Ron : Hamilton the best in F1

Lewis Hamilton has to be judged as the best driver in Formula One at the moment, because of the success he is enjoying with his relative lack of experience in the top flight.

That is the view of his team boss Ron Dennis, who claims that what Hamilton has managed to achieve in his short F1 career, allied to his approach to the job, makes him stand out against his rivals.

"It amuses me to see these evaluations of drivers because for me you have to take into consideration how long a driver has been in Formula One when you evaluate his performance," he said.

"For no other reason that puts him top of the heap, he is the best in Formula One at the moment. Take into account how little experience he has had, that's the bit that gives him the edge.

"It doesn't mean to say he is particularly quicker than the others, or he has dominated, it's just you have to take how long they have been involved in the sport as one of the values."

Dennis believes Hamilton is a much-improved driver from the one who let the title slip through his fingers at the end of 2007.

"Lewis is stronger now than a year ago, more experienced, more developed," explained Dennis. "With all drivers, only a fool doesn't realise, irrespective of age, you learn something every day.

"It is no different for a racing driver because they spend their whole life driving a racing car and they are going to learn more and more. With all drivers in Formula One, they are on a very steep learning curve, and the longer they are in it, the steeper it becomes.

"I wouldn't surprised if Lewis has won more races to grands prix at his age. I doubt there has ever been a driver who has won eight of his first 29 races. How can you criticise him? And what he is driving is immaterial."

 

Good for him. But I have to disagree with his last statement. It is for a very large part all about what he's driving. How many of the current drivers got a chance to drive a top car right from the start of their F1 career? But anyway there's no denying of Hamilton's qualities.

 

Lewis Hamilton is just what F1 needed in the post-Schumi era. He is a condfident, good looking and personable guy who simply wins races. As great as Kimi is - and I do admit his greatness - he is not a guy that can sell F1 in this era. F1 is about entertainment - not mechanical engineering. Love him or hate him, Lewis makes F1 more interesting than any other driver currently on the grid.

 

What else does anyone expect Ron Dennis to say about his #1 driver, that is he is second best? Just more hype. BFD.

 

But what would F1 be right now without him - the Felipe Massa show? Give me a break.

 

Enzo always used to say it's 50% driver, 50% car.

 

Yeah but top teams know who they want. You don't see Ferrari or Mclaren going after the likes of Jenson Button or Mark Webber, and there's a reason for it. I think Massa got his seat thanks to his manager being Nicholas Todt, but for the most part, top teams want the top drivers.

 

Yah think??

 

Indeed I do.

As obvious as that may be.

 

Everyone that jumps into an F1 car got their because they milked the right cow somewhere along the road. There are many could be great drivers that dont even get a chance. Its is also very obvious that any Rookie starting their careers in a top car like the Ferrari or Mclaren is going to look like the "next big champion". If you could turn back the clock 2 years and Vettel and Lewis traded spots then everyone would think that Vettel was awsome. How many next great drivers would be able to wear that moniker if they started out in F1 in a top car? Ill bet the answer is most of them.

 

Ding!

Ding!

(I got tired of "+1")

 

+1

 

I disagree. FM and HK aren't rookies, they have a fair bit of experience, but does either look like 'the next great driver' even though they are in the best cars? Only those with something special have the potential to achieve that status and there aren't too many of those around.

 

+1
He was in a Mclaren because had already proved worthy of the drive, he then proceeds to put a 2 x WDC in the shade with it.

We can only measure his skill against a team mate, so put in a mid pack car would prove the exact same thing without the wins thats it.

And the team mate he had, just happens to be one if not the best driver in F1.. so go figure.

 

He did not mean it privately: more car than driver ;-)

Nowadays I'm afraid it's more like 70% car 30% driver...

 

very true...

 

Sort of. The teams with the best cars also tend to have the most money and that combination attracts the best drivers. Looking at the performance of the two drivers in each team and the gap between them I'd say the driver is worth a bit more than 30%.

 

Hamis good ...Massas' better any fool can see that.

 

I agree - one would indeed have to be a fool to see it that way, considering Hamilton has a pretty good lead on Massa in the WDC.

 

He had an even larger lead on Kimi last year. F1 is unpredictable. Thats how I see it