Hello bonjon,
Please allow me to explain where I disagree.
bonjon1979 wrote:I agr. First safety car didn't help Hamilton more than anyone else. He had just pitted, as had massa and Raikkonen. Others were able to pit while the safety car was out on the track so I don't see how Hamilton could gain too much.
The safety car helped erase the tremendous time deficit of the soft tires for those that started using them (Kubica, Hamilton, Trulli and I think both Ferraris). This I say with hindsight, because I only believed how bad the soft tires were once Rosberg started losing pace. It meant that these fellows would have a nifty advantage in the last stint. Of course, Hamilton did a great job to dispatch 4 heavier cars while his soft tires still worked. In any case, Hamilton probably beneffited from the issues Fisichella and Alonso had in their 1st stop.
He was infront of Massa because his long second stint was fast enough to allow him to come out ahead after his third pit stop. No one can deny that he has a slower car than Massa, yet he was still able to drag himself ahead of the red car. People who say that it was 'just' down to luck didn't watch the race very carefully and/or don't know what they're talking about.
No. He was in front of Massa because Felipe was short-fueled for a three-stop strategy that went to hell in the next lap, when Kazuki crashed. Other two-stopping rivals, such as Kimi and Trulli, were effectively ahead of Hamilton after their stop (Kimi was ahead of Trulli when he crashed). I'm not sure about Massa, although the pit-stop time points out that he had a long 27 lap stint in front of him.
Finally, the title of this thread is a little silly, Lewis is the youngest world champion ever and a close runner up in 2007. Once again, anyone, who knows ANYTHING about F1 understands that winning the WDC puts you in an elite group of top drivers. Of course he's proved his worth...
I totally agree with you here.
PS: My intention here was trying to point out which circumstances meant Hamilton could climb up to third. By no means does it imply that he didn't drive superbly.
I am not amazed by F1 cars in Monaco. I want to see them driving in the A8 highway: Variable radius corners, negative banking, and extreme narrowings that Tilke has never dreamed off. Oh, yes, and "beautiful" weather tops it all.
"Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future." Niels Bohr
