Hamiltons performances as dominant as senna according to David coulthard

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I didn't even read it as any kind of attack - Just stating the facts.

Cheers,
Ian

 

Senna is Sacrosanct - all pundits and media should stop comparing drivers of the past,present and future

 

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Along with maybe a handful of others. The vast majority would choose their top 5 from, I'd guess, around 10; The legends.....

Bar room debates, particularly online, are only to get more prevalent I feel. Whether that's good or bad is another Q of course......

Cheers,
Ian

 

Since this is a Hamilton thread........

WINNER: @lewishamilton is GQ's Sportsman of the Year #GQAwards #MOTY
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On Pure form and driving skill, Hamilton is not anywhere close to Senna.

Senna took mediocher cars - Toleman and Lotus and made them winners. and once he was in a Mclaren he was un beatable - ask Prost.

Hamilton -is very good. but no where close to Senna... or Prost.

the cars are so easy to drive compared to back then its not even comparable. However I get the gist of the comment - he is dominateing like Senna did in the 1990 - 1992 years. and I would say that Hamilton has made far fewer questionable errors... but Hungary shows when the desparation sets in he cant hack it. Senna - Japan 1988 just shows what an amazing driver he was.... that was on par with Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda etc...

 

Hahahahah. but he still needs Alesi's snickers....and half his talent would surely help him being recognized as something more than just a good driver in an awsome car.....

 

!!!
Yap, Suzuka 88 really showed Ayrton at his best...of course i can also remenber times when he didst the oposite....Suzuka 90 comes to mind!!!
I guess that in the "head" department, Niki was streets ahead of everyone else, Prost and Piquet included...

 

Niki was pretty amazing, and incredibly brave IMO.

 

If you have the time, try and watch Monaco 78...you will see a very diferent and amazing Niki!!!

 

I found a 'highlights' clip on youtube, but didn't see anything significant. There's also the full race, but with German commentary.

What was I looking for?

 

If memory serves me Niki would have won that race but for a punctured tire; he pitted changed tires and when the techs hooked up the gauge to their astonishment the psi was only slightly off-most drivers wouldn't have detected the difference but Niki did. Niki's charge thru the field was inspiring-not an easy place to pass.

 

Prost has 4.... And is considered a legend by many. I'm a gigantic senna fan but Prost was a different kind of amazing almost Clark-esq. smooth fast consistent.

 

+1

As I said above, I reckon "we" could get a top 10 list from which everyone could find "their" top five. I agree Prost should be in that 10, but for me, not my 5 for example.

Cheers,
Ian

 

Yep. Hamilton will never be senna. Nobody will ever be senna. Nobody will ever be Clark or fangio or Schumacher or Hamilton. They're all their own talent and we can argue opinions forever.

 

That'd be a good thread... *hint, hint*

All the best,
Andrew.

 

It crossed my mind.

I *guess* I could put up a dozen or so choices, and see where it goes; I was hesitant as even that will lead to many "you fool, you left out xyz!"

I haven't checked, but is it possible to have, say, a dozen choices & allow folks to choose 5? (but no more?)

Cheers,
Ian

 

The problem with this - is the drivers are in charge of vehicles far more complex than A Saturn V moon rocket.

You'd have to restore the cars to being purely mechanical machines.

For entertainment purposes, a return to mechanical cars, and lack of radio would be good, but then it wouldn't be Formula ONE anymore, it'd be Formula Vintage Spec.

 

You could make it a multiple choice public poll, so you could see if anyone selected more or less than the required 5.

I think you should start it, it'd be fun. Don't forget Button and Kimi.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

+1000. I am trying to think when I have disagreed with you Ian, and I just cannot come up with a single instance, you are spot on in my book!

 

With modern f1 cars, as has already been said, it is much harder to show greatness. Others have articulated it already in this thread far better than I can but you never drive them to the limit and it's all about management. Tyres go off in a second which actually disadvantages the quick drivers who could pound our epic lap times lap after lap.

That said, modern f1 drivers will never get the chance to prove themselves like those of the past. So whilst it may look like drivers of the past could do amazing things, today's drivers probably could too.

Out of everyone in the current field Lewis is the fastest over a single lap. Aside from a few blips last year, he has been absolutely dominant in qualifying over his entire career. I think what coulthard is getting at is this...


If senna was alive today and driving the 2015 merc I doubt he would be performing any better than Hamilton. Yes he may have 11/11 poles not 10/11, but in terms of performances in the races it would be no different. Dominant car or not Hamilton is driving to perfection. Until they fix the cars we may never know what today's drivers can do.

 

The trouble with your statement is that Alonso, Vettel, Kimi, ricciardo or any number of the current crop would do exactly the above if they were in the merc, don't kid yourself. Senna would do it in style, stuck in sixth gear for half the race, with bits hanging off, and by a country mile every race.... That's the difference in him and mere fast drivers like Hamilton.

No one is saying Hamilton is rubbish, they are saying he is nothing special. In an ordinary car, he chokes more often than he should, and is no better than drivers like massa or button, and they are almost certainly NOT on anyone's top drivers of all time lists.

Remember when red bull was the dominant car, Vettel got the lions share of the poles unless there was a problem, so he in my opinion is just as fast, pound for pound, as elton. In his heyday, Kimi would have been (now I do believe he has lost a tenth or two to age). It is not clear cut who is the fastest at any point as they don't set lap times in the same cars, it is a time when formula one is totally car dependent. Given the equipment, he is clearly one of the faster pilots out there, while Alonso is fast but a tactical powerhouse, more likely to win races but not necessarily someone who delivers one monumental lap. As time has shown, fastest lap in qualy doesn't mean fastest race driver over a GP, unless the car advantage allows for it, otherwise Alonso would not have won any races for five years, which he did

 

Look all the overtakings he makes during the race, and how he does them, amazing...i have a resumé from "Duke" videos .they cut all the boring stuff and just put on the good bits..

 

Go for it Ian......you could even put the top 20 but many would leave Elton outside it (i know i would) and it would be a drama!!!

 

I would say that in his prime (2004, 2005, 2006) Kimi was easily quicker than any current driver on the grid, both in qualy and in race mode.....probably by a couple o tents....than maybe Seb....again, Massa in his prime (2008, 2009) was also faster tha Elton....i believe Ricci is also (he is for sure a better racer)....but this days it's really hard to know who is best.....SEb as been doing great in that Ferrari, Hamilton has been doing a great job at merc, Massa does what he can whenever he can, KImi performs whenever the bad luck let's him, and the other don't really have a chance to show much

 

Hope it didn't go to the printers yet for them. The hair is all wrong now!