5 second time penalty for missing an option "I' not sure" =))
Lewis Hamilton: The Best Ever?
- Thread starter Paul Jeffrey
- Start date
Having the best car of the grid is one factor of Lewis' success.
And Fangio, Clark, Stewart, Lauda, Senna, Prost, Mansell, Schumacher etc
Dux
Simracer since 99 / 3D Engineer & Game Developer
If anyone made cars look better that is Vettel. Won with Toro Rosso, won with Red Bull and both teams never had victory before, especially RB being first team. Also won with Ferrari in only his 2nd race in days Mercedes dominated, and he just entered a team who was in very bad situation the year before.
Hamilton never had a bad car. He drove McLaren from day 1, and although he drove it and earned it on merit, he never had a bad car, that is a fact. He always drove a car capable of winning race or even titles, but really just wasn't able to pull out the maximum out of it, and it wasn't like they won a lot because of him, Button was winning regularly and quite frankly was much better in complex races that included rain, which is another criteria to measure drivers.
Dux
Simracer since 99 / 3D Engineer & Game Developer
No one to this extent.
I have never been that impressed by Vettel. Sure he's a decent driver but I would put others including Hamilton well above him.
I think Hamilton has always been able to make the most out of a car - whether good or bad, and has been excellent in all conditions (Button was amazing in the wet though).
I think we'll have to agree to disagree...
I don't think that Mercedes have had a more dominant car than certain other manufacturers when they were at their peak to be honest... Lotus at times, Williams at points in the 80s and 90s, Ferrari in the Schumacher era, Red Bull more recently.
Most dominant car ever was the McLaren MP4/4 of 1988 with Senna and Prost which had 15 poles and 15 wins out of 16 races...
Point is, there have always been eras where certain teams have had very dominant cars - now is just the latest example although Ferrari's car at least has often been up with the Merc more recently.
Without Mercedes under his ass, he would won not that much. Best car always helps. But he definitely does not come in the row next to nigel mansell, ayrton senna, alain prost & michael schumacher. Hamilton is good, but does not belong to the best. Mercedes is 50% of his achievements. Other 25% is the mafFIA 
Best ever? He finished second in a two car season when Nico won the title. This is a joke.
Dux
Simracer since 99 / 3D Engineer & Game Developer
It's not about the peak, it's about the time they dominated.
Almost every strong domination be it Williams year, McLaren year, Ferrari year or Red Bull 2011 year, they finished and followed a season with big uncertainty.
To put it into perspective, Mercedes are dominating for 6 years straight
He probably is the pinnacle of F1 driver to date. As much as we like the raw talent of the older generations the likes of Schumacher and Hamilton are another level of professionalism and Hamilton is the evolved version of Schumacher, he's just had longer with the benefits of science and experience than Schumacher had.
I think Max Verstappen seems to be the next stage in F1 driver and 10 years from now I kind of expect he'll have moved the game on again.
The current gen of drivers just have a level of education and understanding that didn't exist in the past. It's like comparing professionals to amateurs the gap is that large. So much engineering and science has happened in the past 15 years, I feel there's just a very large gap between modern drivers and previous generations.
I think Max Verstappen seems to be the next stage in F1 driver and 10 years from now I kind of expect he'll have moved the game on again.
The current gen of drivers just have a level of education and understanding that didn't exist in the past. It's like comparing professionals to amateurs the gap is that large. So much engineering and science has happened in the past 15 years, I feel there's just a very large gap between modern drivers and previous generations.
Dux
Simracer since 99 / 3D Engineer & Game Developer
I never said no one ever dominated. What I said is that no one ever dominated as much Mercedes, making it the most dominant team ever in the history, by a mile.
Better duck fast theres a lot of facts flying around ! Really not sure any one driver is the best. He would have to be the best in all conditions, and have that seat of the pants feel, which in modern cars must be hard.
I've seen videos of modern drivers driving older cars, and many of them have a new found respect for what that was like.
I think a lot of older drivers had a very good understanding of what was going on with the car, but it was harder then without all the Data modern drivers have, it was a lot of trial and error.
I would still have to rate the older drivers like Fangio, Clark and so may others higher. And no thats not a fact, just an opinion, like so many others.
My only wish is that the older drivers got the coverage and exposure the newer ones get, then again maybe that very mystique is what made the older ones so great.
They all earned a spot as great drivers, everyone that ever drove in an F1 car.
I've seen videos of modern drivers driving older cars, and many of them have a new found respect for what that was like.
I think a lot of older drivers had a very good understanding of what was going on with the car, but it was harder then without all the Data modern drivers have, it was a lot of trial and error.
I would still have to rate the older drivers like Fangio, Clark and so may others higher. And no thats not a fact, just an opinion, like so many others.
My only wish is that the older drivers got the coverage and exposure the newer ones get, then again maybe that very mystique is what made the older ones so great.
They all earned a spot as great drivers, everyone that ever drove in an F1 car.
