Is Lewis Hamilton the greatest of all time, why or why not?

I think you can compare drivers from different eras. I think Hamilton and Verstappen are clearly at the very top of the sport, and do rank in the all time best. but I still think people like Fangio, Stewart, Clark, Prost and Lauda all rate higher than any of the newer guys. I think you have to allow for danger, and how difficult the cars are to drive, which clearly gives more weight to the older generation. while I think Clark is in the top 10, those that raced and lived to talk about it rank the highest. My vote has consistently been for Jackie Stewart. no body has done more in racing than him.

 

I cannot help thinking that the top drivers of yesterdays were more deserving than today's ones, simply because of the danger factor they had to overcome, that was real then. The blokes were really putting their life on the line everytime then went on the track, and many lost it as a result. Today, nobody on an F1 grid thinks he could die during the race; that thought was very present in many during the 50s,
60s.and even 70s. Technology removed a big part of the risk in racing, and also the attraction to compete to quote the late Stirling Moss who wasn't enamoured by the direction motor racing in general took: "The thrill isn't there anymore", he once said. It has been sanitized.

 

Well, as seen by Grosjean you can still get killed - or nearly so. It's still dangerous for sure. so I never agreed with Moss on that aspect. But I do agree that racing in the "killing years" was much harder and much more serious. perhaps the drivers did not work out like today, but the intent, and the focus was way higher. today you have to physically take all the stress, but mentally its not as hard... in the early 70's you had races that were 20 - 30 % longer, and they just did not stop regardless of what happened. just go slower was the response from people. To be sure, to be at the very top of any sport means you are great. but when you think of world championships winning one in 1958 vs. winning one in 2024, 1958 was by far much harder and bigger achievement. when you look at a drivers impact on the world, there is just nobody like Jackie Stewart, who had such a total impact not just on F-1 but racing around the world.

 

^^^
And the season was a lot shorter in the “good old days”.
Comparing eras is a waste of time…

 

I think the dangers of the past should never be forgotten. All of those drivers deserved all the respect in the world. Does that risk mean they were better drivers? I don't think so. One could say they were the braver drivers. I have to believe that some drivers were faster because they were braver, and willing to take a bigger risk. Driver 1955 is 4 seconds a lap faster because of bravery, while Driver 2025 is 4 tenths faster because of skill. IMO driver 2025 would be the "better driver".

Not that it's relevant to the "best driver" subject, but I think if any driver from the 50s could see how safe F1 is today, they would refuse to drive the death traps of their era. You don't know what you don't know, and proper safety simply didn't exist back then.

 

You beat me to it, I agree. Drivers from the early era raced because that's the only option they had. Not a way to measure talent. More deserving is debatable, but not talent.

 

It’s a fool’s errand to define a subjective notion like “greatest” by using objective data like statistics…..especially when you’re spanning 75 years and infinite variables. I don’t understand why anybody wastes their time. Oh, wait. I can: To justify their fanboyitis.

 

"Who won the most races in F1?" Lewis Hamilton has had the most sucessful career in F1 with 105 wins. No other driver has won 100 races. "Wow, that was simple!" (Bring in the haters with one thousand reasons why they move the goal post after MS's 91 wins use to be the unbeatable gold standard for GOAT status). MS lead Ferrari to his juggernaut 91 wins. Likewise, Lewis joined MB before they started winning and lead the team to a juggernaut winning streak achieving 105 career wins. The answer is obvious to all but the haters. Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

The were more races per year in the Hamilton era(2014 thru 2020) than there were races in the Schumacher era.

 

So what? Professional sports constantly changes, can't stop growth or progress. As a professional athlete, Lewis has stayed healthy and competitive to have a longer career with more racing. That makes him more the GOAT not less. MS didn't have to stop, he chose when to retire. When He had enough tries at winning races was up to him. Stop trying to move the goal post. "Who has won THE MOST races in F1?" I'll give you a hint. He drives a Ferrari Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

So IF Schumacher had the same amount of races per year as Hamilton had during his WDC title wins, don't you think Schumacher would have more wins?

Hence the comparison between the two is not comparable because as you said "professional sports constantly chnages."

 

@Mark(study)

So given both drivers the years they won, Hamilton has 21 more races in total than Schumacher.

Schumacher has 91 wins. Add 21 more races to Schumacher where he won in those years and Schumacher has 112 wins....hypothetical speaking.

 

The greatest in his era (so far). If he can win an 8th WDC with Ferrari, then he and Michael and Fangio will be the three greatest of all time.