Lewis Hamilton G.O.A.T. ?

[M5-911]

Schermerhorn said:

Mercedes have also managed to outspend everyone else too.
.

Ferrari have out spend Mercedes.

[Ashtray83]

Adrian W said:

Taz46 said:

Any one else agree with me that Lewis has the ability to be regarded as the greatest of all time? Seems to me he can get the car near or on the front regardless whether the cars 100 % (with the exception of the beginning of last year but let's face it the mclaren was a complete dog of a car) most talented driver on the grid my opinion, what's yours!?

Lets have this conversation in ten years time

GO...

[Schermerhorn]

M5-911 said:

Schermerhorn said:

Mercedes have also managed to outspend everyone else too.
.

Ferrari have out spend Mercedes.

Perhaps....but where has that money gone? Extended pasta lunches?

[HughG]

Ashtray83 said:

GO...

You’re 31 days early, not that the difference between equalling or exceeding MS record will make much difference to the conversation now.

[anonymous-user]

paulguitar said:

Speaking as someone who has 'Sennafan' as my login on a few websites, I think Hamilton is the greater driver. He has reached, in my view, a level where he is like Senna on a Saturday and Prost on a Sunday.

Like Prost. Fast but not loose.

Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 12th October 07:50

[James-m5qjf]

Lewis Hamilton is definitely one of the greatest of all time, it’s just a shame he’s a bit of a bellend. I have much more respect for elite athletes who demand respect on and off the track/pitch/court etc..

The new series of Spitting Image got him down quite well.

https://youtu.be/-_h-NlKe25M

[heebeegeetee]

James-m5qjf said:

Lewis Hamilton is definitely one of the greatest of all time, it’s just a shame he’s a bit of a bellend. I have much more respect for elite athletes who demand respect on and off the track/pitch/court etc..

The new series of Spitting Image got him down quite well.

https://youtu.be/-_h-NlKe25M

Blimey, was any other racing driver on SI back in the day?

Is the US offshore?

[James-m5qjf]

heebeegeetee said:

Blimey, was any other racing driver on SI back in the day?

Is the US offshore?

It’s not his actions, but more the hypocrisy of the man. He presents himself as some eco warrior, but he’s really just any other a fast fashion ambassador, private jet flying, tax dodging, extreme materialism type of super celebrity. No substance to the guy in my opinion, although massive credit for what he’s achieved.

It’s very well reported he used an Isle of Man tax avoidance scheme..

[angrymoby]

M5-911 said:

Schermerhorn said:

Mercedes have also managed to outspend everyone else too.
.

Ferrari have out spend Mercedes.

as has Dietrich Mateschitz ...which gives you an insight as to how Merc/ Ferrari will also bypass the spending cap

[WickerBill]

James-m5qjf said:

It’s not his actions, but more the hypocrisy of the man. He presents himself as some eco warrior, but he’s really just any other a fast fashion ambassador, private jet flying, tax dodging, extreme materialism type of super celebrity. No substance to the guy in my opinion, although massive credit for what he’s achieved.

It’s very well reported he used an Isle of Man tax avoidance scheme..

You know that you can be part of something that pollutes and also have an eco stance....you can be part of something whilst at the same time strive for change, these things arent mutually exclusive......activists can travel to protests in a car, and then try to make a difference lol.

Private jet? doesnt have it any more, he gave that up when he became more concerned about the planet....
Tax dodging? theres a difference between avoidance and evasion one is legal, the other is not

Of course, you talk about hypocricy, but no doubt the driver you support also 'dodges' tax, and yet you dont condemn them, so that makes you hypocritcal, does it not?

[Harry H]

As per the thread title he is the probably the best F1 driver we will see. Although I also accept it is difficult to compare drivers of different periods.

He is on top of his game and has been for a long time. We are witnessing greatness.

As an individual I not convinced although if I socialised with him I am sure I'd come away thinking he's a decent chap. But that doesn't really matter to me as an F1 spectator. I enjoy watching him do what he's paid to do. All the other stuff is somewhat irrelevant. Not that I care but reasonably sure he's gay.

[James-m5qjf]

WickerBill said:

James-m5qjf said:

It’s not his actions, but more the hypocrisy of the man. He presents himself as some eco warrior, but he’s really just any other a fast fashion ambassador, private jet flying, tax dodging, extreme materialism type of super celebrity. No substance to the guy in my opinion, although massive credit for what he’s achieved.

It’s very well reported he used an Isle of Man tax avoidance scheme..

You know that you can be part of something that pollutes and also have an eco stance....you can be part of something whilst at the same time strive for change, these things arent mutually exclusive......activists can travel to protests in a car, and then try to make a difference lol.

Private jet? doesnt have it any more, he gave that up when he became more concerned about the planet....
Tax dodging? theres a difference between avoidance and evasion one is legal, the other is not

Of course, you talk about hypocricy, but no doubt the driver you support also 'dodges' tax, and yet you dont condemn them, so that makes you hypocritcal, does it not?

I don’t particularly support any driver, more of a MotoGP person but can’t help keeping an eye on the train racing

Like I said, it’s more the hypocrisy of the man, not the actions themselves. I’m always seeing quotes and statements from Lewis that completely contradict his lifestyle.

[Byker28i]

WickerBill said:

James-m5qjf said:

It’s not his actions, but more the hypocrisy of the man. He presents himself as some eco warrior, but he’s really just any other a fast fashion ambassador, private jet flying, tax dodging, extreme materialism type of super celebrity. No substance to the guy in my opinion, although massive credit for what he’s achieved.

It’s very well reported he used an Isle of Man tax avoidance scheme..

You know that you can be part of something that pollutes and also have an eco stance....you can be part of something whilst at the same time strive for change, these things arent mutually exclusive......activists can travel to protests in a car, and then try to make a difference lol.

Private jet? doesnt have it any more, he gave that up when he became more concerned about the planet....
Tax dodging? theres a difference between avoidance and evasion one is legal, the other is not

Of course, you talk about hypocricy, but no doubt the driver you support also 'dodges' tax, and yet you dont condemn them, so that makes you hypocritcal, does it not?

Extijnction rebellion drove down to us last year in their diesel cars and vans, to protest a nearby liquid gas powerplant, ignoring it had invested heavily in solar power and was producing a third of it's generated power that way. When challenged they claimed "how else could we get here"...

[Byker28i]

James-m5qjf said:

I don’t particularly support any driver, more of a MotoGP person but can’t help keeping an eye on the train racing

I don't think you could call yesterdays incident packed race that

[Russ T Bolt]

WickerBill said:

Private jet? doesnt have it any more, he gave that up when he became more concerned about the planet....
Tax dodging? theres a difference between avoidance and evasion one is legal, the other is not

I thought he transferred it across to Lauda in some dodge when his tax affairs came under the microscope and he was pictured in the plane with his mates on a jolly, which was not allowed for tax reasons.

[TwentyFive]

WickerBill said:

James-m5qjf said:

It’s very well reported he used an Isle of Man tax avoidance scheme..

Tax dodging? theres a difference between avoidance and evasion one is legal, the other is not

Absolutely right. My work is directly linked to this and I can confirm that whilst the method Lewis used for his jet registration was morally questionable, it was entirely legal and he did nothing wrong at all. He was entitled to do so and took full advantage. Even as a taxman myself, I would have done the same thing knowing it was a fully legal process that could save me £3m.

Further to that point, people don't understand that despite spending most of his time in Monaco, Lewis is actually well within the top 1% of financial contributors to the UK public purse. Its food for thought for those who are always banging the same old drum about him 'avoiding paying tax' when he in fact pays significantly more than most.

Sure he plays the system thanks to his switched on advisors, but he has not broken any tax laws and he still contributes more in one year to the UK purse than the remaining 99% of us ever would. He also takes far less from the purse in return by not actually using the public services due to living in Monaco.

Edited by TwentyFive on Monday 12th October 15:09

[angrymoby]

Russ T Bolt said:

I thought he transferred it across to Lauda in some dodge when his tax affairs came under the microscope and he was pictured in the plane with his mates on a jolly, which was not allowed for tax reasons.

iirc it was classed as a business use purchase & thus VAT exempt ...like a glorified version of how a private taxi driver buy their cars

issue is if it wasn't being used as such, but HMRC- even after subsequent checks after the paradise papers/ panorama scandal, seemed fine with it

Edited by angrymoby on Monday 12th October 15:29

[TwentyFive]

angrymoby said:

iirc it was classed as a business use purchase & thus VAT exempt ...like a glorified version of how a private taxi driver buy theirs

issue is if it wasn't being used as such, but HRMC- even after subsequent checks after the paradise papers/ panorama scandal, seemed fine with it

Yes you are on the right lines. From memory i think it was just over £3m being disputed due to the rules on jet registration in the EU. Any jet registered in the EU (the Isle of Man counts as it is a dependancy) is free from tax, but any jet imported would have been liable for 20% VAT. Lots of companies actually use Guernsey in the same way as the IoM for VAT purposes but remain close enough to guarantee UK buyers still get next day delivery... such as Moonpig cards. It's not a new concept.

However Lewis advisors smartly started a charter firm to buy the jet and imported it, then leased it to Lewis as the primary customer which was sufficient to show it was being used by the charter firm as a rented business asset by a paying client.

As a result the £3m was refunded back to the charter firm (owned by Lewis) because it was a legitimate business purchase. It was morally questionable but when the papers came out, we (HMRC) looked into many individuals including this particular one. It was checked and they had crossed all the T's and dotted their I's. Fully legal.

[James-m5qjf]

It’s not really the tax dodging, although that’s bad enough. It’s stuff I read like this, the guy goes vegan and acts like he’s saving the world. He’s got the carbon footprint of a town.

Anyway, it’s harsh to distract from his undeniable talent, I’m just the type of person who likes to appreciate the person as much as their talent. I’m probably just turning into a grumpy middle age man

[RichB]

TwentyFive said:

... despite spending most of his time in Monaco, Lewis is actually well within the top 1% of financial contributors to the UK public purse. Its food for thought for those who are always banging the same old drum about him 'avoiding paying tax' when he in fact pays significantly more than most.

Sure he plays the system thanks to his switched on advisors, but he has not broken any tax laws and he still contributes more in one year to the UK purse than the remaining 99% of us ever would. He also takes far less from the purse in return by not actually using the public services due to living in Monaco.

INteresting point.