IMO not yet. I can't remember who said it on the BBC website that he won't be the best even if he wins his 3rd title but anyways I agree with him.
Don't get me wrong Vettel is great and deserves his 3 titles BUT thats because of the supriority of Red bull. I don't think he would've won 3 title if if wasn't for Adrian Newey. He's a great driver as we've seen his determination and his great overtakes and he is with the likes of Alonso and Hamilton but I think he's the 3rd best out of them.
Alonso could've won 2 title in Ferrari even tho they weren't the best car and I think everyone this season have realised he's a magician who can get the best out of any car because of his ability.
Hamilton has got a great racing craft and we've seen it everytime he's on a racing track. A recent example is Austin where Vettel and Red bull is better cars whilst the McLaren wasn't yet he kept close to Vettel and overtook him to win the race.
He's shown he's got the ability but the Mclaren is a good car and thats why IMO the main reason he left for Mercedes is to show he's got great ability in a not so great car like Alonso has shown recently and when he was at Renault.
Is Vettel the greatest of this generation?
posted on 26/11/12
Got to feel sorry for Alonso, if he wasnt taken out in them races when he lost his lead he would have won the Championship.
posted on 26/11/12
I agree BOSS. I sympathise with Alonso and he did a superlative job this year as well.
On a separate note, look at Hamilton as well, lost over 100 points this season due to reliability and issues with his team and being taken out by Maldonado, Grosjean and Hulkenberg.
posted on 26/11/12
People see to forget that there was no dominant car this season. If anything, McLaren had the best car but they facked it all up. When Vettel got the car hooked up, he won four consecutive Grand Prix. McLaren also had a run where they won four consecutive Grand Prix. So cut the ballacks about Vettel only winning because of a superior piece of machinery.
posted on 26/11/12
The thing is when his RedBull car wasn't hooked up he was struggling to make Q3 and had 1 win and 1 pole. When it got hooked up, hey ho, he started winning again.
Others have managed wins without having their cars hooked up, so there's evidence to support their claims
posted on 26/11/12
man unt devil
the difference is even when his car was not " hooked up "for the first two thirds of the season vettel still scored high points and when his car was " hooked " up he strung 4 wins on the bounce together ------ that is what great drivers do --
apart from alonso who is also very special who are all these drivers who have won multiple times without having there car hooked up --
posted on 26/11/12
A few times he struggled to make it into Q3, that's all. Up to what point in the season are you referring to, because by mid-point he had 3 poles? He likely would have won in Valencia.
To be honest, who has won without having their car hooked up? Perhaps you could argue for Alonso in Hockenheim, but the the only reason that he was able to stay in front of Vettel was because he was so quick in a straight-line.
posted on 26/11/12
I need to put a myth to bed by the way, regarding Alosnso dragging a "dog" of a car to a place where it shouldn't be near. We saw what Alonso was like in a "dog" of a car in 2009. He did squat.
posted on 26/11/12
Is Vettel the greatest of this generation? - no.
||The Great AFL©||™ (U11952)
"Alonso was like in a "dog" of a car in 2009. He did squat."
He was driving a Renault. I don't think anyone expected him to perform well in that 2009 car.
posted on 2/12/12
"Got to feel sorry for Alonso, if he wasnt taken out in them races when he lost his lead he would have won the Championship."
Arguably Alonso lost the championship at Monza, when Perez and the Sauber made up for Malaysia.
Hamilton would have won it easily if McLaren had not repeatedly let him down, and despite the claims for Red Bull and Newey, who certainly came on strong in the second half of the season, the McLaren was the class of the field really for most of the year.
Got to feel sorry for Hamilton.
Vettel is good, but in a field that includes Hamilton it will always be difficult to claim any one is best on the grid.
I always have a problem including a driver who needs his team-mate to be slowed down so that he can be passed, as a great.
posted on 2/12/12
POB
cant really disagree with any of your post pacific , mclaren for most of the season had by far the most competitive car with red bull occasionally matching them in the latter part of the season and as you say hamilton would probally of won the WDC but for his reliability problems -
in truth no other team came really close to mclaren or red bull ,
as to the question the author has set , in all honesty i believe alonso is the cleverest , most complete , quickest driver in race conditions within the current fuel and tyre format ,
this season his deeds in his very average ferrari must surely showcase his wonderful skills -
however i also believe vettel is very very close to him in every department most importantly in the thinking department --- the way he had the presence of mind to purposely keep his car rolling back during his first lap spin at brazil so as to lessen the chances of the oncoming cars hitting him head on is a perfect example of his very quick tactical brain , this very quick brain is something i believe separates alonso and vettel from all the rest -
as for hamilton -- still not quite sure what to make of him , sure he is quick when he has the benefit of the best car as he has proved this year , but for me it ends there with lewis as he shows very little else unless he has the benefit of the quickest car ,
i have very much felt that his loyal fans are still judging him from 07 and 08 in the dumbed down rag the tyres because it makes no difference fuel stop format years in his highly competitive mclaren ,
but since 08 he has not really achieved a great deal given the competitiveness of his mclarens since 08 -
i still believe he has a problem compared to alonso and vettel in how he maximises his tyres in race conditions and dont believe he has anywhere near the tactical quick thinking brain of those two drivers in race conditions --