How much racing success is due to the car?

[fletcher21]

I was watching the Nascar race with my wifes grandfather. He's a die hard ford guy. Typical blue collar guy who only supports American made products. He hates having toyota in nascar, but that's a totally different topic.

He really dislikes kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon. He claims they are only successful due to their superior car. He said if you put Busch in a crap car he wouldn't have nearly the success he has. We've all seen racing dominance from Schumacher, vettel, Hamilton, Jimmie Johnson and others over the years. How much of that is because they had the better car by a mile (vettel) and how much of it was them just being superior drivers? Could vettel have even made a podium if he was with Williams or some other team during his dominance? Is Hendrick the reason Johnson won those championships, or could he have won in Danica Patrick's car too?

[pk500]

I was watching the Nascar race with my wifes grandfather. He's a die hard ford guy. Typical blue collar guy who only supports American made products. He hates having toyota in nascar, but that's a totally different topic.

He really dislikes kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon. He claims they are only successful due to their superior car. He said if you put Busch in a crap car he wouldn't have nearly the success he has. We've all seen racing dominance from Schumacher, vettel, Hamilton, Jimmie Johnson and others over the years. How much of that is because they had the better car by a mile (vettel) and how much of it was them just being superior drivers? Could vettel have even made a podium if he was with Williams or some other team during his dominance? Is Hendrick the reason Johnson won those championships, or could he have won in Danica Patrick's car too?

Sorry, but Grandpa is wrong when it comes to NASCAR. Kyle Busch is the best stock car driver alive right now, hands down.

Most of the cars fielded by top teams in Sprint Cup are damn close in quality. The driver makes the difference. Guys like Busch can drive through a bad setup and still make the car fast. They can adapt to loose or tight cars and still go fast. Plus they still have the courage to let it all hang out in corners, something that's lost in many 40-something guys.

F1 is a different story. The car plays a much bigger role. Put Valteri Bottas into a Mercedes this season, and I think he would win as many races as Rosberg. Hamilton is a special talent, as shown by his dominance in the pure speed test of qualifying.

But the true measure of a great F1 driver is when he scores podium finishes or wins in a sub-standard car. Alonso is a great example: He has taken a sled of a McLaren into the top five at times this season. That car has no business being there.

[Rodster]

F1 is a different story. The car plays a much bigger role. Put Valteri Bottas into a Mercedes this season, and I think he would win as many races as Rosberg. Hamilton is a special talent, as shown by his dominance in the pure speed test of qualifying.

But the true measure of a great F1 driver is when he scores podium finishes or wins in a sub-standard car. Alonso is a great example: He has taken a sled of a McLaren into the top five at times this season. That car has no business being there.

WHAT, no mention of Vettel?

All of the above, I second. The car is the tipping factor in F1 unless you are Alonso or Michael Schumacher in his prime and could drive a car in 5th gear and finish 2nd.