Is Hamilton the finished article?

[loneranger]

This has been touched on before.
Basically in the past an F1 car was so unlike any previous experience that rookies had a steep learning curve and got better over the first couple of seasons. Or were sacked.

Hamilton has been preparing for F1 all his life. It is the bulk of his education. He has driven the European GP circuits many times. A season in GP2 has accustomed him to a car that is not too far from F1. He has done tens of thousands of miles of testing and even more miles in the McLaren simulator.

So maybe he is the finished article. Maybe there is no room for him to get better. Maybe what we are seeing now is as good as we will ever see.

[Apache]

naaah, Kimi's way better.....fastest guy out there

Edited by Apache on Wednesday 11th July 13:59

[loneranger]

Apache said:

naaah, Kimi's way better.....faster guy out there

That was not the question. And fastest is not necessarily best.

[kevin ritson]

Nothing is going to beat real experience. Yes he's probably the best prepared rookie ever but you have to be good in the first place.

Michael Schumacher had a couple of years with Mercedes in Sportscars to prepare him for the speed, pressure, workload, circuits etc but he still improved as he went on. His predecessors had nothing like that beforehand, Senna and Prost both jumped in straight from F3.

[Fidgits]

I think the argument is more, he's achieved so much in the first half of his debut season - the nature of racing dictates he can't keep this pace up!

Not even Schumacher in his hayday managed to be on the podium for every race of a season - so its only a matter of time before an accident, mechanical failure, or set of circumstances means he doesnt get on the podium.

And if, a big if, but if he does win the world championship in his debut season - well, theres no-where for him to go from there, other than win it again.


But all this doesnt mean he wont improve, after all, experience goes a long way in F1...


I'm more concerned with the hype meaning he concentrates on a rap album or a pair of trainers more than racing and loses the edge that makes him entertaining to watch!

[chris_w]

loneranger said:

So maybe he is the finished article. Maybe there is no room for him to get better. Maybe what we are seeing now is as good as we will ever see.

Couldn't disagree more - he's still inexperienced in F1 terms, no matter what preparation he's undertaken before. Next year, he'll know all the circuits, even the routine at each circuit will be less distracting with more familiarisation. I think he'll be more focused and, given how Alonso and Kimi are showing signs of getting the better of him, he'll have to be.

Will be fascinating to see if he can continue to raise his game this year to defend gis championship lead.

[FourWheelDrift]

There's always room for improvement in everybody.

[Marki]

Button is mile s better than Kimmi or Lewi

[UK_WS6]

Apache said:

naaah, Kimi's way better.....fastest guy out there

Edited by Apache on Wednesday 11th July 13:59

,
,
,
What sort of answer is that.

Perhaps you replied to a different post?

[Fidgits]

UK_WS6 said:

Apache said:

naaah, Kimi's way better.....fastest guy out there

Edited by Apache on Wednesday 11th July 13:59

,
,
,
What sort of answer is that.

Perhaps you replied to a different post?

you need to read through some of Lonerangers other posts to get the joke

[kevin ritson]

Fidgits said:

Not even Schumacher in his hayday managed to be on the podium for every race of a season - so its only a matter of time before an accident, mechanical failure, or set of circumstances means he doesnt get on the podium.

2002?

[Fidgits]

kevin ritson said:

Fidgits said:

Not even Schumacher in his hayday managed to be on the podium for every race of a season - so its only a matter of time before an accident, mechanical failure, or set of circumstances means he doesnt get on the podium.

2002?

really? was he on the podium in every race?

[Muzzer]

Fidgits said:

kevin ritson said:

Fidgits said:

Not even Schumacher in his hayday managed to be on the podium for every race of a season - so its only a matter of time before an accident, mechanical failure, or set of circumstances means he doesnt get on the podium.

2002?

really? was he on the podium in every race?

Yep. He never qualified below 3rd either....

[Fidgits]

Muzzer said:

Fidgits said:

kevin ritson said:

Fidgits said:

Not even Schumacher in his hayday managed to be on the podium for every race of a season - so its only a matter of time before an accident, mechanical failure, or set of circumstances means he doesnt get on the podium.

2002?

really? was he on the podium in every race?

Yep. He never qualified below 3rd either....

wow - some achievement... I knew he dominated, but didnt realise to what extent!

[Muzzer]

Fidgits said:

Muzzer said:

Fidgits said:

kevin ritson said:

Fidgits said:

Not even Schumacher in his hayday managed to be on the podium for every race of a season - so its only a matter of time before an accident, mechanical failure, or set of circumstances means he doesnt get on the podium.

2002?

really? was he on the podium in every race?

Yep. He never qualified below 3rd either....

wow - some achievement... I knew he dominated, but didnt realise to what extent!

2004 was worse if anything. Out of the first 13 races of the season, he won 12 of them (the only exception being Monaco when he ran into the back of Montoya on the safety car lap)

Out of the whole season he was first or second in all races apart from Monaco, China (when he spooned qualifying and started 20th) and Brazil (when he started 18th on the grid)

Seriously considered not watching F1 after that season due to the monotony of him winning all the damn time. All I can say is thank god Bridgestone made a hash of qualifying-and-race tyres in 2005 otherwise I may have totally lost faith....

Back to the OP - I think that a portion of Lewis' success can be contributed to the car. As many have said, even if he was in a BMW-Sauber he wouldn't have had the start he's had. There are 3 types of driver in F1: Exceptional (a couple) Very good (quite a few) and average (a few) Put any of the first 2 categories in a McLaren this year and they would probably have won.
Only time will tell if Lewis has the edge and can fight a more difficult car.

That said, Villeneuve, Hill, Coulthard and Senna (to an obvious, smaller degree) had the best car in the field between 1993 and 1997 and they didn't have a first 9 races like Hamilton has did they?

[MrKipling43]

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