Lewis Hamilton: The Best Ever?

[Ryan Robbins]

I say no. What do you mean by the best driver? Do you mean best driving skill on their absolute best day? Do you mean the best overall with skill, consistency, cool headedness, etc... Do you mean a driver who helps a team excel in F1? For me, Schumacher is the best overall driver in history. His consistency and record are amazing. Also, he played a big part in the Ferrari team's excellence for many years (not just because of his driving skill). So sad what happened to him.
Best ever driver on a single day? Possible Senna, but impossible to know. Senna in the rain probably lol.

 

[MikieC]

Hmm, what if..... each driver drove 1 race with each team per season. We might have a more accurate answer then? Of course it wouldn't happen, as the teams with the most $ have the best cars and talent? (i assume)

 

[senna9922]

Ayrton Senna Forever

 

[Enthilzha]

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.

But that is just not true. Other teams have dominated for long periods of time too, whilst there have been times when their dominance has been far more complete than Mercedes has been over these last few years.

 

[pitkin]

The best driver who's driven for Mercedes in recent years, definitely.

How on earth could you tell if anyone's the best ever? If Alesi had gone to Williams instead of Ferrari, if Schumacher didn't go to Benetton and stayed in sports cars, if Alonso didn't make such bad career choices. It could be any driver in the title of this topic that just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

 

[Travie42722]

You have to be a decent steer to handle an F1 car thats a fact.
However since 2013 the Merc has been the quickest car by far and he has only been stopped by mechanical issues, being taken out by another competitor or been beaten by his team mate in the same car. I think with the current drivers in the field Vettal, Ricardo, Verstappen, LeClerc, and a few others would beat or match him easily. As for greatest of all time, no because it really comes down to the rules and cars that were in use at a given time, look at Schumie's Ferrari or Senna's Mclaren those things where fire breathing, screaming monsters with comparable HP but quite a bit lighter than the modern car. Could Hamilton be competitive in those cars, I reckon probably not.

 

[DoJose]

I do not consider the issue to be correct! Great riders are a class in which they should not make classifications because none of them runs alone ... They are personal preferences, the Grand Prix must have the grid of full start. Who would you choose to complete the grid?

 

[MoerasGrizzly]

This is always a very difficult question becuase F1 has a very long history in which a lot has changed. With that in mind, his closest contenders for the GOAT title are probably Schumacher and Senna, and in that comparison I think Hamilton wins out: Schumacher and Senna both had to resort to ramming rivals off the track or blocking qualifying sessions or other dirty tricks to win. Hamilton does not need to resort to such a level of shenaniganery, which IMO makes him the best driver of the modern era.

The classic era is a tough question, as the sport in the 50s and 60s was entirely different, but current day Hamilton has a certain consistency and regard that imo would have made him a great driver back then as well: The likes of Max Verstappen wouldn't survive a season in comparison.

 

[MoerasGrizzly]

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

But how does that not apply to Senna and Prost in their Mclarens, and Schumacher in his Ferrari? Schumacher in particular had some dirty tricks which the FIA let him get away with because of Ferrari's political weight, and all the succesfull drivers in F1 have had the advantage of superiour machinery.

 

[Brooksey]

When in a driver interview (several years ago) with several drivers including Hamilton, Alonso was asked what he would like to see changed in F1 he said equal engines, within a split second Hamilton says I don’t agree. Hamilton’s had it way to easy, doesn’t want competition.

I don’t believe there is such a title as the greatest drive ever but at least if you have equal engines, F1 racing would be a lot more exciting.

 

[Dux]

But that is just not true. Other teams have dominated for long periods of time too, whilst there have been times when their dominance has been far more complete than Mercedes has been over these last few years.

That is not true? Ok.



And this is only wins by constructor, not how many front lock-ups they had, not how many 1-2 they won, not how many poles they won, not how many other teams were able to fight and get on the podium. If anything means to you, you can check beneath each graph how many constructors were able to pull of a victory actually in each given period.

I'll just mention that Ferrari in their domination had around 16 front lock-ups and around 20 one-twos while Mercedes has had around 50 front lock-ups and around 40 one-twos.

I'll leave the math to you

 

[BrettSinclair1]

Pointless discussion, it is impossible to rate drivers over a period of 70 years.
Hamilton does come close to the perfect racing driver (if lifted into the car before the race and out of it after the race) but so did others.

 

[Turk]

The only way to be sure is to introduce a go kart race to the end of the F1 calendar. Every one of them in the same machine, see who's actually best. That's the only way to put this to bed.

 

[eSEA One]

Best car always helps.

Usually the best cars hire the best drivers. Not saying that the best drivers don't pull up a less than par car

 

[Terry Rock]

You know what I find a bit of a mystery?
When Michael went to Ferrari and helped to re-built that team from a car that was throwing half-shaft in pit-lane to becoming the most dominant car on the grid, nobody questioned his ability or said it was 'the car'
When Vettel received the revolutionary design of Adrian Newey...a 'slippery' car that could use less power because of cutting edge aero to gap the field by multiple seconds, nobody said it was 'the car'.
Niki convinces Lewis to join Mercedes from McLaren....in a car that 'chewed' through its rear tires every few laps.
That car has now been developed into a great track car with Lewis, who'd beaten everybody... in every category before coming to F1 and yet suddenly, it is 'the car'.
While there is not now...and never could be an answer for who is the outright best driver in F1, some folks need to get a reality grip...and quickly.
Might I suggest you get off the 'hate and jealousy' train and go watch his racing in earlier category, before coming here spouting nonsense.

 

[Antony Snook]

Nigel Mansell was the best racing driver ever lol

Not Better than Michale Schumacher or Ayerton Senna. He got 1 tittle and ran to America knowing these two could run circles round him. And the comeback to F1 at McLaren That was auwfull.

 

[Antony Snook]

I would argue Lewis Hamillton has a strong team at AMG Mercedes. So the car and management and development program is A+. But how much is Lewis and how much is the car and team.
Put Lewis in a Grandprix with a Williams car and we will see true coulours.
Also the modern eara is different in points rules ext. So it is hard to compare.

 

[Sasha Jednak]

When Vettel received the revolutionary design of Adrian Newey...a 'slippery' car that could use less power because of cutting edge aero to gap the field by multiple seconds, nobody said it was 'the car'.

Are you sure?
Personally, I am simply ignoring those who say it is ALL car, as it is very high % but not all of it (as we can/could see with Bottas/Webber).
I also tend to ignore those saying it's ALL Lewis. Which is so true that he himself said that Seb wins because of the car (-2013). And I remember watching review of 2013 season where Seb in one interview in second part of the season said after one of the wins (not direct quote): "we are enjoying this as we probably won't win like this soon".
So from guys that I watched in no specific order: Schumacher, Hakkinen, Montoya, Raikkonen, Alonso, Hamilton, Vettel, Verstappen. They are the best for me (for now), and there is no way that I can find parameter to make exact order and choose only 1 of them.

 

[Antony Snook]

Missing option: Maybe?

It depends, and we can never know because we can't go back to different eras.

Could Lewis have handled old school cars, tracks and rules? And vice versa, could a Senna or Schumacher have handled modern cars, tracks and rules?

Maybe?

Today is Michale Schumacher or Ayerton Senna raced there would be time penalty's. Caused a collision, exeded track limits, Cut a shortcut off the track. It was how they drove.

 

[ZuneGuy]

I definitely think that Lewis is the greatest of all time. He has the stats, and he's still building them. He's beaten team mates using the same technology and equipment. He just gets so much more out of the car than his team mates As far as I'm concerned his only equal would be Senna. I can see why he only respects Senna, because they're a lot alike.

The man is a smart driver. He arrested the team from Rosberg, and he's the only driver who has revealed Vettel's weaknesses. He's the only guy on his teams who can find two tenths in qualifying where others can't. It's no mystery why both McLaren and Mercedes wanted him so badly. Lewis is also very tough. Being the only black driver in a sport where there have been none, he's the only driver to ever have to face racial abuse and still be able to ignore it and keep his intense focus and determination.

I for one look forward to his views on the sport when he retires, and I predict a scathing commentary on the sport, and it won't just be about racing cars. Forget the whole best car argument, the fact is that he has done more with a best car than anyone else, and that includes his team mates who have also had a chance to do the same, but just couldn't.

I've heard people say that Schumacher is the greatest ever, but that's perfectly acceptable right - don't think so.