Is Hamilton the best

[Ian]

Read in the paper today that Murray Walker says  Lewis Hamilton is a better driver than Michael Schumacher or Ayrto Senna because he is a 'clean' racer.

[John S]

I'd tend to agree with Murray on that one point, but reserve full praise for Lewis until and when he beats Michael's WDC record. Equalling does not necessarily make you better, plenty have equalled, and passed, Jim Clarks win and WDC tally but are they better??? 

Later in his original interview with a German F1 website, Murray makes clear that it's very subjective trying to compare drivers from different era's and generations. He agrees Senna and Schumacher, along with the likes of Clark, Stewart, Lauda, Prost and Fangio can all be seen as the greatest of an era.

Murray also admits he has an enduring absolute regard for Tazio Nuvolari who mainly raced F1 cars pre WWII and a little after, - well Murray is 96 now so will have seen him race.
Now how on earth do you factor him into this mix? 

How often have we tried to debate the question of the greatest F1 car driver only to find it impossible to find any consensus aside from a good stab at a top 5 or 10, which always ends up in a differing order for most of us.

 

[Jericoke]

Hamilton has a few advantages over previous generations.  He's very unlikely to be injured, much less killed.  It's easier to learn from your mistakes if you can make several.  (I still remember how much better Kubica was after he basically walked away from obliterating his car after crashing in Canada.) 

Modern racers are much more 'athletes' as well.  Nutrition, training, both physical and mental, are light years ahead of even Michael Schumacher.  How often do you see Hamilton WITHOUT Angela Cullen right next to him?

At the same time, Lewis probably has closer competition from his contemporaries than previous 'greats'. The gap between Lewis and Latifi, if given equal opportunity, is probably smaller than the gap between Schumacher and, say, Johnny Herbert (no offense Johnny).  So being a great in such a 'tight' era of racing is all the more difficult.  Just look what happened to Bottas in a so called dominant car, one moment of bad luck and he's out of the points. How many times could previous greats open up a gap long enough to stop for tea and still win?

[Andy B]

I'm unashamedly a Lewis fan and understand that not everyone is but it cannot be taken away from him how clean his racing is he is fast and fair. I'm sure some will point out incidents but in racing these things happen but not like Senna taking out Prost and admitting it at a later date and Schumi taking out Damon Hill then trying with other dodgy moves.
It seems he has also never had or wanted number one status in the team with even Jenson Button admitting he had not realised how fast Lewis was till in the same equipment.
I was at Spa when Schumi stood on the podium in 3rd and won his last title and thought then I would not see anything like it in my lifetime I was so wrong.
So is there any predictions of the driver to head towards breaking the current records?

[cosworth151]

I do have one reservation about Lewis equaling Schumi's 7 WDCs this year. With this season being what it is, I'm afraid he might get stuck with a "Roger Maris asterisk."

[Jericoke]

I do have one reservation about Lewis equaling Schumi's 7 WDCs this year. With this season being what it is, I'm afraid he might get stuck with a "Roger Maris asterisk."

I feel like winning the championship in 2020 is a greater feat than winning one a 'normal' (aka predictable) season.  Racing in unusual circumstances, no fans, no idea how long the schedule will be, the spectre of severe illness death from merely talking to a mechanic. 

If the virus is licked for 2021, and we have a 'regular' season with 2020 equipment, I feel like THAT should be the asterisk season.

[cosworth151]

I agree about this season. It should be treated like any other.

I didn't mean that Lewis deserved the "asterisk." My point was, Roger didn't deserve it either, but he ended up with it. I'm afraid that Lewis might, too.

[John S]

Think it highly unlikely anyone can argue for the Roger Maris * to be used for this seasons WDC. The reason for Roger's asterisk, as I understand it, is entirely based on less difficulty achieving the outright homerun total with more games in a single season.

A case can be made for outright pole or race win records being easier with more races per season as years have gone by, but arguing that for WDCs is like comparing Apples with Tomatoes IMHO! 

Anyway Schumacher's first WDC was in 94 and that season was only 16 races. Liberty seem determined to get to 15 or 16 races this year, mostly because of TV contract requirements, so any baseball style asterisk seems baseless.     

[lkjohnson1950]

While the stated reason for the asterisk was the extra 6 or 8 games Maris had to break the record, the real reasons had more to do with the feeling that a journeyman like Maris shouldn't take a record from Ruth who many consider the greatest ball player of all time. As Maris closed in on the record he took a lot of abuse even from NY fans. I wonder how fans will react if Hamilton looks like breaking Schumacher's record. A lot of fans are heavily invested in Michael as the all time best, though I never rated him that highly. If Lewis wins the WDC this year it will be interesting to watch.

[Jericoke]

I agree about this season. It should be treated like any other.

I didn't mean that Lewis deserved the "asterisk." My point was, Roger didn't deserve it either, but he ended up with it. I'm afraid that Lewis might, too.

The asterisk is a myth. It's not there, but the PR was so strong people still think it is.

https://www.salon.com/2001/10/03/asterisk/

I do think that the 2020 season will have a 'foot note' for being part of worldwide history.  In 60 years there will be kids who read about this 'Lewis Hamilton', and find out about the 2020 plague through F1.  (I first learned of the Spanish Flu when seeing the gap in Stanley Cup history!)

[Dare]

I agree about this season. It should be treated like any other.

I didn't mean that Lewis deserved the "asterisk." My point was, Roger didn't deserve it either, but he ended up with it. I'm afraid that Lewis might, too.

The asterisk is a myth. It's not there, but the PR was so strong people still think it is.

https://www.salon.com/2001/10/03/asterisk/

I do think that the 2020 season will have a 'foot note' for being part of worldwide history.  In 60 years there will be kids who read about this 'Lewis Hamilton', and find out about the 2020 plague through F1.  (I first learned of the Spanish Flu when seeing the gap in Stanley Cup history!)

i didn't know Maris hit his in fewer at bats. There's a
old HBO film called 61 thats pretty good.

[Alianora La Canta]

Assuming we get at least 8 races, I think this should not be an asterisked season. It will meet all feasible requirements for a world championship.

Radio Times asked the same question and reckoned that Lewis was definitely better than Michael, but not as good as Juan Manuel Fangio. Though it conceded that this was primarily because Lewis does not get the opportunity to compete in races as challenging as those Juan Manuel faced (his non-F1 record, if I recall, was also briefly cited).

[cosworth151]

I personally think it's a better season from a racing standpoint because many of the less competitive venues are off the schedule. Still, I thing some folks might complain.

The excellent movie Dare mentioned kind of proves my point. The actual name of the film is 61*.

[Jericoke]

I personally think it's a better season from a racing standpoint because many of the less competitive venues are off the schedule. Still, I thing some folks might complain.

The excellent movie Dare mentioned kind of proves my point. The actual name of the film is 61*.

Such a great movie, and it does illustrate how the asterisk talk was mostly because Maris wasn't as popular as Ruth.

Say what you will about Hamilton, but he's even more well known than Michael Schumacher.

[Dare]

I personally think it's a better season from a racing standpoint because many of the less competitive venues are off the schedule. Still, I thing some folks might complain.

The excellent movie Dare mentioned kind of proves my point. The actual name of the film is 61*.

I was in Little League in 61 and we all thought
Mantle would break it. If it hadn't been for his injuries and
bad habits he might have been the best of all time.  Mantle
was the man back then