I-42 I have heard from quite a few fellow Chippy pilots who have also been lucky enough to fly a Spitfire that from a handling point of view, the humble dHC1 has the edge.
From a power, performance, and capability angle of course they are chalk and cheese.
My few years of Yak ownership gave me a taste of an 'unlimited' aeroplane and it does make aeros a lot easier when you have 360hp on tap, no u/c drag, and a big VP prop! You just leave the power on full, the RPM at 98%, use 2 hands on the stick, and point the big, unburstable brute of an aeroplane absolutely anyway you want, including straight up or down!
Nonetheless, I was glad to go back to the Chippy! The delightful energy-conservation flowing sort of aeros it performs I found to be more pleasant than the Yak's more staccato style.