Auto Racing: F1 2008 CHAMPIONSHIP, f1 karting, grand prix masters

Question
QUESTION: hI,
Who do you think will win this year F1 championship??
Kimi or Hamilton??  What about Massa??  
Can you please explain me who is the best driver on grid actually, of course, taking Fernando Alonso out because of the lack of performance Renault is having this year, is it Kimi or Hamilton??

ANSWER: Hello Jose Ramon, thanks for the question.

I expect Kimi to win in 2008. It seems clear that it will be another Ferrari/McLaren season, with BMW grabbing regular podiums throughout the year. In race 1 McLaren looked quickest, but in race 2 I think Ferrari re-established their pre-season form, I think they just messed up in Australia. Massa is back to his old tricks, the season and the championship, even at this very early stage, looks like Kimi's to lose.   

Impossible to say who of all the drivers is best, the different cars make this impossible. You can compare drivers in the same team and drivers who used to drive in the same team, but is Button better than Massa? Is Hamilton better than Coulthard? I think you can group a few drivers together as being very good, but aside from recreating the Bercy F1 karting, waiting till Grand Prix Masters reforms or taking the bold step to get rid of team-driver contracts and have each driver drive in each team, we cannot know their relative ability. I do think Lewis and Kimi are very special though.

Even now there are some who say Prost was better than Senna whilst (most?) say the opposite. You need to very carefully define the criteria; quickest, cleverest, best overtaker, best in the wet, best with less than great equipment, best at leading, best at getting a team behind him, best at new tracks/with new equipment, best at overcoming teamates,best at winning championships, the options go on and on..

Based on 2007 I think Lewis out-performed Fernando, maybe you disagree though. They were quite close.

Best wishes,
Adam

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your reply Adam!
So, ending last weekend the first part of the oversea season, what about the season getting into Europe, do think  McLaren can recover and make up the difference??

Answer
Thanks for the question. No I don't. It seems to me that Ferrari's 2008 car is a lot quicker than McLaren's. It seems that Kimi is the clear favaourite for the WC in 2008. McLaren's plight is emphasized by the amazing gains at BMW Sauber which, to all intents and purposes, seems rather remarkably to have caught up with them and, at least in race 3, have overtalen them. Massa should finish 2nd in the WC behind Kimi. Adam