Piquet isn't in the same league as the other triple Champs. He usually only won anything because someone else had slipped up, rather than winning on merit. Admittedly he had an uncanny knack of being ready to pick up those pieces, which suggests he was just one echelon down from the top, but he was never in the same class as Lauda/Senna/Prost. Mansell was better than him too.
Ali Wrote:
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> Having a clearly inferior car to red bull during
> these time span (2010-2013), with 5 more points
> (added to 252) in 2010 and 4 more in (added to
> 278) 2012 he would 4 times WDC. I can't see how
> that can be conceived as a "shadow of what he
> was".
It was relative. My point is that his driving had seemed to lose its sparkle.
J i m Wrote:
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> I don't think Alonso has lost his edge at all, he
> already belongs in a book of Grand Prix Greats
> in my mind, but what is clear is that he's up
> against a golden era of talent and competition.
>
> He's up against the dream team of Vettel, Newey
> and Renault which could possibly be the best
> combination since Clark, Chapman and Cosworth.
Good points, well made. Particularly Vettel/RedBull-Clark/Lotus comparison, I've begun to think that too.
J i m Wrote:
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> Hulkenberg, Grosjean and Ricciardo are showing
> every indication of being the next generation at
> the top of F1.
Hulkenberg and Ricciardo, yes. Grosjean will be never be a top driver though - he's too one-dimensional. He's shown no racecraft or ability to drive round a car problem. Bit like a modern day de Cesaris, really.
J i m Wrote:
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> There's nothing wrong with Alonso's edge, he's
> as sharp as ever, but he's been joined at the
> metaphorical blade stone by several others.
I hear what you're saying, and that's a nice way of putting it.