F1 Belgium Grand Prix.....Spoiler Alerts

[COLVERT]

Originally Posted by COLVERT

Heading towards being the best driver of all time.

Get on there Lewis.------

My quote was only my opinion about Hamilton's ability as a driver.
ie, Between the red light and chequered flag.

( The subject being----The best driver of all time. ) His personal life I know little about or want to know about.

I never sit down to inspect his personal life just his driving skill.----

The commentators on F1 seem to share my opinion.---

EX drivers and right in the thick of it. They have greater insight than I will ever have.-----

[clf]

Originally Posted by COLVERT

My quote was only my opinion about Hamilton's ability as a driver.
ie, Between the red light and chequered flag.

hmmm How can you tell? You dont really get to see much of his ability as a driver between start to finish, most of us could do the majority of what he has to do (I know F1 is more involved of course lol, but it illustrates a point).

When you did get to see it, eg when McLaren were on the slide, and when he joined Mercedes, he showed little flashes of brilliance, but nothing compared to Verstappen, Norris, Sainz, Ricciardo. (the puncture at the end of the British GP, should have been nothing to a modern F1 car chassis - he is no Gilles Villeneuve, but then it is unfair to compare generations). At the same time he also showed his scrappiness. It is only when he gets a feisty or an untied, determined team mate, do we see the real Hamilton ability - along with the frustrations and the sore loser that sometimes comes from that. I am thinking particularly of Canada with Button (2010/2011?) in McLarens, when Hamilton tried a Senna signature move, and failed miserably, and his subsequent (laughable) attempts to play mind games on social media off the track. If he stopped trying to copy others, and be his own driver, when he does actually get to show his skills on the track he may regain a little of the respect, I have read of, that he has lost over the years.

Luckily, Bottas is toeing the line and playing the support well, as was evidenced when his engineer told him not to fight on an early lap yesterday. Bottas is another Barrichello (and I rate Barrichello). I often wonder how relieved Hamilton was when Rosberg retired (I dont think Rosberg, as a person was able to be as ruthless as he needed to be to race in 2017). I also wonder if Hamilton had the discussion of any new team mate would have to be subservient to him on the track.

As far as the best driver goes, on paper yes. The best driver in practical situation, I would have to disagree. Why has he not participated in the Race of Champions to show his mettle?

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Someone mentioned previously, his development of the car. You do not hear of discussions with engineers, or engineers laud a driver's ability to describe a failure or a required adjustment anymore. I wonder how much input a driver has, except to say how they like a car to handle. I do not believe he has much to do with the development of the cars, certainly not as much as he would have had at McLaren, which interestingly went downhill after he joined.

Michael Schumacher who, along with Ross Brawn, with Nico Rosberg being the one who was meant to take the mantle, helped to develop the Mercedes team. Hamilton for sure helped to evolve it, but he has ridden on the founds set by MS, RB, and NR. To a certain extent Toto Wolff - but then thanks to Niki Lauda, they have developed a little of the Brawn/Schumacher relationship of the nineties and naughties.