Hamilton deserves more respect

But I think with this NG crowd that it would not happen.

 

Hasn't this been discussed to death? Who gives a **** let's move on.

 

And you know this how?

 

Max got a taste of racing the Legend the first race. Second race Max actually fault back, drove a good race. As Rosberg said you need consistency to beat Lewis. As of now Verstappen is more consistent than Bottas, he still has a chance and a car to challenge Lewis.

 

After 10 races Lewis will have the championship locked up. He’s too good as is Mercedes. It appears Mclaren will handle Ferrari for 3rd place. Could Ferrari fall to 5th if Alpine heats up?

 

In the 1970s there was a programme on UK TV called 'Superstars' in which prominent sports stars competed against each other across multiple disciplines (that makes it sound more grand than it actually was!). I recall Jackie Stewart being surprisingly successful so I'd say that he was probably the first driver to take fitness and professionalism seriously.

Of course as the cars got faster the physical demands on drivers got higher, and MSC upped the level to compensate.

 

Yep. Same goes for Hunt I believe, when he went on a similar (same?) program back then he surprised everyone with his level of fitness.

Schumacher and his team turned it into a science. Now all drivers are on the same level of fitness as he was.

 

You may be correct about Schumacher and his team turning it into a science, but to say that NOW all drivers are on the same level of fitness as he was is just simply incorrect. Athletes will always get better, think of it as a natural progression or even a Darwinian Evolution, Citius, Altius, Fortius or Faster, Higher, Stronger. Technology, research, genetics, sleep science, food science, exercise science are all hacks that athletes use to get an edge and train more intelligently, so these current drivers therefore aren't on the same level as Michael, they have surpassed him. It's not to say that Michael wasn't a very talented driver and as fit or more fit than anyone in his day, but the knowledge of the past has helped the current batch of drivers push onward and upward.

 

Bruce Jenner ranks up there to, except for the switcheroo thingie !

 

Nico: Lewis is an exceptional driver.
Question to Nico: who beat Lewis for the title in 2016? Answer from Nico: Me of course! CQFD
Sorry : « That which was to be demonstrated »in English.

 

If Max wants a title (or 3) he is going to have to loose his flamboyant driving style, settle down, and nail each lap with maniacal and machine precision as long as Lewis is racing.
All those little mistakes from Max are eating tires, and shedding time--even if it is fun to watch.

Make no mistake, Max arguably has the best car control skills of the decade (maybe even a generation),
but he is being beaten by someone who simply does not make mistakes ! driving for a team that does not make mistakes, either !

 

Perhaps same fitness as michael is the wrong way to put it. Each driver/team does see the importance of a well thought out fitness regime and drivers stick to it.

 

Hamilton and Mercedes are not infallible, they make the occasional mistakes, but learn from them and recover quickly.

Verstappen is the proof that one can be the most talented, but not the top racer. His temper is often letting him down.

 

No sir, I am not wrong.

Apologies to the board to take this away from F1 for a moment. Nat if you want to continue this I am happy to do this over PM.

Before Michael Phelps there was someone named Mark Spitz who held the record with Seven Olympic Gold medals in Munich all with world record times. Guess what happened, his records in each event fell and Michael Phelps eventually eclipsed him in totals. Michael's individual event records have started to fall and he will eventually be eclipsed as well. Even a ten year old had beaten one of his twenty three year old records.

Before Carl Lewis there was Jesse Owens, who earned four gold medals in the 1936 Olympics and then Carl was the first to match him in LA84 with four golds in the same events (100m, 200m, 4x100m and Long jump). Then came someone by the name of Usain Bolt who currently still holds three world records in the 100m, 200m, 4x100. I assure you Carl's (indoor) long jump record will be surpassed as well, impressive as it is.

Do you see a pattern emerging here?

You mentioned Bill Russell, an awesome team basketball player and an even better man, but I digress. Bill actually does not hold any individual records that I am aware of and any number of players to play in the NBA since Russell are better than him, Jordan, Magic, Lebron, Kobe, Bird, Malone, Curry, etc, but let's compare the big man that followed him and that's Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Kareem's 6 MVPs to Bill's 5, All Defensive First team 6-1 Kareem, All-Star 19-12 Kareem. Kareem was the Rookie of the year and Bill was not, shooting percentage was 59-47 Kareem, Points 38k to 14K Kareem, Points per Game Kareem 24.6 and Bill 15.1. So Bill has two things over Kareem, more rebounds and more championships BUT if you know your basketball history then you'll know that Bill played in a time period of the NBA that had zero parity and Red Auerbach was basically shrewd enough and allowed to have a monopoly in the league. (Are you aware that Red attempted to get Wilt Chamberlain instead of Russell? He wanted to use the 'Territorial Rule' that could be used for players that went to colleges in their vicinity, he wanted Wilt to go to a New England college.) Something that with the multiple expansions of the league, would not be possible again. That is why there are considered a couple of eras of the NBA , the modern era is considered coming in with Magic/Bird. As great as Michael Jordan was and infinitely better and more dominant that Russell, he only won six championships and that is because of parity.

So to sum up, again, athletes continue to get Faster, Higher, Stronger and to take this back to F1 and @Bas further comment, "Each driver/team does see the importance of a well thought out fitness regime and drivers stick to it."

 

Schumacher was the only driver who never seemed to break sweat from an intensely physical race.

Hamilton was exhausted after Portugal.

Different eras different cars.

 

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/schumacher-empty-and-exhausted-after-record-title-5064540/5064540/

 

Is there one thing you don’t like about Lewis?
Out of curiosity.

 

Yes. But did you ever ask SimCity is there one thing he does'nt like about Schumacher?
Out of curiosity.

 

Impossible because schumacher had no weakness!

 

Lol, right.