New found hamilton consistency

[hannabyjj]

I think Hmilton is the only driver, certainly the only top driver to have finished every race this year and scored points at every race but one. For me this is very impressive considering a couple of years ago he was viewed as a 'crash kid' in some peoples eyes. Is he now one of or the most consistent driver on the grid ?

[Marbot]

I think that by this period in his career, consistency ought to be an easy thing to attain. For Monza qualifying, he admitted to "driving like an idiot". I still think that he's having issues with the cars braking characteristics, which obviously doesn't help with your confidence.

Edit: His team mate has also been consistent, but has suffered far more reliability issues.

[Bononi]

Wouldn't say "new found", but yes he is.

[wnut]

He has impressed me this year!

Not so much his Monza qualifying, but he has at least developed the maturity to fess up to his mistakes.

I really wish he would leave the dog at home though, I have no idea why he feels it necessary to take it to the circuit, and it must be very distracting!

[m1fcf]

Originally Posted by wnut

I really wish he would leave the dog at home though, I have no idea why he feels it necessary to take it to the circuit, and it must be very distracting!

The appearance of Roscoe so soon after the disappearance of Nicole must be connected I would have thought.

[andy666]

I would rather have Roscoe at my side !

[JeremySmith]

Originally Posted by m1fcf

The appearance of Roscoe so soon after the disappearance of Nicole must be connected I would have thought.

How is the dogs hearing these days I wonder ...

[Razzzor]

But finishing in the points in every race just means you haven't had anything go wrong... you could say the same about several drivers if they didn't have issues. ie Vettel would have finished every race on the podium (apart from 4th at Spain) if he didn't break down in Britain. Webber, Kimi, Alonso, all would have finished in the points in every race without car issues. Well, maybe not Alonso, the wing explosion was his own fault.

Actually Hamilton did have a 12th in Spain, but that was the one with the puncture so it wasn't his fault. He would have won otherwise.

Yeah I guess he has been more consistent since about mid-way through 2012. He has been behind Rosberg some of this year, but maybe that was just warming up to the car because he's outclassed Nico for a few races now. Nico has always been inconsistent, sometimes on it, sometimes on a Sunday drive.

[Beryl]

Originally Posted by Razzzor

But finishing in the points in every race just means you haven't had anything go wrong... you could say the same about several drivers if they didn't have issues. ie Vettel would have finished every race on the podium (apart from 4th at Spain) if he didn't break down in Britain. Webber, Kimi, Alonso, all would have finished in the points in every race without car issues. Well, maybe not Alonso, the wing explosion was his own fault.

Rosberg too was on to finish every race in the points were it not for car failure (something that cannot be said for his teammate). Maybe even Massa, but I think the consensus is that the spin in Germany came before the gearbox failure.

Originally Posted by Razzzor

Actually Hamilton did have a 12th in Spain, but that was the one with the puncture so it wasn't his fault. He would have won otherwise.

Hamilton was never going to win in Spain and he didn't have a puncture there. I think you might be confusing that race with Britain. In Spain, Mercedes locked out the front row (Rosberg on pole) but both cars went backwards in a hurry during the race because of their excessive tire wear issues. Rosberg finished 6th, Hamilton 12th. The infamous "illegal tire test" happened just after this race, and the Mercs haven't been anywhere near this bad with tires since.

Originally Posted by Razzzor

Yeah I guess he has been more consistent since about mid-way through 2012. He has been behind Rosberg some of this year, but maybe that was just warming up to the car because he's outclassed Nico for a few races now. Nico has always been inconsistent, sometimes on it, sometimes on a Sunday drive.

I would disagree. Hamilton was clearly better for four straight races from Canada to Hungary, but I feel Rosberg has edged it the last two.

[hannabyjj]

Originally Posted by Beryl

Rosberg too was on to finish every race in the points were it not for car failure (something that cannot be said for his teammate). Maybe even Massa, but I think the consensus is that the spin in Germany came before the gearbox failure.
Hamilton was never going to win in Spain and he didn't have a puncture there. I think you might be confusing that race with Britain. In Spain, Mercedes locked out the front row (Rosberg on pole) but both cars went backwards in a hurry during the race because of their excessive tire wear issues. Rosberg finished 6th, Hamilton 12th. The infamous "illegal tire test" happened just after this race, and the Mercs haven't been anywhere near this bad with tires since.
I would disagree. Hamilton was clearly better for four straight races from Canada to Hungary, but I feel Rosberg has edged it the last two.

Rosberg has edged it the last two ? I'm sorry what. Spa was quite even but he was outqualified and beaten in the race by lewis and in Monza rosberg (though finshing ahead of hamilton) was downright awful.

[hannabyjj]

Originally Posted by Razzzor

But finishing in the points in every race just means you haven't had anything go wrong... you could say the same about several drivers if they didn't have issues. ie Vettel would have finished every race on the podium (apart from 4th at Spain) if he didn't break down in Britain. Webber, Kimi, Alonso, all would have finished in the points in every race without car issues. Well, maybe not Alonso, the wing explosion was his own fault.

Actually Hamilton did have a 12th in Spain, but that was the one with the puncture so it wasn't his fault. He would have won otherwise.

Yeah I guess he has been more consistent since about mid-way through 2012. He has been behind Rosberg some of this year, but maybe that was just warming up to the car because he's outclassed Nico for a few races now. Nico has always been inconsistent, sometimes on it, sometimes on a Sunday drive.

Webber has done plenty wrong this year hitting rosberg in Bahrain, hitting Vergne in China and generally being a waste of a top seat. As for Kimi he smashed into back of Perez in Monza and maybe China. Vettel hit button in hungary

[Beryl]

Originally Posted by hannabyjj

Rosberg has edged it the last two ? I'm sorry what. Spa was quite even but he was outqualified and beaten in the race by lewis and in Monza rosberg (though finshing ahead of hamilton) was downright awful.

In Spa, Rosberg was clearly the fastest in Q3 and would have gotten pole but for Hamilton and the Red Bulls getting an extra lap on a rapidly drying track. I can't count bad luck against Rosberg there. During the race, Hamilton pulled out a gap on the first stint as Rosberg was on a scrubbed set of tires and Hamilton had fresh ones, but on the next two stints (when both were on equal condition tires) Rosberg reeled him back in and finished 2 seconds behind. It was close, but I feel Rosberg edged it.

Monza, Rosberg made Q3 and Hamilton didn't. During the race both were stuck behind other cars and hardly making an impression (in fact Hamilton was re-overtaken by Button at one point) until Hamilton had a slow puncture and had to switch to a two stop strategy (and luckily at a near ideal time). Of course, with fresh softs and DRS he was able to overtake cars but he wasn't able to to end the race anywhere as close to Rosberg as a two-stop should have been, he finished nearly an entire pit stop behind. It's hard judge this sort of weekend for the two Merc drivers (Rosberg missing P3, Hamilton held up by Sutil on his last Q2 run, Hamilton forced to change strategy mid-race), but I give the edge to Rosberg.