Why We Still Don't Really Know Who's Good at F1

Video Description

Formula 1 is a crazy sport because half the time we don’t actually know who’s good. A driver can look like a future world champion in one car and look completely washed up in another. Daniel Ricciardo beat Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull, then couldn’t get near Lando Norris at McLaren. Pierre Gasly was destroyed alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull, then came back and won a Grand Prix at Monza in an AlphaTauri. Valtteri Bottas looked like a title contender at Mercedes, and now he’s celebrating a few points at Alfa Romeo like it’s a win. Same drivers, same talent, but the context around them changes everything. And that’s the tricky part — how do you judge the drivers when the cars are this different? Teams spend their whole time trying to work out how much of a result is the car and how much is the driver. This video is about that puzzle. It’s about why Ricciardo, Gasly, Bottas and Vettel all looked like different drivers depending on the car, and why the greats like Hamilton, Verstappen and Alonso always seem to find a way to shine even when things aren’t perfect. Formula 1 has always been this mix of driver and machine, and the beauty is that you can never quite untangle them. Or can we?