I've been reading alot how Hamilton now has 73 starts with one team, which broke Clark's record of 72. Is that true? I thought MS alone had more starts with Ferrari, same with Barrichello.... Just curious.....
I think the key is "in a career". Schumi started more times for Ferrari but also raced for other teams. Clark only ever raced for Lotus. Ham has only raced for McLaren.
Absolutely. Just different eras, aren't they? The sport is so much safer (thank God). Way too many brilliant careers cut short by tragedy and driving to the limit. That's one change I don't mind seeing in this sport. There is no "too safe".
Yes and no - back then there were often only 9 or 10 championship races in a season (along with a few non-championship F1 races, not counted in that loyalty comparison), but Clark also raced for Lotus at Indy, in F2, in touring cars. Really, though, you'd think the real comparison is that Clark only raced in F1 with Lotus, for 8 seasons. Hamilton is only on season #5 with his only F1 team. Clark really was amazing - in 1963 he won 7 of 10 races, the ones he didn't win were Monaco, where he retired from the lead with a gearbox failure; Germany, where an engine misfire dropped him back to 2nd; and Watkins Glen, where a battery problem on the pre-grid meant he started the race from last place, and finished 3rd. Without the mechanical problems, he could likely have won every race.
I cannot see 2 people more different than Jimmy Clark and Lewis Hamilton. Clark was a very skillful driver, smoth and never looking at the limit. Hamilton takes his cars by the scruf of the neck and mishandles them into submission. Clark was an instinctive driver, Hamilton is a technical driver, etc... The 60s were really a special era in GP racing.
Yes they were. To be fair the cars of the sixties responded to a different sort of style than those today do. Its always an imperfect effort when we compare across eras.
Let's compare Clark with teammate Graham Hill, then, when both drove for Lotus in 67. Hill went through 2 sets of brake pads per race weekend. Clark went through 2 sets in a year. Hill went through a set of tires per weekend. Clark had his changed after a few months because he was embarrassed about not needing new ones! Clark really was the most sympathetic driver out there, never abusing the car or pushing to the limits the way we expect race drivers to do. He was a sublime talent, could make a car do things that no other driver could.
That is not quite correct . Clark was so good that he could run closer to the edge than anybody else and do so that it was not abusing the car, but he very much did push the cars right to the limits. That was why he was so bloody fast. Have a look at the photos of him driving Lotus Cortinas!. Those cars were miles OVER the limit but under complete control of the master. If you drove like that today you would not even be allowed to race. Brilliant driver, and LH will never ever and I mean ever be at the same level. This thread is somewhat insulting to Clark. Jackie Stewart is the only English driver that comes close. Pete
True enough, and worth the clarification. I agree with your point, I worded that statement poorly - what I meant after the comment that he didn't abuse the car was that he didn't push the car to the components' limits - he didn't over-rev or blow engines, he didn't burn out brakes, he didn't break suspensions (at least, not any more so than the fragile Lotus' were going to break anyway! ). He definitely drove beyond the limits of any other driver in the same or similar cars, but was at the same time more gentle with the hardware.
IMO Clark was the consummate driver. Part of that is driving each car to its particular limit. The Lotus F1 cars were delicate machines that needed preserving. Cars of limited power that responded best to finesse. The Cortinas and Galixies needed a bit more man handling which Clark was equally adept at. He even mastered the unique art of racing at Indainapolis.
I just wish I could have been around to savor Clark's brilliance. If you take and analyze Clark race by race with Lotus you are absolutely dazzled by the dominance he displayed... He was taken from us MUCH too soon... As has already been mentioned, the sport was so dangerous that there were years with multiple fatalities...if they would have run 18-20 races per year there wouldn't have been any drivers left... As a matter of fact, some of us F1 fans were discussing him tonight here in Dallas... a sublime talent and one I wish I could have seen... fast, disciplined, humble... everything one could admire in a racing driver. RIP Frank
