Lewis Hamilton

[E34-3.2]

For some reasons, I think that Hamilton will struggle to reached Shumacher's records. He is very close but the competition is absolutely amazing out there. I don't remember in 35 Years of watching F1 seeing as many good drivers on the grid as the last 10 years. Isn't it Brundle who mentioned it not so long ago?

The Redbull cars were superb on Saturday and Sunday. Only Hamilton was managing to hang to the Redbull pace, just. Even Albon was fast (lol).
Mercs will have to back up Hamilton from race one next year If they want to fight one driver teams such as Redbull or I believe Ferrari next year as they will have to back up Leclerc after another disastrous year for Vettel.

[Big Robbo]

As history has shown, when
Mercedes struggle as a team, they very calmly go away, work out what they got wrong, sort it out without any histerics ,come back and take it on another step knowing that they can rely on Lewis AND Valtteri to drive the car as fast as they can. This weekend also was minus Toto Wolff so maybe their focus wasn't as sharp as usual

[glazbagun]

I still think he can do it, but I agree it will be tough, Having said that, this year was tough as was last year. I think it will come down to-

He needs to dispatch Bottas early to remove him as a rival, that means no slow start to the season.
Ferrari need to keep Vettel and Leclerc at each others throats and drop in the odd strategic blunder.
Honda need to start blowing up again.
Or Merc need to do something mighty over the season break. It really looks like they've been caught this year.

His early lead this year was almost entirely due to Ferrari screwing up at the start of the year

[HighwayStar]

E34-3.2 said:

For some reasons, I think that Hamilton will struggle to reached Shumacher's records. He is very close but the competition is absolutely amazing out there. I don't remember in 35 Years of watching F1 seeing as many good drivers on the grid as the last 10 years. Isn't it Brundle who mentioned it not so long ago?

The Redbull cars were superb on Saturday and Sunday. Only Hamilton was managing to hang to the Redbull pace, just. Even Albon was fast (lol).
Mercs will have to back up Hamilton from race one next year If they want to fight one driver teams such as Redbull or I believe Ferrari next year as they will have to back up Leclerc after another disastrous year for Vettel.

Don’t forget Merc had stopped developing their car months ago, concentrating their efforts on next years challenger.

[CustardOnChips]

HighwayStar said:

E34-3.2 said:

For some reasons, I think that Hamilton will struggle to reached Shumacher's records. He is very close but the competition is absolutely amazing out there. I don't remember in 35 Years of watching F1 seeing as many good drivers on the grid as the last 10 years. Isn't it Brundle who mentioned it not so long ago?

The Redbull cars were superb on Saturday and Sunday. Only Hamilton was managing to hang to the Redbull pace, just. Even Albon was fast (lol).
Mercs will have to back up Hamilton from race one next year If they want to fight one driver teams such as Redbull or I believe Ferrari next year as they will have to back up Leclerc after another disastrous year for Vettel.

Don’t forget Merc had stopped developing their car months ago, concentrating their efforts on next years challenger.

This.

Given the records at stake for Mercedes and Hamilton next season I believe they will have put more effort than ever into next seasons car. Especially given they pretty much had both titles done after 8 races this season.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them run second or third in preseason testing whilst running a couple of different concepts then blow everyone out of the water in the first half of the season.

[HighwayStar]

CustardOnChips said:

HighwayStar said:

E34-3.2 said:

For some reasons, I think that Hamilton will struggle to reached Shumacher's records. He is very close but the competition is absolutely amazing out there. I don't remember in 35 Years of watching F1 seeing as many good drivers on the grid as the last 10 years. Isn't it Brundle who mentioned it not so long ago?

The Redbull cars were superb on Saturday and Sunday. Only Hamilton was managing to hang to the Redbull pace, just. Even Albon was fast (lol).
Mercs will have to back up Hamilton from race one next year If they want to fight one driver teams such as Redbull or I believe Ferrari next year as they will have to back up Leclerc after another disastrous year for Vettel.

Don’t forget Merc had stopped developing their car months ago, concentrating their efforts on next years challenger.

This.

Given the records at stake for Mercedes and Hamilton next season I believe they will have put more effort than ever into next seasons car. Especially given they pretty much had both titles done after 8 races this season.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them run second or third in preseason testing whilst running a couple of different concepts then blow everyone out of the water in the first half of the season.

And for anyone doubting Mercedes focus not being on this years car all season...
https://racing-elite.com/2019/10/04/toto-wolff-fer...

[kiseca]

37chevy said:

Halmyre said:

There's no-one with a 100% pole record. There's Fangio at 57%. Hamilton is fifth, behind Fangio, Clark, Ascari and Senna.

https://www.statsf1.com/en/statistiques/pilote/pol...

Lewis will overtake Fangio if he takes the next 129 poles. Looking at the list, Leclerc is the only potential challenger to Lewis, but after 40 races he has 7 poles; Lewis had clocked up 13 by his 40th race.

Thought there was but hey ho...my point stands....statistics lie to you depending on what you want to hear...for instance, with the Indy 500 being part of f1 between 1950 and 1960 multiple drivers have around 25% pole position strike rate....does that make them better than Vettel?

I mean it will take multiple races for him to catch up their percentage even though they’ve only got 1 pole.

That's why if you really want to answer questions statistically you pay attention to your sample sizes - like a statistician would, and a politician, a person with a vested interest or someone simply trying to make a point / win an argument would not.

[paulw123]

CustardOnChips said:

This.

Given the records at stake for Mercedes and Hamilton next season I believe they will have put more effort than ever into next seasons car. Especially given they pretty much had both titles done after 8 races this season.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them run second or third in preseason testing whilst running a couple of different concepts then blow everyone out of the water in the first half of the season.

Correct. Consistency is also key. Neither Ferrari or red bull have been consistently good and both used extra engines too. Over the 2020 season my money is on merc and ham to step up once again.

[anonymous-user]

Next year the teams will be spending like crazy to develop the 2020 and 2021 cars in parallel before the budget cap kicks in.

Only the top few teams can afford to do both, so you could see some odd outcomes for teams betting on their 2021 season as a turnaround opportunity.

Cue Williams even slower.

[Cold]

"I have a very complex life"

[paulguitar]

Cold said:

"I have a very complex life"

Some very interesting stuff in that interview.

[sparta6]

Brackley will remain the team to beat.

[37chevy]

sparta6 said:

Brackley will remain the team to beat.

I dunno I think team maranello and team Milton Keynes will be strong

[HighwayStar]

37chevy said:

sparta6 said:

Brackley will remain the team to beat.

I dunno I think team maranello and team Milton Keynes will be strong

I'd agree... Having a wining car isn't enough with Team Maranello though. Merc stopped developing their car after the summer break so it's possible with the extra development time they've had, their new car could be very strong. No guarantee of course.

[sparta6]

37chevy said:

sparta6 said:

Brackley will remain the team to beat.

I dunno I think team maranello and team Milton Keynes will be strong

This is actually better description terminology, like football teams

[anonymous-user]

Halmyre said:

There's no-one with a 100% pole record. There's Fangio at 57%. Hamilton is fifth, behind Fangio, Clark, Ascari and Senna.

https://www.statsf1.com/en/statistiques/pilote/pol...

Lewis will overtake Fangio if he takes the next 129 poles. Looking at the list, Leclerc is the only potential challenger to Lewis, but after 40 races he has 7 poles; Lewis had clocked up 13 by his 40th race.

You can’t compare various decades. I can’t see the fascination as actual racing is dead in F1.

[37chevy]

yonex said:

You can’t compare various decades. I can’t see the fascination as actual racing is dead in F1.

Really? Can’t have been watching this season then...

...strange though, you’re consistently bashing f1 but still keep returning, so either you love pain or haven’t got a clue

[anonymous-user]

37chevy said:

Really? Can’t have been watching this season then...

...strange though, you’re consistently bashing f1 but still keep returning, so either you love pain or haven’t got a clue

I did actually try and watch the last race, 15 laps of ‘highlights’ and turned it off. It’s crap, as is fawning over Hamilton and comparing him to actual legends of the sport.

[37chevy]

yonex said:

I did actually try and watch the last race, 15 laps of ‘highlights’ and turned it off. It’s crap, as is fawning over Hamilton and comparing him to actual legends of the sport.

Awwwww you need an emergency hug, hun ...your trolling is rubbish lol...don’t even bother making an effort these days

[glazbagun]

yonex said:

I did actually try and watch the last race, 15 laps of ‘highlights’ and turned it off. It’s crap, as is fawning over Hamilton and comparing him to actual legends of the sport.