28 replies to this topic

[Gareth]

I did want to do this as a poll, but realised that there were a couple of different questions I thought were worth asking.

So, your thoughts on the following would be much appreciated:

1. Fastest Car of 2008

Which car do you think has been the quickest?

2. Most reliable car of 2008

Which car do you think has been the most reliable?

3. Best team of 2008

Which team (excluding drivers) do you think has performed the best? I'm thinking things like strategy decisions, tyre calls, pit stops etc.

4. Best overall package of 2008

Which would be the best car to have driven, given its speed, reliability and the team that comes along with it*, in 2008?

*There may well be other factors you think ought to be considered in the "best package" question (aside from obvious jokes about Hamilton's "package") - i.e. questions that ought to come between questions 3 and 4. If so, please propose them.

I'll post my thoughts later.

[Lukin83]

1. Ferrari
2. BMW
3. Toyota
4. See WCC after next three races

[Will]

Originally posted by Gareth
I did want to do this as a poll, but realised that there were a couple of different questions I thought were worth asking.

So, your thoughts on the following would be much appreciated:

1. Fastest Car of 2008

Which car do you think has been the quickest?

Ferrari

2. Most reliable car of 2008

Which car do you think has been the most reliable?

BMW

3. Best team of 2008

Which team (excluding drivers) do you think has performed the best? I'm thinking things like strategy decisions, tyre calls, pit stops etc.

Probably BMW if that excludes the ability to develop their car effectively

4. Best overall package of 2008

Which would be the best car to have driven, given its speed, reliability and the team that comes along with it*, in 2008?

*There may well be other factors you think ought to be considered in the "best package" question (aside from obvious jokes about Hamilton's "package") - i.e. questions that ought to come between questions 3 and 4. If so, please propose them.

Ferrari because of its speed- quite a lot of the errors were driver induced as well as team induced.

I'll post my thoughts later.

[Buttoneer]

I think reliability is probably available on Forix or Autosport superstats - I'll take a look later.

Fastest package I'd have to plump for the car with most pole positions and fastest laps this season - Ferrari.

I'll have a think about the other two...

[Mika Mika]

1. Ferrari
2. McLaren
3. BMW
4. BMW

[bankoq]

1. F2008 by a small margin but also very unreliable
2. BMW F1.08
3. McLaren - almost perfect reliability, very few mistakes in pit-stops and usually good strategies
4. MP4-23 because of it's reliability and always being at least 2nd fastest car on the grid. If Ferrari didn't screw up things so often this season and had better reliability I would pick F2008.

[Orin]

1. Fastest Car of 2008

In terms of outright speed I'd have to give it to the Ferrari, however the season has been unusually wet and the McLaren excels in slippery conditions. Overall the Ferrari edges it.

2. Most reliable car of 2008

Easily the McLaren, it's looked bulletproof.

3. Best team of 2008

I'm never too sure of McLaren's strategy decisions, but you've got to say they've been very slick this year, I'd give it to McLaren. Ferrari's numerous cock-ups mean they're not even close.

4. Best overall package of 2008

Just looking at the above I'd say the McLaren. In a normal season with only 1 or 2 wet races it would probably have gone to Ferrari, as the fastest car (unless it is very unreliable) counts most.

[Gareth]

Originally posted by Lukin83
4. See WCC after next three races

But that includes driver performance. I'm trying to exclude that.

I guess the kind of mental exercise I'm wanting to get to is: if you clone a lot of Felipe Massa's, remove the ability to make mistakes, put one in each car on the grid and race them for an entire season, what would the WCC results be?

My thoughts on the individual questions:

1. Fastest:

I think in dry races this is clearly the Ferrari. In wet races the McLaren does have the edge. But you build a car for the dry because most races are dry, so clear advantage to Ferrari IMO. BMW come in a distant third.

2. Reliable:

Got to be the McLaren or BMW. Ferrari, with their engine issues (piston rods x 2, exhaust, wrong ECU setting), a distant third.

3. Team:

Ferrari have had some bad calls this season. Pit issues in Singapore and Valencia. Wrong tyre call in Silverstone. But Valencia only cost them a fine. So there are only 2 race affecting mess ups (others that I am missing?). Mac and BMW have done a good job here.

4. Overall:

The Ferrari's are definitely the quicker car, IMO, it is a question of whether their reliability issues and a couple of poor team performances are bad enough to even things out. Overall, I think it's very tight and (IMO) comes down to the number of rain affected races. With a lower number of these races, I think the Ferrari speed advantage would have been too great to be outweighed by the reliability and team disadvantages that come along with it. With the high number of rain affected races so far this season, I think it's pretty much evens between the Mac and the Ferrari with BMW in third.

[Nitropower]

1. Fastest Car of 2008

Ferrari.

2. Most reliable car of 2008

McLaren. Amazing.

3. Best team of 2008

So far Ferrari, but they lost the leadership because of terrible errors. Still to be decided. McLaren was good but Kovalainen was not, if they win the WCC it is thanks to LH.

4. Best overall package of 2008

Ferrari. McLaren relied on colder temperatures and wet weather, which are less usual climate conditions in racing. Even if McLaren was more reliable.

[noikeee]

1. Ferrari
2. BMW
3. McLaren
4. Close call between McLaren and Ferrari

[kNt]

1. Ferrari
2. BMW 100% reliable I think, if McLaren is also in the same league BMW did more laps
3. First half BMW 2nd half still unsure
4. Ferrari

[Buttoneer]

Originally posted by kNt

2. BMW 100% reliable I think, if McLaren is also in the same league BMW did more laps

I think I agree with your selections. With this one, it seems BMW has not lost out through mechanical faults but McLaren has. Heikki dropped out at Spa with a transmission problem, but everywhere else was accident or driver stupidity.

The situation might be different if you looked at all sessions.

[gaston_foix]

1. Ferrari
2. BMW, McLaren
3. Dunno, not Ferrari
4. McLaren

[Perigee]

1. Fastest Car of 2008

Varies race-to-race depending on the nature of the circuit and the prevailing conditions. Averaged out over the season the Ferrari might just edge it, albeit let down by the next section, reliability...


2. Most reliable car of 2008

Lewis' McLaren seems to have been a lot more reliable than Kova's :/

Not sure further down the field, but think the Grey Arrow has been more reliable than the Ferrari


3. Best team of 2008

Ferrari. Imagine the unbridled pleasure of having the opportunity to work with those guys. Sure, they do make the odd mistake, as all teams do.


4. Best overall package of 2008

Very tough to call between Ferrari and McLaren. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, but probably err towards the Scuderia.

[Philzippy]

Originally posted by Mika Mika
1. Ferrari
2. McLaren
3. BMW
4. BMW

[pjaxz]

1. Depending on the track and temperature - Ferrari or Mclaren
2. Mclaren and maybe BMW (problems with Kubica's car in Q3 Silverstone)
3. Mclaren
4. Mclaren without Heikki ;) and BMW

[Gareth]

Originally posted by Buttoneer
I think I agree with your selections. With this one, it seems BMW has not lost out through mechanical faults but McLaren has. Heikki dropped out at Spa with a transmission problem, but everywhere else was accident or driver stupidity.

2 tyre issues for the Macs as well (Spain and Hungary). Not sure how you factor them in, though, as they tyres are the same for all drivers. Think it probably ought to be ignored for the questions in this thread.

[rookie]

1. Massa Ferrari (It's been quicker everywhere except Malaysia & Spain)
2. Lewis' McLaren (Heikki had problems in Spain, Monaco, Belgium)
3. BMW has been rock solid in relability, speed, points etc
4. I'd prefer to be in a McLaren in a season decider because of it's wider range of operation and relability and ability to leave the pits without the fuel hose.

[Chris Glass]

The ferrari has the most poles, fastest laps and wins. And thats without even having the best drivers. Its clearly the best car. If Michael was still at Ferrari it would probably be close to 2004 domination imo.

[TT6]

1. Fastest car over one racing lap has been Ferrari driven by Kimi Räikkönen. Fastest car over one hot lapping Q3 lap has been Lewis Hamilton driven McLaren. Over the race distance the fastest car has been Hamilton driven McLaren or Massa driven Ferrari, McLaren more often than Ferrari. So the answer is McLaren.

2. The most reliable car has been McLaren. Or BMW but BMW is not relevant in WDC or WCC fight anymore.

3. I haven't seen too many mistakes in McLaren approach either. No pitstop screw-ups. McLaren takes this one too.

4. Therefore the best overall package has been Hamilton driven McLaren. So far. It may change as the season evolves. They're pretty close with Ferrari.

[Craven Morehead]

Best package of 2008 is most definitely the one my mum sent me last week. It contained atleast a dozen chocolate bars and a bottle of scotch.

[Jakob]

Originally posted by rookie
4. I'd prefer to be in a McLaren in a season decider because of it's wider range of operation and relability and ability to leave the pits without the fuel hose.

I lol'ed at that. Can I nominate it for Best Post of 2008?

[postajegenye]

Originally posted by Gareth

1. Fastest Car of 2008

Ferrari

2. Most reliable car of 2008

McLaren

3. Best team of 2008

BMW

4. Best overall package of 2008

McLaren [/B]

[scheivlak]

1. Ferrari
2. BMW just ahead of McLaren (because of what happened to Kova in Spain)
3. Renault
4. McLaren

[MikeTekRacing]

1. Ferrari
2. BMW
3. McLaren
4. the winners don't know them now

[308]

1. McLaren
2. McLaren
3. McLaren
4. McLaren

[27GV]

1 - in the dry Ferrari by far, unsure about in the wet but McLaren and STR are both good

2 - BMW

3 - BMW in the beginning of the year, Toyota also feels like it's been pretty slick, McLaren is also up there

4 - BMW would be until recently but McLaren, if it doesn't bugger up the last 3 races and gets the WCC, will be. Granted if there had been less wet races and more processions Ferrari wouldn't have been under as much pressure and maybe wouldn't have made mistakes.

[santori]

1. I think Ferrari has been generally a bit better on a dry track, but we've had such an unusual amount of rain this year that it tilts it back towards McLaren. Probably Ferrari by a little.

2. I'm not sure. BMW?

3. I'm tempted to go for Renault, although they have less to lose by rolling the dice. The BMW people have been steady and scored good results in confusing races. It could be Force India, though, and I wouldn't know.
Not Ferrari or McLaren.

4. If I were a driver, probably Ferrari and I'm sure Massa would agree. But for Lewis, Mclaren. Probably McLaren for Kimi, too.

[Keith68]

1. Fastest Car = for outright speed in perfect conditions = Ferrari, although once weather and temperature conditions start to vary the McLaren is a better drive

2.Most Reliable = McLaren, absolutely bullet proof this year, amazing really considering how often Kimi would park his up!

3. Best team = BMW. At times both Ferrari and McLaren have made the most stupid decisions in the pits and on strategy

4. Best overall package = McLaren