Lewis Hamilton

[heebeegeetee]

I have said this earlier in the thread. Before deciding he is the goat, or the greatest in the world, can we even say he is the greatest British driver of all time?

Can we say that Hamilton is a better driver than Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart was?

And I say, no, we can not say that.

But I do think Hamilton joins the greats. I mean, his record will put him there for a start.

[Bonefish Blues]

heebeegeetee said:

I have said this earlier in the thread. Before deciding he is the goat, or the greatest in the world, can we even say he is the greatest British driver of all time?

Can we say that Hamilton is a better driver than Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart was?

And I say, no, we can not say that.

But I do think Hamilton joins the greats. I mean, his record will put him there for a start.

That's about the sum of it.

[swisstoni]

It’s impossible to compare across eras.
Without having an All Time Great F1 season that is.

And I bet even then there’d be claims of luck.

[anonymous-user]

I'd put Clark as the best of all time. He was super quick in everything he drove and only lost out to many trophies because his Lotus was made of chocolate. He used to annoy his contemporaries by making it look too easy.

[RB Will]

glazbagun said:

I'd have Prost before Schumacher- raced against champion-level team mates and beat them, as has Hamilton.

Schumi, Vettel and I'm sure many others rarely had a top-drawer teammate to beat.

Edited by glazbagun on Wednesday 7th August 04:34

If that's your criteria for greatness you would have to add in Button and Rosberg to your hall of greats as they both beat champion Hamilton in equal machinery.

[paulguitar]

RB Will said:

If that's your criteria for greatness you would have to add in Button and Rosberg to your hall of greats as they both beat champion Hamilton in equal machinery.

Hamilton 2 Button 1
Hamilton 3 Rosberg 1

[37chevy]

Bonefish Blues said:

heebeegeetee said:

I have said this earlier in the thread. Before deciding he is the goat, or the greatest in the world, can we even say he is the greatest British driver of all time?

Can we say that Hamilton is a better driver than Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart was?

And I say, no, we can not say that.

But I do think Hamilton joins the greats. I mean, his record will put him there for a start.

That's about the sum of it.

Agreed

You can have the best of an era, Hamilton is clearly that from the mid 2000s onwards, schumacher from the mid 90s-00s, Senna and Prost before that, etc etc

You can never have the greatest of all time, track and cars have changed much that it’s simply not comparable.

Could Lewis drive Clarke’s car on treelined treacherous circuits and win? Who knows. Could Clarke win in Hamilton’s car with all the mental and physical fitness required along with dealing with all the baggage that comes with being a modern F1 driver?

Think we just need to celebrate and recognise when we come across a true great of the sport, they don’t come along often

[Bo_apex]

37chevy said:

Agreed

You can have the best of an era, Hamilton is clearly that from the mid 2000s onwards, schumacher from the mid 90s-00s, Senna and Prost before that, etc etc

You can never have the greatest of all time, track and cars have changed much that it’s simply not comparable.

Could Lewis drive Clarke’s car on treelined treacherous circuits and win? Who knows. Could Clarke win in Hamilton’s car with all the mental and physical fitness required along with dealing with all the baggage that comes with being a modern F1 driver?

Think we just need to celebrate and recognise when we come across a true great of the sport, they don’t come along often

Well said.

Although unlike Clarke and Co unfortunately Lewis didn't really shine for a few years, between 2009 and 2013.

Seems he really needed to get the Mercedes seat. Thankfully Lauda was persuasive.

[Bonefish Blues]

Clark.

[anonymous-user]

CustardOnChips said:

Horner and his band of pundits don't count as many in the paddock.

So Rosberg is a Horner pundit?

Webber but no doubt that was due to his Red Bull ties if he even still speaks to them.

Eddie Jordan and others have stated in words that he is currently the best driver of 2019.

Autosport also has a midway drivers rating.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/driver-ratings

Considering the car compared to the Mercedes it's hard to argue that Max Verstappen has been the best driver of 2019.

But I would say it's 50/50 with Lewis.

Both are tier one + drivers.

[Bo_apex]

ELUSIVEJIM said:

So Rosberg is a Horner pundit?

Webber but no doubt that was due to his Red Bull ties if he even still speaks to them.

Eddie Jordan and others have stated in words that he is currently the best driver of 2019.

Autosport also has a midway drivers rating.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/driver-ratings

Considering the car compared to the Mercedes it's hard to argue that Max Verstappen has been the best driver of 2019.

But I would say it's 50/50 with Lewis.

Both are tier one + drivers.

Can't argue with that.

Also good to see George on the ascent.

[anonymous-user]

Bo_apex said:

Can't argue with that.

Also good to see George on the ascent.

It's hard to know exactly how good George Russell is which sounds a very negative statement.

He is up against Kubica who sadly is clearly been away from F1 for too long as well as his terrible injury. He is a shadow of himself

So judging Russell against Kubica is a hard one.

But his drive in the Hungarian race was mightly impressive especially his first lap manoeuvres past faster cars.

To then finish 16th ahead of much better cars and lap your teammate speaks volumes.

I would like to see Russell and Ocon in the same car for 2020. That could be the plan for Williams if Bottas stays.

Both fight it out for a Mercedes drive in 2021.

[37chevy]

Bo_apex said:

Well said.

Although unlike Clarke and Co unfortunately Lewis didn't really shine for a few years, between 2009 and 2013.

Seems he really needed to get the Mercedes seat. Thankfully Lauda was persuasive.

I think he shone, just wish a fairly naff car you can’t completely show your thing, just like Schumacher had a few rough years with Benetton and the initial Ferrari’s.

Fangio is probably the only exception but then he always switched so he was in the best car at all times

[paulguitar]

Bo_apex said:

Lewis didn't really shine for a few years, between 2009 and 2013.

Hamilton put in some spectacular performances between 2009-2013.

[37chevy]

Bonefish Blues said:

Clark.

I’m not disagreeing with you, because I think he is up there, but how can you compare Clark to Lewis for example. Given they drive completely different cars, with a huge chasm in terms of technology, fitness training, mental agility etc how can you make a fair comparison to say one is better than the other?

[Bonefish Blues]

37chevy said:

Bonefish Blues said:

Clark.

I’m not disagreeing with you, because I think he is up there, but how can you compare Clark to Lewis for example. Given they drive completely different cars, with a huge chasm in terms of technology, fitness training, mental agility etc how can you make a fair comparison to say one is better than the other?

Spelling thereof, I was referencing. I note the improvement

[Bo_apex]

37chevy said:

Bo_apex said:

Well said.

Although unlike Clarke and Co unfortunately Lewis didn't really shine for a few years, between 2009 and 2013.

Seems he really needed to get the Mercedes seat. Thankfully Lauda was persuasive.

I think he shone, just wish a fairly naff car you can’t completely show your thing, just like Schumacher had a few rough years with Benetton and the initial Ferrari’s.

Fangio is probably the only exception but then he always switched so he was in the best car at all times

I think Schumacher had 11 DNF's in the first 2 full seasons at Benetton, something we don't see much of nowadays due to excellent reliability.

Next 2 full seasons were both WDC, while adapting to different engines, Ford then Renault.

Fangio was also great at adapting.

[anonymous-user]

Lewis Hamilton & Valtteri Bottas review 10 Mercedes F1 cars!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2rDb17zvDU

[Halmyre]

37chevy said:

Bonefish Blues said:

Clark.

I’m not disagreeing with you, because I think he is up there, but how can you compare Clark to Lewis for example. Given they drive completely different cars, with a huge chasm in terms of technology, fitness training, mental agility etc how can you make a fair comparison to say one is better than the other?

The level of dominance? Clark won 51% of the races in which he finished. If Lewis had done that, he would have 120 victories instead of 81.

Winning a rain-soaked 1963 Belgian GP by nearly 5 minutes; winning first time out in the Lotus 49, having never even seen it before the event; persuading the Lotus 43-BRM to its only win; coming from over a lap down at Monza in 1967 (and thwarted by fuel problems); winning the WC and the Indy 500 in the same year (and the Tasman series and the French F2 championship for good measure).

[Quickmoose]

Halmyre said:

37chevy said:

Bonefish Blues said:

Clark.

I’m not disagreeing with you, because I think he is up there, but how can you compare Clark to Lewis for example. Given they drive completely different cars, with a huge chasm in terms of technology, fitness training, mental agility etc how can you make a fair comparison to say one is better than the other?

The level of dominance? Clark won 51% of the races in which he finished. If Lewis had done that, he would have 120 victories instead of 81.

Winning a rain-soaked 1963 Belgian GP by nearly 5 minutes; winning first time out in the Lotus 49, having never even seen it before the event; persuading the Lotus 43-BRM to its only win; coming from over a lap down at Monza in 1967 (and thwarted by fuel problems); winning the WC and the Indy 500 in the same year (and the Tasman series and the French F2 championship for good measure).

Lewis would be closer but he's managing some, serious PR/Marketing, Social media updates, fashion label and playing the piano. Clark never had that to deal with