Lewis Hamilton

[37chevy]

micky g said:

In 2009 they polled 217 F1 drivers, past and present, to decide who they considered the best driver ever. It's quite an accolade but then, what do the drivers know? http://www.ayrton-senna.net/drivers-vote-ayrton-se...

Read my post again, I still think he’s one of the greats.....just saying I don’t know how his ‘character’ would have gotten on with modern F1. Today you’ve got to be Uber consistent, the differences between drivers is tiny, you can’t afford to pull some of the antics the likes of he and Prost did

[heebeegeetee]

37chevy said:

Read my post again, I still think he’s one of the greats.....just saying I don’t know how his ‘character’ would have gotten on with modern F1. Today you’ve got to be Uber consistent, the differences between drivers is tiny, you can’t afford to pull some of the antics the likes of he and Prost did

Hmm, Prost, antics? Didn't he only ever pull one 'antic', and being unused to doing so, didn't do it very well?

It is an interesting point though, Hamilton has achieved what he has without blundering into other drivers. He is a massive fan of Senna, but hasn't used the Senna style of winning at all.

Just to say also, there are other names from the past who were able to do things that other drivers could not, and I'm going to say names like Fangio, Moss, Clark, Stewart. These were drivers genuinely on another level.

[Kraken]

I hate all these historical comparisons. It's impossible to compare drivers driving in the same race let alone in different eras. Even in the same team all you could be seeing is which driver is better suited to the rules/car combinations at the time. Change the tyre compounds, stop blowing diffusers etc and things often change.

We should let the achievements of the drivers stand on their own rather than trying to validate them in meaningless comparison.

[glazbagun]

If the hybrid rules had held off a couple of years it's strange to think that Seb or Alonso might have bagged another couple and Hamilton would maybe have a few race wins per season.

[37chevy]

Kraken said:

I hate all these historical comparisons. It's impossible to compare drivers driving in the same race let alone in different eras. Even in the same team all you could be seeing is which driver is better suited to the rules/car combinations at the time. Change the tyre compounds, stop blowing diffusers etc and things often change.

We should let the achievements of the drivers stand on their own rather than trying to validate them in meaningless comparison.

Agreed, it’s still interesting to try and compare, though utterly pointless in reality. I think really all we can do is compare drivers from their respective generations and how they compare to the current crop. The same names crop up though, fangio, Clark, Prost, senna, Schumacher, Hamilton.

[anonymous-user]

Clark. Best of the lot by a decent margin. Multi-disciplinary. He'd be quick in a combine harvester.

[Stan the Bat]

janesmith1950 said:

Clark. Best of the lot by a decent margin. Multi-disciplinary. He'd be quick in a combine harvester.

My opinion also.

[cuprabob]

janesmith1950 said:

Clark. Best of the lot by a decent margin. Multi-disciplinary. He'd be quick in a combine harvester.

Being a farmer would give him an unfair advantage

[kambites]

janesmith1950 said:

Clark. Best of the lot by a decent margin. Multi-disciplinary. He'd be quick in a combine harvester.

I think Clark in the state that he raced wouldn't have a chance against the current drivers - there's no doubting he had massive amounts of talent but the modern drivers are just so much fitter and more focused. Had Clark been born 60 years later and come up through the ranks of modern motorsport... who knows.

As above it's really not possible to compare drivers between eras, but personally I think we're blessed with the quality of drivers we have at the moment. Whether they have more talent than their fore-bearers is obviously debatable but that they have more ability is, IMO, not.

Edited by kambites on Friday 26th April 08:23

[Rumblestripe]

If you are talking about flexibility of styles and achievement in different forms of motorsport then John Surtees must be part of the conversation the only World Champ on two wheel and four (IIRC).

[angrymoby]

Prost & Senna joint No.1's for me ...Prost, because of the list of WDC's he beat- in the same car ...& Senna, because he beat Prost

at the rate he's going Hamilton will probably take that spot though ...x6 WDC looks achievable in 2 seasons ...& x7 & 92 wins is also on the cards

I would've liked to see him bag a WDC with a 3rd team ...but he's Merc through & through, so doubt he'll end up in a Ferrari

[Halmyre]

kambites said:

janesmith1950 said:

Clark. Best of the lot by a decent margin. Multi-disciplinary. He'd be quick in a combine harvester.

I think Clark in the state that he raced wouldn't have a chance against the current drivers - there's no doubting he had massive amounts of talent but the modern drivers are just so much fitter and more focused. Had Clark been born 60 years later and come up through the ranks of modern motorsport... who knows.

Conversely, the modern day drivers would be lost back in the 60s; no aerodynamics, stick-shift gearboxes, engines with 'interesting' power curves...and as for fitness, remember in those days that most races lasted well over two hours.

[paulguitar]

Halmyre said:

Conversely, the modern day drivers would be lost back in the 60s; no aerodynamics, stick-shift gearboxes, engines with 'interesting' power curves...and as for fitness, remember in those days that most races lasted well over two hours.

And yet I would be willing to wager that most of the current drivers would be brilliant in cars from the '60s. The sheer purity of it would be a godsend to someone with the talent and bravely of Hamilton.

[Graveworm]

Halmyre said:

Conversely, the modern day drivers would be lost back in the 60s; no aerodynamics, stick-shift gearboxes, engines with 'interesting' power curves...and as for fitness, remember in those days that most races lasted well over two hours.

You mean like karting and the lower formulas where, in general, those excelling in F1 also excelled. There is of course no way to compare different generations but it's fun doing so. The best measure for me of LH was his F3 dominance and beating Alonso in the same car in his Rookie season. Everything else has too many variables, although I think his wet weather dominance is also compelling.

Edited by Graveworm on Friday 26th April 10:33

[37chevy]

Halmyre said:

Conversely, the modern day drivers would be lost back in the 60s; no aerodynamics, stick-shift gearboxes, engines with 'interesting' power curves...and as for fitness, remember in those days that most races lasted well over two hours.

I disagree. While they are more physical to drive in terms of inputs the g forces and grip is what takes it out of you in racing....

[ntiz]

Rumblestripe said:

If you are talking about flexibility of styles and achievement in different forms of motorsport then John Surtees must be part of the conversation the only World Champ on two wheel and four (IIRC).

Now there is a man that was fast in anything in anywhere anytime.

4x world champion on bikes
F1
3x in a row in the TT
Can am champ
Would probably have made a good fist of Le Man as well if he hadn’t fallen out with Ferrari.

Can you tell I’m a fan

[Rumblestripe]

It does seem strange to me now that no biker has transitioned into cars recently. I believe Valentino Rossi was quick in a Ferrari test 2005ish. Was there ever a possibility of him getting a seat in F1?

[37chevy]

Rumblestripe said:

It does seem strange to me now that no biker has transitioned into cars recently. I believe Valentino Rossi was quick in a Ferrari test 2005ish. Was there ever a possibility of him getting a seat in F1?

Sir Chris Hoy did :-p
Rossi has done some rallying.

Think it’s tricky because the margins are so fine in F1 these days that I doubt even Rossi would be successful in F1, it’s not like when surtees was racing, there’s months of prep in simulators, with engineers etc. Be interesting to see though!

[ntiz]

I think the problem is they can’t just jump in the car and race anymore. To get a super license or whatever it is they have for F1 you need to do a certain amount of single seater racing.

I might be wrong but I think Loeb was all set to race for Redbull a while ago after testing well but wasn’t willing to take a year or 2 out racing in lower categories so it all got scraped. No peak rider is going to want to essentially sit out a year of top level motorsport.

Edited by ntiz on Friday 26th April 11:14

[RobGT81]

Rossi did some sports cars too. Pretty sure I remember him racing in a Ferrari GT3 at Monza?