Hamilton is a top 10 driver ever. And I am not a fan of the guy. He is light years better than Vettel. Vettel is maybe top 15. Fast but error prone, similar to Hamilton's early years. Seb just never grew out of it like Lewis. I'd love to see Ferrari's drive lineup for 2019 as LeClerc / Alonso but ah well.
only on Planet statistics ...wich mean crap in terms of driving ability![/QUOTE] A cynic said: "History only remembers the winners, not those who came second". The stats is mostly what sporting history is made of.
The only reason Hamilton won in 2014 was Rosberg's steering wheel failure at Singapore (WTF?) and a PU failure at Abu Dhabi
Another thing you have to consider when you look at stats - Hamilton has driven better equipment than anyone in F1 history and it's not even close. Seasons are much longer now, giving drivers more opportunities in their prime/in a great car (as Hamilton has enjoyed for his whole career). Makes it easier to pad stats. That said he is still a top 10 guy to ever do it.
Schumacher never whinged about his car post-race, even when it was stuck in 5th gear. By contrast Hamilton would throw a hissy fit if his car was that crap.
I’ve heard it all now, apologists for elton suggesting becuase ferrari managed to develop the best car in 2002 and 2004, and despite every other team developing fast and season long staying ahead, it reduces schumi somehow? **** me, delusional or what. Mercedes have had the best car since 2014, FACT. It was decided by the FIA to limit testing to a ridiculously low level, and restrictions placed on development, that sealed Mercedes performance advantage for years - FACT. This year, the ferrari is fast and reliable, and has a shot at the title, for the first time in the turbo era, that’s five ****ing seasons.... during this ‘competitive’ season we have the FIA and Liberty conspiring to make sure no matter what a Mercedes does, it won’t get a penalty, whether the team send out their pit crew five laps in a row it won’t be called cheating, just a little innocent horseplay creating a hairpin for Kimi to negotiate despite the rules specifically banning pit crews from ‘ghost pitstops’ (the only excuse according to the FIA a while ago was if the driver missed his call, and had to go around again, that would be accepted, ie two laps with a pit crew in the pits for him, not five laps), and if there is any accusations of cheating towards Mercedes it would be ignored and brushed under the carpet (tyres, strat 2, flexi floors and wings) but even the most innocuous mention of a trick in the ferrari has to be formally investigated - FACTS KIDS To suggest on the basis of the most dominant car in f1 history that the one driver paid the most, supported to the detriment of the number two driver (treated as though he’s a number 99 driver to be honest) is a GOAT is an insult to the skill, determination, work ethic and performance of all great drivers that have gone before. Points totals, podiums, all that is down to the car being the most dominant. Here’s the test, put elton in a red bull, see if he beats Maxine for a start, with no favouritism, do the same in a ferrari (and I’ll hold my breath and shut my eyes, and pray to the Virgin Mary for forgiveness), he will be second to both max and to Vettel. He is fast, but as thick as two short planks. If his engineer didn’t remind him, the guy would forget which way to spin the steering wheel to turn left. Successful, yes, no doubt. Fast in the car, yes of course. Best driver ever - **** off, don’t be so ridiculous
Hamilton cannot drive around major mechnical defecits in the same way that the GOATS have. Hamilton is a drama queen.
It's your opinion. Cars are too complex now to "drive around major deficits" , I think. Often it's the pit that instructs a driver to stop, haven't you noticed? Beside, a team gets penalised for the next race if it changes to many components, so to carry on and risk wrecking everything isn't an option anymore.
This is why MV gets my respect. He will often continue on his mission disregarding team instructions, and is his own man. All he needs now is a faster PU. Hamilton by contrast needs lots of coaxing and ego stroking from the the pit wall in order to perform.
I think you are correct. The current cars are far less mechanically challenging. Hamilton has been fortunate to arrive in this era.
Look at it this way, there's more people behind laptops and at HQ in todays current cars. All info & data is being streamed live at 500GB per second at the pits and from around the globe with anywhere from 200 to 400 sensors on the car. They (pit & HQ) tell the driver how to race the car and what settings to choose during the race.
Exactly! Today drivers workload is increased even more by the many request of the pits! lol. You're saying drivers now have to change their driving style multiple times during a race per the pits? Sounds more involved than in the past when they just let the driver have a quiet race and concentrate on their lines without any interuptions
Actually, its the opposite. Drivers of the past, given said era, knew everything mechanical about the car. They knew what was wrong with the car and relayed "what they felt" with the car to the engineers. Today, the engineers and laptop techies know and tell the driver whats wrong with the car and "how" to drive it. I have seen in some instances, given todays era of formula, where the experienced drivers know more than the engineers and techies behind the laptops. I love technology, don't get me wrong, but with the advancement of it it takes away more and more from the driver....mentally. As is the case with todays roadcars.
Yeah drivers in the past knew about mechanical stuff, drivers today are mechanically inclined as well. No they don't know about software engineering because they are not software engineers. Drivers today have a leg up on knowledge on past drivers because they started their career using cars with little software, sensors etc. So they have experience with both highly aided cars as well as raw mechanical cars. I think actual driver worload/to do list while racing currently is at a all time high because of the many options and settings available on the cars now
If you equate how similar driving is to using your playstation, then you’re probably right. However, in the real world, today’s cars are much simpler to drive. The pit crew literally tell them every switch to push. The dash tells them how much faster or slower to drive. They have perfect information about other competitors, their relative pace, strategy, everything. They don’t have to think for themselves at all. Before this era, drivers had to sort out their own strategy, determine how hard or gentle to go on their tyres, drive their own race. They even had to manually control their own clutches and change their own gears whilst pulling very similar G forces. Plus they had to put loads more days into their racing with all the testing that was required and the feedback that was expected of them by the engineers. You have no absolutely idea what you are talking about.
