F1 Driver's Strengths and Weaknesses

[skylinefx]

Every driver exceeds at something... May it be a perfect lap when it matters or being consistent throughout.
However, there is also something that every driver could improve on...

I will start off by a positive about Button.

Sebastian Vettel -
Mark Webber -
Lewis Hamilton -
Jenson Button - A master driver in changing conditions.
Fernando Alonso -
Felipe Massa -
Nico Rosberg -
Michael Schumacher -
Vitaly Petrov -
Nick Heidfeld -
Kamui Kobayashi -
Sergio Perez -
Adrian Sutil -
Paul di Resta -
Sebastien Buemi -
Jaime Alguersuari -
Rubens Barrichello -
Pastor Maldonado -
Jarno Trulli -
Heikki Kovalainen -
Jerome d'Ambrosio -
Timo Glock -
Vitantonio Liuzzi -
Daniel Ricciardo -

EDIT: Just realised that the thread isn't in the Formula 1 section. Could somebody move it there please.

 

[Submerged]

In a different forum, someone compared Jenson Button to the one and only Alain Prost.... which I thought was quite nice.

And actually fitted Jenson quite well. I mean, he seems to be more methodical. He waits for things to happen and also takes advantage of things when it is right to do so. Everything he seem to do, has been more or less thought of in an intelligent way, rather than on the spur moment. And he just seems to have a good relationship with the engineers and strategics that just work for him.

Massa... Now, he's a complex creature to me. I am sure he has a lot of fire inside him. But I am wondering if he is a puppy to Alonso and Fezza. Just does what they tell him to. I am sure he doesn't... but it seems like that sometimes. Well, Massa certainly is getting some (huge) cash for just driving a car 300 kilometres in the race 21 times a year...

 

[PeterJB]

Vettel - Very fast qualifier and racer and has good race starts, very good defender, overtaking and temperament could be better.
Webber - Consistent, terrible race starter.
Hamilton - Very aggressive and fast, not good at tire management, demeanor and race craft are questionable.
Button - Very smooth style and good with strategy calls and tire management. Race pace and qualifying pace are not fast enough.
Alonso - Very fast and aggressive, controversial motives.
Massa - Consistent, but not fast enough anymore, with too many mistakes.
Rosberg - Too inconsistent.
Schumacher - Again too inconsistent. Perhaps a bit too aggressive. Very controversial style.
Petrov - Fantastic race starter and defender, crashes too much.
Heidfeld - Conservative style, too slow.
Kamui Kobayashi - Fantastic race starter and unmatched overtaker, poor defender.
Perez - Good tire management.
Sutil - Good pace, makes too many mistakes under pressure.
di Resta - Good race pace.
Buemi - Poor qualifier, good race starter.
Alguersuari - Same.
Barrichello - Tonnes of experience, too slow.
Maldonado - Good qualifier, poor racer.
Trulli - Same.
Kovalainen - Best of the new teams in qualifying and the race, but reliability gets the best of him.
d'Ambrosio - Poor qualifier, promising racer.
Glock - Vice-versa.
Liuzzi - Inconsistent
Ricciardo - Promising start to career.

That's just what I think at least.

 

[dhandeh]

I can only see this going one way, but here's my take.

Sebastian Vettel - A master of one near perfect lap making - Suspect racecraft when overtaking
Mark Webber - Consistent and good 'number two' driver - possibly on the wane
Lewis Hamilton - A proper race driver, always willing to go for that gap - Can be a bit too hotheaded for his own good
Jenson Button - When others cant understand track grip and conditions, he can - Not as strong during unchanging conditions
Fernando Alonso - Seems more mellow and ease with his new long term contract - Cant think of any weaknesses
Felipe Massa - A dependable team player - nothing like what he used to be ( which isnt surprising)
Nico Rosberg - Getting faster - Consistency
Michael Schumacher - Experience - Age
Vitaly Petrov - Can be quick and make his car twice as wide - can be inconsistent
Nick Heidfeld - Average driver for me - average driver for me
Kamui Kobayashi - Loves a good battle - can quickly drop off the pace when he gets overtook
Sergio Perez - Promising rookie - inexperience
Adrian Sutil - Reasonable driver - inconsistent
Paul di Resta - Very promising rookie - inexperience
Sebastien Buemi - Reasonable driver - inconsistent
Jaime Alguersuari - Reasonable driver - inconsistent
Rubens Barrichello - Experience - on the wane
Pastor Maldonado - Can be quick - seems to make mistakes
Jarno Trulli - experience - on the wane
Heikki Kovalainen - Good team driver - maybe lack a couple of tenths
Jerome d'Ambrosio - Rookie - pit entry skills lacking
Timo Glock - Average driver - on the wane
Vitantonio Liuzzi -Reasonable driver - on the wane
Daniel Ricciardo -cant say too much really, havent seen enough.

 

[Alex.]

For Massa I'd say has his moments being quick, but too inconsistent and not reliable to keep it on the circuit, good team player.

 

[Ardius]

Well, these are going to depend largely on their abilities and skills this season, as some drivers are different from the past (Schumacher) and some have only just started their career (Perez, Maldonado, Di Resta, Ricciardo, D'Ambrosio). Its also very difficult to really tell a driver's strengths and weaknesses the further we go back on the grid as they are under less pressure and we see less and less of them. Ricciardo for example is pretty difficult to judge as he is on screen very rarely.

So with this in mind, heres what I think about each driver this year:

Sebastian Vettel - Very fast, ultimate qualifying pace, race pace in any conditions. Difficult to really point a weakness, but I guess if there is any, its simply pressure. But even that isn't really true as his results record this season shows. Maybe one could say his racecraft is dodgy but thats possibly due to him not having to overtake many people and thats not his fault.
Mark Webber - Consistent and very fast in a midfield car, but prone to making mistakes and losing speed when under pressure in top cars. His overtaking and racecraft is also sometimes dodgy.
Lewis Hamilton - Very fast at all times...even the wrong times. Regularly bins the car making silly moves and appears to have poor judgement and read of situations. Relies a little too much on the team to make strategy decisions sometimes too.
Jenson Button - As fast as the best on a good day..but his good days are too far between sometimes. Very lacklustre qualifier when the car isn't to his liking and not much better with such cars/setups in races either. Give him the perfect car and he is then the perfect driver. Doesn't bin the car making silly overtakes.
Fernando Alonso - Perfect driver with a temper, great as long as he is happy. Easily the best driver in F1 today, though Vettel is quickly putting himself up there.
Felipe Massa - Inconsistent but fast on his day. Prone to mistakes, but usually small mistakes rather than major ones.
Nico Rosberg - Super consistent, fast but unknown when it comes to front-running. Has only ever been at the front of the midfield.
Michael Schumacher - Huge amount of experience but makes far too many mistakes that wreck his race weekends.
Vitaly Petrov - Fast, sometimes makes pretty big mistakes but has made less this year. Difficult to read in these circumstances.
Nick Heidfeld - "Mr consistencey" isn't so consistent this year. Again, difficult to read as Renault have been pretty poor this year.
Kamui Kobayashi - Great in the races, poor in qualifying. Sauber keep putting him and Perez on contrary strategies to everyone else so we don't really know what he can do with a pure-speed strategy. But he is consistent, has great race craft and puts in very good laptimes to make most stategies that Sauber put him on work.
Sergio Perez - Rookie - so difficult to really say just yet. But he has done well, pretty much the same comments as for Kobayashi except he is normally faster in qualy but makes more race mistakes.
Adrian Sutil - Fast but inconsistent, still makes fairly big mistakes from time to time and gets caught up in racing incidents.
Paul di Resta - Rookie.
Sebastien Buemi - Invisible, seems to make the most of the Toro Rosso and usually finishes ahead of Alguesauri. Lacks qualifying pace sometimes.
Jaime Alguersuari - Same as Buemi with opposite comments regarding himself.
Rubens Barrichello - Vastly experienced, still on the pace of the current drivers. Needs moral support but otherwise pretty much one of the greatest F1 drivers. Inconsistent over a whole season though in top teams.
Pastor Maldonado - Rookie.
Jarno Trulli - Struggled this year with power steering but now seems his old self with the new system. Loads of experience, is dead fast, you know how quick your car is with this man in it.
Heikki Kovalainen - Same as Trulli though he has driven around the problems and been the center of enthusiasm for the team.
Jerome d'Ambrosio - Rookie.
Timo Glock - Great, fast, consistent driver. Not much else to say really as he hasn't been given much chance.
Vitantonio Liuzzi - Very inconsistent and not really that fast driver. HRT making him look better than he is and even then he is not much faster than his far-less experienced teammates. Experience is handy for HRT though and he finishes races.
Daniel Ricciardo - Rookie.

 

[Alex.]

Thanks very much for that post Ardius. A good little read and bang on for every driver. The only thing you missed is Button's almost Senna-esque quality of knowing where the grip is for mixed conditions.

 

[Ardius]

^I didn't miss that because its not really true is it? Jenson doesn't do well in races because he is faster than everyone else. Its because he doesn't make mistakes. Lewis was far faster than Jenson today in all conditions but made many more mistakes.
To call it Senna-esque both misundestands what made Senna great and why Button wins races like this.

To make it clear though, no one today was "Senna-esque". Perhaps if Lewis had romped off and created a huge gap like he was doing and not made any mistakes, then he would have been. But he didn't.

 

[Alex.]

That said I doubt anyone will ever be called Senna-esque properly for the rest of Formula 1, surely since Senna died there must have been a few quali laps that were of his level. Though I think the talent in the top half of the field today is a bit closer than it was in the late 80's early 90's.

Back on topic though, I think you got them all pretty much spot on.

 

[Ardius]

Oh I agree, the average driver level today far exceeds any season before. So called "pay drivers" who are meant to be poor drivers are pretty decent these days.
And yes, there has been the odd lap that one could compare to Senna. But Button isn't like Senna in any respect except perhaps the lack of mistakes. The comparisons to Prost make more sense.

 

[YellowG1]

The only issue I have with a thread like this is that it's really tough to divorce the driver from the car, circumstance from outright speed, and bias from a neutral opinion... if one guy spins the car or has an off, it's because he's "inconsistent" and but another guy does the same thing, it's because the car "doesn't handle well." And it's a lot easier to come together with someone when you're 4th or 5th than when you're 10 seconds out in front... and like Ardius & Alex said (in so many words), just about all of these guys, from Vettel to Ricciardo (with the possible exception of Chandhok) pretty much belong on the racetrack in F1. But hey, it's everyone's opinion. That said, I'd more group people in this way:

Elite company (virtually always a threat to win): Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton
Just a step below (always near the front, can win when things go the right way): Button, Webber, Massa
Up and comers (shown real promise): Kobayashi, Perez, Di Resta
Jury's out (inconsistent or really in search of a better car): Petrov, Heidfeld, Rosberg, Sutil, Maldonado

I'd also like to say I hope Robert Kubica can make a full recovery, as he is a guy I think more than anyone else deserves a seat at a top team. We don't talk about him much recently since he's recuperating, but it wasn't long ago that he was tipped to take Massa's spot at Ferrari.

 

[Tired Tyres]

Oh I agree, the average driver level today far exceeds any season before. So called "pay drivers" who are meant to be poor drivers are pretty decent these days.
And yes, there has been the odd lap that one could compare to Senna. But Button isn't like Senna in any respect except perhaps the lack of mistakes. The comparisons to Prost make more sense.

Lack of mistakes? That's not the Senna I remember. There was no driver more likely to crash if someone tried to pass him.

 

[Ardius]

Lack of mistakes? That's not the Senna I remember. There was no driver more likely to crash if someone tried to pass him.

Its not really a mistake when you intentionally do it...Senna knew full well that those moves would/could end in contact.
Of course Senna made many mistakes and errors other than contact with other cars though, but here I'm referring to Button's pace vs. mistakes. Senna could push to the absolute limit and make very few mistakes (driving mistakes, rather than collisions intentional or not with other cars), Button is a little like this but he doesn't push to the absolute limit very often. Again, as I said before, Button isn't really like Senna at all.

 

[DoomtrainUK]

again people focusing on hamiltons recent mistakes, not the fact that he missed out on being a double world champion in his debut years by the skin of his teeth

 

[Alex.]

He only got his single world championship by the skin of his teeth too.

 

[F1 fan]

again people focusing on hamiltons recent mistakes, not the fact that he missed out on being a double world champion in his debut years by the skin of his teeth

I don't think Hamilton gets treated unfairly on this forum. All driver mistakes are scrutinized here.

 

[EDK]

EDIT: Just realised that the thread isn't in the Formula 1 section. Could somebody move it there please.

To the left of the thread subject, you can put a "Tag" on your thread, it's under the "title" heading.

I've changed that to "Formula 1". Something you would be able to do yourself in the future. This feature is specific to the Motorsport section of the site.

Jerome d'Ambrosio - Rookie - pit entry skills lacking

 

[SmittMan]

Vettel: Good at driving the wheels of a car in qualifying
Webber: Good at coming second every race.
Button: Consistent pace in races.
Hamilton: Good at overtaking when it matters.
Alonso: Good at overtaking when it matters.
Massa: Good at being a No.2 Driver.
Rosberg: Lack of race pace
Schumacher: Has lost his former speed replaced with age.
Di Resta: A Promising young driver seeing some good race results
Lotus Drivers: Best Qualifying out of new teams but crash too much to get good race results.

 

[Ardius]

again people focusing on hamiltons recent mistakes, not the fact that he missed out on being a double world champion in his debut years by the skin of his teeth

Granted, his debut in 2007 was impressive - lots of speed and very few mistakes compared to Alonso. But ever since China 2007, Lewis has lost this ability, and its an important one if you want to become champion.

Perhaps you need to think about why Hamilton missed out on being a double world champion before you start wondering why people talk about his mistakes. It wasn't exactly just bad luck. He very nearly was never champion due to his mistakes (although the FIA tried hard that year to not make him champion it seems too).

Not that Massa was much better, but it is a weakness of Hamilton's. This thread is about driver's strengths and weaknesses - of course we are going to point out Hamilton's problems..who cares about simply praising drivers all the time? Thats boring .

Rosberg: Lack of race pace
Lotus Drivers: Best Qualifying out of new teams but crash too much to get good race results.

The rest I can see why you would think that but these two...

Rosberg lack of race pace? Where did you get that from?

And Kovy and Trulli crashing too much? What? DNF does not mean crash. I can only think of a couple of crashes that ended a Lotus' drivers race and that was Webber on Kovalainen and Trulli on Chandhok Not to mention both drivers have got great results in the races....thats why they are 10th in the WCC at the moment and were last year.
The Lotus' don't have a great finishing record due to reliability..not any crashing on the driver's part.

Have you been playing Codemaster's F1 2010 game to base these opinions on or something?

 

[astrosdude91]

I'm no expert, but here I go...

In order of current drivers champ standings (as of Hungary 2011):

Vettel: Possibly has the best outright speed on the grid and the master of the qualifying lap. Starts from pole are always a procession thanks to his terrific race pace and the terrific RB7. But when he finds himself further down the grid, he is prone to mistakes.
-Season high: Near absolute dominance for much of the first half of the season.
-Season low: His race in Germany was lackluster, and it marks the possible turning point in the season as his rivals start to make up lost ground.

Webber: Very consistent pace in races, resulting in some commanding drives throughout his career. But if the car is not to his liking, his pace suffers. And more often than not it seems, he makes piss-poor starts, often being jumped by up to five or six cars. Also, reliability has occasionally plagued him (his super-fans will tell you that his team sabotaged his car to favor Vettel)
-Season high: Great drive in Germany, often challenging for the lead.
-Season low: Still couldn't get past fifth place in his home race of Melbourne. And ignoring a direct order from team boss Christian Horner.

Hamilton: Fantastic driver, with the race pace to match. He beat out Vettel in China back when the RB7 was still untouchable. He can be a very aggressive driver and great overtaker when it counts. But sometimes he can be too aggressive, often attempting foolish overtakes that end in calamity. He can also be a bit of a bonehead with the press when a race doesn't go his way.
-Season high: Superb drives in China and Germany to claim a thoroughly fought victory.
-Season low: Terrible race in Monaco witch saw him takeout both Felipe Massa and Pastor Maldonado. And another terrible race in Canada which resulted in a DNF as he spun Webber and then nearly ended Button's race.

Alonso: Possibly the best all around driver in the paddock. A very valuable asset to the Scuderia. He has great pace even when his car isn't the best, and even greater pace when it is. But he can have a very fiery temper when things aren't to his liking, which has lead to controversial moves. He also isn't much into being a team player, often making "number two drivers" out of his team-mates.
-Season high: Great drive in Monaco, which would have likely been a victory had the race not been red-flagged. And a deserving victory at Silverstone.
-Season low: A DNF in Canada following a collision with Button. Though this really wasn't his fault.

Button: Another all around great driver. Very smooth but quick driver, earning him the fitting comparison to the great Alain Prost. He has also made some terrific strategy calls. And some of his greatest races have been the result of fighting from the back of the grid. But don't expect much when he doesn't have a good car. And he occasionally will have a pretty lousy qualifying run.
-Season high: Despite coming from the very back of the grid in Canada... twice, he still had a brilliant race to take the win from Vettel in the final corners of the race.
-Season low: Back to back DNF's in Britain and Germany have severely damaged his title hopes this year.

Massa: Good driver with good pace, often finishing near the front like clock work. He was even the 2008 world champion for about 30 seconds, until Lewis Hamilton crossed the line to rightly claim that title. But since the season ending accident in Hungary in '09, his race craft has been lacking, being consistently outpaced by his team mate Alonso, and being demoted to number two driver within the Scuderia.
-Season high: Rightly out qualifying Alonso in the Hungarian GP.
-Season low: Tussle with Hamilton saw Massa bin his car into the wall in the Tunnel at Monaco.

Rosberg: A good asset to any team that he is at. He often will out race and out pace his team-mate from race to race. But he hasn't really had a good enough car to show his true potential.
-Season high: Another season full of Rosberg upstaging the great Michael Schumacher. And consistently in the mid points.
-Season low: None of his drives this year have really stood out.

Heidfeld: Last minute stand-in for the injured Robert Kubica. And proved to be a great move by the Renault team with a podium in Malaysia. But since then, he's fallen off in terms of performance along with the Renault team, and he's even in risk of losing his seat.
-Season high: His podium in Malaysia.
-Season low: Poor performance in recent races have put him in risk of losing his seat to the GP2 driver Romain Grosjean.

Petrov: Like his teammate Nick Heidfeld, Vitaly Petrov showed a lot of promise in the beginning of the season, with the young Russian scoring a podium in the opening round in Australia. But also like his teammate, he has dropped off in performance along with the Renault team.
-Season high: Podium in Australia.
-Season low: Performance in recent races has left much to be desired. And a scary crash in Monaco that forced a red flag.

Schumacher: One of the all time, if not the all time greatest driver in Formula One, and certainly the winningest driver in the history of the sport. And despite his age, he has had some great tussles with the top drivers this year. But his age is still apparent. Michael is just a shadow of his former self.
-Season high: Fantastic race in Canada, which nearly got him his first podium since returning to Formula One.
-Season low: Very inconsistent this year, often barely getting in the points and retiring three times. Not to mention a collision with Petrov in Valencia which lead to a measly finish of 17th.

I'll write out something for 11th-24th later.

 

[ghskilla]

To me every race in the rain Schumacher has did a very good job in keeping up with the racers at McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull Racing don't you think? Rosberg has Schumacher in the dry but his experience compared to Schumi's in the rain is very obvious.

 

[Greycap]

One thing that perhaps should be taken into account when judging who drove which race badly and who drove well... the cars have their strengths and weaknesses too.

The RB7 is still a great piece of equipment as long as the weather is dry and relatively warm, it's easy on its tyres and has terrific aero grip in fast corners. On the other hand it's too easy on its tyres when it's cold and/or wet, the tyres don't get up to temperature as they should and the aero grip advantage is lost in making up for the lack of mechanical grip.

The MP4/26 is the opposite of the RB7, generally being harder on its tyres which leads to more mechanical grip in low speeds as well as in cold and wet conditions where it can get its tyres to work better. On the other hand in the dry its tyre wear is faster than of both the Red Bull or Ferrari which can lead for premature tyre destruction when pushing hard for too long.

The 150° Italia is something of a cross between the two, not quite as fast as the RB7 on an average day but a match (or more) for the MP4/26 and its tyre wear isn't as hard as that of the McLaren but not as easy as that of the Red Bull. In the dry it's behind the RB7 as there isn't enough grip to follow the latter through fast corners but it can tackle the MP4/26 on an even ground and in the cold and wet it's behind the MP4/26 as the mechanical grip isn't enough to keep up but can fight the RB7.

 

[Peter.]

I slightly disagree with that. Schumacher has usually shown better race pace than Nico has all season, but Schumi's bad luck and mistakes have often prevented him from finishing ahead of Nico more often.

 

[SmittMan]

I'll change it then
Rosberg: Has a consistent pace through races and works well under pressure.
Lotus Drivers: Have good qualifying results compared to the new teams but sometimes lack in race results with reliability issues.

 

[m8h3r]

again people focusing on hamiltons recent mistakes, not the fact that he missed out on being a double world champion in his debut years by the skin of his teeth

I'll be honest though, I'd much prefer a season that goes down to the final race, rather than what it's seems we will get this season. Who wants to watch 5 races at the end of the season when vettel is 190 points ahead and has already won the drivers championship?

 

[MatskiMonk]

again people focusing on hamiltons recent mistakes, not the fact that he missed out on being a double world champion in his debut years by the skin of his teeth

Well, we could focus on his rookie mistakes from '07 and '08 aswell?, and also the fact the he only got his one world championship by the skin of his teeth....

Hamiltons strength is he's a very fast, very determined driver, but I think his racecraft and attitude could do with a lot of work.

 

[hawkeye122]

I'm willing to say that full-stop, Hamilton is the best DRIVER on the grid. In a One-Make series, I'm willing to bet he would annihilate everybody. But he does need an attitude check, and his dealings with the press, and the public (Speeding Ticket it Melbourne) could get better. He's pretty much the "Rock Star" in Formula 1.

It's hard to judge Schumacher against anybody except Rosberg, who has been around to experience the gradual changes in the formula, where as Schumacher may as well be driving a brand-new car. If he had been subbed in for Massa in '09, I think we'd still see him at the top. His wet race pace is incredible, especially in an inferior car. Look for 2012 being his best year.

Di Resta- Let's get him a better car, and give Massa and Webber a run for their money. He has promise.

Petrov- As soon as he stops wrecking $10Million+ cars, and Renualt/Lotus GP/Black And Gold Edition can get their act together in building a competitive car, he will be good.

Sutil- Has had his chance, steady improvement isn't good when its been 4 years and not many podiums. Get him out.

 

[F1 fan]

I'll be honest though, I'd much prefer a season that goes down to the final race, rather than what it's seems we will get this season. Who wants to watch 5 races at the end of the season when vettel is 190 points ahead and has already won the drivers championship?

Umm... Sebastian Vettel fans? While I agree that there is far more entertainment value when the title goes down to the last race (but theoretically could have been clinched before it), it shouldn't take away from the enjoyment of each individual race. We could still have a titanic battle for second on our hands here. I think this kind of attitude is unique to F1 fans.

If it was football and your preferred team was running away with it, I don't think people would be disappointed. Whilst it is possible to for a champion to be crowned early, you can still have some good races at the end. And isn't that really what counts? The races have been very entertaining this season. Certainly more so than a season full of processional races where the championship goes down to the wire imo.

In a One-Make series, I'm willing to bet he would annihilate everybody.

One make series are never as level a playing field as people think. It could just happen that if it was a one make series, Hamilton could find the car not to his liking at all.

Di Resta- Let's get him a better car, and give Massa and Webber a run for their money. He has promise.

He does have promise, but it's a little too soon to be putting him up there. Or are you suggesting that in a decent car, DiResta would be giving Webber a run for second in the championship?

Petrov- As soon as he stops wrecking $10Million+ cars, and Renualt/Lotus GP/Black And Gold Edition can get their act together in building a competitive car, he will be good.

That's hardly fair. Vitaly has stepped up from last year dramatically and has deservedly shaken off the "crashaholic" tag.

Sutil- Has had his chance, steady improvement isn't good when its been 4 years and not many podiums. Get him out.

I'm going to agree with you on this one. I think he's good, but he'll never be a front runner. If he ever wins a Grand Prix on merit, I will eat the contents of my ashtray. He still deserves a place in F1 though. But he'll probably be a perennial midfielder at best.

 

[hawkeye122]

He does have promise, but it's a little too soon to be putting him up there. Or are you suggesting that in a decent car, DiResta would be giving Webber a run for second in the championship?

Pretty much, yeah. I think that if he had a good car he'd have gotten at least 1 podium by now. Certainly not a championship contender, but I think on level grounds he could mix it up with Button, Webber, Massa, and Kubica*

*This would require that he was actually here, but still, the point stands.

 

[IceMan PJN]

Jenson Button - A master driver in changing conditions.

I'm not sure that's quite accurate enough. There are other drivers on the grid that can do well in a broad range of conditions or in changing conditions, including his teammate Lewis Hamilton who has exhibited great skill in the rain. The difference between Hamilton and Button is that Button has benefited from more luck in changing conditions.

Looking to Hungary as an illustration, Lewis went for a tire change, which could have been the right move if the rain continued, and Button staying out on slicks would have been a poor move, but unfortunately for Lewis the rain subsided and the tire change turned out to be the wrong move, and Button just got lucky on the gamble to not switch. Lewis could have done at least as well as Jenson without the tire switch, but the tire switch must have appeared like a good gamble to someone at the time, but somebody guessed wrong.

Lewis actually seems to enjoy wet conditions, actually. Looking back to Korea last year, other drivers were griping that it was way too wet, while Lewis was on the radio insisting that the track was great and to just let them race. Looking at F1 drivers' laps around the Top Gear Test track, Lewis Hamilton was only seven tenths of a second slower than the fastest time set by Sebastian Vettel, but Hamilton's lap was set on a wet and oily track that day. They consider the wet alone adds around four seconds to a lap, to say nothing of the fact that they also regarded it as oily on Hamilton's run.


Honestly, I didn't feel like going through the rest of the thread's comments on driver strengths and weaknesses, but I guess it goes without saying that Hamilton's weakness is his over-aggression, although in a way that's a strength that's just went a tad too far for his own good sometimes. His ambition and eagerness to make bold moves and to push are part of being a champion driver.