Which drivers ruled the roost in their teams during 2016? Now the season is over it’s time to delve into the data and deliver a verdict.
The graphs and tables below show which driver had the greater share of the better results within their teams and who came out on top in every qualifying session and race this year.
Mercedes
Note that while technical problems during qualifying for Hamilton have been cited as a significant reason behind why he lost the 2016 championship, they did not stop him out-qualifying Rosberg as many times as he did last year.
Another striking feature of the Mercedes drivers’ seasons is how the balance of power shifted between them. Rosberg began the season and came back from the summer break more strongly then Hamilton, whose defeats to Rosberg during these parts of the season can only partly be blamed on unreliability.
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And look at what happened once Rosberg reached the point where he no longer had to beat Hamilton on the track to take the title. Rosberg has admitted the pressure of delivering the championship got to him, and over the final four races it was a clean sweep for his team mate.
| AUS | BAH | CHI | RUS | SPA | MON | CAN | EUR | AUT | GBR | HUN | GER | BEL | ITA | SIN | MAL | JAP | UNI | MEX | BRA | ABU | ||
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Red Bull
There was an element of beginners’ luck about that Spain victory. But Verstappen has left no room for doubt more wins will follow given time. Perhaps the biggest achievement of his season was out-qualified one-lap specialist Daniel Ricciardo over the final half-dozen races.
That will be cause for concern for Ricciardo. He delivered the better results of the pair on balance but it was close, and Verstappen clearly has greater potenital for growth being so much younger.
If Red Bull are championship contenders again next year, as they are widely expected to be, the fight between these two will be epic.
| AUS | BAH | CHI | RUS | SPA | MON | CAN | EUR | AUT | GBR | HUN | GER | BEL | ITA | SIN | MAL | JAP | UNI | MEX | BRA | ABU | ||
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| AUS | BAH | CHI | RUS | SPA | MON | CAN | EUR | AUT | GBR | HUN | GER | BEL | ITA | SIN | MAL | JAP | UNI | MEX | BRA | ABU | ||
| Max Verstappen | Q | |
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NB. Daniel Ricciardo’s team mate for the first four races was Daniil Kvyat, Max Verstappen’s team mate for the first four races was Carlos Sainz Jnr. See here for Ricciardo’s performances versus Kvyat
Ferrari
For him to do it to a driver with Sebastian Vettel’s record is truly surprising. Once Vettel’s superior performances in other areas are taken into account, it does tend to back up the view he was prioritising 2017 development during practice sessions this year.
But it’s clear this was Raikkonen’s best season since he returned to Ferrari two years ago. The SF16-H, not as strong at the rear at his predecessor, was more Raikkonen’s kind of car. The arrival of more muscular racing machines in 2017 could also play into his hands.
| AUS | BAH | CHI | RUS | SPA | MON | CAN | EUR | AUT | GBR | HUN | GER | BEL | ITA | SIN | MAL | JAP | UNI | MEX | BRA | ABU | ||
| Sebastian Vettel | Q | |
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Over to you
Which of these drivers had the best or most surprising performances against their team mates? Have your say in the comments.
You can also contribute to F1 Fanatic’s end-of-season driver rankings here:
How did the other teams’ drivers fare in 2016? Find the rest of the team mate battles here:
2016 F1 season review
- The complete F1 Fanatic 2016 season review
- Your favourite F1 drivers and teams of 2016
- ‘Well done Baku’? No, it was 2016’s worst race
- F1 Fanatic’s must-read highlights of 2016
- Watch the top ten non-F1 races of 2016
Evil Homer (@)
1st December 2016, 12:43
“That will be cause for concern for Ricciardo.”
Maybe,……… but I hope not ! I am hoping for the 2017 rules means a man has to wrestle these things again, struggle through two hours and have earned an F1 race, like the 80’s or 90’s.
Not saying Max isn’t a talent (he will be a multi WDC) but saying young kid needs to earn his man strength and these should get harder to drive! They should almost pass out again and be the best………….. Its F1
Arnoud van Houwelingen
1st December 2016, 13:47
so why can Max not be physically in tip top shape when F1 starts again in march 2017? He has an awesome trainer with Jake and physically there is nothing wrong with hem .. have you seen his neck lately .. like a gorilla .. so let the G-forces unlease :)
rico nosberg
1st December 2016, 14:50
why is everyone saying he will be a world champion? his aggressive style will cost him points and hes too inconsistent at the moment. he also needs to beat his team mate first
kpcart
1st December 2016, 14:53
he could end up like Jean Alesi.. and I hope he does for his pathetic unsporting blocking manouvers.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
1st December 2016, 18:01
@kpcart I agree about the blocking. But he probably will end up much more successful than Alesi, my favorite driver. Which is a sad thought. Alesi was aggressive and a tough fighter, but at the same time he was never unsporting. Never had that win at all costs and sportsmanship be damned mentality that the Verstappens, Schumachers and Sennas of this world possess.
Kimiwillbeback
31st December 2016, 15:03
Everybody knew Senna was a future World Champion after his drive in a Toleman in the rain in Monaco. Likewise everybody knew Michael Schumacher was the next great F1 driver in 1993, before he became Champion.
It’s the same with Verstappen, the special ones are clear for all to see.
Your reference to Verstappens aggression will only help him in the future, he’s very similar to Senna and Schumacher in that respect. Willing to risk an overtake and great on the brakes, in defence he’s ruthless and hard to pass. 3-4 years from now you’ll se drivers getting unsettled and make unforced errors because the threat in their mirrors is Max Verstappen. Likewise you will see drivers behind Verstappen pass up passing opportunities because they know it will be extremely tough.
What really markes him out as a future great besides his talent is his confidence. He reminds me of a young Schumacher in that respect, whatever they throw at him he just brushes it of and does what he think is right. It might not be a good character trait in normal life, but it is the character trait that separates great from good in sport. This kid has allready told multiple World Champions and senior personell in other teams to shut up when they critizice his driving because he knows what he’s doing.
Ricciardo has the hardest job in F1 these days, to compete with that talent, confidence and will to win will require everything he’s got allready in 2017. Never mind 2018 and 19 if he doesn’t leave..
kpcart
1st December 2016, 14:59
this “man” thing… are your for real?? most f1 drivers in history have been small men weighing 65kg… – not very “masculine” Verstappen matches that. many female drivers if given the opportunity would easily handle 80s,90s and current era f1 cars… get lost with your sexism. as for nearly passing out… that was usually because of water… and water is available in the car in the last 30 years.
Bustertje
1st December 2016, 15:17
Actually, Verstappen isn’t that small. Besides, I think he spends more time in the gym than i.e. Hamilton or Raikkonen.
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
1st December 2016, 15:29
@datt you can’t possibly know how much time they each spend in the gym….
But a 19/20 year old has no reason to be less able to physically more demanding car than a 28 year old, so that will probably not be factor at all.
With more aero dependence of the cars, overtaking will be harder. Both RIC and VES are among the most daring overtakers so even if they will only be able to pull off a hand full of overtakes next year, they will probably be amongst the best overtakers still (with HAM I presume). Something I don’t expect Rosberg or Vettel to be in this new era for example.
Bustertje
1st December 2016, 21:38
I do know Ves is a drinker tho. Bumped into him last year at 4.00 am in the city. Great fun. Onviously not during a Gp weekend tho.
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
2nd December 2016, 12:20
I’ve been drunk on multiple occasions in my life, yet I rarely drink. Going out late every now and then is not the same as ‘a drinker’ and you only even know of that one time…
I guess from your comments you are a fairly young fellow, am I right?
phil
2nd December 2016, 1:57
Daniels Red-bull engine was over 10hp down on MV engine in the 4 / 5last races. Hence the disparity in quali. This was evident on all the long straights. Race mode they had similar performance, however they did have different levels of performance in quali mode.
Daniel did not get any slower, his car did. Where MV improved was tyre management and prep hence the better race results. Next year will be interesting the new formula with higher downforce will distinguish the boys from the men. Who has the biggest balls in the fast stuff.
This is where vetell will suffer and kimi will be better.
I think it will be to close to call next year.
DR was being the model driver and not complaining.
Leen
2nd December 2016, 11:18
where do you get this information from that Daniels car was 10HP down in power? 10HP in power difference is about a 0.1 sec different per lap?
Matn
2nd December 2016, 16:51
‘DR was being the model driver and not complaining.’
ahm… DR is ctually a very very nice guy, but he came up with about every excuse there was when beaten
Philip (@philipgb)
1st December 2016, 13:01
A lot of people are ready to praise Raikkonen but honestly, I think Vettel just had another bad season like 2014. An on form Vettel could possibly have taken victories in Melbourne and Canada and his radio chatter showed signs of increasing frustration throughout the season. I think a realisation of why Alonso left hit him and I don’t think we saw his true form this year.
markp
1st December 2016, 13:29
I thought the car was decent and in par with Red Bull, problem was reliability and rubbish strategy especially at race they were going well at. Must be annoying that when chances are lresented you do not naximise on your opportunities.
rico nosberg
1st December 2016, 14:53
ferrari ruined his races in australia, spain, monaco and canada. he also would be outqualified if his car worked at singapur. also kvyat cost him a podium in russia.
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
1st December 2016, 15:42
To me Vettel’s Ferrari spell confirms he isn’t an alltime great. He’s merely a very good driver, of which there have been dozens over the decades, who has been better than his teammate whilst in the best car over a 4 year period.
In 2010 Alonso was close but nobody could deny that the Ferrari was inferior to the RBR. In 2011 it wasn’t a contest. In 2012 Ferrari again were inferior and Alonso overachieved whilst McLaren screwed up massively in terms of reliability and strategy. In 2013 Ferrari were somewhat closer at first but after the summer break RBR outdeveloped them massively. Vettel simply beat Webber over those 4 years and that meant 4 championships. Granted it might have not won 4 championships if Webber would have had a lesser teammate than Vettel, like I said I think VET is well above average, but it didn’t convince me he was ‘4x DWC good’ if you get my drift.
Then RIC outperformed VET in the first season of the new V6 era and I was willing to contribute this to a combination of being oversaturated after 4 years of succes in combination and, possibly due to being less motivated, struggling with the new cars.
However, his time at Ferrari over the past two years confirmed to me that Vettel is very good, but not as good as current all time greats as Hamilton and Alonso for example, despite having more titles than both of them.
Chris B (@kanundra)
1st December 2016, 16:45
I can’t say I agree with your viewpoint. Vettel thrashed Kimi last year, and finished ahead of him this year. He also would have had several podiums this year if it wasn’t for Ferrari’s terrible strategy calls. He has been consistently “best of the rest” since no teams have been able to compete with Mercedes’ most dominant cars in F1 history.
Fikri Harish (@)
1st December 2016, 17:01
Vettel is a highly capable driver, but as the first half of 2012 and the entirety of 2014 has shown us, he’s not the kind of driver that could just as easily overcame something he doesn’t like, but when things click, he is unstoppable (2013 and 2011 comes to mind).
That’s the difference between Vettel and Alonso, I honestly believe that Vettel’s high are higher than Alonso but Alonso’s low is still so ridiculously high that when you average those two over several years, Alonso is still going to come out on top.
ia
3rd December 2016, 10:16
I think Vettel was the best driver in 2015. He did the most with what he got.
This season he was totally off. I guess in his head because he was filled with anger and frustration, blaming everything that went wrong on others (drivers).
Abu Dabi showed a little of the old Vettel.
I believe he has the best chance to go to Mercedes since they need a German. It will be much more predictable and comfortable there compared to Ferrari, but Lewis is will get in his head there.
Hope he can handle that.
He had a hard time with Ricciardo as teammate.
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
1st December 2016, 17:45
@jeffreyj Vettel his consistency in 2015 should exactly tell you the opposite of your first sentence. Alonso went to Ferrari after hardly winning anything since 2007, for him it was a move up, it isn’t for Vettel, and any driver has difficulties coping with that, again I refer you to the attitude Alonso has shown at Honda.
On top of that Vettel has had a horrid season, and still easily came out on top of the two Ferrari cars. At no point was the Ferrari better than the Red Bull and he still is only 8 points shy of Ricciardo.
Dr Fritch
1st December 2016, 17:52
He had had horrible season, he also has been unimpressive, not made the best of a bad situation. If he had a Vettel factor then the time to show that would have been this season.
I was expecting it, and it never came.
Of
1st December 2016, 21:33
and ahead of Max and he didn’t take part in two of the first four rounds
montreal95 (@montreal95)
1st December 2016, 18:15
@jeffreyj To judge him in this way is disregarding history(and I’m not his fan). Many great drivers in the history of F1 relied on certain car characteristics that suit their driving style to be successful. It’s no mean feat. Give Vettel a car he really likes and he’ll be unstoppable. Give Sergio Perez a car he really likes(like now, with the tire saving formula that’s taylor made for him) and he’ll be merely very competitive. Vettel is not a top 10 of all time, certainly, but to say there were dozens like him is simply not true. He’s not a complete driver like Alonso, Hamilton or Ricciardo(current drivers better than him) and neither is he Fangio, Moss, Senna, Prost, Clark or Stewart. But is he any worse than Hakkinen, Mansell, Piquet, Brabham(disregarding him being a team owner, just as a driver), Fittipaldi, Graham Hill? All these drivers are considered all time greats just below the top 10, many multiple WDC’s. Vettel belongs in this group, clearly.
Rockie
1st December 2016, 23:07
I don’t buy that Vettel is in the all time top ten, I don’t see who you will put ahead of him!
In a championship winning car Vettel has never failed to take the title, I can bet my house on this, if Vettel was sitting in that Mercedes as good as it;s been over the last 3 seasons, he would have re-written F1 records!
In a good car on the current grid no one comes close to him in delivering the goods!
Rockie
1st December 2016, 23:09
Edit *I don’t buy that Vettel is not in the all time top 10
montreal95 (@montreal95)
2nd December 2016, 17:59
Sorry, but your logic is wrong. Vettel has won all of his WDC’s in the same team with the same car philosophy. And when he couldn’t get the car working to his liking like in the first half of 2012. Webber was beating him. Ricciardo beat him in 2014 fair and square. He lost the qualifying head to head to Kimi this year, the first to have done so for a full season since 2005(the peak of Kimi’s career form, in the eyes of most). Yeah with that in mind I don’t see how he can be in the top 10 of all time. Forget that, I don’t see how he can be better than Hamilton, Alonso and Ricciardo. He’s not a complete driver, but he’s an all time great no doubt just not top 10. And since you’d asked, here’s the top 10 of all time IMO in chronological order:
Fangio
Moss
Clark
Stewart
Lauda
Prost
Senna
Schumacher
Alonso
Hamilton
Which one of these should make way for Seb and why?
Todfod (@todfod)
2nd December 2016, 6:23
@jeffreyj
Agree on a lot of points. Vettel is definitely good, but he’s not a great. At the end of 2013 he was hailed as one of the greatest qualifiers of all time… and then he gets outqualified and outraced by Ricciardo in 2014. In 2016, he gets outqualified by a driver who many regard to be a slouch in quali. If Kimi was given the #1 driver strategy and treatment at Ferrari, I would expect him to outscore Vettel this year as well… which says a lot… considering Kimi was consistently thrashed during his time with Fernando.
Although a lot of people (including myself) were doubtful of how good he would be without Newey’s special toys, and I think Vettel has answered that for us over the past 3 seasons. He’s still a very good driver… but there are a handful of drivers who would give him a thorough beating as a teammate.
It’s crazy to think that he already has 4 WDCs to his name because I would put him as the fifth best driver on the current grid… behind Lewis, Fernando, Ricciardo & Verstappen.
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
2nd December 2016, 12:27
Vettel and Rosberg are quite similar in the sense that they are both very quick over one lap and capable of flawless quick, consistant and mistake free races when controlling from the front. Both have trouble outshining rivals in wheel to wheel situations but were in dominant cars for several seasons so that’s less often an issue. The difference ofcourse is that Webber was VET’s teammate while ROS had HAM.
Kimiwillbeback
31st December 2016, 20:38
I fear many of you will have to change your opinion in the future, you might as well do it now. There is no such thing as a four-time Champion in F1 that is not among the greats. For that matter there is no such thing as a three-time Champion in F1 that is not among the greats either.
And here we are talking about a driver that was a four time champion at 26 years old!!
You obviously have no idea whatsoever of what it takes to accomplish such a feat!
That type of success comes with a price though, and Vettel has felt that price. When you have achieved everything you ever dreamt about and more it’s hard to stay motivated when you’re not fighting for wins or Championships. Notice that when Ferrari is able to fight for victories Vettel is very strong, when Ferrari are too far behind to compete Vettel is less strong. I think Vettels reaction when Ferrari is too far behind is to try anything, even desperate measures with setup etc to compete. But it doesn’t work in F1, it’s better to just get on with the programme like Raikkonen does.
Believe me, when Ferrari produces a car capable of winning races and Championships Vettel would probably beat any teammate he might have at the time. If the car is second or third best several drivers might compete with him over a season.
That being said this is a weakness compared to Schumacher and Alonso who have been able to stay motivated regardless. But it is a trait Vettel shares with Hamilton who is also prone to loose his motivation when the car is less than great. I think the reason for this is that Hamilton and Vettel achieved instant success at a young age and continued to be lucky enough to be in competitive cars most of their career. Schumacher started in uncompetitive cars, then had success before going to Ferrari and many years in a semi-competitive cars. Alonso started in an uncompetitive car, then had success at Renault. Now he’s been on a desert walk for 10 years in more or less uncompetitive cars. He has to perform in uncompetitive cars in order to get a shot at the third title he so desperately wants.
Anonymous
2nd December 2016, 0:18
(@philipgb) (@xtwl)
It’s about time people accept that Vettel is simply an average driver who lucked into some very fortuitous circumstances. He’s barely beaten Kimi this season, despite Ferrari making it extremely clear that Vettel is their No. 1.
2014 wasn’t an ‘off’ year, it was a ‘representative’ year.
Rockie
2nd December 2016, 3:15
Well why not 2015?
Anon
2nd December 2016, 5:21
He’s beat Kimi by more than 5 points though, he’s driven well, Ferrari strategists left him down afew times Redbull did eventually usurp them as best of the rest but although Kimi qualified ahead more he usually got beat in the race. To say it was as bad a season as 2014 is being disingenuous also it wasn’t as good as 2015.
Ju88sy (@ju88sy)
1st December 2016, 13:31
I am in anticipation at the potential for fireworks at Red Bull in 2017 (assuming they have a strong car) the driver pairing is the most exciting on the grid. McLaren as Van Doorne vs Alonso could be spicy we know how Fernando responded last time a talented rookie was in the other car. Ferrari and Mercedes less so, I expect to see Vettel and Hamilton nose in front again.
Fingers crossed for a season to match 2012 with multiple teams capable of winning races…..
Friederike (@rike)
1st December 2016, 15:50
I think vandoorne and Alonso are going to be great together, alonso is a lot more mature then back then, and his time in a bad car made him a lot more humble and appreciating
Todfod (@todfod)
2nd December 2016, 6:26
@rike
They won’t be fighting for the championship, which is a tragedy. I would love to see how Alonso would deal with a 2007 situation again in 2017. My guess is that he would just put his head down and drive and avoid everything else that he did in 2007.
pSynrg (@psynrg)
1st December 2016, 13:39
Of course Lewis Hamilton would be way ahead of everyone if it hadn’t been for The Reliability Issues!!!!!!
kpcart
1st December 2016, 14:54
you mean the “one” failure of the engine in race?? what about his terrible race starts? – and what about the races where Rosberg qualified and finished better???? huh?
Fudge Kobayashi (@)
1st December 2016, 15:10
The “one” failure that caused a 28 point swing in a championship won by 5 measley points. Yeh that one.
Kevin
1st December 2016, 22:42
Or clouting the barrier in Baku (which left him 10th on the grid), costing him many points when he ended up losing by only 5. That was entirely his own unforced error. It was widely speculated in the media at the time that the error could cost him the title and it did. You are skipping that because it’s easier to blame the team for a car problem.
John H (@john-h)
1st December 2016, 23:32
To be fair you might want to check the PU usage table. It’s clear as day. Sure Hamilton had a nightmare in Baku, but isn’t that just one race in a 21 race season?!
Kevin
2nd December 2016, 2:53
Malaysia was just one race as well, Lewis had 19 others to make up for it. 10 wins, but 4 of them came after he was down 9-6 and all Nico needed to do was follow him home (which he did).
5 of the ten Lewis wins, Nico came second. Only 3 times did Hamilton finish 2nd to Rosberg. Everyone knows the scoring system at the start of the year, they only complain at the end if it works against them. The know DNFs, whether through accident or reliability, aren’t “what-ifs” and are part of F1.
Other drivers have won the title with worse mechanical luck than their teammates, Lauda won versus Prost in ’84 while earning fewer wins and having 1 more DNF, back then there were far fewer races to make up the deficit. Prost was generally the quicker driver.
Prost won versus Senna in ’89 with far better reliability but fewer wins. Senna was generally the quicker driver (both of them whined). Should we reverse all those titles (and others) ex. ’87 Piquet vs. Mansell, Piquet better reliability, fewer wins, won title?
Even more often, drivers have defeated other team’s drivers by having a more reliable car. In ’08, Hamilton had better mechanical reliability than Massa (who was not his teammate) and fewer wins, just nudging him for the title, yet I’ve never heard him concede that Felipe was more deserving and that a more reliable car was the difference-maker.
The team principals picked Hamilton as the best of ’16. Alonso has been in that position several times after losing a title bid, as he says, it’s not much consolation, but it will have to do. ’17 is another opportunity, everyone starts at 0 points and 100% reliability.
Todfod (@todfod)
2nd December 2016, 6:38
It wasn’t just one race which was responsible for his points deficit…. It was 3 qualifying sessions –
One where he started at the back of the grid, so he didn’t even participate.
One he couldn’t run in Q3, and started 10th.
One where he started in 21st because he changed car parts
Rosberg took the WDC.. hats off to him, but how on earth can anyone argue that reliability didn’t hand Rosberg this title is beyond me.
Blazz
2nd December 2016, 14:56
+1
Blazz
2nd December 2016, 14:54
Yes because Hamilton should have been perfect- like Rosberg was all season. Rosberg was perfect in Monaco, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Brazil wasn’t he? Get real. In a sporting season competitors have their ups and downs, in a mechanical sport sometimes mechanical problems can make a difference.
Blazz
2nd December 2016, 14:55
Oh I forgot Rosberg’s ‘perfect’ Canadian GP as well. Add that to the mix as well
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
1st December 2016, 17:47
We really need an option where you can ignore certain users’ comments.
Traverse (@hellotraverse)
1st December 2016, 19:34
But it’s true @xtwl. You want to ignore the truth?
Jabosha (@jabosha)
1st December 2016, 21:54
I think (probably way off) the point is, Nico is now champion. Something many have been saying since the day he won. Yes, many also pointed out reliability in analysis including me. Despite this, Nico is now champion. Tough luck for Lewi, on to the next season.
Melvin (@)
1st December 2016, 23:04
Not quite. Hamilton would win if he didn’t had a car failure AND everything else would be the same. However, that is a contradiction and impossible. The claim makes no sense at all.
pSynrg (@psynrg)
2nd December 2016, 19:14
Crikey – sarcasm whoooooooooooosh!
kpcart
1st December 2016, 14:51
what the graph between Ricciardo and Verstappen did not show is the incredible gap Ricciardo had on average to Verstappen in qualifying, the few times Verstappen outqualified Ricciardo, it was because Ricciardo was not at his best and the gap was usually less then a tenth of a secon… while Ricciardos gaps to Verstappen when beating him were often very big. admittedly Verstappen naturaly got closer to Ricciardo as the season went on, but even on Ricciardo’s off days, Ricciardo could stay within 1/10th of Verstappen, while on his ON days. he could easily be 2/3/4 tenths clear of Verstappen.
Fudge Kobayashi (@)
1st December 2016, 15:29
Where was this incredible gap during the race in Brazil? Or the last race where Verstappen was plum last at the beginning?
krxx
1st December 2016, 18:41
kpcart, @offdutyrockstar
– “the incredible gap Ricciardo had on average to Verstappen in qualifying”
– reply: “Where was this incredible gap during the race in Brazil? Or the last race where Verstappen was plum last at the beginning?”
Why is it that MVer fans seem to lose even the most basic reading skills whenever they react overly aggressively every time when their hero doesn’t come up on top in a comparison?
And they also frequently give a nice, little insight of how it must feel like to have such a distorted view of reality to twist and bend every single event in such a way that the only logical conclusion is their hero is the best ever (any other outcome would be ludicrous) and every one else there is just to make up the numbers. Whenever he gets beaten, it’s because of external circumstances, the team, he planned to, or he actually wasn’t beaten at all. If they feel the need to, they back it up with the twisting and bending or completely just make up an argument from scratch. He simply can’t get beat on merit, period. On the other hand, whenever he ends up in front of others, it’s completely thanks to their object of devotion. No car, team, circumstances, no nothing, just him.
Keep on denying reality batches.
To the Max !
1st December 2016, 16:28
…and what the graph also isn’t telling, Red Bull send Verstappen 3 times out in traffic (Baku, Hungary and Singapore), both drivers being send out to do qualifying without a sighting lap on slicks at Austria and Max having damaged his cars twice in free practice being a bit too cautious, and the team giving him wrong instructions at Austin qualifying messing that one up too.
At Belgium qualifying Ricciardo did, divided over both his Q3 runs, 3 good sectors, and they all came up short to Max’s. At Mexico qualifying Max did 3 laps which were all faster as the best Daniel could do. At Brazil Max’s first Q3 run he didn’t had the best sector 1, and when Daniel had a better one at the second Q3 run, he thought he could capitalize on it by being a bit more safe in sector 2, but he came up short (meaning he would have needed to take every bit of risk to just beat Max’s first Q3 with the not so good sector 1). Max did a good sector 1 in his second run, but made a mistake in sector 2, so if Daniel would have taken all the risk in sector 2, but Max wouldn’t have messed up sector 2 but had done the same as in his first Q3 run, Daniel still would have come up short.
In ’15 already, Max was breaking about all the lap records in the Red Bull simulator, so if you think Daniel is going to have the measure of Max in qualifying in the future, you’re pretty deluded. Daniel can hope at best he’s able to stay consistently close enough and Max making regularly small mistakes in the future, or else it’s going to end up pretty one sided.
To the Max !
1st December 2016, 17:40
I got a similar response on here earlier this year when I made the pre-season prediction saying Verstappen was easily going to have the measure of Sainz, and got asked in response if I was Jost (yes, he meant)…
…but maybe you should read it again, because all I said, Daniel isn’t going to have the measure of Max in qualifying (and I’m not talking about if he won’t be beating him again in points over the season, which could happen), because Max is simply too talented for that, and at best he can hope for he doesn’t get blown away completely (which wouldn’t be that bad considering how good Max actually is).
Bart
1st December 2016, 22:10
The 11 team bosses have voted for who they think was the most valuable driver of the 2016 season.
Lewis Hamilton.
Second was