Hamilton deserves more respect

A statistical analysis is easy to do. It just takes time.

 

Thoroughly enjoying Max totally obliterating the sir and his disciples minds. Last week everyone was kissing sirs pouch with a lucky red flag and restart on mediums. The week before that he moved up 3 positions due to Sergio and the other two fools crashing out. Poor sir has ALWAYS been more lucky than good. the Merc is not that far off the RB. Merc have come a long way unfortunately. Let’s see the budget numbers.

 

With insights a driver wining his first GP at 17 years old is a terrific omen..
Realistically we shouldn’t be surprised to witness what he’s achieving as a driver seven years later..
Problem is Newey on top of that too.

 

Max Verstappen is the Messiah !!

 

Sort of !

 

It's a perfect storm. Max has made some fantastic career decisions that others may not have, particularly sticking with Red Bull as he has

 

Agree
In 2020 i was thinking " what a waste of a talent!"
Now..
On the other hand i firmly believed the hamilton's move to Mercedes in 2013 was a catastrophic one..

 

It certainly did seem that way, until you follow the money/talent that all went to Mercedes it started to actually become blindingly obvious. Add in the fact the walls were closing in at Mclaren, too (RD offering only a salary reduction before ''upping'' his offer to retain his existing contract value), he made the move that paid off very handsomely indeed.

 

This notion that RB19 is "not that much better" is silly.
Hamilon's average finish position (through Brazil) is 4th place
He has finished on the podium 2 weeks in a row once this year. He has finished on the podium 6 times this year in total and out of the Top 5 in 8 races.
The car is inconsistent, to be kind. In the end, the only thing that matters is where you finish, all this other "data" is worthless.

 

When Hamilton was winning everything in sight, it wasn't the car--he was the GOAT.
Now that he hasn't won a race in more than 40 starts, it's the car.

 

Didn't Hamilton lose to his teammate last year? Yep ... must have been the car.

 

You got it backwards. When Sir Lewis Hamilton was winning everything, it was the car. Now that he hasn't won a race in more than 40 starts, it's the driver.

 

he was sabotaged

 

I assume the Hamilton info was not related to your comment about the RB19. If it is, could you explain the point you are trying to make?

I think Hamilton has done a brilliant job this season. His side of the garage has delivered with the package they have. The Mercedes is inconsistent yes, but its far better than other teams. As mentioned, Aston Martin goes from 2nd best to 5th or 6th. That's unbelievable. McLaren goes from 2nd worst to 2nd best. That's perhaps even more unbelievable. Can't call either of their cars consistent can we? Ferrari has been on the same level as consistency as Mercedes. It's been fast in quali, but slow in the races. A few races here and there they are 4th or 5th best, and a few races here and there they are 2nd best. Teams are jumping around because they are only separated by tenths of a second, so little changes can make a big difference. Mercedes has done one of the best jobs in developing their car, which we has some fundamental limits. From the start of the season till now, they have stayed about the same. 2nd-3rd best in the race with a few times being 4th best.

Since you mentioned some average finish position, I felt like I wanted to compare. These are finishing positions (this excludes DNF's or retirements that are still classified)

Hamilton: 4.56 average in 18 finishes
Russell: 5.47 average in 15 finishes
Leclerc: 5.27 average in 15 finishes
Sainz: 5.67 average in 18 finishes
Lando: 7.55 average in 20 finishes
Alonso: 5.33 average in 18 finishes
Perez: 3.94 average in 17 finishes
Verstappen: 1.30 average in 20 races

Just to compare:
The WORST average finish by Hamilton or Rosberg in 2014-2016 was 3.06 by Rosberg in 2015
Bottas 2017 - 2.95 average
Bottas 2018 - 4.40 average
Bottas 2019 - 2.68 average
Bottas 2020 - 4.31 average

 

I greatly respect that Hamilton came from humble beginnings to literally the top of the motorsports world.
And, while certainly enjoying the trappings of mega success, still speaks with warmth from the heart.

This video hasn't been posted here yet to my knowledge, but is a good example of his personality and openess.
Recorded by a friend the night before the US GP 2021.

 

Nice how Sir Lewis Hamilton, warms the crowd. The positivity is noticable. He and Alonso maybe are the only few who could keep a crowd engaged like that.

 

I've had the pleasure of a small private session with Lewis (and Valtteri) when I worked for a company that sponsors the Mercedes F1 team. Lewis could not have been more engaging and honest. He stuck around much longer than he needed to, signed autographs, even spoke one-to-one with parents of kids who drove karts about racing lines at Rye House. I don't recognise the aloof, out-of-touch character painted by some quarters of the media and various fan forums.

Valtteri was also funny and warm, however when talking about racing and competing with Lewis, he looked and sounded beaten before the season had even begun.

 

A friend of mine has also met him multiple times and was also complementary about him. Another friend of mine was his pilot in the Caribbean (he's not into F1 at all) and Lewis couldn't be more rude.

Personally I just go by what he shows to us and I dislike that personality.

--

Sidenote, last night I was in a iRacing session with Oscar Piastri and he was very nice. I let him pass (cold tyres) and he said thanks...I then asked him if he was Alonso's son (see context below) and he had a chuckle at that. Had a brief chat, said his mom is a legend and wished him good luck for Vegas.

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When you rely on one data point that aligns with your opinion and disregard several that don't, it's called confirmation bias.

 

Not exactly.

I dislike him because of how he portrays himself in the paddock, in the car. What he shows there, many many times (i.e. more than one data point), is what I don't like.

Surely your own experience with him (at a corporate event) is also a "single data point"?

I've never met him therefore I can't say what he's like. I can still have my own opinion on him.

If we're only allowed to form opinions on people we've met (and how often are people wrong about individuals they've met or known for a longer period of time?), then we might as well close all discussions about any of them, since the people that truly know any of these people we discuss here we can count on one hand and certainly they won't voice their opinion to a bunch of armchair experts.

 

Indeed it is, but:

 

yeah but that's him not me

 

Whats the best way to guage a person, watching them on tv or meeting and talking to them?

 

I would never conclusively judge someone on the hear say of someone else's experience. I either need to see examples of character, and I would like to see context for the not so great examples.

I've seen enough examples from Lewis to not care for him as a person. A single story of someone's experience on an airplane or corporate event isn't going to influence my opinion either way. Having said that, just because he isn't my favorite person, there are several occasions where we share the same opinions and surely could share a chuckle from time to time.

 

Nope.
Just like the current Max worship, the fans give the driver all the credit. Real F1 followers realize that is incorrect, driver skill is ONE of the things that make a guy a WDC.