130 replies to this topic

[OO7]

Indeed, especially Fernando who has won races and podiums in a Ferrari that Massa would often fail to get into Q3.

I haven't thought about all the races from that year, but Malaysia 2007 is the race on my mind because it was replayed prior to this years event.  It was a race that Ferrari should have won as they had the faster car if I recall correctly, but the McLaren's jumped them at the start which helped tremendously.

[OO7]

A rookie Lewis Hamilton scoring a podium in his first race, 4 wins, 6 poles and you doubt whether the McLaren was the fastest?

 

Gotta say some people here like to dig up the past to put some dirt on other drivers. 

That is completely the wrong way to look at it.  If we removed Lewis from the equation would you think 'A double and current at the time world champion Fernando Alonso scoring a podium in his first race with McLaren, 4 wins, 2 poles and you doubt whether the McLaren was the fastest?' 

 

What was amazing is that he matched Alonso and finished ahead of him in the standings, or do you believe Alonso was incapable of defeating the Ferrari's without the advantage of a superior car?

Edited by Obi Offiah, 27 April 2014 - 22:04.

[Zava]

then I'm afraid I'm outta here...

 

hell, it's about time! 

 

 

I started writing my own order, then I realized that it was more or less the WCC order, so I stopped right there.

[Cyanide]

That is completely the wrong way to look at it.  If we removed Lewis from the equation would you think 'A double and current at the time world champion Fernando Alonso scoring a podium in his first race with McLaren, 4 wins, 2 poles and you doubt whether the McLaren was the fastest?' 

 

What was amazing is that he matched Alonso and finished ahead of him in the standings, or do you believe Alonso was incapable of defeating the Ferrari's without the advantage of a superior car?

 

What I believe is that 4 races where Kimi has been beaten by Alonso lead to a past digging in an attempt to question his overall capability and performance along the years. It's bad enough that it's happening in the right topic, now it's extending to other threads as well. 

 

I have no intention of analyzing Alonso's results at McLaren since he had obvious problems in that team that might have affected his performance. Let's just say he wasn't at his best there as much as he was at Renault or Ferrari. On the other hand Hamilton is a good indicator that that McLaren was no slouch as some here speculate. 

Edited by Cyanide, 27 April 2014 - 22:21.

[OO7]

What I believe is that 4 races where Kimi has been beaten by Alonso lead to a past digging in an attempt to question his overall capability and performance along the years. It's bad enough that it's happening in the right topic, now it's extending to other threads as well. 

 

I have no intention of analyzing Alonso's results at McLaren since he had obvious problems in that team that might have affected his performance. Let's just say he wasn't at his best there as much as he was at Renault or Ferrari. On the other hand Hamilton is a good indicator that that McLaren was no slouch as some here speculate. 

I don't recall anyone calling the 2007 McLaren a slouch, but as you correctly said, this isn't the thread to be discussing 2007.

[lbennie]

Hülkenberg is nothing more than Heidfeld or Fisichella. Probably Heidfeld and certainly Fisichella were even better than Hulkenberg and more underrated than Hülkenberg.

 

Or this high reverence of Ricciardo. What the?

 

People giving him a 9 or 9.5 rating? Freaking insane, or what?

 

It's such a mess! Let me explain:

 

Many people think, Vettel's the genius. And because of that those people think that Ricciardo cannot be rated not 9 or 9.5 because he matches his "genius teammate". Those people should rather accept the fact that Vettel's not the genius.

 

To be honest, although knowing that Vettel's not the genius, even me myself wouldn't have thought that only someone like Ricciardo could match Vettel.

 

Why Ricciardo is not THE coming champion?

 

If you look at Riccardo/Vergne in 2012/2013 and Alguersuari/Buemi in 2010/2011 there is absolutely NO difference in the performance between Ricciardo/Vergne and Alguersuari/Buemi and all those ToroRossos were about the same shyte calibre. Unless Alguersuari or Buemi are also rated 9 or 9.5, there is absolutely no justification to rate Ricciardo with 9 or 9.5, unless Alguersuari or Buemi are also considered worth to be rated 9 or 9.5.

 

And if people really think that Alguersuari or Buemi are 9 or 9.5, then I'm afraid I'm outta here...

 

For gods sake man, I like Alg & Buemi, but neither are fit to shine Ricciardo's racing boots.

It's becoming obvious Ric has that special something. Red Bull clearly new this when they chose him over Kimi, now we are starting to see it as well.

 

Newey even said he's the most talented youngster he has seen enter the sport since Vettel.

 

Saying Vettel is ordinary because Ricciardo is beating him is ridiculous, Just like it would have been ridiculous to say Alonso was ordinary because Hamilton was beating him in 07.

 

We are watching 2 very good drivers go at it. Vettel is struggling with the car at the moment but no doubt will come good. That is all there is to it.

Edited by lbennie, 28 April 2014 - 03:45.

[Kingshark]

For gods sake man, I like Alg & Buemi, but neither are fit to shine Ricciardo's racing boots.
It's becoming obvious Ric has that special something.

I don't remember Ricciardo being significantly better than Vergne in races. They were 13-12 overall in races where both finished, and Ricciardo didn't improve much from 2012 to 2013 either. They were 7-7 in 2012, 6-5 in 2013.

Newey even said he's the most talented youngster he has seen enter the sport since Vettel.

Source? Even if we assume this to be true, being more talented than ALG, BUE, and JEV is not exactly something to boast about my top driver standards.

Saying Vettel is ordinary because Ricciardo is beating him is ridiculous, Just like it would have been ridiculous to say Alonso was ordinary because Hamilton was beating him in 07.

Hat has RIC done so far which makes him even worth comparing to Hamilton?

[lbennie]

I don't remember Ricciardo being significantly better than Vergne in races. 

 

I'm not going to get into the nitty gritty of it, but he was. We can agree to disagree, but there was a huge gulf in performance between the two. Vergne more often than not had an extra set or two of fresh tyres to use in the race. 

I notice you haven't mentioned the Qualifying score card from last year either - I don't blame you. 

 

 

Source? Even if we assume this to be true, being more talented than ALG, BUE, and JEV is not exactly something to boast about my top driver standards.

 

I can't find it at the moment, I think it may be in one of red bulls youtube interviews. Still digging.

Kolles said this though - while he was at HRT: 

"He is one of the most talented drivers, His driving style is similar to the young Fernando Alonso and Ayrton Senna,"

 

 

Hat has RIC done so far which makes him even worth comparing to Hamilton?

 

I'm not sure what more he can do, if coming into a team that is build around the current 4x WDC and beating him convincingly is not enough to impress you, I don't know what is.

[charly0418]

Hülkenberg is nothing more than Heidfeld or Fisichella. Probably Heidfeld and certainly Fisichella were even better than Hulkenberg and more underrated than Hülkenberg.

 

Or this high reverence of Ricciardo. What the?

 

People giving him a 9 or 9.5 rating? Freaking insane, or what?

 

It's such a mess! Let me explain:

 

Many people think, Vettel's the genius. And because of that those people think that Ricciardo cannot be rated not 9 or 9.5 because he matches his "genius teammate". Those people should rather accept the fact that Vettel's not the genius.

 

To be honest, although knowing that Vettel's not the genius, even me myself wouldn't have thought that only someone like Ricciardo could match Vettel.

 

Why Ricciardo is not THE coming champion?

 

If you look at Riccardo/Vergne in 2012/2013 and Alguersuari/Buemi in 2010/2011 there is absolutely NO difference in the performance between Ricciardo/Vergne and Alguersuari/Buemi and all those ToroRossos were about the same shyte calibre. Unless Alguersuari or Buemi are also rated 9 or 9.5, there is absolutely no justification to rate Ricciardo with 9 or 9.5, unless Alguersuari or Buemi are also considered worth to be rated 9 or 9.5.

 

And if people really think that Alguersuari or Buemi are 9 or 9.5, then I'm afraid I'm outta here...

 

you've murdered the english language

[Kingshark]

I'm not going to get into the nitty gritty of it, but he was. We can agree to disagree, but there was a huge gulf in performance between the two. Vergne more often than not had an extra set or two of fresh tyres to use in the race.

I notice you haven't mentioned the Qualifying score card from last year either - I don't blame you.  

 

Fair enough, Dan was very good in qualifying, but in the race?

 

I haven't been convinced by his racecraft to believe that it's Alonso-esque.

 

 

Kolles said this though - while he was at HRT: 

"He is one of the most talented drivers, His driving style is similar to the young Fernando Alonso and Ayrton Senna,"

 

I'll take your word for it.

 

 

I'm not sure what more he can do, if coming into a team that is build around the current 4x WDC and beating him convincingly is not enough to impress you, I don't know what is.

 

Coming out on top in a couple of races is not enough to conclude that he is a top driver. Barrichello had a pretty mean streak against Schumacher in 2003, yet he was never considered a top driver.

 

When Ricciardo wins the championship with a car that is arguably not even the best of the season (eg. Hamilton in 2008) we can consider him to be among the best drivers on the grid, at the moment I haven't seen anywhere near enough to rate him so highly yet.

Edited by Kingshark, 28 April 2014 - 06:55.

[Cesc]

To me, Mercedes is the strongest one. Hamilton is a super talent and Rosberg is very solid to say the least. Red Bull is strong but a priori I had many abouts about Ricciardo, we'll have to wait.

For one thing or another, Ferrari driver lineup has been quite unbalanced with Massa before and now Kimi struggling. I don't think it is a strong line in order to score championship points.

Force India is a quite good pair too..

[v@sh]

 

Fair enough, Dan was very good in qualifying, but in the race?

 

I haven't been convinced by his racecraft to believe that it's Alonso-esque.

 

You obviously have not followed him closely enough. Even though the races between Vergne and DR looked closer with some of the results, some of the results are actually hampered by DR actually making it into Q3 a lot more than Vergne which meant he wasted extra sets of tires. Look at when Webber had extra sets of tires when he came back from 18th on the grid in China to a podium to see the effect of having an extra brand new set. As well as STR's pretty poor decisions on the pitwall.

 

Here are some examples where the scorelines of the race would be easily ahead in Ricciardo's favour not to mention his decent racing ability that you may be looking for:

 

- Two years in a row he was ahead of Vergne in Korea before he had brake problems, easily further down the road than Vergne on both occasions (Vergne was racing Caterhams in 2013 while DR was in the points)

- Hungary after qualifying easily ahead of Vergne, STR put him a stupid two stop strategy (which only the Lotus of Kimi managed to make use of while everyone went to three stops since everyone else weren't so dumb) and lost a 14 second lead to Vergne in 4 laps only for DR to finish right behind him anyway

- Would have been on a 5 race points streak after DR was signed on for RB except for his Japan race where he got a stop-go penalty, which meant he finished just behind Vergne in the race (how many secs are stop-go penalties these days? 20+ secs?)

- Would have finished in the top 5 if it weren't for STR's cockup and not pitting him for fresh tires in Silverstone in 2013 (same cockup Lotus did to Kimi)

- Held off Schumacher in the much faster car in Japan 2012 for the last 10 laps which even impressed Schumi himself

- Same sort of deal with Alonso last year in India where Alonso had the much faster car

- Finishing 2 seconds behind a Ferrari in China last year, the same race when Button was told who made Q3 for qualifying reacted to 'Wow, Ricciardo' when his name was read out...tells you how much the TR was a shitbox at the start of the year

- Hamilton was asked in his July Q&A last year who he thought impressed him most out of the young drivers coming up, guess who Hamilton said?

 

I haven't seen Vergne putting the car in really good positions or racing against the higher calibre drivers like Dan has during their time at TR. Don't get me wrong, Vergne had brilliant races such as Canada/Monaco last year but they are few and far between. Vergne is also brilliant in the wet, something which I thought Ricciardo would struggle more when transitioning over but he seems to have proved me wrong. Plus considering the massive hammering Ricciardo gave to Vergne in qualifying there is every potential for Ricciardo to do well. I still fail to see why Vergne was even considered. Also other than Singapore last year, how often have you seen Ricciardo bin it or make a mistakes on a frequent basis?

 

Now has that convinced you? Many people always tend to just look at the race results or the drivers points but there is always more to it than that. There were definitely races where Ricciardo wasn't where he probably wanted to be - that's every driver - but on the whole, he was quicker for me both in the race and qualifying vs Vergne. I don't think he is in the Hamilton/Alonso/Vettel bracket yet though.

 

I'd also rather a quick driver who can fix his consistency rather than a slower driver who consistently finishes and collects points. It's like you'd rather have a quick car that's unreliable than a slow car that is. You can always fix the reliability but not the speed.

 

Mercedes still have the strongest line up, followed by Red Bull (would be Ferrari if Kimi was performing).

Edited by v@sh, 28 April 2014 - 09:12.

[karlth]

Saying Vettel is ordinary because Ricciardo is beating him is ridiculous, Just like it would have been ridiculous to say Alonso was ordinary because Hamilton was beating him in 07.

 

What on earth is Ricciardo supposed to have done in his career?  He was nothing special in the junior formulas and barely beat Vergne.

[1Devil1]

What on earth is Ricciardo supposed to have done in his career?  He was nothing special in the junior formulas and barely beat Vergne.

 

Who cares about junior f1, DiResta or Magnussen Sr. would be multiple champions then... you are repeating yourself over and over again, this is not a argument, because junior f1 is a good indicator for their potential but doesn't show what exactly happens in the end. Some People hit their peak when they were 18-20, others made a big performance jump, coming to F1. Maldonado is a GP2 winner for example 

 

Schumacher, Vettel, Alonso all this drivers make you argument a bit flawed, they were not special in junior f1, and regarded as of the ten best drivers of all time. If junior f1 would show if someone would become special later on, why do we not other series, or performance test, just put the fastest guy from junior f1 in the fastest f1 car. Reality is a bit more complex.

Edited by 1Devil1, 28 April 2014 - 10:23.

[Szoelloe]

Mercedes still has the strongest pair. LH and NR are young, work well together, and both better on the technical side. With the arrival of KR Ferrari jumped up to second. Force India with NH and Perez should be a pretty strong pair in third. Red Bull 4th, I think they will be even more lopsided with Ricciardo than with Webber. I don't know what to think of Magnussen. Bottas and Massa could be pretty strong too. The rest is fodder. Maldonado is on Petrov's level, though this season RG impressed me, while he improved, Maldonado faded. Vergne is mediocre IMHO, don't know Kvyat.

 

1. Mercedes

2. Ferari

3. Force India

4. Red Bull

5. McLaren

6. Williams

7. Lotus

8. Toro Rosso

9. Sauber

 

etc

 

We'll see how the season goes, and review?

 

So far, I stand by this order. Red Bull is just as lopsided as I thought, but in an inverse way, which is highly surprising.

[1Devil1]

1. Mercedes

2. Red Bull

3. Ferrari

4. McLaren

5. Force India

6. McLaren 

7. Williams 

8. Lotus

9. Sauber

[Cesc]

 

Saying Vettel is ordinary because Ricciardo is beating him is ridiculous, Just like it would have been ridiculous to say Alonso was ordinary because Hamilton was beating him in 07.

 

 

It is not the same. It would be similar if it was Alonso the one in McLaren after 5 years and Hamilton joining the team and performing better than Alonso.

All in all, Vettel is obviously NOT ordinary, but after these 4 races there is some doubts, still, he can very well turn around the situation.

[bub]

Hülkenberg is nothing more than Heidfeld or Fisichella. Probably Heidfeld and certainly Fisichella were even better than Hulkenberg and more underrated than Hülkenberg.

 

Or this high reverence of Ricciardo. What the?

 

People giving him a 9 or 9.5 rating? Freaking insane, or what?

 

It's such a mess! Let me explain:

 

Many people think, Vettel's the genius. And because of that those people think that Ricciardo cannot be rated not 9 or 9.5 because he matches his "genius teammate". Those people should rather accept the fact that Vettel's not the genius.

 

To be honest, although knowing that Vettel's not the genius, even me myself wouldn't have thought that only someone like Ricciardo could match Vettel.

 

Why Ricciardo is not THE coming champion?

 

If you look at Riccardo/Vergne in 2012/2013 and Alguersuari/Buemi in 2010/2011 there is absolutely NO difference in the performance between Ricciardo/Vergne and Alguersuari/Buemi and all those ToroRossos were about the same shyte calibre. Unless Alguersuari or Buemi are also rated 9 or 9.5, there is absolutely no justification to rate Ricciardo with 9 or 9.5, unless Alguersuari or Buemi are also considered worth to be rated 9 or 9.5.

 

And if people really think that Alguersuari or Buemi are 9 or 9.5, then I'm afraid I'm outta here...

 

Let me try to understand this. Vettel isn't that good why exactly? Is it because Ricciardo has out-performed him twice? Ricciardo can't be that good because his teammate was reasonably competitive with him? Does that mean Alonso and Hamilton are not that good because they were competitive with each other as teammates? Is anybody really good? Why would a team like Red Bull not sign top drivers? 

[Anderis]

1. Mercedes

2. Red Bull

3. Ferrari

4. McLaren

5. Force India

6. McLaren 

7. Williams 

8. Lotus

9. Sauber

[Thomas99]

Let me try to understand this. Vettel isn't that good why exactly? Is it because Ricciardo has out-performed him twice? Ricciardo can't be that good because his teammate was reasonably competitive with him? Does that mean Alonso and Hamilton are not that good because they were competitive with each other as teammates? Is anybody really good? Why would a team like Red Bull not sign top drivers? 

 

And also he makes the logical jump that Vergne and Ricciardo performed similarly, they didn't. Ricciardo was clearly of a higher standard. And from that point makes another HUGE jump to the fact that both Vergne and Ricciardo performed roughly as well as Algersuari and Buemi.

[1Devil1]

 

6. goes to STR 

[charly0418]

And also he makes the logical jump that Vergne and Ricciardo performed similarly, they didn't. Ricciardo was clearly of a higher standard. And from that point makes another HUGE jump to the fact that both Vergne and Ricciardo performed roughly as well as Algersuari and Buemi.

 

Correct, Ricciardo always had way more raw pace than Vergne. Casual fans just didn't notice this because they never paid attention to the Toro Rossos. Also this is a new era, so things change (no way!), there's a theory going around that RIC is doing better because he's used to cars with little downforce, contrary to Vettel who has driven a great car for the past 4 years

[Szoelloe]

Correct, Ricciardo always had way more raw pace than Vergne. Casual fans just didn't notice this because they never paid attention to the Toro Rossos. Also this is a new era, so things change (no way!), there's a theory going around that RIC is doing better because he's used to cars with little downforce, contrary to Vettel who has driven a great car for the past 4 years

Not the "raw pace" xxxt for gods sake. If anything, Vergne is more "raw" than DR. For all we know, Vergne could be spanking Vettel atm in similar fashion too. For the rest, there is logic in that. Vettel spent 4 years in a car that required a certain style of driving. He is going to suck it up for the whole season, I suspect, unless from Barcelona on, they have a similar car, which is unlikely. Which does not, in any way devalue DR's superb driving and demeanor.

Edited by Szoelloe, 28 April 2014 - 18:27.

[Bartonz20let]

Not the "raw pace" xxxt for gods sake. If anything, Vergne is more "raw" than DR. For all we know, Vergne could be spanking Vettel atm in similar fashion too. For the rest, there is logic in that. Vettel spent 4 years in a car that required a certain style of driving. He is going to suck it up for the whole season, I suspect, unless from Barcelona on, they have a similar car, which is unlikely. Which does not, in any way devalue DR's superb driving and demeanor.

What happens to Seb if that rear DF can never be recaptured?

[charly0418]

Not the "raw pace" xxxt for gods sake. If anything, Vergne is more "raw" than DR. For all we know, Vergne could be spanking Vettel atm in similar fashion too. For the rest, there is logic in that. Vettel spent 4 years in a car that required a certain style of driving. He is going to suck it up for the whole season, I suspect, unless from Barcelona on, they have a similar car, which is unlikely. Which does not, in any way devalue DR's superb driving and demeanor.

 

by raw pace I meant RIC was better in qualifying throught the 2 years they were together, better?

[Szoelloe]

What happens to Seb if that rear DF can never be recaptured?

 

I really don't think it is the loss of DF. I think it has more to do with different mapping. It took MS 2 seasons to adapt to the unprecedented style of driving required by EBD mapping and get the better of NR. Webber, I suspect never got on top of it. So, SV has to adapt after 4 years. That's not going to be very easy. 

 

by raw pace I meant RIC was better in qualifying throught the 2 years they were together, better?

 

much, ty, no offense meant, just hate that expression, it means nothing.

[Fatgadget]

Yes.. Seb.. watch and learn boy.

1 Redbull
2 Merc (these two switch around depending on what weekend it is, sometimes I think Merc is #1 etc)
3 Force India or Ferrari?

Basically just a copy of the post above but yeah.

Who would have thought the grinning-assassin getting the measure of finger-boy?....certainly not me!
With the benefit of hindsight,im more intrigued about the McLaren pairing TBH....Kevin who?

[Fatgadget]

A rookie Lewis Hamilton scoring a podium in his first race, 4 wins, 6 poles and you doubt whether the McLaren was the fastest?

Gotta say some people here like to dig up the past to put some dirt on other drivers.

Abso-fookin-lutely mate! Lest we forget,the 2007 Macca won the WCC on track despite..or is it inspite (?) The off track shenanigans..

[Laster]

I'm rating this based on drivers past performances and not just these first four races

1. Alonso Raikkonen: Two world champions, both are insanely consistent and fast. Raikkonen has had his problems this year, but should or when he sorts that out, I expect the performances he made with Lotus for the past two years will return. You don't lose that kind of pace in an instant.

2. Hamilton Rosberg: Hamilton's talent is well proven. The fact Rosberg can often give him a run for his money is proof that he has great ability himself. Whether that ability could bring him a world championship I'm not sure.

3. Vettel Ricciardo: Like Raikkonen Vettel has had some problems adapting to the car, given a little time and will see how Riccardo stacks up against him. This is not to take anything from Ricciardo, he has still performed fantastically well in that car. But I don't yet see him winning any championships.

4. Hulkenberg Perez: I think Hulk came of age last year, he's fast and consistent, and keeps putting that car in amongst Ferraris and Red Bulls. I can see him winning championships, given the right car. I'm not yet convinced he can topple Alonso/Hamilton/Vettel but the potential is there. Perez is a bit too up and down. The speed and aggression is there but unlike Hulkenberg he hasn't picked up any kind of consistency yet.

5. Button Magnussen: On his day Button is as fast as anyone, he's great on race day, but his qualifying is always poor. I don't expect to ever see him win another championship, but he is still capable of challenging for wins. Magnussen, is a rookie, he proved right away the pace is there, but he has a long way to go before he can hone that speed.

6. Massa Bottas: I expected Bottas to trounce Massa. I'm surprised that these two are so often right next to each other on the circuit, and I can't decide whether that's because Massa is driving better because he no longer has to do Alonso's bidding, or because Bottas is not quite as good as I thought he was.

7. Vergne Kvyat: Kvyat has impressed me a lot so far, and the fact he is right there with Vergne from the get go is making Vergne look very average.

8. Grosjean Maldonado: I do believe Grosjean can take a win or two during his time in F1, he was fantastic towards the end of last season, and like Hulkenberg, he seemed to come of age. Maldonado is fast, of that I have no doubt, he won a race, and did so by beating Alonso. No easy feat. But he's an idiot, and he seems to think he owns the road. Accident prone is an understatement.

9. Kobayashi Ericsson: I like Kobayashi, and I think he should have that second Lotus seat and not Maldonado. As it is, he's driving well, and his head never seems to drop. Ericsson, he's a rookie, and he's up against a much more experienced teammate. He needs time.

10. Bianchi Chilton: The only reason this pairing isn't ahead of Kobayashi and Ericsson is because Chilton is so slow. I don't think he deserves an F1 seat. Bianchi, has had a poor start to this season, but I do think he's got the talent to move up through the field, how far though will depend on how he does in the future.

11. Sutil Gutierrez: I maybe knocking these two down more than I should because I really don't like Sutil. I don't think Sutil should have got that Sauber seat. Despite how poor Di Resta was towards the end of the season, I think he would have been the better bet. Gutierrez isn't very fast, I think given time he can improve. But I don't see him being anything more than a lower tier midfield driver.

[sopa]

Good arguing here recently.

 

Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull are all competing for the "strongest driver pair" award, but I wait all season before making a conclusive decision about which one really was the best.

As for Ricciardo and comparison to Vergne, Buemi, Alguersuari. One thing I am pretty certain about while following these guys. Ricciardo's qualifying was much stronger than any of those other three. As for race results, they were a bit more inconclusive, because Toro Rosso could often gamble on strategies and either gain or lose out. In a top team like RBR you play more safely and get more consistent results.

[sopa]

What on earth is Ricciardo supposed to have done in his career?  He was nothing special in the junior formulas and barely beat Vergne.

 

Ricciardo's junior career was actually very impressive 2009-2010. Dominant British F3 title and almost winning Renault 3.5 on his debut season. Granted, his 2011 wasn't that strong as he had a partial season and his activities were already half-way into F1 circus.