You could've said something similar in 2005ish (Alonso, Schumacher, Raikkonen, possibly Button). Three championships in the six years after that were won by two drivers who weren't even in the sport at that time.
Fear my future seeing powers: 2012:Alonso *2nd Vettel 2013:Vettel *2nd Alonso 2014:Lewis *2nd Vettel 2015:Vettel *2nd Lewis 2016:Vettel *2nd Perez -Forgot that Ferrari's new wind tunnel would be complete by then *Accuracy not a certain so I am not liable for you betting your house and losing it
Well your best bet is probably McLaren in the next few years. For Button it is about whether he suffers another slump like this years, If those 6 races where to suddenly to be declared invalid by the FIA he'd be leading the championship. Its not an excuse for a bad year, but it shows that if everything aligns right and he can put together a 2011 style season its doable, while Perez is probably the best rising talent in the sport now in a top team. Its a question of when not if for me that Checo will win one. Worth mentioning also that Alonso is 31, Kimi is about to turn 33. The probably don't have the next 6/7 years while the 2014 regs could easily catapult someone to the front like the 2009 regs did for Jenson, Vettel and Webber.
Looking forward to it myself as they are fairly similar drivers. You'd expect Jenson to at least start with the upper hand, but who's to say at the moment. Wouldn't bet on it. The way Whitmarsh spoke so much about Perez learning and improving makes me feel like the plan atleast is that he is being hired as a long term replacement for Jenson. While Button steps into Lewis's shoes for the next season or so.
Agree, I have to give Perez at least 1 more year in F1 to mount a challenge for the WDC properly for his age. Seb won the title in his 3rd full year in F1 by the skin of his teeth, the field of talent has gone up since then now that Kimi is back in the mix, so you will need to be prepared to go up against everything!
Why not 2013. Considering he's matured a lot this season, you have to think in a good car he could do a job. Or conversely he could be the next Kovalainen.....
He could pull a Hamilton and really shine in his first season at Macca. Who knows... totally different beast to the Sauber though.
You'd have to assume that for the early stages of next season Button would have the upper hand and as well as that does Perez have the experience to hold a title campaign compared to Button? Perez remember hasn't won a race yet! As well as that my points are on the assumptions that McLaren have the fastest car next season which is not guaranteed. The latter of your point I hope is wrong he's a good talent let's hope he fulfils it.
Lot of people underestimating Perez and comparing him to Kovalainen. Kovalainen had one pretty good season in a mediocre Renault and scored a handful of points, helped out by a podium in Japan. He didn't ever really look like setting the world alight and I think most people knew he'd been brought in as Hamilton's #2. Perez has been in that Sauber for two seasons as they've transitioned from a midfield team to regular podium challengers, he's come close to winning races twice this season, he's just a touch inconsistent at the moment. He's definitely talented, and he's been in F1 long enough that the jump to Mclaren won't be quite as big, IMO, as people are trying to make out. As has been mentioned, it looks very much like Checo is being groomed as Button's long-term successor. Only time will tell how he'll cope but he's excelled at taking the fight to his current team-mate so far.
Well Seb went up against Webber in his 2nd full year in F1 and beat him and he never looked back as Webber was (depending to who you talk to) considered equal or better than Jenson and just needed the car. Perez could repeat that process though I just think the WDC is out of his reach for 2013 at least, though I wont bet against him to not win more than 1 race next season. McLaren will do a good job with him and rough out the edges that I'm sure of, though how quickly Perez will step up to WDC challenger is up to him! He has to go up against this lot: Seb, Lewis, Alonso, Webber, Button, Kimi, Rosberg, Grosjean, Schumacher... now don't tell me that's an easy task no?
First and foremost, hello Not606ers! I've been following this forum for a while - since back in the days before it became not606 - and finally decided to join the discussion. I've been following F1 on a regular basis since 2006, but have always read about drivers and teams and knew about ever since I was little. I remember playing the F1 game on the Nintendo64 as a kid and always playing as Coulthard and knowing about all the drivers, but never really following it to carefully until I got older. So yea, brief synopsis, just to clarify I know a bit about F1, although not as much as some of you I'm sure. Thats why I take the time to read about before I began watching I'll say that for one thing, I think I was as surprised as (most) of you guys were when I saw the news that Hamilton had made the switch to Mercedes and that Perez had gone to McLaren. I thought for sure he would end up at Ferrari, but I guess the Ferrari situation is another thing entirely now. Based upon the regulations for next year it doesn't look like much will change (no double DRS and allowing teams to cover the stepped noses is all I can think of off the top of my head), so I would think that based upon this year's cars that McLaren will have most of the advantage going into next year, although stranger things have happened in F1 before. I think that based upon what we've seen so far this season, that Perez will do well in his first year and will probably win some races, but I don't think he will be in contention for the WDC yet. Depending on how the regs change Hamilton could be set for 2014, but it is definitely a big gamble. He is one of the best drivers on the grid so I'm sure he will cope fine, but hopefully there isn't any whinging and moaning when he isn't the fastest guy out there.
Hi ZERO, welcome to the forum! Yeah, if McLaren can sort out their operational errors then I think they are set up fairly well for next year. However, I'm betting that Adrian Newey will have something to say about it! Red Bull will be desperate to keep Vettel especially if the rumours of him going to Ferrari in 2014 are true, so I have a feeling they'll be pulling out all the stops for next year to convince him to stay. Having said all that, I'm hoping for a Button/McLaren WDC/WCC!
Wilkommen, Zer0. Hope you enjoy it here. Your assessment is entirely reasonable. Are you American yourself or just live there?
Gotta love Hamilton, activity on here has picked up massively in the last couple of days and now we have a new member. Welcome aboard ZER0. Do you follow any particular driver(s) or team, or are you a neutral?
It will go one way or the other. He will either be WDC next year or will end up seeing out his career like DC did! As a JB fan I can be defensive, but whilst he as acquitted himself very well against the "fastest man on the planet" if he were to falter now all th good work he has done since 2009 would be forgotten - probably justified as well!
