Bandwagon jumping in the Racing section..

regardless of Hamilton, I still believe Rosberg has a very bright future in Formula 1.

The question remains however, have F1 cars become too 'easy'?

I have said it before regarding Vettel. He stepped in at (I believe it was in Istanbul) and set the fastest time in his first ever official practice session in F1. Now, Vettel is very good in the junior racingseries, but there are more good drivers around. Same goes for Robert Kubica. He was not that special in lower classes, but once in the BMW he turned out to be a very fast driver.

and now Hamilton. Granted, Hamilton actually DID set the world a light in F3 and GP2, but is it really surprising these days that a talented young driver is able to take a F1 car up to its limit so quickly and with apperent ease?

 

The weak always do. Either they heard a phrase on Speed and repeat it for a couple of years or they guess.

 

If the cars are reliable and quicker than most... tweak.

If they aren't reliable OR just not quicker than most... overhaul.

 

The weak also do not want to waiver from what is considerd to be conventional wisdom, a popularity contest of sorts. In fact, they jump on a different bandwagon and criticize anyone that voices any opinion other than their own and the majority. I still believe that Massa is the real thing, have since last season, have always been in the extreme vocal minority praising Felipe. Despite the criticism and put downs, I stick to that belief. But most of that belief is not intuition, it is cheating, I admit.

I don't buy into the Hamilton comments, didn't with Kubica or Rosberg. No doubt they are good, but no way to tell about the future. Yet. I certainly don't believe there will be another Schumacher or Senna from this group. A Prost or Lauda maybe.

I will deny saying this, but this is actually a well stated thread.

 

Rather than selecting only a few of the comments naming the respective posters, it would have been better to reference the thread in it's entirety as there's some very interesting posts contained in same. One of which includes a listing of the 50 fastest laps which certainly gives creedence to Nico's ability. Link to the thread in question on the "bandwagon topic" is http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=97569&highlight=nico+rosberg

If you read my post thoroughly, which you only took a part of as your referenced quote, you would soon see why I made my comment. During his tenure in GP2, I have seen Nico drive several times in person in Europe. My comments about his style of driving were well founded - referenced with what I saw at Spa. The talent is definitely there, the car isn't.

Regarding Lewis Hamilton, his stats speak for himself. Former F1 drivers have spoken of his great potential as well. Ron Dennis is no fool and has nurtured Lewis along the way for bigger and better things.

Carol

Marnix, your post #2 is terrific!

 

i've always said the Hamilton hype is getting overboard. i'll never compare him to MS/Senna. i can't even believe Bernie already compared him to MS.

MS and Senna both came from budget teams. they had a sh!tty car to drive at the beginning, compared to Hamilton.

no disrespect to Hamilton, he's doing a great job. but comparing him to Senna/MS? common.....it's like comparing Wayne Rooney to Pele...

 

*Never* is a long time....

While I agree (and posted to this effect) that the LH hype is out of control, I actually believe he *may* be the "chosen one" based on performances to date (not just in F1 BTW).

To me, he's the closest to Senna I've seen since, well, Senna - Whether he lives up to my expectations (even in the wrong car) remains to be seen, and I don't think he'll come close to challenging MS' records, but he seems like the "real deal"..... [aka - Nico, Mark, Heikki at al]

Plus, he seems like a really nice kid, which really sucks![Kind of like the athlete who's also good academically - Not fair! ]

As usual, my 02c,
Cheers,
Ian

 

I try to avoid bandwagons, unless they happen to involve Milka I-Dunno I was excited about Niko, but thought he got over-hyped from the get go. I guess it's good that people still want to get so excited about the sport, and ultimately that's the best part. But I burned out on all this "heir-apparent" nonsense back when Walter Payton retired. Well before Jordan's "heir-apparent" era.

 

I agree with the premise of this thread. Super quick judgments lack accuracy. The more data one has, the more accurate the predictions become. I don't think Rosberg is fast at all (certainly not yet). He was absolutely obliterated by Webber last year. Kubica isn't fast yet either. Kubica has not proven to be better than Heidfeld - this year or last year. Heidfeld is possibly a WDC with the right car, as is Webber (assuming he had a modicum of reliability). I don't think people are calling Heidfeld or Webber future multiple WDCs - so why Rosberg or Kubica. Even Hamilton is a risky bet. He hasn't proven himself to be definitively faster than his teammate (an extremely fast one though).

 

i do agree with u that he's a great guy. doesn't seem arrogant or anything.

 

I really don't like the term band waggon because it implies one makes statements just to fall in line with everybody else's. Really not true for me. I make my own calls, be they right or wrong. I don't see a problem with changing your mind. I have been a big fan of MS up to 03 then lost interest and became a big Alonso fan up to 07. Again that is not band waggon to me but rather that I'm getting tired of seeing the same person win year after year.

Right now I'd like nothing more than Hamilton to get his first victory and at some point his first and second championship. But I already know, that by the time he bags his third title, I'll be bored of him and want the new rookie of that year to win it all. Maybe jaded or spoiled is a better term than band waggon for me.

 

hopefully for u, Massa will still be making rookie mistakes at that time

 

Actually I would enjoy seeing Massa win a title. I just don't think that'll happen.

I'm not anti Massa. I'm against the belief that he is a top driver.

 

well, keep the faith. All things are possible

 

I am certainly not jumping on any bandwagon.

I learned my lesson when Alesi passed Senna a few times in his Tyrell way back when, and ended up winning a grand total of 1 race in his career.

Hamilton shows a lot of promise, no doubt about that. He has an awfully long way to go, though. The true test will really only start when he makes an under-performing car perform - consistently.

 

+1

Some folks fail to see the distinction.

 

Then by that criteria Kimi isn't doing so hot and Massa barely so. I'm not going to fault Hamilton for situations beyond his control. He came along when he did and his performance exceeds expectations. I think Ferrari would much rather have his consistancy thus far into the season than what they have in Kimi right now. He shows quite a bit more than promise as people far more qualified than any of us here made that judgement a long, long time ago.

 

I never claimed Kimi or Massa to be the next great thing either.

I heard the same praise for Alesi by these "more qualified people" as well. Time will tell. Until then, he shows promise, nothing more.

 

You're just not paying attention. The boy has podiumed the first five races of his career. Promise is finishing 4th or consistantly in the points. Exceeding promise is exactly what Lewis is doing. Very well past Alesi.

 

As a person who generally doesn't buy into hype, I hear where you're coming from. The fact that Bernie et al are ready to proclaim Hamilton as the next Senna doesn't influence my thinking...they NEED a poster-boy for F1 after all. The opinions of others on this forum don't influence me, because we're all pretty equally-qualified observers of the racing series. I realize that all of these guys (well, most) are some of the greatest drivers in the world and any should do well behind the wheel of the McLaren.

What sells me on Hamilton is the fact that he has delivered from race one despite all of the hype. He is on the podium every race...that has not happened before for a rookie. Montoya was the last guy to come in with this level of hype, and I don't know if he had 5 podiums in his F1 career. I also consider the driving style...most of the guys seem to take what the car gives, while he seems to drive the hell out of the car and trusts that it will last until the checkered flag. I've watched F1 for 15 years in total, religiously the last 10 or 11 (whenever Fox started broadcasting the races at 4:30a PST) and the entire time I've been a Ferrari fan (yes, I did root for Berger/Alesi vs Schumacher or Senna). I don't tend to give drivers for other teams much notice, unless it's out of deference to their very apparent superior skills.

This is only the third time I've given a driver for another team much notice. I do agree that only time will tell if he is the real deal, but my personal belief is that he has the goods.

 

You're joking, right??

JPM would have won in only the 4th GP of his career, had he not been taken out by Verstapan, IIRC. He DID win in only his 12th GP. And he finsihed with 7 wins to his credit, let alone all the poles and fastest laps he accumulated.

JPM, despite his critics here, is the real thing and it is a travesty that he is not in F1.