Jenson Button As Fast As Lewis Hamilton?: Why We Can't Be Sure

Everyone knows that if Jenson Button or Mark Webber were driving a McLaren or a Ferrari they'd be able to match the pace of Hamilton and Raikkonen, right?

People make these kinds of claims all the time, often with great confidence. But, evidence suggests that we should be a little more cautious about this kind of prediction.

Do you remember what we used to think of Giancarlo Fisichella?

Prior to 2005, Giancarlo had to put up with driving all sorts of horrendous cars (recall the 2001 Benetton and the 2003 Jordan). Yet his incredible performances in this sub-standard machinery led many to tout him as the "second-best driver in Formula One" (no prizes for guessing who was number one).

In 2005, when he won a seat with the up-and-coming Renault team, many expected him to mount a serious championship challenge and to put his fast but erratic teammate, Fernando Alonso, in his place. But, as we know, things went very differently.

Over the two years that Fisichella and Alonso spent together at Renault, Fisi rarely looked quicker than Fernando, and was indeed regularly half-a-second per lap slower. 

Yet, now that Giancarlo is back driving sub-standard machinery, he's impressing us all over again with his drives—which punch above the weight of the Force India car.

Let this be a cautionary tale to all of us who would claim that since a driver seems to be fast in his midfield car, he would definitely be a championship challenger if placed in a fast car.

It may well be that if Mark Webber had received Kovalainen's McLaren seat this year, he would be challenging Hamilton for the status of number one driver. I like to think that is the case.

But the fact is that unless we put each driver in the same car, we have very little idea who is the quickest and who are the also-rans.

Sure, we have a pretty good idea that the likes of Raikkonen and Alonso are special, but do we really know how Sutil would fare against Rosberg? Or whether Vettel can be as fast as Massa?

No—and by now, we should know better than to claim that we do.