F1 WDC since 1980 - Who won it, who should've?

[Kempi]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Banned! The car that is, not you

To counter Kempi's point, I don't agree the Mercedes was the better car in the second half of 17 & 18. Vettel was regularly in contention but simply events (or himself!) conspired against him, allowing Hamilton to breeze it in the last few rounds.

If Vettel has not gone into the kittylitter at Hockenheim last year, he would have been right in there.

He would have been able to hang in for longer (as he did in 2017). Even when the Ferrari was "on" in those two years, the Mercedes were a few seconds behind. When the Mercedes was "on" the Ferraris had no chance. Overall, the Mercedes was the better because more complete car. It may not have been the best in all topspeed, high, mid, low speed corners but it was always able to challenge. Something the Ferrari never had.

And on top of that they had an error prone Vettel who was never himself anymore after Singapore 2017 and even less Hockenheim 2018. Something went off mentally.