Oh dear this is exactly the sort of post you see reguarly on planetf1 and is one of the main reasons i will never sign up there! So typical to highlight and make a point of him finishing 8th in one race this year but no mention of some of his stunning victories or his mechanical failures (gearbox in Singapore, fuel pump Abu Dhabi)! Vettel and Alonso more humble?
If one man deserved to be in the title hunt this year it was Hamilton but his team did not deserve that accolade. Far too many times he was either let down by the team (poor pit stops) or his car. Singapore and Abu Dhabi were his for the taking until car failures cruely intervened and took away certain victory. He was taken out on the last lap by Maldonado in Valencia and taken out on the first lap in Spa by Grosjean, and taken out today whilst leading another race by Hulkenberg. You mention he only finished 8th after starting form the back of the grid in Barcelona (after he put it on pole only to be let down by his team again-fuel issue) but you seem to be forgetting it was a bone dry race where half of the field decided not to take themselves out like they did in Abu Dabi where Vettel started from the pit-lane! For me Hamilton was as good as ever this year and made very few driving errors and his still in my mind the best and fastest driver on the grid and thats why Mercedes are prepared to pay him £19 million a year well in excess of any other driver on the grid. It will be very interesting to see how Mclaren,JB and Perez will fair next year without his services.........i suspect they will struggle.
And fact, Vettel was extremely lucky today, not many F1 cars survive a wack like that and survive to race on. For sure if it had been a Mclaren it would have been instant retirement. Vettel was also lucky not to receive a penalty for his first lap crash and his overtaking under a yellow.
Many people seem to love or loathe Hamilton but it seems clear to me that the many that loathe Hamilton are for other reasons than his supreme driving skills. Oh and for the record i have been following F1 for nearly 30 years.