Posts like this are pure waist of time as noone knows what the future holds. However he needs at least seven more years to be put equal of Schumacher and even then there will always be the fact that unlike Schumacher and Senna he never had to work to get where he is now. It was all given to him from day one. The best car, the best team and the press and governing body's biased support. Hell, throw the kitchen sink in too. He is great talent, but still has a lot of work to do to even be compared to Schumi and Senna, let alone be their equal. Where he is right now he needs to be compared to Montoya, Kubica and Jacque Villeneuve.
This is stupid. The exact same thing could be said about any of the four men running for the WDC after their wins. This whole Lewis Hamilton explosion is just like the Paris Hilton and Britney Spears noise. If you want to make a million a photo, snap a picture of Britney's snapper or of Paris being drunk. If anyone from the past wnats to hear his name again, praise LH. The FGB1 press would make sure the whole world hears about it. Pwoplw on this forum trashed Nicki Lauda before big time saying that we should not believe a single word out of his mouth. Now that he said that IF HE CONTINUES THIS WAY AND KEEPS HIS FORM LH would be unbeatable (same would've been true for Felippe after Turkey) theese are the words of GOD himself. When talking about Damon Hill in the past-the common notion here is that he was waaayyy far from the best driver, and has been long forgotten by all but the few F1 fanatics. But hold on, he thinks that LH is the second coming. This lunacy should stop. Especially if you are a fan of Lewis Hamilton, as it's doing nothing but harming his image. I am not bashing in any way the man himself, just the idiocy going on around his success.
I will revisit this post in five races never mind 5 years, if you think this kid is the equal of Senna, and Schumacher your are less informed than I thought. Some of us have actually watched this sport for more than 3 seasons. You people need to get a clue, it is embarassing how uneducated people can be. I guess you didn't read any of the other posts sent by normal people. This kid may win one or two championships, if he is lucky, but he is no where even near the driver as the greats who have come before him. Lauda, Schecter, Jones, Beloff, Ickx,Bell, Rourel, Stuck... must I go on...Get a clue before you quote my post.
I can understand if you, like I, are a Ferrari fan and don't want to admit to seeing a really good driver on another team. I felt the way you do about Schumacher when he was with Benneton. He basically bullied his way to 2 WDC's and I just thought of him as an unsportsmanlike driver who was lucky to drive the best car. Of course, once he moved to Ferrari he was going to be the best driver in history. If that is your case, then I can understand your statement. OTOH, if even Schumacher himself can see what you don't, maybe it's not all of us who are the uneducated ones.
I never said the guy isn't a good driver.....what I said is don't even think about putting him in the same light as Schumacher or Senna when he hasn't earned it yet. You should put as much energy and defense towards drivers that have earned their stripes, like Alonso, and believe me I am no Alonso fan club member, but his track achievements speak for themselves, and the whole F1 community has already forgotten him for wonder boy, when anyone who knows anything, knows in a straight fight Alonso would mop the floor with Hamilton.
I was taught that when having a discussion to stick to the subject. The subject must stand on its own merit. The subject is Lewis Hamilton, apparently this factor has escaped you? It is also apparent that you require all sorts of non-relevant comparisons in an attempt to make a point, probably because your point has no merit. I was not discussing the previous actions of Schumacher, Massa, Raikkonen (at whom I verbalized I was pissed for his stupidity in Monaco), the price of oil, or the Cookie Monster. I was verbalizing on a forum my opinion of Lewis Hamilton. If you want to start at thread about those other individuals that has merit, then I will discuss the relevant person in your thread. I simply stated facts about Lewis Hamilton and included my personal opinion, without any comments about you personally. You just do not agree with my opinion, so you chose to get anal. I do not appreciate your suggesting that I dodged any point about Schumacher. Or accusing me of having a double standard. Or asking silly questions and answering them for me as if you would know what I would answer. As I even explained before, I prefer to stick the subject. The only comment I made directly to you in my last post was to ask you to stop assuming you know what I am thinking. You did it again. Doing that, getting personal, just implies you have a weak point to make, or none at all. You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about when it comes to what I am thinking. If I felt like getting banned, I would actually tell you what I think of your pitiful behavior. If anyone looks biased, it would be you. Try making your point without getting personal. Try making your points and sticking to the subject. I will repeat myself since you have a hard time understanding. As I said before, I do not give a rat's ass what anybody else thinks about Hamilton, whether it be Schumacher, Lauda, or the Pope. I am truly impressed that you know these people and can talk to them about Hamilton. What people say in public and what they believe in private are usually two very different things. Stewart said at the end of 2007 that Hamilton blew what may have been his only chance to win the WDC. He is probably very wrong. Your post is rather disjointed, not sure wht you are trying to say, but of the points I can understand, I will respond. I hold Hamilton to the same standard I would hold anyone with about 18 months in F1. It is way too early for anyone to really know where, what, and when. There is nothing I have said that would suggest any differently. I can not truly compare him to Raikkonen, or Alonso, as they have been in F1 longer. They would be the benchmarks to judge Hamilton by in the next 3-4 years. Then I could compare him to Alonso or Raikkonen, even Massa. At this point in time I can compare him to Kubica, and in that case, I would call Kubica, Hamilton's likely equal. I would love to see Kubica in a McLaren, or Hamilton in a BMW, racing each other in the same chassis. Very possibly, Kubica would have done better than Hamilton in a McLaren during this past 18 months. Or maybe not. I have no idea, and if you think that you know, you should also pass on to me the winning Lotto numbers. I have no idea what this sentence means "You make the point about an inferior car, but how do you know how bad the car really is?". Are you talking about the hypothetical secondary car I suggested in the earlier post in which I would like to see Hamilton's performance? If so, that is easy, put him in the Honda, or the Toyota. Even a Red Bull. I am not a genius, but I would suggest that those are easily verifiable secondary chassis. So, that's how I would know "how bad the car really is". You have your opinion, I have mine. Please, can the personal references, you have no idea what you are talking about if you think you can assume you know what I am thinking. So far in that category, you are batting 0. Thanks.
Again, please don't comment if you don't know what you are talking about. In the era you refer to the Williams chasis was the far superior car to the Benneton, it just so happens that Schumacher drove the wheels off the thing and won two championships.
Once again, Hamilton is NOT a perfect driver, nor the best on the grid, AT THIS TIME. It is too early to say. Not sure what part of that you do not understand, or possibly do not want to understand.
You make a declarative statement that he is not the best on the grid. You then add the parenthetical "at this time." Then, you say, "It is to early to say." However, you have already said it--that he is not the best on the grid. It is not, actually, to early to say something you have already said. Or maybe I am just reading too much into the criticism. Back to the point . . . For my 2 cents, I recognize LH's talent. I don't think he is the best. But, to remove all pretense . . . I just don't like Lewis. And therefore I find it easier to be critical than constructive--just human nature.
Why is it the new guys with hardly any posts strut around like they own the place? Lots of people have watched this sport for more than 3 decades, let alone 3 seasons. What kind of ego is behind words like "you people need to get a clue, it's embarassing how uneducated people can be" and "you are less informed than I thought" and "get a clue before you quote my post". if you were *the* authority on F1, you'd be running the Scuderia and if you were the ultimate oracle of driver skill and what is real skill and what is a flash in the pan, you'd put Willi Weber to shame by picking out the wheat from the chaff. But you're just some anonymous guy on the internet, just like the rest of us. Saying "I know it all! You are all idiots" doesn't get you respect or make people think you know what you're talking about. Contributing relevant and insightful commentary over a long period of time builds up your "cred", and sorry but you have none and the above 'tude ain't gonna earn you it!
I think that Hami is a very quick good quality driver and prospect, but until he starts delivering WDCs, I too will refrain from talking about comparisons to the greats of the past.
I was never trying to assume what you're thinking. Quite a bit of this post seems to be about me predicting what you think, which really means nothing to me. Also, I never lowered myself to insulting your intelligence, unlike you. Considering all of the predictions and so called inside knowledge you've thrown up on these boards, which turns out to be consistently wrong by the way, I wouldn't resort to that. Secondly, you seem to think that Kubica would do better, but considering him being smoked by Heidfeld last year, and having Nick nipping at his heels again, I wouldn't say so, especially since Lewis bested Alonso last year, and is now smoking Heikki. You know, that same Heikki you suggested Ferrari should and would go after? Back to my point about the inferior car, let my put it this way, the best measure is your teammate. Alonso is beating Piquet jr in that Renault, and you seem to think that now makes him one of the few best of all time. You seem to qualify that as him doing something magical with that Renault, simply because Piquet jr sucks so much and has consistently been rumored as being replaced and blasted by every one. Now, let me sum this all up. I'll repeat, that your judgments regarding Hamilton's actions and others (namely Schumacher and Massa) are inconsistent. I don't try and predict what you think (unlike what you seem to think) because I've seen all the nonsensical posts you've made in the past, and those speak for themselves. You can take the high ground if you want, but I've seen you post some really insulting crap before, such as you referring to others as morons, in your arm chair soap box moments.
Are you so backed into a corner in your argument that you can't even decipher what I was saying. My point was that, possibly like you towards Hamilton, I was so bitter that Schumacher was beating the hell out of Alesi and Berger without breaking a sweat that I didn't want to admit to the obvious...that he was simply an incredible driver. Fortunately, there was no F-Chat in the mid-90's for me to make boneheaded declarations on. Ironically, it's funny to hear such an 'informed expert' on Formula One rant about how Alonso would crush Hamilton in an equal car...
What I don't understand, Ron, is how you can think it logical to say he is not the best on the grid and at the same time say 'it is too early to say'. If it's too early to say he's the best it must also be too early to say he's not the best! But somehow you think it's OK for you to make the assessment that he is the sixth best driver on the grid but rubbish people who believe he's better than that because 'it is too early to say'.
It's interesting that in this thread the comparison between Hamilton and Schumacher/Senna has been brought up only by those who don't rate Hamilton. They tell those who believe LH might possibly be the best around at the moment that it's ridiculous to compare him with either of those drivers - but no one has! If it comes to comparison a distinction has to be made between ability and achievement. Anyone who wins 7 WDCs will be Schumacher's equal in achievement but they don't need to do that to be as good a driver as he was. Senna won three WDCs, was he only half as good a driver as Schumacher? Of course not. Schumacher was clearly a great driver from early in his career, he didn't have to win 7 WDCs before people recognised that, so why should anyone else? LH 'never had to work' and 'it was all given to him from day one'? Get real. He started out as a young kid and served his apprenticeship in all sorts of racing for fifteen years or so. He's paid his dues.
I have been following F1 for exactly 40 years and have been a staunch "tifoso" through thick and thin. My heart raced to see Ickx's 312B lead the British GP at Brands Hatch in '70 (my first GP), and I was crushed when his car let him down in the very early laps. I was overjoyed in '74 when Ferrari made their big comeback, and positively ecstatic a year later when Lauda won the championship. I stuck by them again through the lean years of the 80s and 90s, and was rewarded by the advent of Michael Schumacher, for whom I rooted year after year, championship after championship. This year, I hope that Hamilton wins the championship, and devastates the second half of the season. This guy is special, really special. To suggest otherwise blatantly and blindly ignores the facts. Sure he's made some mistakes; he's young. When has a rookie driver come so close to winning the WDC? Was that luck? What about his drive in the wet at Silverstone? Case closed, as far as I'm concerned. The only question now is how far he will develop and go with what is obviously (except perhaps to some on this board) an enormous, amazing talent.
