George… the real stuff

George… the real stuff

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The devil

Original Poster:

2,133 posts

186 months

Thursday 13th June
quotequote all
What do you reckon?
A future champion?
I’m not convinced by him
I know he is beating Lewis at the moment but I’m just not sure he has IT

ThingsBehindTheSun

520 posts

34 months

Thursday 13th June
quotequote all
In the last 25 years we have had 8 different world champions

Max Verstappen
Lewis Hamilton
Nico Rosberg
Sebastian Vettel
Jenson Buttton
Kimi Raikkonen
Fernando Alonso
Michael Schumacher

You could argue that Rosberg, Button and Raikkonen fluked a championship.

Do I think he is as good as Schumacher, Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton or Verstappen at their peak? Probably not.

Is he good enough to win a championship if he has the right car and a bit of luck? Possibly.

Do I think he is ever going to be world champion? No

Discendo Discimus

427 posts

35 months

Thursday 13th June
quotequote all
The devil said:
What do you reckon?
A future champion?
I’m not convinced by him
I know he is beating Lewis at the moment but I’m just not sure he has IT
Depends what you mean by "IT".
He's a talented driver. Stick him in the best car and he'll win easily.

Not sure there's much more to be said.

moorx

3,603 posts

117 months

Thursday 13th June
quotequote all
ThingsBehindTheSun said:
Do I think he is as good as Schumacher, Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton or Verstappen at their peak? Probably not.

Is he good enough to win a championship if he has the right car and a bit of luck? Possibly.

Do I think he is ever going to be world champion? No
This absolutely sums up my thoughts, although I think he would need quite a lot of luck.

Castellet

191 posts

21 months

Thursday 13th June
quotequote all
I think he is a candidate - in the right car - same as Norris, Piastri, Leclerc, Sainz …..

SoulGlo

107 posts

34 months

Thursday 13th June
quotequote all
Definitely got the speed and ruthless streak needed to get the job done.

But he needs to pick his battles more carefully.


budgie smuggler

5,439 posts

162 months

Thursday 13th June
quotequote all
I think he's got the talent and the hunger, but right now he is trying too hard which is leading to a few silly errors. He needs to get a few solid results and calm down.


MB140

4,158 posts

106 months

Thursday 13th June
quotequote all
He might be beating Lewis at the moment. But I would ask this.

When was the last time you saw Lewis Hamilton make a mistake in qualifying or a race. I mean a proper mistake that results in damage or loss of a race result.

I genuinely can’t think of one. George seems to make a few and at the very very top of f1 you just can’t make mistakes. Especially as in reality they are driving around managing tyres a good 25% of a race seconds of the cars true potential. If you’re managing tyres you really shouldn’t be making mistakes.

Muzzer79

10,400 posts

190 months

Thursday 13th June
quotequote all
Discendo Discimus said:
The devil said:
What do you reckon?
A future champion?
I’m not convinced by him
I know he is beating Lewis at the moment but I’m just not sure he has IT
Depends what you mean by "IT".
He's a talented driver. Stick him in the best car and he'll win easily.

Not sure there's much more to be said.
This.

They're all reflected on by the car. George has been unlucky to join Mercedes as they're on a downturn.

Max has been lucky to make hay whilst Red Bull are on an upturn. He doesn't win every race purely through talent.

Rebew

157 posts

95 months

Thursday 13th June
quotequote all
MB140 said:
He might be beating Lewis at the moment. But I would ask this.

When was the last time you saw Lewis Hamilton make a mistake in qualifying or a race. I mean a proper mistake that results in damage or loss of a race result.

I genuinely can’t think of one. George seems to make a few and at the very very top of f1 you just can’t make mistakes. Especially as in reality they are driving around managing tyres a good 25% of a race seconds of the cars true potential. If you’re managing tyres you really shouldn’t be making mistakes.
Whenever I see George lining up for an overtake I am half expecting to see an accident, not necessarily because he crashes more than anyone else but he just gives off a feeling of desperation rather than determination.

Castellet

191 posts

21 months

Thursday 13th June
quotequote all
I do believe that, with any driver, once all the factors start falling into place - team, car, results, especially wins, then confidence takes a big step forward.
And, then, as we saw with Michael, Lewis, Max - domination can follow.

isaldiri

19,057 posts

171 months

Thursday 13th June
quotequote all
MB140 said:
He might be beating Lewis at the moment. But I would ask this.

When was the last time you saw Lewis Hamilton make a mistake in qualifying or a race. I mean a proper mistake that results in damage or loss of a race result.

I genuinely can’t think of one. George seems to make a few and at the very very top of f1 you just can’t make mistakes. Especially as in reality they are driving around managing tyres a good 25% of a race seconds of the cars true potential. If you’re managing tyres you really shouldn’t be making mistakes.
Not all that long ago I'd suggest. Hamilton crashed into Russell in the main race in Qatar 2023 and retired.

MB140

4,158 posts

106 months

Thursday 13th June
quotequote all
isaldiri said:
MB140 said:
He might be beating Lewis at the moment. But I would ask this.

When was the last time you saw Lewis Hamilton make a mistake in qualifying or a race. I mean a proper mistake that results in damage or loss of a race result.

I genuinely can’t think of one. George seems to make a few and at the very very top of f1 you just can’t make mistakes. Especially as in reality they are driving around managing tyres a good 25% of a race seconds of the cars true potential. If you’re managing tyres you really shouldn’t be making mistakes.
Not all that long ago I'd suggest. Hamilton crashed into Russell in the main race in Qatar 2023 and retired.
That might be the case I can’t remember. But the number of errors Lewis makes is very small. I like George but I always feel like he’s on the ragged edge and about to have a monumental crash when he starts to push.

I actually think Lando is the better driver overall (qualifying + race + development and testing) out of the current new crop, Leclerk is probably the fastest over one qualifying lap but again he always seems like he’s an accident waiting to happen to me.

LucyP

1,723 posts

62 months

Thursday 13th June
quotequote all
Castellet said:
I think he is a candidate - in the right car - same as Norris, Piastri, Leclerc, Sainz …..
Every candidate needs the right car. Do you think that Verstappen would have any WDC's if he had only ever been at Williams?

Would Hamilton have won if he had stuck with McLaren back in the days when they were breaking down in testing before the end of the pitlane and Alonso was either sunbathing or shouting "GP2 engine"?

isaldiri

19,057 posts

171 months

Thursday 13th June
quotequote all
MB140 said:
That might be the case I can’t remember. But the number of errors Lewis makes is very small. I like George but I always feel like he’s on the ragged edge and about to have a monumental crash when he starts to push.

I actually think Lando is the better driver overall (qualifying + race + development and testing) out of the current new crop, Leclerk is probably the fastest over one qualifying lap but again he always seems like he’s an accident waiting to happen to me.
Don't disagree. Leclerc is clearly very quick but also error prone. Russell is like Leclerc albeit probably with a less one lap pace and (much) sharper elbows in races but also somewhat error prone. Norris has become very solid in races although qualifying he's still a bit variable (pace and mistakes) I think. be interesting to compare norris/russell again if they get comparable cars as in F2, Russell (particularly in the 2nd half of the season) definitely came out tops then.


StevieBee

13,102 posts

258 months

Thursday 13th June
quotequote all
ThingsBehindTheSun said:
Max Verstappen
Lewis Hamilton
Nico Rosberg
Sebastian Vettel
Jenson Buttton
Kimi Raikkonen
Fernando Alonso
Michael Schumacher
Looking at this list, when Max, Lewis and Michael first arrived you absolutely knew that they were going to completely blitz it. Just something about their confidence and speed.

If we're aligning Russel to any of these, I'd put him alongside Vettel and Button.

axel1990chp

708 posts

106 months

Thursday 13th June
quotequote all
Lewis had a fair few blunders last year!

A particularly stupid one with Piastri, if memory serves!

Personally, on George.
He's a fast lad, and he's proven that, but as others have said, he doesn't seem to have the poise and the patience to make any of it stick.
He's still young, and he has plenty of room left in F1 if he can stay fighting in the top end, perhaps that will come to him with time, as experience does to everyone. Time will tell, I suppose.
I don't expect him to be a WDC in his F1 career.

The devil

Original Poster:

2,133 posts

186 months

Thursday 13th June
quotequote all
LucyP said:
Every candidate needs the right car. Do you think that Verstappen would have any WDC's if he had only ever been at Williams?

Would Hamilton have won if he had stuck with McLaren back in the days when they were breaking down in testing before the end of the pitlane and Alonso was either sunbathing or shouting "GP2 engine"?
Lando is definitely a better driver than George
He seems to be very natural

entropy

5,506 posts

206 months

Friday 14th June
quotequote all
I like George but somebody needs to tell him to calm down a bit.

At times he drives like his career is on the line and is so desperate to prove to himself and others that he is better / can beat Lewis.

Heathwood

2,643 posts

205 months

Friday 14th June
quotequote all
I don’t know what it is about George. He’s fast and has held his own against Lewis, and yet there’s something that makes me reluctant to put him amongst the very best on the grid.

I think if the Merc had been a race win/title contender and he’d beaten Lewis in those conditions, he would really have established himself. However, I’m not convinced that Lewis has really come alive these last few years, so I find it more difficult to gauge George’s performances. The next couple of years will be interesting for him I think.