I have to butt in. I believe a lot of it is down to the car. Each F1 driver is supremely talented and very quick. It’s just that others through history of had a bit more bravery, guts and talent to force a car round a bend.

If you could have two differently built F1 cars attack a simple corner at top speed, there’s not much difference made in the drivers ability but you’ll see each and every car clinging on differently doing different speeds leading to gaps between the cars performance over different parts of the track.

Where as if you got two good drivers like Lewis and Alonso to attack the same simple corner at top speed in a production car you’d probably find one man faster, and that would be down to pure skill and talent alone. It’s impossible to tell.

When Shumacher won his titles, he had the best car, so did Kimi, Alonso, Lewis and now Jenson this year.

As if Webber and Vettell and who ever else would have the slightest chance if Mclaren, Ferrari, BMW and Renault hadn’t screwed up their cars so badly. Next year normal service will resume I guarantee that.

The car sets the limit of what is possible.
It’s upto the driver to find that limit.
The difference between a really good driver and an average one is probably only about 5-10% of the limit of the cars performance in perfect conditions.

Sort of the same as contemporary music, isn’t it? Some unknown guy writes a hit song, some fantastic but anonymous session musicians play it perfectly, but Miss White Trash Beautiful 2009 with more makeup than clothes on gets all the credit for lipsincing it because she can only sing offtune, and doing some sort of amateurish little lapdance on stage. Or for falling off the stage, if she has a ‘habit’.
Frank W once said that ‘the other’ Schumacher was good only if the car was perfect, while JPM was excellent at making the best of a bad car, but got nowhere in a good car. QED on the track, I think.
In IRL and A1GP everyone has/had the same car, but even then there are huge differences in expertise between teams. It’s never just about the driver I mean. He’s a sort of funnel at the end of a complex process, but he’s certainly not the whole process as such. The driver is just the most personal and prosaic focuspoint for the public. Like a singer in a band.

No…They have ruined F1 for this year, there is no doubt about it. Last season F1 was actually enjoyable to watch, and all the budget cutting, and crap like that is producing boring cars, that now all look the same. And next year they are proposing to fuel all cars to the end of race…again how boring is that? One of the main driver/team skills is pit-stops, and they are proposing to take that away…This years Championship has been badly screwed up…bring back the interest, and lose the irrelevant regulations…

back in the 80′s we can say driver makes the difference but now it is possible that machine really do make the difference with all the technology coming in.

before “man and machine”
now “man, machine and computer”

press “F1″ to make the car faster!!!

Agree to #30, the 09 rules suck! Must be part of the reason Mosley had to go. Most teams must be furious with the money wasted on stupid KERS and the ugly wings which made the 09 cars easy the ugliest racecars ever seen! They ‘d better wasted that money on summer testing, it was so much fun to spend few days at the Barcelona or Monza track during holidays.

this years regulations are rubish.
it has wreked the driving and the cars looks. lewis car is no good thanks to these stupid regulations.

Only one way to settle this. Me in a F1 car versus Senna in his peak in a bicycle. End result. The pilot. The greatest car in the world can never win unless there’s talent behind it.

Plus its easier to modify and tune a car than REinvest in finding and training a new driver.

Btw – if motorsports were as common as football, baseball or basketball you’d be finding racing savants.

“Steve S” is a genius when pointing out that the only way we can know is to put F1 stars in a reasonably priced car. It’s the ultimate answer to the question. Thanks “Steve S”.

However, the drivers always seem to point out that it is a team effort as well, more often than footballers pointing out that they could not have scored unless it was a team effort.

F1 drivers, like test pilots, need to understand the system so that they can talk to the mechanics to have it all set up properly for the race. The mechanics and analysts in turn also gives feedback on setup based on measured data. This “team effort” idea pays off during the race, telling whom to do what at a given time in relationship to other racers – seems like this is how races are won or lost in F1 the last 15 years.

F1 is more about making prudent pitstops and timing. The rest is automatic. See the start, and check back every 15-20 lap interval.

one thing i really like about the red button is that on the weekend of a race they will show classic races from years ago. it is brilliant.

for f1 in 2009:
sutil & fisichella will score points in 2009
button will win more races
hamilton will hopefully win again
either button or weber will win the championship

and replying to “WAT”
i fyou look around there is loads of f1 mercendise just look at this.http://www.amazon.co .uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h_?url= search-alias%3Daps&field- keywords=formula+1
and yes there are no f1 satnavs look http://www.amazon.co.uk/s  /ref=nb_ss_w_h_?url=sear ch-alias%3Daps&field-keyw ords=formula+1+satnav
nascar has loads of mercendise look at this!!!!!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s  /ref=nb_ss_w_h_?url=sear ch-alias%3Daps&field-keyw ords=nascar

ps:is anyone going to see the wtcc at brands on sunday if so read this http://www.motorsportvisi on.co.uk/news/article.asp  ?NewsID=3097

it is on eurosport on sky channel 410 (and on hd 412)

I think it is down to the car I admit ther are to many technical things on the cars these days which some teams have and others dont and which makes a team win. I could be wrong

Mark Webber’s victory proves that 95% of success is down to the car. So does Button’s inability to do anything about it when the weather is not that great…

personally.. I prefer they dumped the automatic clutch and went went back to the pedal. Would love to see some heel and toe. I think that would put a lot back in the drivers hands.

Does this argument really matter? The driver is one person, but each team has 100s of mechanics who play a part in the car. 300>1

obviously it is the car but the driver plays a part too

Jimmyfish. these drivers were in the era of team order. irvine and rubens were ordered to let schumacher past at some point or other. there is always a number 1 driver even if the teams dont like to admit it. and i think its 50/50 most of us here would strugle to get the car to do what they do, just look at how hammond was with the renault f1 car

Its both to a certain degree. You can have the best car but if you cant handle it then you wont win, however if you have the skill but lack the car, like Hamilton right now you cant win. You need both, you wont win with just one

So we’re agreed that the driver is still important in terms of setting up the car and bringing it home in one piece. If so, the proposition should have been: “Is being a Formula one driver still about driving a Formula one car?” You know, getting the bit between your teeth and making an epic battle for it, like Mansell was wont to do. Sure, Schumi won the lot. He started a whole new way of racing in F1 and raised the bar into the stratosphere. But I enjoyed seeing Mansell fight for every inch far better. At the end of the day, watching Schumi win again and again was just plain boring. I like to see knights in shining (or dented & rusting, even better) armour, not engineers in white labcoats.

So agree! Mansell was like Rossi! Making up for lost ground and go for it! That is so what is lacking in modern F1!

Remember Fuji 2008, Massa and Kubica in the final lap? It’s still there, once the leash is off… I could watch that lap forever and ever.
Btw: I’d love to see Rossi and Loeb in F1, wouldn’t you? And Danica, albeit for a different reason XP She says she doesn’t want to leave America though.

That was a great race, though messed by FIA penalties like most of the ’08 (and ’07) races were messed by the FIA (remember vividly as I watched the Belgium race from the Ferrari paddock and even there we were cheering for Lewis, who was given his incredible penalty later on). Rather see Danica in bikini than in F1 btw.

The thing is that a couple of drivers in the 80′s could get in the best car and Could not Qualify!

Now adays, anyone can get inside a Brawn and win!!!!

Because in the 80s there were crap teams with paying drivers. That is what Mosley wants back next yr with this new budget teams to fill up the grid. I do rate Button as a top driver though, one forget he was the runner up in 2004 and scored the most points in the 2nd half of the 2006 season.

I ALSO THINK IT IS THE DRIVER TO A CERTAIN EXENT BECAUSE SUTIL HAS A BAD CAR BUT HE CAN STILL RACE IN THE POINTS!

the car does help, but what makes lewis different was the fact that he won in a car that was not the ouright best car, the first time this has happened since hakkinen won it in a mclaren that was not as good as schumachers ferrari in ’99. this is why i disagree with anybody that says schumacher was the best becuase all he did was win in the best car, or a car that was up to its eyeballs in electronics………’94. this is also why i HATE button, becuase all he did was win in the best car, and as soon as he doesnt have the best outright car, like in britain and germany, where did he finish?…………………