1st race 1991 belgian Schmac retired ... 1st race 2007 Australia Ham 3rd 2nd race 1991 italy Schmac 5th 2nd race 07 malaysia Ham 2nd 3rd race 1991 portugal Schmac 6th 3rd race 07 bahrain Ham 2nd 4th race 1991 Spain Schmac 6th 4th race 07 spain Ham 2nd 5th race 1991 Japan Schmac retired 5th race 07 Monaco Ham 2nd 6th race 1991 Australia Schma retired 6th race 07 Canada Ham 1st 7th race 1991 South africa Schmac 4th 7th race 07 USA Ham 1st Schmachers 1st win not until his 18th race in belgium not bad for a rookie eh ps its all luck tho !!
Perhaps it should be noted that MS drove for a constructor whose cars scored only 39 points that year. A car that managed only 1 win. And not for a championship contending team that is blowing away the field such as McL is this year. Not to mention the fact the Hami had been testing the McL long before his first race. An apples to oranges comparison IMHO.
Agreed. Apples and Oranges. It's a stretch to call Hamilton a rookie as for all intents and purposes he's been with Mclaren for almost 10 years.
Yeah, 10 years alright...racing karts and lower formulae. He was a prt-time test driver last year and this is his first year in F1. He came into F1 with a lot less seat time in an F1 car than a lot of other drivers.
All of this makes for a very good point; It's about the car, not the driver. All of the drivers out there are good, or they wouldn't be out there. When Schuey was in an okay car, he was okay. When he was in a good car, he was good. When he was in a great car, he was great. Everyone is now praising Hamilton's speed, but he's going no faster than Alonso who, coincidently, is in the same car. Kimi, who is generally regarded as the quickest driver in F1, isn't winning races these days. Did he just up and lose his ability? He's running no faster or slower than his teammate, also in the same car.
stretching the point if he is not a so called rookie what is he? besides being good.. The post is not a dig a schmac its just a basic comparision on there start out in F1.
Let's also take into consideration that LH has spent somewhere in the neighborhood of 5,000 hours (yes that's correct) in the McLaren racing simulator. That and F1 cars are much easier to drive these days than back in 1991 have contributed to LH results.
Make the comparison to JV instead of Schumey - it is almost identical, but means absolutely nothing in the end. Look at how Schumey's career ended up vs. JV's. Hamilton has a long way to go before you should start comparing him to Schumey. I can't wait to see him race in a weaker car - that will be the true test. If a driver is leading the WC, and his team mate is right behind him in points, that tells me that it is more the car than the driver. On the other hand, if a driver is leading the WC, and his team mate is 3rd, or lower, that tells me it is more the driver than the car. I am much more impressed with the second scenario.
What?!?!?!? You think just because he drove karts and GP2 under McLaren's watchful eye means he is not a rookie in F1? What a ridiculous statement.
Not quite Andreas. Alonso posted fastest race lap in Canada and was only .04 sec behind Hamilton on fastest lap for Indy. Alonso was faster than Hamilton all weekend long at Indy except for qualifying when it counted the most. LH is not faster than Alonso. They seem to be a nicely matched pair that is receiving equal treatment from their team. Which seems to be more than Ferrari are doing for its pairing.
good point I agree its to premature to compare .but given what we know now if you were that weaker team which would you pick Alonso, schmac, or hamilton
Schumey, hands down. Alonso next, and then Hamilton. Reason is Alonso won his WCs with his team mate finishing below 2nd in the final standings both times. Schumi did the same thing 5 times.
Personally I'd have liked to have seen Vettel given the same silver spoon path to F1 Hami has. Only 19 and with the way he was thrown in for 1 race in the middle of the season. I believe, IIRC, that he hadn't driven the BMW since Malaysia. What he did this weekend was very impressive IMHO. True Hami has done more than hold his own but he has driven arguably the fastest car on the grid ever since he got a taste of F1. Having a bullet proof car doesn't hurt his points gathering this year either. Different story had he been in last years McL for his 'rookie' season. Love to see how Hami would do with this years Toyota, Williams, Renault etc.
Alonso was faster than Hamilton all last weekend, the entire weekend except for one [majorly important] qualifying lap.
Vettel and Hami are worlds apart: Lewis is the next super talent, Vettel is a very good driver. I was curious to see how well Vettel would do and he did reasonably well, but nothing that screams supertalent: He lost a bunch of places in the first turn and the whole weekend long he was nowhere near Heidfeld (who isn't the greatest driver to begin with). Compare that to Lewis who hasn't made a single mistake, instead maneuvred brilliantly through a hazardous situation in his first turn at Melbourne. Right in his first race he has been breathing down the neck of his team mate (who happens to be a 2 WDC and the guy who beat legendary MS) and now he is actually beating Alonso. Even those who compare Lewis to JV are comparing apples to oranges: Hill was no measuring stick compared to Alonso. Beating Alonso is a lot harder than it was for JV beating Hill.
Hill was a WC, Alonso is a 2-time WC.........how can you make such a statement? How can you say it was "a lot harder"? I agree that Alonso is a better driver than Hill was, but they are both WC winning material.
Hill got lucky to make it to one title. He simply sat in the best car at that time. Hill was never a great racer. Like Massa he "grew up" as a test driver and as such was very clean and fast, but had problems in traffic and in the wet. Alonso has neither problem and is the full package.
Yes he sits in the best car and he wouldn't be leading the championship if he wasn't. But: He gets the max out of the car. Every time. And makes no mistakes. In that he beats EVERYBODY on the grid right now. All others (Massa, Kimi, Alonso) had at one point the best or at least equally good performing car, yet made mistakes. Forget the fact that Hamilton is a rookie and how he was brought up and all that. Simply look at what he delivers. He delivers top results and no mistakes.
