Lewis Hamilton: The Best Ever?

[Dux]

Best car of them all, yes!

 

[Enthilzha]

To those who complain about Hamilton being in the best car I would say these things...

A) Hamilton was incredibly dominant in his early career before F1
B) He has been competitive even when during his F1 career he has been in a relatively uncompetitive car.
C) The best teams hire the best drivers (obviously), hence why he is usually at the best teams.
D) More often than not, the best drivers play a big part in helping develop the best cars (Schumacher and Lauda being good examples of this).

What I think makes Hamilton so good now is that he is the complete package: he has the same outright speed that he always has had, but has matured to the point at which he handles pressure so well and rarely, if ever makes mistakes.

Anyway, to answer the actual question...

Greatest F1 driver of his generation... undoubtedly.

One of the greatest drivers ever... absolutely.

Greatest F1 driver ever... no - that's Fangio followed by Clark.

 

[Koen Verlinde]

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

In comparison all current other F1 drivers are boring people. Yes, some have a story, but they're just dull otherwhise. Meanwhile Lewis has created a universe around him which has to be credited to him.

If Hamilton would one day go to the ADAC 24, Spa 24 or Le Mans 24, ticket sales would rise even more. Meanwhile most F1 fans don't even know Hulkenberg won the LM24. See the difference?

 

[wombat999]

Oh yes!
Right up there with Fangio, Clark, Senna and even Moss......................NOT!

 

[Jamie McManus]

He is undoubtedly very talented, as were many drivers in different eras. Hard to compare eras but having said that the great Jim Clark IMHO is the best ever.

 

[UMC 22]

Hamilton's performances "dropping off completely" are the product of your imagination. Between 2009 and 2013, when he did not have WC title capable cars, he collected poles and wins every season. Even during 2011 when his driving was very poor by his own standards, for reasons related to off-track issues.

We're all entitled to our own opinions mate, and I stand by mine that Lewis is not an adaptable driver, generally needs things to be "his way" to perform, and therefore to me is not the best driver of all time.

 

[PegaMixel]

If Hamilton would one day go to the ADAC 24, Spa 24 or Le Mans 24, ticket sales would rise even more. Meanwhile most F1 fans don't even know Hulkenberg won the LM24. See the difference?

You seem to mix up recognition because of personality and recognition because of success.
Yes, ticket sales would increase, but not because of his personality, but because people know his name due to his success.

 

[Andy_J]

Well surely the greatest in our hearts was Senna, but in reality Michael Schumacher is the greatest as he has won the most F1 world championships. It's just the fact of the matter. I would say Hamilton is the greatest British F1 driver and if he beats Michael Schumachers' tally then he becomes the worlds greatest.

 

[daveftones]

Best car ever.

 

[Dux]

B) He has been competitive even when during his F1 career he has been in a relatively uncompetitive car.
D) More often than not, the best drivers play a big part in helping develop the best cars (Schumacher and Lauda being good examples of this).
.

B) He always had winning car, but couldn't exploit it to the limits. Like Vettel did for example in 2011 & half of 2013

D) Except he had nothing with the engineering marvel that Mercedes was developing from 2012 for times that came which eliminated drivers influence by great extent (look at Renault , car giant manufacturer for 6 years now, or should I bring Alonso...) anyway it is more likely rather than not, it's Schumacher who made them what they are today.

 

[Sasha Jednak]

My opinion, he is one of the best ever and that is it. You can’t compare different eras. However, I also expect that with Max in Bottas’s place he would run circles around Lewis (especially last 12 months Max). And that is all normal, every new generation should learn from previous ones and improve, that’s why records exist to see if sport is going forward or not.

P.S. I am not Verstapen fan boy, just to avoid confusion.

 

[AUS_DougII]

Jim. Clark.

And, of course, there is Winklehock. The only driver to have lead every race he started, and the only driver to have lead every race where he started last on the grid.

 

[Deleted member 236927]

Maybe Mr. Toto Wolff don't know anything about Formula 1 history and great and talented drivers either F1 or any other motor sports. There's no comparison between Lewis (a modern day F1 driver with Hi-Tech car) and all the greatest drivers of the past who survived or died in the race, who experienced the sprinkles of burning oil out of the engine to their faces. and if anyone says that michael schumacher is one of the greatest then don't forget that he won few titles because of the help of his team mates.

 

[Deleted member 205301]

My best is still Clarck ....but I sayed YES, cause Lewis is really a beast (and it's another time)
@++

 

[EireGreen™]

No intelligent statement!
What do Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton have in common? .... Overbearing arrogance.

 

[Deleted member 205301]

Maybe Mr. Toto Wolff don't know anything about Formula 1 history and great and talented drivers. and if anyone says that michael schumacher is one of the greatest then don't forget that he won few titles because of the help of his team mates.

Oh man you proves that YOU don't know a lot about this sport.... sad....
Fangio won his title with the help of teamates too, and a half of world chamions....
and ... except Prost in 1986 and Rosberg in 1982, I don't know other drivers who won title witout the best car...(Fittipaldi in 73 maybe ?) ...still need one of the best 2 cars to do that

 

[CC]

Put all of the drivers on today's grid into the same car, then we'll know for sure who is best. Who knows...maybe Giovinazzi or Albon would kick his butt.

They was already in the same cars in the lower tiers to get them to F1, GP2/F3 and so on,
in which F1 is just the gravytrain of talented drivers,
would be cool to see everyone racing the same spec cars, and why I enjoy F2 so much, always close racing and fun to watch, I dont think F1 should have the same recipe as the lower formulas but something should be done to make the cars more equally matched I agree on,
but again its why we all go to Mcdonalds simply because they make the best burgers rather than going to Wendys, why should the best teams be punished because they have the best engineers or because they started developing there engines back in 2012 ready for the new rules.

 

[F_B]

Pfffff…one can hardly answer that question.
If you judge the best by the number of titles…yes, he's on a good way.
However that would be too easy. You still have to see that he sits in one of the most dominant cars in F1 history. In the sixth consecutive season with a current ruleset where it is really hard for the competitors to catch up to Mercedes (imo only Ferrari is capable of that but as we know they lost their **** too many times. Or Vettel.) That does not mean that it is or was easy for him but compared to other drivers and under what circumstances they won their titles it puts Hamiltons achievements into perspective. (Same with Vettel and his RB titles imo).

I have to say though…I would rank him with greats like Senna, Schumacher, Prost, Hakkinen etc. He’s superfast and matured in recent years. One of the most complete drivers.

 

[Enerjex]

He certainly has impressive achievements but he's also never had a bad car. He's never challenged himself to grow and win with a team off the pace like Schumacher when he went to Ferrari. All he's doing is going with the flow and collecting the inevitable championships as long as he's with Merc and the hybrid era exists. All he's proving at the moment is that he's better than Bottas, which half of the field is. He needs to move to a team like red bull and help them to win another championship rather than taking the easy option.

 

[shimon.ifraimov]

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!

ya right senna and schumacher the most dirty drivers.

did you even read your own comment or are you just triggered ferrari lost last year when they had the better car?