Just how good is Lewis Hamilton?

... by comparison, with Michael Schumacher at age 30:

M e n t o r s :
Hamilton: a Ron Dennis protege -
Schumacher: Flavio Briatori and Ross Brawn -


R o o k i e - Y e a r :
Hamilton (his rookie year): teammate Alonso; replaced Pedro de la Rosa in substitution for JPM -
Schumacher (rookie year teammates): Nelson Piquet; Roberto Moreno; Sandro Zanardi -


T e a m s :
Hamilton at age 30: 2 [McLaren; Mercedes]
Schumacher, age 30: 3 [Jordan; Benetton; Ferrari]
- e.g., though never having driven for the same team, by age 30 both had driven under Ross Brawn --


G P s - C o n t e s t e d :
Hamilton at age 30: 148 GP in 8 years [110@McLaren with one DQ; 38@Mercedes]
Schumacher, age 30: 130 GP in 9 years [1@Jordan; 70@Benetton with 2 DQs; 59@Ferrari with one DNS]
- e.g., both drivers demerit distinction as the most penalized drivers in motor sport history -


P o l e - P o s i t i o n s :
Hamilton by age 30: 38 pole positions [26@McLaren; 12@Mercedes] -
Schumacher, age 30: 23 pole positions [0@Jordan; 10@Benetton; 13@Ferrari] -
- e.g., Hamilton is indeed on track to break Schumacher's career mark: 79 pole positions -


W i n s :
Hamilton by age 30: 33 Grand Prix wins
Schumacher, age 30: 31 Grand Prix wins (91 career) -
- e.g., that Hamilton never drove for a midfield team, time to score first GP win isn't directly comparable; Hamilton is indeed on track to break Schumacher's career mark: 91 GP wins -


C h a m p i o n s h i p s :
Hamilton by age 30: 3 titles (2 driver's titles: 1@McLaren; 1@Mercedes; 1 constructor's title: 0@McLaren; 1@Mercedes) -
Schumacher, age 30: 14 career F1 titles, 4 by age 30 (2 driver's titles: 0@Jordan; 2@Benetton; 0@Ferrari; 2 constructor's title: 0@Jordan; 1@Benetton; 1@Ferrari) -
- e.g., though Hamilton's scored more for himself and less for his teams, by comparison, Schumacher had scored as much for himself as his teams -


W i n l e s s - S e a s o n s :
Hamilton by age 30: 0 (never in his F1 career has Hamilton suffered a winless F1 season) -
Schumacher, age 30: 1 (e.g., partial season at Jordan; never thereafter did Schumacher, to age 30, ever suffer a winless season in F1) -
- e.g., that Hamilton never drove for a midfield team, breakthrough time to score a first GP win isn't directly comparable, between these drivers -


C o n s i s t a n c y :
Consecutive Victories, Hamilton by age 30:
-- e.g., 5 instances of consecutive GP wins over the course of 8 seasons, with two teams; on only two occasions, 2014, has Hamilton scored more than 3 consecutive GP wins; never with McLaren could Hamilton could break through to more than two GP wins, in a row; Hamilton merits distinction as the only driver in F1 history to score more than 4 consecutive GP wins, in a turbocharged vehicle) -

Consecutive Victories, Schumacher, age 30:
-- e.g., 9 instances of consecutive GP wins over the course of 5 seasons, with two of three teams (e.g. on 3 occasions, in 5 seasons, with two teams, did Schumacher score more than 3 consecutive GP wins; Schumacher's first consecutive GP win streak, 4 in row in 1994) -

- e.g., though Hamilton is improved with respect to consistency, by age 30 Michael Schumacher was, discernably so, and by a significant margin, a far more mature, polished, consistent, emotionally stable driver -


B u r n e d - B r i d g e s :
Hamilton: 2 (Ron Dennis & McLaren) -
Schumacher: 4 (Villenueve; Hill; JPM; Hamilton) -
- e.g., where Hamilton burns bridges with team principals, team members and crew, Schumacher his fellow drivers; though well past his prime when Schumacher made his return, Schumacher had Hamilton's number; no driver in history could manage to get under Lewis Hamilton's skin, quite like Michael Schumacher - asj.

 

He ain't no better than your threads, mate, that's fo sure!

 

+1

 

Good but nothing really special...like so many others in current f.1

 

That's a tall order. Lewis has to count of having a very good car for at least 5 more seasons to have a shot. Cars like W05 are an anomaly so he cannot expect such an easy time in the future although I suspect W06 may be just as dominant......

 

If Lewis will have all this by 30, what about Vettel?? Surely Lewis would be eclipsed by Vettel's records?

Poor Lewis.

 

Vettel doesn't have so many (loud) fans to therefore he sucks.

Don't you know anything, Aircon?

 

An asjoseph thread about Hamilton.

I see a perfect storm coming.

 

Lmao. These stats to me at least are meaningless. In today's F1 the car is everything, driver secondary IMHO.

 

I think Hamilton has tremendous potential, but at the end of the day, it's how many WDCs he will walk away with once he hangs it up, and in that sense, he has a long way to go.

Schumey had everything come together for him when he joined Ferrari and started his WDCs accumulation, and was able to carry this momentum forward for many years. Maybe Hamilton has begun such an accumulation period with Mercedes, but he certainly has a tougher teammate right now than Schumey ever had with his career at Ferrari. I think his talent is higher than anyone else in F1 right now, but having everything come together, and stay together for many years is near impossible.

 

R e s o u r c e s :

Hamilton, at age 30:
- an ever vigil, steadfast Niki Lauda constantly propping him up, emotionally steadying him though bouts of fear, correcting his moral center, guiding him though uncertainty; Daimler-Mercedes turbocharger technology tracing its roots all the way back, to the Luftwaffe's Blohm & Voss BV 155 of WWII (e.g denote its turbo-superchargers fitted, aft its cockpit) -

Schumacher, age 30:
- the world his oyster, a blank check signed by Luca di Montezemolo and a Ferrari welcome wagon for his entire Benetton entourage; his very own Fiorano test facility; veto power over test drivers and teammates at Ferrari, Toro Rosso and Sauber; factory Bridgestone personnel on-site, making tyres exclusively for him - asj.

 

Other way around, I'd say. Schumacher dared to go on a mission with unknown result, took a gamble to rebuild a team in shatters. Hamilton, as always in his career, got a seat in a winning car. I don't know what you want to achieve with your comparison but it seriously has toilesque features.

 

Lewis is very, very good. I'd put him right there with Alonso at the top of current drivers.

 

Not only that, but when Schumacher left Benetton it was the fastest team on the grid. Mclaren wasn't. It wasn't the slowest by any means, but it was unreliable and the team was lacking significantly in employees and it didn't have a proper leader.

 

My team my money Lewis would be my first choice every time, awesome driver.

And I don't give a stuff about comparing stats about other drivers in different eras.

 

No way?? Really?? I didn't see that coming

 

I know, right? It was a surprise to me too!

 

geez...you make Lewis sound like a whiny school boy who needs hand holding and mollycoddling constantly. How pathetic! (if it's true)

Why are you bashing Lewis?

 

Ignore *really* is your friend......

Again, this guy accused Tony S of ****ing murder not long ago.

I wouldn't have seen any of this BS without the quotes.

Ian

 

He's the best of his generation, better than Kimi, Vettel, Button, Rosberg, Kubica and matched with Alonso.

Beat two reigning WDC's in the same car and beat Rosberg who beat Schumacher senseless for 3 seasons..That boy has a bright future ahead of him.

No wonder Mclaren haven't won sh*t since he left them for dead.

Mclaren was the second best car in 2012, Mercedes where 5th in the constructors championship. He made a huge chamble and he made it work. Even winning a race in his first year with Merc while Mclaren where struggling without his direction and setups.

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/report/22058/9538348/what-was-said-when-lewis-hamilton-quit-mclaren-to-join-mercedes

 

You're welcome

 

how come button had more points than lewis during their time at McLaren? just asking.

So many people on here say button is a second rate driver. They say the same about Nico. Doesn't say much for Lewis, does it?

 

+1 LH didn't drag a p6 car up the grid and dominate JB at all. Good he is but not quit as adept as FA.

 

... were it not for his constant interventions, massive infusions of emotional support by Niki Lauda, in bolstering Hamilton, keeping him focused, Nico Rosberg may well have swiped his 2014 title -- asj.

 

After having participated and watched most forms of racing for over 30 years I can say that Lewis is an extremely good driver. He has not always had the best equipment but when he does he is nearly untouchable