You're right, there's too many variables. Last year, the McLaren was clearly better than the Ferrari, which is the main reason Button finished ahead of Alonso. Hamilton failed to finish too many times and Massa was generally poor.
Regarding the best looking car, I'd have to go with the McLaren until the new nose grows on me. At this stage that's a long way off happening.
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Welcome aboard Basil. In case you're interested, I think there is a bespoke Android App for this forum available, which might give more functionality than tapatalk. I'll admit I've used neither though.