted the deliberate mistake, Milos! No, actually it was brain fade, I'll admit it - it's those brooding pine forests in the back ground of both circuits - give them the same atmosphere. I'll fix it. Otherwise, I think we're in agreement on just about everything. Especially Nakajima - given that he wasn't rated at all before he stepped into the Williams in Brazil, I think he did an excellent job, improving all weekend followed by an impressive debut race. 06/11/2007 02:32:03 http://madtv.me.uk/f1insight/default.aspx?blogid=153 Davidson's "lack of FLAIR"??? You mean FLAIR like Kimi? "luck has a part to play in the making of a driver" ..... You're right! ... that's why Hamilton did so well, he was "lucky" to have his education paid for by McLaren. Lil Ant had to train in Honda's for 4 years and what did he get for it ...... #23 Super Aguri. I would like to see Hammy in the Super Aguri and Davidson in the McLaren. I wonder how different they really are? 07/11/2007 07:25:59 http://madtv.me.uk/f1insight/default.aspx?blogid=153 How different? Oh, probably something like Alonso's six tenths, Number 38. ;) If life was fair, Davidson would have been rewarded for his hard work over the years with a good drive in a competitive car. But life is anything but fair and it handed him an outside chance to shine in a year-old car. And the plain fact is that he didn't - sometimes through circumstances like an errant groundhog getting in the way, sometimes through his own errors. Essentially, he failed in his first task which was to make Sato look slow. Senna entered F1 in a Toleman that was anything but competitive but he wrung its neck until it became at least a platform for his skills - and had Prost begging the marshals to stop a wet Monaco GP so that he could stay ahead of the charging Brazilian. It's a matter of opinion but, judging by what I've seen of Hamilton's driving this year, I believe he would have done the same as Ayrton. 07/11/2007 12:39:37 http://madtv.me.uk/f1insight/default.aspx?blogid=153 and Nakajima got his seat :-) 08/11/2007 04:38:50 http://madtv.me.uk/f1insight/default.aspx?blogid=153 Yes indeed, Milos - and I'm glad he did. :D 08/11/2007 05:00:06 http://madtv.me.uk/f1insight/default.aspx?blogid=153