Is Hamilton one of the GOAT F1 drivers?

You consider 2016 already in the bag?

All the best,
Andrew.

 

All of the drivers were supported by someone, why does that make them a GOAT all of the sudden??? Vettel was in the RB young drivers team, Wehlein in Mercedes, does that make them automatically a GOAT because someone saw their talent early?

Not yet, BOY...

Ron did not try too hard to keep him and I have not heard that either RB or Ferrari really tried to get him either...And if you would ask the team principles whether they would prefer having a Mercedes works engine or Hamilton I bet the unanimous answer would be the engine
Again: it is not Lewis making the Mercedes a winning car, neither was it Lewis making the McLaren a winning car. All his team mates (apart from Kovallainen in one year) were able to win a GP in the very same car so it never was Hamilton who made the big difference between winning or not. So I have no idea where you base you opinion on that he is that great, before coming to Mercedes he was just one among several WDC in the field, now all of the sudden he is praised because he is winning in the absolute dominant car in the grid...

 

I don't think your post deserves an answer from me.

 

+44

 

A tad too soon, but probably not far off.

 

Cheers for the recommendation. Will get it. Somewhat ashamed, I haven't read a book in probably 3-4 years or so! I used to read all the time and went through books like crazy...

 

It's in the bag.

 

I'm devouring books on my commute like crazy. Never read so much in my life, not even in College.

Matchett 's other book is good too. Basically the rest of his F1 career outside of 94. Not as fascinating as 94 was a pivotal year but still good. What's amazing is his ability to write. He is far more than your average mechanic. No wonder he ended up on TV.

PS: while I'm no Damon fan, the book Heroes is a great read as well about his WDC year

PPS: anybody should read The Piranha Club. Covers a lot of F1 history. Opens with the MS deal from Jordan to Bennetton

 

I remember chatting with someone extremely high in Ferrari who is no longer there, and asking him whether he would ever get Elton into the team, and he answered that he was not interested in him because of all the baggage and turmoil he would bring, and that several other drivers were rated more highly than him. He reminded me that Ferrari is about Ferrari, not about the driver, they are lucky to work for the team, not the other way around

 

Agreed. Ham would be a bad fit at Ferrari. He's not intelligent enough and not really a team player even though he likes to proclaim infinite love for the team and fans after every race… For Ham to perform, he needs a very well set up team around him that can look after him and allow him to perform to his best.

 

True dat

 

I think the Italian press would slaughter him, for a start.

To drive for the Scuderia, you have to love Ferrari more than yourself.

That's hardly the case with Elton who likes to promote himself first and foremost.

 

+1

 

Huh? Lewham is a twerp, but he's no dunce; he's actually pretty sharp.

And what's wrong with not being a team player? Ferrari flushed Schumi down the toilet the second they thought they couldn't wring anything more out of him.

I mean, Ferrari is the one team least deserving of loyalty by anyone, at any level, a point that has been reinforced by decades of proof.

They executed Todt...Brawn...Schumacher.. Fern... Luca Di himself, and well as hundreds of talented employees...to what end?

 

LOLO, sorry....must be from all the smoke from surrounding fires...

 

I would bet not......

 

Unanimous? Not a chance.

Vettel, Ricciardo, Alonso and Verstappen I'd reckon would be preferred material for a lot of the teams.

 

Agree with you, Hamilton going to Ferrari would require him to develop the car, which he and Mercedes have confirmed is not something he is good at, thus why they do not miss him during test sessions that he off with celebrities, etc. Hamilton is good at getting in a great car and going fast, not developing a car to be great. The greats, Fangio, Clark, Stewart, Lauda, Prost, Senna and Schumacher did a great job of developing the car to be the best it could be and extracting the best out of the car, not just extracting a lot out of a great car.

I think the Autosport list that was put out before Hamilton went to Mercedes is very telling, the Formula 1 drivers past and present ranked Lewis as 17th at that time.
Formula 1's Greatest Drivers - AUTOSPORT.com - Lewis Hamilton

This was before he moved to the most dominant car in the history of Formula 1 and represents a more unbiased evaluation. The GOATs all had the acknowledgement of the past and present Formula 1 drivers while they were racing, it appears Hamilton did not.

I do not think this year is in the bag yet for Lewis, he will be taking engine penalties, due to using up all but one PU at this point. If Nico beats him this year, can he really be considered a GOAT?

 

And 17 place was already a joke!!! Hamilton isn't fit to enter a top 20 in any f.1 list.

 

Newsflash: Hamilton is already #5 on the all time list.

 

How so and by what metric? None of the other drivers have ever made such a statement, they did about Fangio, Schumacher, Senna and Prost.

 

Based on WDCs.

That ties him with Senna but Lewis has more wins.

BTW: of the 3 times WDCs Hamilton has the most wins, poles and fastest laps, except for Senna who still has the most poles

 

The Mercedes is very forgiving...The car is so much superior to all cars except Ferrari and RB that even starting in last position means he is at least 6th at the end of the race...Starting 11th or 12th after a ten place penalty would mean he does not loose to much time with the backmarkers and therefor is in the slipstream of the RB and Ferrari soon so I would say even starting with a penalty brings the Mercedes on or near the podium. When you look at the first races with the amount of collisions he had, even then he finished well in the points so other than a DNF I do not see how he would loose a lot of points. Nico had the chance to win this WDC by keeping the momentum after the first races but obviously he lost it to Lewis and so I think this will be another WDC for him.

 

You still confuse greatest with most successful...
Furthermore I do not understand how you can "+44" when someones says every team boss would choose Lewis and a few posts later "true dat" when someone says he would not be the right choice for Ferrari and therefore Ferrari does not want him....sounds very unconsistent to me

 

It's been said before and it should be said again, "you can't judge drivers of different era's"! The best you can do is judge them against the drivers they actually drove against in their careers. There are too many variables that can't be compared to allow anyone to arrive at a decision.