F1 | Is Hamilton Past His Prime?

We have a world with healthcare options never available before. And medicines that can expand life and longevity. Vitamin pills and other enhancement stuff. He is the only driver scince Jackie Stewart who claims not to drink alcohol. He is also a vegeterinarian. These choices may enhance his health and limit deterioration of physical functions.

There are NO drugs that stop the aging process, end of story. It doesn't matter how good you are or how dominant you were.....Like I say look at Rossi (or look him up, regarded as the GOAT of 2 wheels, now he can't win and I'm a massive Rossi fan). Age catches up with everyone.
 
everyone that is a verstappen fan will say yes, he is at his peak no doubt, but he is in his Best form of his career I believe. Looking forward for him to win another WC this yr, Even if its Valteri, or any of the Ferrari drivers Ill be ok with it.
 
Lewis Hamilton turned 35 this year... and with young chargers locked into top drives for the foreseeable future, is the end near for the six-time World Champion?

35-years-old isn't exactly old, but is certainly closer to the downswing of a career than the very beginning. With young superstars Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen both locked into long-term deals with (hopefully) competitive cars for the next few years, and talents like George Russell, Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris waiting in the wings, 2020 does start to feel like the begging of a new era in Grand Prix racing.

Hamilton has been the dominant force in Formula One racing for the past few seasons, strapped into the most competitive car in the field, but each year his Mercedes rivals are inching closer and closer... could 2020 mark the end of one of motorsports most dominant team and driver combinations? Or at 35, can Hamilton maintain his form into the sunset of his career?

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if his hairs anything to go by then yeah he is
 
His "prime"? You bet he is, but as long as the car is 10 years ahead in development than everything else on the grid, he will look like he hasn't even reached his "prime". This is modern F1 we're talking about here not WRC. All you need to know is the racing line, the rest is all CAR. I know, it's hard to digest, especially if you're a romantic or a blind fanboy, but it's the truth.
 
There are NO drugs that stop the aging process, end of story. It doesn't matter how good you are or how dominant you were.....Like I say look at Rossi (or look him up, regarded as the GOAT of 2 wheels, now he can't win and I'm a massive Rossi fan). Age catches up with everyone.
I would very much agree that top level sports are the reserve of people under 30, but Hamilton seems to have gone big into nutrition and I think that will extend his career slightly.

As of now though he's at the top of his game, I'd say he's preforming as well if not better than he ever has, I've seen no sign of slipping. At the end of the day it's errors that lose races at this level, and Hamilton doesn't make errors.
 
At 35, he's most likely past his prime, but his prime is incredibly high. He's still one of the best drivers in the world (personally I'd have him as #2 behind Max). He certainly can continue to dominate for years to come, but whether he does or not has a lot to do with his team.
 
His "prime"? You bet he is, but as long as the car is 10 years ahead in development than everything else on the grid, he will look like he hasn't even reached his "prime". This is modern F1 we're talking about here not WRC. All you need to know is the racing line, the rest is all CAR. I know, it's hard to digest, especially if you're a romantic or a blind fanboy, but it's the truth.

I guess if Mercedes were smart, they'd fire both drivers and hire a couple guys who can simply memorize the racing the line. They'd save well over $50M/year.
 
His "prime"? You bet he is, but as long as the car is 10 years ahead in development than everything else on the grid, he will look like he hasn't even reached his "prime". This is modern F1 we're talking about here not WRC. All you need to know is the racing line, the rest is all CAR. I know, it's hard to digest, especially if you're a romantic or a blind fanboy, but it's the truth.
There is a mental en physical thing involved too, before you blame it all on the car.
None of us would be able to drive even one normal lap in F1.
Going around the corners or breaking, your head starts to weight as much as 70kilo.
Than the breaking pedal that only really works when you push around 120 kilo's.
On top of that the constant pressure of needing to perform in front of billions of people.
Many drivers cracked under that presure, despite having a really fast car.
You need a huge amount of spare headroom to still make vital decissions many times a race.
That's where someone like Hamilton shines.
Keeping his head cool while having to deal with all this in background.
Compare this to Vettel or Bottas, who can go as fast but seems to get blackouts when the pressure goes up.
Verstappen got that headroom too, he is able to follow the rest of race on the TV screens while pounding perfects laps in the meanwhile.
 
^most of it I can agree. However, about headroom and cracking under pressure, no way. All those decisions made by driver during race and following race on tv screens as you say. All of them do it, because basic decisions in race even I can do as average sim racer (of course without physical part that they have but they are trained for it).
Another thing to be able to follow all of that is to have clear head, meaning that when you seat in car and lights go out you have to worry only about your lines (which are already mostly automatic). With this part helps a lot that team is error free and you know you don’t need to worry about anything else. That’s why I can’t exclude from that Ham-Max list of yours at least Seb-Kimi and probably Ric but I am not sure about that one yet.
As for topic, I answered no, but what is prime exactly. He is fast, I would still bet on 2012 Lewis against this one but he is here and not going anywhere.
 
Well, when you KNOW that you'll be far ahead of the competition without even pushing yourself or the car, it's EASY to be cool and calm and make no mistakes. Mistakes happen when you push too hard. Come on fellas it's common sense ok? I'm pretty sure you're all simracers, you know better.

The CAR in F1 plays a MASSIVE role, this is why Senna was always working with the team that had the BEST car. He wouldn't settle for a decent car, he wanted the car that would dominate. The difference with Senna, (that nobody shouldn't even dare to compare hamilton to) is that he could make any car a championship winning one. Did Hamilton ever do that? Nope. He jumped straight into a very good McLaren, won a title, then nothing, until he went to Mercedes which was already developing a car ahead of everybody else, behind the scenes. He's the "champ" ever since.

Hamilton is as good as any of these guys on the grid. He always was, but he will never be any better. Like it or not, it is the car that allows him to be king. He's not a setup guru, he never had any special connection with the team or the mechanics or his teammates. He's not developing the car, he's just driving it.

Also,numbers don't mean anything to me. I value drivers based on their performance AND character on their best AND worst days, and Hamilton simply doesn't even exist on my scale. I value Massa, Webber and Kimi a LOT more than Hamilton or even Schumacher. As for his salary.....well...Hamilton being black, bad boy gangsta,fashion icon with HUGE sponsors on his back.....yeah he's worth a LOT, but not because of his skills as a driver.

This is the real world people. I apologize for bursting your pink bubble but...it's the truth.
 

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