Lewis with 4th in qualifying in the dry but behind Alonso, finishes 3rd in race after a solid performance against his double world champion team mate. The McLaren that day was quick as well but behind the Ferrari slightly. Kevin with a 4th qualifying in the wet and a deserved 2nd place on race day, beating on both days his World champion team mate Jenson. This with a car unable to match the works Mercedes and with much heavier testing restrictions than what was going on 7 years ago.
I think Magnussen. Hamilton got out qualified by a BMW in '07 which was a slower car, and the Mclaren was at least on paper a race winning car. This year Magnussen probably only had the 3rd or 4th best car behind the Mercedes Williams and maybe Red Bull but he delivered a better race in my opinion.
Also in respect to Lewis he was driving in a series in which drivers were used to the controls of the cars, 2014 is all up in the air so Lewis had to work harder to close down that gap to the experienced people. But Lewis did have traction control and Magnussen a **** load of wheel spin for fun.
Hamilton did lead the race for a couple of laps. And Magnussen did benefit from failures and disqualification. Both very impressive debuts though.
You have to look at both drives in comparison to the regulations in force at the time, so it's pointless saying oh he had so and so, but he had this, and he didn't. Sounds a bit petty when you break it down that far. Both had fantastic debuts. Qualified well up on the grid and raced without mistake to a podium. To say one was more accomplished, or better, than the other is just daft. Both were fantastic.
Very difficult to judge, but I think Magnussen. Yes, he benefited from retirements, but the cars are more difficult to drive this year than in 2007. Not saying that Hamilton's debut wasn't good though. He had some tough opposition back then, much harder to overtake and improve on your qualifying. Magnussen will be a great driver though, what ever happens this year.
as the above have said, it's really hard to say, and you're not just comparing Hamilton with K-Mag, you're comparing Button to Alonso as well. Button may be a great driver, but lets be honest, he's not on the same level as Alonso.
Magnussen is an incredible talent and if McLaren catch up to Mercedes there is nothing to suggest he couldn't win the title but lets not get ahead of ourselves here. Yes his debut race is just as good as Lewis' was but I think some people(especially Hamilton Bashers) want to use it to discredit Lewis' achievements in any way they can. The interesting comparison will come at the end of the season when we compare the two respective debut McLaren seasons. Will Magnussen face the same level of controversy Lewis did in 2007? Will his battle against Jensen be as intense as Lewis' was with the then current double world champion Alonso? Will Magnussen have the same run of bad luck in the last 2 races when the pressure is on as Lewis and the McLaren team did? etc Early signs show that if McLaren have the car then Magnussen will be right up there but lets see how he does when the pressure and expectation increases same way it did for Lewis in 2007.
K-Mag is clearly very talented. Whether or not he's the next Hamilton can't be judged on this race. I'd say that Hamiltons was a little more impressive since Kevin benefited for others misfortune quite a bit. Still, it's going to be fascinating seeing how he develops over the season. I will say that if he beats Button over the season, it may well be more impressive than what Hamilton did, given the much more limited testing time he's had in the car.
I've gone for Lewis purely on the fact that all the top cars and drivers were able to race at 100% on his debute. However I thought Mag was excellent.
Surely the in season tests this year will make up for that? By the time Mclaren's test comes around, their car will be even more reliable than it already is, and Magnussen will already have a good understanding of his car. I wouldn't be surprised if Magnussen does beat Button this year. No disrespect to Button of course!
Over the season for a better comparison, we'll have to see whether Magnussen puts himself in a position where his rivals needs 2 wins with two races to go and then ................. and you know what's coming next.........
Hamilton put together a long string of Podiums without doing much in the race just keeping to himself, (something he has failed to do since) that put himself in contention for the title. I bet Ron is hoping Maggie does the same. I wonder what will happen if one McLaren is leading but the other is 2nd and quicker? (Monaco/USA) Westys Law?
They were both great debuts and I am glad my favourite team has another star. But I am going to have to say Hamiltons was better. Firstly I would back 2007 Alonso over 2014 Button as the better driver and harder teammate to contend with. There was also the double overtake on a BMW and Alonso at the start. Hamilton was at one point leading that race. Buttons quali was hindered by the yellow flag, he may well have beaten Magnussen. All the cars are new which makes everyone elses experience count for less this year and Magnusses would have been 3rd were it not for Hamiltons engine failiure. But Magnussens debut was still very impresive!
