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

Mansell was fun to watch in CART. The really ironic (and unexpected) thing is ALL of his CART victories came on ovals (with no street-course or road-course victories during his two-year stint).

 

Almost, but Mansell actually won on the street race in Surfers Paradise in 93', his debut race no less!

Of course, 94' was harder on Mansell. Penske and Reynard chassis had the better balance over the Lola he was driving, plus he was distracted by what he was doing in F1 at Williams.

 

My bad - - I totally forgot about his debut victory at 1993 Surfers Paradise!

 

To the OP you either looking to stir the pot by creating this thread or have been too lazy to look at the threads already created. I suspect my initial feeling is correct. You are not a newbie here.

Hamilton is loved by his followers and there is no love from those who do not follow him. Its as simple as that.

Hopefully this thread does not turn into 50 pages of the same **** put up by the anti and pro supporters with the fence sitters tossing in their 2 cents.

 

PLEASE NOT AGAIN THIS UTTER NONSENSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

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As I have said and now repeat, this has been discussed ad nauseum. You want to discuss Hamilton go to the other threads read them in their entirety and then if you are still awake and feel you need the opinion of others then add to those threads. I cannot see how you can infer I hate Hamilton. I am not a fan nor do I like many of his comments before, during and after a race nor do I like his sartorial taste but I do not hate him. Not liking someone does not mean you hate them.

Now time to fill up my pop corn bowl.

 

You have to understand WHY some people on FChat don't like him. In order to do that. You really need to follow F1, since Lewis came to F1, to get a "taste" of how Lewis is.

There are some FChatter's that are "pro-Hamilton" and IF you.stay long enough here you'll know who they are because they will defend him to no end......I admire them for that on a Ferrari forum. It's up to you to decide to make your own opinion of Lewis.

Otherwise, this thread is another "Hsmilton thread" that's been talked about to death.

 

So true!

 

Okay, to be fair, it looks like you haven’t hung out in the F1 section very long. This topic has greatly overstayed its welcome, you’re going to find some very strong opinions on both sides, and like usual, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Here’s the short of it:

Some people think Hamilton has the finest race craft of all time. Others think he’s no better than a second tier driver and the car flatters him.

The truth is that he’s a top tier driver, the most successful of his generation, easily in the top two, and comfortably ahead of Sebastian Vettel. This is not enough for Hamilton’s most ardent supporters. I personally believe Alonso has superior race craft, however, and this statement is likely to trigger brain hemorrhages among crazy Hamilton fans.

The “greatest of all time” discussion is a dumb one, because of the multitude of nuanced variables among each F1 generation. How can anyone say for certain that Hamilton is a better driver than Fangio, Clark, Stewart, Lauda, Senna, Prost, Schumacher, etc.? Some say that Hamilton would crap his pants having to drive what Fangio did, but he is a racer, and if I can drive a ‘59 TR3 at 80 miles per hour, I would be willing to bet Hamilton would push Fangio’s cars to the best of his ability. The question is who would be faster, and no one will ever know the answer, so there’s no use talking about it.

There is a lot of angst against Mercedes due to some really shady practices including having unfair development advantages early on and illegal Pirelli tire tests. It’s also convenient that Pirelli changed their compounds when they weren’t suiting the Mercedes. We’ve heard over and over that they want competition, but when Ferrari shows up, Mercedes has their toys taken away by the FIA. It’s funny how when Mercedes has new toys, it’s “pushing the limits,” but when an underdog does it, it’s “cheating.” For anyone who is not a Mercedes fan, the anticompetitive practices and seemingly special treatment are very irritating.

Hamilton is not a universally beloved figure in the sport. As a matter of fact, Max Verstappen and Landon Norris are actually the most popular drivers with Hamilton coming in third.

Some love Hamilton’s flamboyant style and politics outside of the track, and others don’t. Some of Hamilton’s strongest supporters will sometimes point to skin color and say that’s the reason he is not liked, and I have no doubt that is a reason, but only on very rare occasions. I personally find his participation in fast fashion to be obnoxious attention whoring, and the less that’s said about his rudimentary-at-best understanding of politics, the better. I didn’t like his phoniness when it came to calling his hometown a slum, which it obviously isn’t. One minute, he’s berating his nephew for wearing a princess dress on Twitter, and the next he’s on the cover of a magazine wearing a kilt, which is little more than a way to project himself as this ever-evolving deep thinker. He’s the only driver on the grid to have behaved in this particular way and it rubs some people who have no tolerance for bull**** the wrong way, including myself. Personally, I never had an issue with him until he made the Ali G “joke” in 2011. I don’t have respect for those who play the race card instead of taking personal responsibility, because it detracts from those who have actually been disenfranchised, like Willy T. Ribbs.

 

Its impossible to say who is the goat. Because its impossible to put them all in the same car. Whats not impossible to say is Lewis is the most successful driver, as he has broken the most records. That is fact. Everything else is opinion.

 

No, even this is opinion. Yes, Lewis has the most wins and pole positions in F1. That is a fact. But is he therefore the most successful driver? It is not fair to compare the results of Lewis (over 20 races per season) with the results of Ascari, Fangio etc (6 races per season). It is not fair to compare the results of a driver from an era where any crash might be fatal or career ending, with the results of current drivers. So "the most wins" as an absolute number is meaningless. If you want a more fair comparison, you might look at the percentage of wins per total number of starts. And this is where another discussion starts and opinions come in.

We had this discussion over and over again ad nauseam.

Therefore again, PLEASE STOP THIS UTTER NONSENSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

When it comes to threads on F-chat the topic of Hamilton is the greatest of all time. But greatest driver? One of the best . . . maybe.

 

Its nothing wrong with your post or your question. You will find some people here who hate the oppsition. Thats fine. Their problem not yours. You will also find a few Hamilton fans like me here to balance things out.

 

Yeah the eras are different. That has already been mentioned. We can't change that. Doesn't change the fact Lewis has the most records, therefore having the most success statistically.

 

No: what you are stating is a short cut suiting your OPINION, distorting reality and verging on dishonesty.
For instance, the percentage of wins / the number of starts is also a fact: Fangio won 25 out of 51 races: this is also a fact.
Be honest, for Ch...t sake: look at the whole picture.

Rgds

 

Yes that is a fact. The eras are different. Hamilton still has the most most records. You do know that 2 facts can exist right?

 

What I do know is that it has been months that you have been trying to force-feed us with Lewis greatness; sorry, but it won't work.
He is simply not in the same league as Moss, Clark, Rindt, Fangio, Ascari, Brooks, Prost, Senna, Häkkinen...and will never be: he lacks what makes a Legend: not numbers, but Class. A thing that cannot be measured by numbers.
So if you need to use numbers, well: that says everything, really.

Rgds

 

Thanks for sharing your opinion.

 

He has the most records and successes because he had the most opportunities to achieve them. This is called “context.”

 

Yes he's had a lot of opportunities. Top teams seek and keep great drivers. Nothing new in F1. Max has been with a top team 90% of his career. He is building wins and stats because of it. Its been called "context" since the begining of F1.

 

No Shumi?