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[kerc]

I have a strong hunch Ferrari are going to struggle here. Looking at their recent history on tracks where traction is king, they just can't match the likes of McLaren, Lotus and Redbull. Hope Merc get in the mix as well in qualifying at least.

Ferrari has struggled just about everywhere this season; you have to judge the Ferrari's performance on Massa's drives, Alonso makes the difference between seventh place and a win. I was never much of a fan of Alonso during his world championship, McLaren and Renault years but he has gone up massively in my estimation since joining Ferrari, maybe not his first year of tantrums and tiaras.

Wow really. Where was his Minardi in his rookie year, and those years at Renault (post McLaren) apart from an illegal win in Singapore?

Do you really believe that. No driver can 'carry' a car, the Ferrari started off the season as a dog but improved massively since Barcelona. Alonso has been selling himself very well with his 'we are still very slow' stories in every race weekend, but the car has been a podium contender at least for many races now. And yes, Alonso makes a difference but between 7th and a win? He's no driving God, he's a top 3 driver who is in the form of his life thus has a comfortable WDC lead at current.

Alonso has clearly demonstrated he can take a dog of a car into a podium finish, and at worst, a top ten. And has done so consistently throughout his career.

The fact is no one can outperform their car. My point is that ALonso is making a show of how terrible his car is (it really isn't a bad car anymore) and selling himself as some kind of phenomenon who can perform miracles, its great for his market value but he's simply misleading the general public. Kudos to him for doing it successfully I say.

I can understand that some people might dislike Alonso because he's not in their favorite team, but another thing is to be blind at the man's amazing skills. He and Hamilton are at another level; after them, it's then Vettel, Kimi, and the rest...

[vlad]

And now I can't believe you are saying something like that. Vettel and Kimi bellow them??? NO, sir, no way!

[kerc]

And now I can't believe you are saying something like that. Vettel and Kimi bellow them??? NO, sir, no way!

Yep.

[andrew]

And now I can't believe you are saying something like that. Vettel and Kimi bellow them??? NO, sir, no way!

He was doing so well......

[Hammer278]

I can understand that some people might dislike Alonso because he's not in their favorite team, but another thing is to be blind at the man's amazing skills. He and Hamilton are at another level; after them, it's then Vettel, Kimi, and the rest...

Okay, maybe your definition on how to identify a great driver is different to mine. I don't rate Alonso below Hamilton, though I believe Hamilton is naturally slightly bit faster. Alonso makes up for this with experience, being aggressive only when he needs to.

But I believe some people truly believe that Alonso is actually outperforming his machinery, and the Ferrari has no business being on podiums or even close to it...which is preposterous! Put Lewis or Sebastian in the same situation and they will get similar results because the car is NOT a dog, though Alonso wants us to believe it is!

[vaptin]

The way I think of Alonso is this: An F1 car is worth millions, if you're going to trust someone to drive it, it'll be Alonso. His greatest strengths are his reliability and consistency. Being able to understand the long game, biding his time and calculating when it's worth it to take a risk.

F1 for most drivers has been up and down, Alonso is in the lead, because there haven't really been times when he couldn't switch on the tyres, or couldn't cope with the cars behaviour. Even at the start of the season, you could see him constantly correcting and manually straightening out the bolting horse.

He's so committed to winning, even in a poorish car he'll keep on fighting for points and positions, but not overdoing it and taking too much life out of the tyres or making risky overtakes.

That's also what I mean by him maturing, he has been admitting the car is poor etc. but not acting as hotheaded as the past, not arguing with his team, I think being made number 1 really helps with all that though. It takes the pressure off, the driver doesn't need to keep looking across the garage or feel like he is auditioning.

[What's Burning?]

I can understand that some people might dislike Alonso because he's not in their favorite team, but another thing is to be blind at the man's amazing skills. He and Hamilton are at another level; after them, it's then Vettel, Kimi, and the rest...

Okay, maybe your definition on how to identify a great driver is different to mine. I don't rate Alonso below Hamilton, though I believe Hamilton is naturally slightly bit faster. Alonso makes up for this with experience, being aggressive only when he needs to.

But I believe some people truly believe that Alonso is actually outperforming his machinery, and the Ferrari has no business being on podiums or even close to it...which is preposterous! Put Lewis or Sebastian in the same situation and they will get similar results because the car is NOT a dog, though Alonso wants us to believe it is!

The car was a dog in Malaysia. The car started out as a pig, HOPING to become a dog in a few races. It's now a contender, but certainly not the outright fastest car on the grid.

Singapore will shake things up a bit, will bring the Red Bulls backa and Lotus as well and we'll see the mid field teams that enjoyed a moment in the sun in Span and Monza fade a bit.

[Hammer278]

I can understand that some people might dislike Alonso because he's not in their favorite team, but another thing is to be blind at the man's amazing skills. He and Hamilton are at another level; after them, it's then Vettel, Kimi, and the rest...

Okay, maybe your definition on how to identify a great driver is different to mine. I don't rate Alonso below Hamilton, though I believe Hamilton is naturally slightly bit faster. Alonso makes up for this with experience, being aggressive only when he needs to.

But I believe some people truly believe that Alonso is actually outperforming his machinery, and the Ferrari has no business being on podiums or even close to it...which is preposterous! Put Lewis or Sebastian in the same situation and they will get similar results because the car is NOT a dog, though Alonso wants us to believe it is!

The car was a dog in Malaysia. The car started out as a pig, HOPING to become a dog in a few races. It's now a contender, but certainly not the outright fastest car on the grid.

Singapore will shake things up a bit, will bring the Red Bulls backa and Lotus as well and we'll see the mid field teams that enjoyed a moment in the sun in Span and Monza fade a bit.

It's been a contender since Barcelona.

[f1ea]

Alonso, Kimi and Vettel are better than Lewis.

Its amazing how much Jenson's dnf in Monza give way for the usual crap talk from the usual subjects. But until Lewis can prove he can consistently put a midfield car in top spots and not blow a championship when in the best; those 3 have a thing or two above him.

Lewis can get a win here and there in a not best car; but out of the 3 above, he's the one with the most car damaging contact when not in the best car or not in the clear. Of course, it is never his fault, and throughout his F1 career we've seen many villains come and go..... and i'm sure they will keep on coming.

[What's Burning?]

The way I think of Alonso is this: An F1 car is worth millions, if you're going to trust someone to drive it, it'll be Alonso. His greatest strengths are his reliability and consistency. Being able to understand the long game, biding his time and calculating when it's worth it to take a risk.

F1 for most drivers has been up and down, Alonso is in the lead, because there haven't really been times when he couldn't switch on the tyres, or couldn't cope with the cars behaviour. Even at the start of the season, you could see him constantly correcting and manually straightening out the bolting horse.

He's so committed to winning, even in a poorish car he'll keep on fighting for points and positions, but not overdoing it and taking too much life out of the tyres or making risky overtakes.

That's also what I mean by him maturing, he has been admitting the car is poor etc. but not acting as hotheaded as the past, not arguing with his team, I think being made number 1 really helps with all that though. It takes the pressure off, the driver doesn't need to keep looking across the garage or feel like he is auditioning.

Alonso is in the lead because he's had one DNF as opposed to multiple DNFs for the other challengers, Alonso is in the lead because he's made the most of when things went bad, unlike some of his competitors. Alonso is in the lead, because he's won three races, showing that like Kimi, has no DNFs but has been consistent like Alonso, you still NEED to win races to score the big points.

Alonso is not only driving well, arguably the best he's driven in his career, but the cards have gone his way, to the point of GAINING on the second placed challenger in Spa even though he didn't finish the race. You can't ask for more than that!

[What's Burning?]

Alonso, Kimi and Vettel are better than Lewis.

Its amazing how much Jenson's dnf in Monza give way for the usual crap talk from the usual subjects. But until Lewis can prove he can consistently put a midfield car in top spots and not blow a championship when in the best; those 3 have a thing or two above him.

Lewis can get a win here and there in a not best car; but out of the 3 above, he's the one with the most car damaging contact when not in the best car or not in the clear. Of course, it is never his fault, and throughout his F1 career we've seen many villains come and go..... and i'm sure they will keep on coming.

You forgot to add... in your opinion. Otherwise the rest of what you said it's just biased nonsense being spewed. Kimi has yet to win a race but he's better than Lewis, is a pretty illogical statement to make given the circumstances, but I understand and respect your opinion.

[Hammer278]

Alonso, Kimi and Vettel are better than Lewis.

Its amazing how much Jenson's dnf in Monza give way for the usual crap talk from the usual subjects. But until Lewis can prove he can consistently put a midfield car in top spots and not blow a championship when in the best; those 3 have a thing or two above him.

Lewis can get a win here and there in a not best car; but out of the 3 above, he's the one with the most car damaging contact when not in the best car or not in the clear. Of course, it is never his fault, and throughout his F1 career we've seen many villains come and go..... and i'm sure they will keep on coming.

Did you watch 2009? Maybe you might need to actually watch the sport every year before making stupid claims.

When exactly did he 'blow' a championship away? His rookie year? Oh what a crime...did the other 3 come close to it in their rookie years? Or maybe you're talking about 2011? Did the car even deserve to be competing for the WDC, it's up for argument. That was the year Redbull almost gave the championships away.

[What's Burning?]

I can understand that some people might dislike Alonso because he's not in their favorite team, but another thing is to be blind at the man's amazing skills. He and Hamilton are at another level; after them, it's then Vettel, Kimi, and the rest...

Okay, maybe your definition on how to identify a great driver is different to mine. I don't rate Alonso below Hamilton, though I believe Hamilton is naturally slightly bit faster. Alonso makes up for this with experience, being aggressive only when he needs to.

But I believe some people truly believe that Alonso is actually outperforming his machinery, and the Ferrari has no business being on podiums or even close to it...which is preposterous! Put Lewis or Sebastian in the same situation and they will get similar results because the car is NOT a dog, though Alonso wants us to believe it is!

The car was a dog in Malaysia. The car started out as a pig, HOPING to become a dog in a few races. It's now a contender, but certainly not the outright fastest car on the grid.

Singapore will shake things up a bit, will bring the Red Bulls backa and Lotus as well and we'll see the mid field teams that enjoyed a moment in the sun in Span and Monza fade a bit.

It's been a contender since Barcelona.

Barcelona... that was five races into the year right? That's 100 potential points, which Alonso scored 43 points, in a dog, or pig, or slug or whatever farm animal you want to call the Ferrari. That's pretty impressive. That's actually more points scored in a bad car, than Jenson Button scored in five or six races while driving one of the best cars on the grid. Just to put in in a way you'd understand.

[kerc]

Alonso, Kimi and Vettel are better than Lewis.

Kimi and Vettel?

[myownalias]

When exactly did he 'blow' a championship away? His rookie year? Oh what a crime...did the other 3 come close to it in their rookie years? Or maybe you're talking about 2011? Did the car even deserve to be competing for the WDC, it's up for argument. That was the year Redbull almost gave the championships away.

Don't forget that Lewis also had the benefit of driving for one of the best teams in his rookie year unlike Vettel, Alonso and Raikkonen in their rookie years, Vettel started at BMW/Sauber, Raikkonen at Sauber (pre BMW) and Alonso at Minardi... if they all started in a McLaren, maybe they would have won titles in their rookie years?