That's mostly the debate right now. Out of the current crop of drivers he does get the most points and fewest mistakes (the reason for the lack of mistakes can be argued till end of time, but the general gist is the easier to drive your car + the more time you have in hand over your rivals = less pressure = fewer mistakes. I like Vettel a lot but even i must admit that he has certainly written himself out of contention as best driver at this moment. The last few years he's made too many mistakes. Back in the early 2000s when Lewis didn't enjoy the best car (similar to Vettel post 2013), he also was beaten by teammates he shouldn't and made more mistakes. Quite where both Vettel and Hamilton where on amount of mistakes I genuinely can't recall or be bothered to look up. I think it was 2011 when Hamilton had so many crashes into Massa (let alone others) that it may seem closer than one would think but I really don't know the true ''score''. Is he the best of his generation? I guess his only competition in his generation is Vettel and Rosberg. Other drivers such as Button, Raikkonen, Alonso, Verstappen and Leclerc have of course driven a few years in the same era but I wouldn't consider them the same generation. A lot of us ''Hamilton haters'' (as we're so gently named) often argue that many drivers would also be WDC in Lewis' cars. I stand by that. What I think many Lewis idolizers mistake is that anyone that says that means ''all these drivers are as good as Lewis''. I, and I don't think most others, mean that. It's more to show how good that car is than anything else. The fastest driver in F1 right now I think is Verstappen, followed by Leclerc, Lewis and Ricciardo, then Russell not far behind. Of course we have a new driver called Alonso joining the grid now... I'm sure before long someone will come along and throw statistics in my face. lol
i agree with you but i think Charles is faster than max...but pretty sure thye're above the rest. Also think ricci as better racecraft than elton. Russel still as much to show, but he seems like the genuine article.
My opinion only, but Mercedes have the best car, with arguably the best team, this overcomes a lot of the obstacles that most drivers have to overcome to be the best driver and win a race, especially when the mental battle over your opponents is won before you even turn up to the track. Rosberg beat Hamilton by winning races and got in his head, and won a championship out of it. The best driver will always end up in the best car, this is the nature of the competition. I think Schumacher did a great job of developing the Mercedes and team before Hamilton turned up, he may not have had the raw speed, but his other skills certainly helped. Hamilton is a good driver, but is he the best? only he can demonstrate that, in my eyes he is lucky to be at Mercedes at their moment in F1 history, and other drivers could have performed the same feat. In my eyes, other drivers are better than Hamilton, history can be harsh on super stars with their off track misadventures being their legacy not the number of championships won. Instagram fame will dull quickly if his followers feel cheated or lied to, and his target audience is somewhat fickle with their idols. It is only a matter of time when he is tossed on the scrap heap due to old age, then what...
Excellent post, I think we see eye to eye. I can't find myself disagreeing with anything you posted with the exception of Verstappen and Hamilton. Of course, just opinion, but I do think Hamilton is better than Verstappen. Not that it matters, it's not personal to me.
Good point. The team as well needs recognition. They can solve/fix problems that the driver "would have had" - agree completely.
Who is faster between Max and Charles remains to be seen. What's clear is that they're both ferociously fast. You're right on Ricciardo, better race craft. This of course is helped by the fact that for the last 7 seasons Lewis didn't have to race anyone, just drive around for 300km until the race is finished, collect 25 points and go home.
Hamilton is the best I believe on the grid right now, but not by much, but still, I honestly believe that if you put him in a tier 2 car on the grid right now, he would still find a way to win.
Hamilton didn't do anything special when the McLaren was Tier 2. If he wanted a proper challenge he could have gone to Ferrari.
Even as a die hard Ferrari fan some of the opinions on here are so biased and to put it frank hateful. No matter how many great performances a man makes it's almost impossible to win over a cynic, Lewis's drive to win in Turkey was driving witchcraft, it was no fluke either as he did it in Mexico the season before too. The man is a genius. Anyway, sport is about opinions at the end of the day, I don't think Hamilton is good as Schumacher, but he is the class of his generation and the best in the field today. Fully deserves all his championships and accolades and the bumper contract he will eventually agree with Mercedes. Let's hope SF can sort their car out and give Charles a chance at the WDC.
Tifosi is very passionate, It's one of the reasons I love Ferrari. To me, it's okay to hate Hamilton as long as it doesn't delve into any of the 'isms' - it's 2021.
Personally I cannot fathom anyones mindset in getting that worked up to the point of hating any F1 driver, to me it is a word that I associate with extreme hostility, however maybe its just me.
To me, when I say hate, I don't mean personally. But in the context of sports. I understand some will hate his personality - nothing wrong with that either. Now will I be like those folks that send death threats when people don't perform? Yes - agreed, that's too much.
I think in 2021 we need a Race of Champions with Hamilton, Verstappen, Leclerc, Ricciardo, Russell, and come on why not, also Stroll and Bottas. We can then take the outcome of that event to objectively base our opinions on and put all other discussions to bed while we watch the silver parade on Sundays
