Lewis Hamilton
Discussion
sparta6 said:
LaurasOtherHalf said:
Very interesting interview with Toto after the race on sky deep into the paddock show in Suzuka.
Journalists always seem to want to drag out whether they’re going for Schumi’s record but yesterday Toto gave the first hint of it.
I’m paraphrasing but he essentially said they needed to sit down and decide all together what they wanted to do about it.
I’ve felt Toto and HAM were actually both in a similar page in their careers. They’ve built success and world bearing package together and over the last two years seen off strong opposition.
What more could they want or achieve?
I did wonder if we were approaching the point where Toto and HAM would say enough is enough-we’ve done everything we want to and both exit F1 for pastures new.
But yesterday Toto seemed to have a glint in his eye about the only challenge left. Imagine being able to go to the Mercedes board and ask for permission and funding to go and be the most successful team ever, then offer that to the best driver and say “let’s go for it”.
It’s a tantalising thought.
I agree.Journalists always seem to want to drag out whether they’re going for Schumi’s record but yesterday Toto gave the first hint of it.
I’m paraphrasing but he essentially said they needed to sit down and decide all together what they wanted to do about it.
I’ve felt Toto and HAM were actually both in a similar page in their careers. They’ve built success and world bearing package together and over the last two years seen off strong opposition.
What more could they want or achieve?
I did wonder if we were approaching the point where Toto and HAM would say enough is enough-we’ve done everything we want to and both exit F1 for pastures new.
But yesterday Toto seemed to have a glint in his eye about the only challenge left. Imagine being able to go to the Mercedes board and ask for permission and funding to go and be the most successful team ever, then offer that to the best driver and say “let’s go for it”.
It’s a tantalising thought.
And they have the perfect set-up to do just that, and a compliant team mate for Lewis.
However, it's a shame for the sport that Toto didn't sign a really fast and competitive team mate in Ricciardo.
Bottas has had his chances at the start of seasons and it hasn't worked out for him or he's had some bad luck so he has found himself at a point in the season having to be compliant. It is what it is.
I would love to see Hamilton and Merc go after Schumacher's records. There is no reason why they couldn't do it.
I have been more impressed with both Hamilton and Mercedes this year than I have at any point in the past. They appear to be a team that quite simply has it's s*** together. Whereas Ferrari and Vettel have been somewhat pathetic in comparison.
I always though Hamilton was an astonishing driver, but always had Schumacher above him in my personal league table, simply because of the sheer ruthlessness that Schumacher displayed. Nerfing people off, being complete blunt and demanding about having a compliant number 2 and being seemingly unstoppable at times.
Hamilton has always seemed more thoughtful and not as hard edged. Blisteringly fast and hard in the race track, but has seemed somewhat vulnerable out of it. This has actually made me like him more.
This year he seems to have found that hard-edge and confidence within himself and to watch a driver go through that sort of change is good to see. We generally see drivers in a very flat way, you get little about them for real, but those that show themselves more like Senna, who are happy to talk about things that aren't just about the mechanics of driving seem to create much more of a personal connection between them and the fans like us.
This is both good and bad for them and creates the sort of nonsense this thread has seen plenty of, but from my view it is much more welcome than just knowing them as a helmet paint scheme and a results table.
I have been more impressed with both Hamilton and Mercedes this year than I have at any point in the past. They appear to be a team that quite simply has it's s*** together. Whereas Ferrari and Vettel have been somewhat pathetic in comparison.
I always though Hamilton was an astonishing driver, but always had Schumacher above him in my personal league table, simply because of the sheer ruthlessness that Schumacher displayed. Nerfing people off, being complete blunt and demanding about having a compliant number 2 and being seemingly unstoppable at times.
Hamilton has always seemed more thoughtful and not as hard edged. Blisteringly fast and hard in the race track, but has seemed somewhat vulnerable out of it. This has actually made me like him more.
This year he seems to have found that hard-edge and confidence within himself and to watch a driver go through that sort of change is good to see. We generally see drivers in a very flat way, you get little about them for real, but those that show themselves more like Senna, who are happy to talk about things that aren't just about the mechanics of driving seem to create much more of a personal connection between them and the fans like us.
This is both good and bad for them and creates the sort of nonsense this thread has seen plenty of, but from my view it is much more welcome than just knowing them as a helmet paint scheme and a results table.
IforB said:
I would love to see Hamilton and Merc go after Schumacher's records. There is no reason why they couldn't do it.
I have been more impressed with both Hamilton and Mercedes this year than I have at any point in the past. They appear to be a team that quite simply has it's s*** together. Whereas Ferrari and Vettel have been somewhat pathetic in comparison.
I always though Hamilton was an astonishing driver, but always had Schumacher above him in my personal league table, simply because of the sheer ruthlessness that Schumacher displayed. Nerfing people off, being complete blunt and demanding about having a compliant number 2 and being seemingly unstoppable at times.
Hamilton has always seemed more thoughtful and not as hard edged. Blisteringly fast and hard in the race track, but has seemed somewhat vulnerable out of it. This has actually made me like him more.
This year he seems to have found that hard-edge and confidence within himself and to watch a driver go through that sort of change is good to see. We generally see drivers in a very flat way, you get little about them for real, but those that show themselves more like Senna, who are happy to talk about things that aren't just about the mechanics of driving seem to create much more of a personal connection between them and the fans like us.
This is both good and bad for them and creates the sort of nonsense this thread has seen plenty of, but from my view it is much more welcome than just knowing them as a helmet paint scheme and a results table.
Good post. And the fact that Hamilton is only now at his peak, after 11 years in the sport; in the best team; should be a concern to everybody else on the grid. The team, the car, the driver; all faultless and will probably dominate for some time, all things considered. I have been more impressed with both Hamilton and Mercedes this year than I have at any point in the past. They appear to be a team that quite simply has it's s*** together. Whereas Ferrari and Vettel have been somewhat pathetic in comparison.
I always though Hamilton was an astonishing driver, but always had Schumacher above him in my personal league table, simply because of the sheer ruthlessness that Schumacher displayed. Nerfing people off, being complete blunt and demanding about having a compliant number 2 and being seemingly unstoppable at times.
Hamilton has always seemed more thoughtful and not as hard edged. Blisteringly fast and hard in the race track, but has seemed somewhat vulnerable out of it. This has actually made me like him more.
This year he seems to have found that hard-edge and confidence within himself and to watch a driver go through that sort of change is good to see. We generally see drivers in a very flat way, you get little about them for real, but those that show themselves more like Senna, who are happy to talk about things that aren't just about the mechanics of driving seem to create much more of a personal connection between them and the fans like us.
This is both good and bad for them and creates the sort of nonsense this thread has seen plenty of, but from my view it is much more welcome than just knowing them as a helmet paint scheme and a results table.
E34-3.2 said:
paulguitar said:
It’s hard to disagree with any of that, but that’s what F1 is. The various teams build their cars from scratch, which is indeed rather unsatisfying in many ways in a sporting sense, regarding rating the drivers. As to identifying the best of them, we have measure how they have done against their various teammates, and also, significantly, how they did in the lesser formulae, where the cars tend to be basically identical, other than set-up differences.
Hamilton holds up rather well… In the spec series he was exceptional, sometimes embarrassingly dominant. In his debut F1 year he arrived like a firework, NINE straight podiums (for a rookie!), and that year ended up placed ahead of his double WDC teammate. But for a bizarre gearbox failure at the last race, he would have been WDC… Even in his worst year, 2011, when he appeared lost due to personal issues, he managed three wins.
LH has been exceptional since he was in cadet karting. I loved watching him then, and watching him now makes me feel sort of proud, as if I knew the Beatles when they were playing at the Cavern club.
Great post. Hamilton holds up rather well… In the spec series he was exceptional, sometimes embarrassingly dominant. In his debut F1 year he arrived like a firework, NINE straight podiums (for a rookie!), and that year ended up placed ahead of his double WDC teammate. But for a bizarre gearbox failure at the last race, he would have been WDC… Even in his worst year, 2011, when he appeared lost due to personal issues, he managed three wins.
LH has been exceptional since he was in cadet karting. I loved watching him then, and watching him now makes me feel sort of proud, as if I knew the Beatles when they were playing at the Cavern club.
blueg33 said:
The frustrating thing is that we will never really know who is the best F1 driver. All we know is who is the best out of a 2 driver team.
I definitely think we do this season. We've had a straight fight between 2 4x world champions, both given an excellent car, and one is creaming the other imo.The next contender for best driver imo is Max, but he is still making too many mistakes and did so again yesterday. Danny Ric is looking a bit ordinary against Max, imo.
I think Vettel's car has been as good, but it isn't today and he just can't make up for it in the way a driver like Max seemingly can at times. That's compounding his own mistakes and those of his team.
Lewis has definitely matured over the years too. Over the course of a season he's got much more of that edge the All Blacks do in rugby - just always grinding out solid results and never looking beaten however many points they go down.
Lewis has definitely matured over the years too. Over the course of a season he's got much more of that edge the All Blacks do in rugby - just always grinding out solid results and never looking beaten however many points they go down.
heebeegeetee said:
The next contender for best driver imo is Max, but he is still making too many mistakes and did so again yesterday. Danny Ric is looking a bit ordinary against Max, imo.
As Max calms down the baton will be passed from Lewis.Contingent on getting a decent engine ofcourse
Max has great potential. But to realise that potential he needs to get himself into a top car. And I honestly think his baggage and attitude will put them off. I don't think he will fit with Merc, and it would be chaos with him at Ferrari. He needs to make himself viable for those two or he's staying at RB for the mid term future and has to gamble on them coming good.
Sa Calobra said:
Max isn't the next Lewis. He's already had 77 starts, 4 wins but isn't a multiple champ in the making.
He is already number 1 https://f1statblog.co.uk/f1-penalty-points/
Edited by Graveworm on Monday 8th October 19:57
Graveworm said:
Sa Calobra said:
Max isn't the next Lewis. He's already had 77 starts, 4 wins but isn't a multiple champ in the making.
He is already number 1 https://f1statblog.co.uk/f1-penalty-points/
Edited by Graveworm on Monday 8th October 19:57
Sa Calobra said:
Max isn't the next Lewis. He's already had 77 starts, 4 wins but isn't a multiple champ in the making.
Time will tell.But he won't be the next Lewis, he will be his own man.
There's a bit of reckless Gilles Villeneuve about him which I like, and attention to detail similar to Mika.
Did someone mention a touch of ruthlessness too ?
Edited by sparta6 on Monday 8th October 20:25
REALIST123 said:
Sa Calobra said:
Max isn't the next Lewis. He's already had 77 starts, 4 wins but isn't a multiple champ in the making.
Depends on whether or not he gets in the dominant car for a few years. Not much chance at the moment but he could certainly win championships on that basis. 
If he ends up in a dominant car with any but a tiny handful of other drivers next to him, he'll end up world champion. But he's probably going to need a dominant car because the way he's driven in his career so far he's bound to throw away a fair few points in a close season. LaurasOtherHalf said:
But yesterday Toto seemed to have a glint in his eye about the only challenge left. Imagine being able to go to the Mercedes board and ask for permission and funding to go and be the most successful team ever, then offer that to the best driver and say “let’s go for it”.
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