Is this the dawn of the Lewis Hamilton era? Thats whats being asked in the wake of him becoming the youngest ever world title winner. Is he about to dominate the sport for years to come, to make Formula 1 his own in the way Michael Schumacher did previously and Ayrton Senna before that? Its easy to see why the question is being asked: his talent is outrageously high, hes already produced performances that will come to be part of the legendary fabric of the sport and he has a close, long-term relationship with arguably the best, most powerful team on the grid. Lets be clear: its more than possible. Hes gifted enough to do it in the right circumstances. But those circumstances are not in his control. It will depend on where any number of potential challengers to his status find themselves in the future, how competitive the cars into which they get their backsides turn out to be, and how influential they themselves are in shaping their environments. If there is going to be one dominant figure in the years ahead, Hamilton has got himself into pole position to be that man. Its about so much more than just the way a driver presses the pedals and turns the wheel though. At the most obvious level its about how fast his car is what its aero numbers, brakes, suspension and engine are like. Beyond that, its about how his approach and personality influences those things. Historically there are rarely more than two teams during a season capable of fielding a potentially title-winning car and if youre not in one of them, no matter how great a driver you are, you arent going to win a championship. In a typical season, therefore, there are four seats from which a title challenge could feasibly be launched. Are there four drivers of the necessary calibre to prevent Hamilton domination should they get themselves in those seats? Yes, probably. Fernando Alonso and/or Robert Kubica could spoil his party pretty much immediately and are good enough to go bat-to-bat with him, Alonso having already proved as much last year. In his rookie year Hamilton was quicker than Alonso more times than vice-versa, but the margins were tiny and the question remains which of them was at the bigger disadvantage: Hamilton through being a rookie or Alonso through his relationship with the team and F1s move to low-grip control tyres? Its an unfathomable that even they cannot know. What is clear is that Alonso in a potential title-winning car is a potential world champion, whether Hamilton is there or not. Kubicas performances this year in an inferior car and at the end of 2006 suggest hes of a similar calibre, and certainly both Hamilton and Alonso regard him as a potential champion. Pre-season Alonso even went so far as to express the view he believed Kubica to be the best of them all; that may have been a bit of typical Fernando mischief to diss Lewis. Maybe not. They are the obvious two challengers to Hamiltons future status, but is either of them in the right place? Could they get to the right place? Recent history suggests they need to get into a Ferrari. Its unlikely theyll both do so. Then again, could BMW or even Renault turn out to be smart places to be? Beyond Alonso and Kubica, there are other possibilities. Felipe Massa, after all, pushed Hamilton all the way this year; whats to say he couldnt go one better in future? Or that his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen wont regain his spark as the characteristics of the cars move back towards his driving style? What does the future hold for Sebastian Vettel? Or Jenson Button? Or Mark Webber? Maybe those guys have what it takes if given the opportunity, maybe not. But its another unfathomable. Time is against the likes of Raikkonen, Button or Webber being Hamiltons long-term threats even if they were in title-capable machines; the youngest of them is giving away five years to him. But not Vettel. Its very easy to picture a scenario where he ends up in one of the best cars not too far distant from now. Once there, would he be good enough? Quite possibly. But even once in the fast car, theres more to it than being a fast driver. He needs to dovetail his natural driving style with the characteristics of the car. It can just happen this way by chance but its such a fast-moving sport it wont stay that way, and when the requirements move the driver needs to be able to adapt and, critically, he needs to be the sort of personality that the team will not only accommodate but go out of their way to please. He needs to be smart enough to understand what his needs are, to know his own weaknesses and work on them, to be as savvy and ruthless as necessary and to be able to build good relationships with those who are important to his performance. Hamilton is in the early stages of working all this out but will have achieved much of it already; certainly he has fully on-side arguably the best F1 team of all. And that is an achievement none of his would-be rivals have yet managed. Hes doing his bit. The rest is down to the others. From ITV
Lewis set to dominate? Nope. In the MS era, MS has only Mika Hakkinen to deal with. but now, Lewis has Kimi, Massa, Alonso, Kubica, and Vettel.
I believe FA, Vettel and to some degree RK would be his main rivals in the same car, Kimi when he is on song and the car to his liking, Massa I'm very keen to see if he can continue where he appeared to leave Silverstone a distant memory, however his passing skill's, I'm not to sure about. IMO LH won't be allowed to dominate, like MS did. The end of this season, will have justified the meddling of the results as far as Bernie and Max are concerned.
Steve, unfortunately too much depends on the car more than ever. However, I think Lewis will continue with Alonso to be the strongest drivers. As far as Vettel, it depends what team he ends up at.
Yes I agree Tony. Still a bit early to rate Vettel, as he has nothing to lose, but very impressive, it all can change with pressure.
Who's Asking? Here is a guy in argueably the best car, and you are wondering if it's his era? As John Surtees said, when you are in the best car, you are supposed to win, anything else is failure. So, this year Lewis won in the best car. But next year who knows with all the changes coming. Vettel, Alonso, Kubica and the two Ferraris will surely be competitive enough to challenge. To dominate an era, you need to win alot and follow up with championships. Lewis has gotten off to a good start, but to talk about HIS era, wait 3-5 seasons. 2 more titles and 25 or so wins and yes, it would be his era. Otherwise, another champion in the best car, i.e. Hill, Mansell, Villeneuve.
in his first two seasons the championship has been decided by the last race. i'd hardly consider that dominating. I do believe he's positioned well to make a run at schumacher's 7 titles because of his age, but even that seems extremely unlikely given how equally competitive many of the teams are now. I still think Ferrari are the team to beat, and it still remains to be seen if Mclaren can continue their resurgent form. I think renault is positioned well to dominate, as it was losing alonso for that season at mclaren which set them back, but already by the end of this year they're back on form. Had Mclaren given in and handed alonso number 1 status no doubt by now he's be on his 4th championship (or at least 3rd). vettel is probably going to be a force in years to come, but so much in f1 depends on the car these days, so it's really a question of what team he ends up driving for. Kubica could also be a major force if BMW continues to develop the car in the way they did this season.
I don't see anyone about to dominate. None of them are remarkable enough to win in a car that isn't the best that given day.
That's debatable, the purpose of discussion, you answered your own question, I don't disagree with the time needed, however it's a prediction. So then why did HK finish 7th in arguably the best car! Is he a crap driver,? or Lewis a much better one. Now I'm going to hear how RD favours LH over HK, he had the same car it's up to the driver from then on, until such a time one rules themself out of winning the WDC.
It is certainly possible that Lewis could remain champion for the next 10 years, but it certainly won't be easy. I think that if he had lost the title again this year it would have been very hard to recover and he may have faded to be another British 'nearly man'. Althogh Lewis has a lot in his favour such as his age, his team, and his talent it won't be enough to become a dominant force in F1. All multiple Champions had more than just great talent and a great team. They also were great managers and motivators. The Ferrari mechanics all worshipped Michael and he made sure he had the best people around him. He also made sure they were all focused on his needs. In return he gave great feedback, great results and never criticised his team in public. Senna had a similar way of inspiring and motivating those around him to go the extra mile and double-check every detail. It is too early to say if Lewis has these extra qualities. The early signs are promising. He's controlled his anger when the team or himself have made mistakes. Next year will be very competitive IF all the teams make a similar amount of progress. One result of all the rule changes may be that a previously poor team like Honda might dominate in 2009 - we shall see.
Whoever get's KERS working best, I don't believe Renault or Ferrari are ahead in this. Also another factor to take in to account in the longer term, race engine life will have to be prolonged. IIRC 3 races by 2009 not sure if this is confirmed as yet though. The FIA confirmed on Wednesday that from next season Formula One engines must last for three Grand Prix meetings. Engines were required to last for two events in 2008. The move is part of the governing bodys continuing push to drive down the costs of competing in the sport. Rules regarding engine-change penalties are expected to remain the same, with each driver allowed one free joker change, after which a new engine will mean a drop of 10 places on the grid
it's really difficult to say. for the past 10 years, Mclaren were struggling with their cars. both reliability and speed wise. but since that spy saga in 2007, the cars just became faster and more reliable. i don't mind to bring old stories, or whatever, but i think, it's gonna be difficult for Lewis to dominate the sport the way Senna or MS did. nowdays, it depends so much on the car, rather than the skills. look at Ferrari, when MS dominated, he had a car a team, and also a briliant race strategist to give it a good mix. the way i look at it, and in a way i hope, these next 5 years, will be dominated by diff drivers from diff teams.
There is no doubt Lewis is a better driver then Heikki. But beating your teammate is job 1. Yes, both have 2 seasons under their belt. Although Lewis was with the same team. And I DO believe Ron favours Lewis, but only because he was winning more often. He wasn't going to skimp on the other car because the WCC is his goal. But back to the original point, Lewis needs time to claim an era. And though you won't agree with this, if Alonso got one other break in '07 he would have had 3 titles in 3 years. Era domination.
I tend to agree. And for the record I hope Honda DO something next year, they can't really go any further backwards, the only way is up!, isn't it!..
I can agree with that, if you mean FA had been given the clear role of #1 status over LH, It was with dubious circumstances how LH lost the 07 WDC IMO, All down to just brain fade and pressure of fighting his team mate maybe, but leaving him out on totally bald tyres in the wet in China strange..
Experience would have helped there. No matter what the team says, HE was driving, HE knew how bad it was, and HE should have made the call to pit. And back on point of original post, you stated Lewis was unlucky in '07, then I guess you feel Massa was unlucky in '08, losing the title on the last corner of the last race. What could be more unlucky than that?
You probably don't know my stance on this, yes it was unlucky for Massa, but in the real world for me LH was already before Brazil 7 points ahead in the standings, the FIA gifted Massa, not popular considering it's a FC site, but I believe alot of true Ferrari fans see it that way. Massa was really UNLUCKY when his engine blew on the last lap IIRC.(forget what race) but there again he may have had his engine flat out for too long. He could have eased off, like you say LH could have come in for tyres earlier, who do we blame the team or the driver.
Massa's misfortunes at Hungary and Singapore not withstanding, the driver is responisble for decisions made while driving. McLaren and Ferrari have telemetry to tell drivers to back off, so that is not an issue. Sometimes cars break. No fault of the driver or team. And yes, I believe the FIA shows some bias to Ferrari. But all that bias didn't help from 1980-2000. Competition is key for the FIA. If rule interpretation rears it's ugly head in favour of Ferrari, or any team, it is to keep the drama alive. Season like 1988 for McLaren and 2002 for Ferrari were boring. Historic, but boring. No one complained in '94 when the FIA did everything it could to keep MS from winning the title. Granted, in the end he took matters into his own hands, but to be banned from 2 races for overtaking on the parade lap, at Silverstone mind you, was a horrible call. It was a home call for Hill. It happens. If you are upset by one, you need to be upset by all. Otherwise, you feel bias is good, if it helps your guy.
Domination? LH could not hold onto his championship last year, and barely squeaked by this year! 2009 will be even tougher, especially if the FA/Renault package is competitive, and BMW wakes up to the fact that F1 is more than just a branding/marketing exercise. He's not the F1 messiah, but one of at least seven potential race winners next season...
I agree with most of your post but not this, I would not want EVER to see a driver win and get a trophy taken off them again. It was a sad day for F1 when that happened., If the driver I supported won by other means rather than his skill on track, it would be a hollow victory and that would stand for whoever, I admire LH but I was quite aghast when a certain crane put him back on track, embarrassed.
It has happened before, and it will happen again. It is unfortunate when suits decide a races outcome but it happens. We can continue back and forth on our points of view, and you have valid points, but we are both F1 fans and will take it as it comes. So with that I will say, congratulations, Lewis. Although I am not a fan of yours, you are and I am sure will be a worthy champion and contender next year. Go, Robert!!!