Lewis Hamilton: The Best Ever?

[NewOne0]

There is no "best one". Sure, people like Senna, Schumacher and Hamilton stand out more than most of the others, but every single driver has their strengths and weaknesses and their performance is heavily dependent on the era they are driving in.

 

[PoopMan]

I place bike riders above any 4 wheels

It is more rider talent then machine in every motorcycle series ever been held

Ricky Carmichael was given " the GOAT" tag by his peers, not commentators

Traction control is not skill, was Rossi just that much slower? More man than machine is for spec series not developmental ones. We all know and agree indy car and cart are the best series, right?

 

[IlGuFo]

the best ?, is it a real joke ?, when it manages to win without having a car that drives itself and without the help of the fia (who remembers the race in which it was put on the track by the crane ?, "only case in history of the formula 1 "he knew very well that he would have been helped, in fact he had been in the car with the engine running), then ... maybe you could say he is good, but being the best of all time will never be good! , the best are Gilles Villeneuve, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, Nigel Mansell, Fernando Alonso, Niki Lauda, James Hunt, Alain Prost, Nelson Piquet, Jim Clark, Jodie Scheckter, then there are the other detached years light!

 

[Arturo Pereira]

Hamilton the best driver ever? Must be a joke

 

[bluepeter]

Nice clickbait.

This said, I've been watching F1 since 1978 and for me Hamilton is clearly the best F1 driver that I have seen since then. He is as fast and as consistent as Schumacher and he is a cleaner driver.

I have a real tendency to agree with you, though I believe Fernando would give him a good run for his money - if only he'd avoid the politicking ......

 

[Mike Smith]

I'd just like to say that I've beat some of his qualifying times in Assetto Corsa, so I'd like to throw my name in the hat for GOAT status please.

But in all seriousness, he's among the greats. It's too difficult to say that there's one definitive best ever driver in F1. The ones that came before Hamilton raised the standard for what defines greatness, and Hamilton has risen to those standards.

 

[AnklaX]

It's impossible to tell isn't it. I've my prejudices. I'm only human. I don't like the guy. I have my reasons, valid or not. But over the years, he has convinced me that as a racing driver, he really is among the best of all time. But something like this is impossible to tell. Can you compare him to Fangio, for example? They drove completely different cars. Fangio might as well be a Formula D champion by todays standards. I don't think we can say for sure if he's better than even Schumacher or Hakkinen or anyone else. A champion, by the classic definition of the word, is more than just someone who amasses the most points. He is definitely not the best but one among them.

 

[Ghoults]

I think with every great driver you have to account for the machinery they drove. Fangio had the supreme mercs, Jim Clark had the amazing lotusii, Senna had the mythological mclarens of the time, Schumacher had the invincible ferraris and Hamilton has had the unbeatable mercs. F1 is all about being in the best car. That means the car does elevate the driver skill while at the same time it counts against the perception of the skill. You'll win more championships but people will think you won them easy. Which is true. No matter how good hamilton is he would not have won 6 out of the last 5 championships if the front end of the f1 had had more than 2 cars being able to win it. In fact you could say he drove in a 2 car championship for the last 6 years and came last once. But so did senna. Schumi never lost in those circumstances and neither did fangio.

Comparing drivers from different eras is not just difficult because of the different cars they drove but they all had access to top level machinery to different degree. Hamilton has never driven a bad car in f1 or driven in anything else except in top team. But at the same time he has always delivered the goods too. Best of all time? Would sennas or schumachers lost to rosberg in 2016? Or to button in 2011? I don't think so.

 

[Pessio]

he can't really be the best. He lost a championship, won by his 2nd teammate. No way he's the best. Period.

 

[Andrew King]

Hard to tell when he hasn't had any real competition since 2016

 

[Norseman]

he can't really be the best. He lost a championship, won by his 2nd teammate. No way he's the best. Period.

C'mon man, that's just plain goofy to say that. Hamilton had quite a few mechanical failures that year, including 3 engine failures alone, and Rosberg barely beat him by 5 points. Plus Rosberg was so exasperated in the end he retired. He knew the following year he wouldn't be so lucky.

 

[Rob Gray]

Hamilton the best ever! no, their are loads of amazing drivers out their that can easily match Hamilton in that car

Where does that leave Bottas or Rosberg in the rankings? Right down the bottom?
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Hamilton may end up being the statistically greatest F1 driver ever. He probably would have adapted to cars of any era too. He seems a physical guy, so I think he'd enjoy the more physical cars of yesteryear, and he's not a kid, so that seems to suit the demographic of 30+ years ago. I see no reason why he'd not be battling Mansell if they were both in Williams in the 80's and early 90's.
As has already been said, he took it right to another undeniable Great, in his rookie year. He won in year two. He's made/lucked into the right decisions to be in the right team at the right time. Most great drivers end up in great cars for most their career. It's worth arguing a driver can't be considered Great if they don't spend most of their career in a leading car. How many great drivers have spent their careers in midfield teams?

Hamilton is the dominant driver of the last 10 years. Vettel has had a good run too, 4 championships, but he got outclassed by Dan, and Hamilton has made him look not as good as Hamilton, and that has less to do with the car and more to do with the calibre of Hamilton.

Hamilton absolutely deserves to be considered (in contention) for F1 GOAT

 

[Durge Driven]

First 2 comments were personal opinion and last one is a fact
My main point was GOAT is used verbatim these days

If all Lewis's main rivals say he is the GOAT I would believe it but they all think in his car they would win ...as do most people ...I don't

 

[Durge Driven]

https://racerxonline.com/2018/05/19/30-greatest-ama-motocrossers-1-ricky-carmichael

Any conversation about who might be the greatest AMA motocrosser of all time starts and stops with Ricky Carmichael. He really is the Greatest of All Time. Ten championships in ten seasons—ten consecutive seasons. He dominated on 125s in the late nineties. He dominated on 250s in the early millennium. He dominated on 450s when the whole things changed. He won on Kawasakis, he won on Hondas, he won on Suzukis. All told, he won 102 Nationals, which is more than double of the next guy on the list, James Stewart. In fact, Carmichael has more wins that Ryan Dungey and Ryan Villopoto combined. He won as a rookie, and he won as a part-time rider in the last year of his career, 2007, when he only rode six races and won them all. And in those ten championship seasons, Carmichael never needed the last round to take the title—he clinched early every time. The highest active rider on the overall wins list is current Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Champion Eli Tomac. He has 21 wins. He turned pro in 2010. Think about that.

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He is the GOAT ...rated by his peers .
Show me any other motorsports it's competitors say that about a rival

No F1 star deserves the GOAT ...imho

 

[Enagee]

Definitely click bait... Best car? Has anyone in a minardi won a championship? Was Ferrari and McLaren not dominat cars at the time.Was Schumacher not in a top team? .. Is there anything like the best band or singer in the world?
We all have taken the bait.

 

[Mickdrs]

He's on his way to be one of the greats..I'll give him that..looks like he'll be involved in the sport well after he's retired, seems very deeply interested in the way technology is evolving, with his own input to.

 

[Tony]

Hamilton has an incredible talent, amazing personality and has matured over the years.

Amazing personality?????????????? jeez you are easily pleased!

 

[Copef1]

I don't know about him being the "best driver that has ever existed", but I am sure that in 50 years his name will be talked about with the likes of Fangio, Clark, Stewart, Lauda, Prost, Senna, and Schumacher.

 

[Xtriko]

my comment has a few "disagrees", but the pool says otherwise... Lewis is an AWESOME driver. But He IS NOT the best ever. Period.

 

[Atticvs]

No, but he's very close now - talking Senna, Clark, Fangio close. Those three, or at least Clark and Fangio, I'd still rate ahead of him.

Comments that he has the best car right now are not truly relevant - he's had years without the best car and the only really crap season he did was 2011. And everyone was crash-happy at times, even Senna in the 1990s.