|
The "problem" with Vettel is that it is only really this season that his performances have moved to the next level. He's always been fast but has been inconsistent, and has made a lot of costly mistakes.
So far this year he's really only made the mistake at Canada which lost him the lead, but he might not have won that race anyway as Button could well have passed in the DRS zone. And he still got 2nd. I think you could only declare him as "the best" when he has maintained his current level of performance for longer than half a season.
Alonso seems to make more mistakes than he did in his title-winning seasons, but when the car is decent he is always up there. You can see that even from this season, where he has a win and two second places from the last four races. He did also have a poor year by his standards in 2007 but still came within a few points of the title.
Hamilton I don't think can be considered seriously as he makes far too many mistakes. Towards the back end of last season they were coming at every other race, leading to either retirements or conceding positions to Alonso (Korea and Brazil). This season he's been hitting into anyone within range. He might be the fastest out there (I think Vettel probably is, but there's no way of saying for definite) but until he races with his brain he's going to keep falling short. I think since the first 10 races or so of 2007, he has been quite inconsistent and hasn't improved as a driver.
So overall, has to be Alonso. He's never had the clear fastest car, except for the first half of the 2006 season where I think his opening 9 races yielded the same number of wins and 2nds as Vettel has had this year, and has still won 27 races, 2 titles and been close to 2 more. He's fast, a good racer most of the time and when the car is good, the most consistent.
|