FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[darwin dali]

I'm not a big fan of either ex-drivers' comments in general, but this looks interesting:
Lauda also said : "Hamilton made perhaps one small error so far, but most importantly he is showing that he is on a level with the double world champion Alonso. I have never seen something like that in all my time in motor racing."

Lauda, however, said Hamilton will "inevitably" make bigger errors this year.

1992 world champion Nigel Mansell, meanwhile, gives at least some of the credit to the competitive MP4-22 McLaren, observing that Schumacher and Ayrton Senna's debuts in inferior machines were arguably more impressive.

"What he's done is what he should have been doing anyway," Mansell told the Daily Telegraph.

What say you?

[Dazza]

I really don't know much about motor racing, apart from what I read / watch. But what Mansell said is exactly what I have been thinking all along. LH has driven arguably the best car on the grid this year, so of course he should be competitive. Didn't Schumacher start his F1 career with Jordan? I don't think the Jordans were the best cars of the field back then

Also, I read somewhere (here?) Jacques Villeneuve scored 3 podiums in his first 4 F1 races.

[welshie]

There is no doubt that this year the McLaren is a highly competitive car, but there is also no doubt that Hamilton has surprised a lot of people with how fast he is, including FA. I think the only person who isn't surprised will be Ron Dennis.

[darwin dali]

It looks like a little bit of both. LH is darn good (fast, no mistakes) and the car is darn good (fast, well balanced, reliable).
Yes, JV had 3 podiums in his first 4 races for Williams.

[Red Five]

I'd say a bit of both, I totally agree with Mansell in that I expected him to be up near the front as McLaren are almost always right up there, but Lauda is right and it just can't last, sooner or later he will make a mistake (he did it a few times last year in GP2) or just have some sort of problem, the only thing we can hope for then is that he's got the confidence to bounce straight back.