Sir Lewis Hamilton (1 Viewer)

[Grendel]

I am not a F1 fan at all but today it seems is Lewis Hamiltons 300th Grand Prix race

F1 is an elitist white man rich sport. Hamilton fits neither of those criteria

Yet he has been world champion on seven occasions (and robbed of the 8th by the white elitists) . An incredible achievement

None of the handful of drivers who have made this landmark have it seems managed to win an F1 race after the landmark

Hamilton really is an icon in to me a fairly overlooked sport and probably one of the greatest sport men in UK history

He also takes time to promote other causes and a range of diversity.

I’ll be knocking off the cricket for a couple of hours to watch and hope this great of any sport achieves an accolade no one has managed

I’m sure everyone else who likes sporting Achievement and considers themselves British thinks the same

 

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[rob9872]

I know little about F1 at but from limited knowledge is it not true to say that in at least 5 of those championships he's beaten one driver really and that's his team mate in the other car that's also better than the rest of the field?

That said, I still agree he should be a Sir based in the achievement and versus those who have been awarded ahead of him, some of which are a bit of a joke.

 

[HuckerbyDublinWhelan]

What annoys me is “it’s becuase he’s had the best Car” - that may be but if it was just the car Mercedes wouldn’t pay him 40m a year to drive it

F1 is misunderstood as a lot of the car set up is from data and input from the driver. There’s a lot more settings that go into them cars

he’s in the best car because he’s the best driver. The only thing I’d disagree with is that he was screwed last year - was it the wrong decision to do what Masi did? Maybe - poor interpretation, for me Hamilton blew it when he was second and tried to take Perez on the first corner in Azerbaijan, he spun off and got no points. If he’d have taken second he’d be world champion now.

that being said - I’d also argue that’s why people like him and Verstappen are world champions - they go for the win and when the risk is high

Sir Lewis is an all time British icon, and deserves more respect

 

[NorthernWisdom]

He's a superb driver, grown as a person. Can only respect his ability and also his desire to use his platform.

 

[rob9872]

What annoys me is “it’s becuase he’s had the best Car” - that may be but if it was just the car Mercedes wouldn’t pay him 40m a year to drive it

F1 is misunderstood as a lot of the car set up is from data and input from the driver. There’s a lot more settings that go into them cars

he’s in the best car because he’s the best driver. The only thing I’d disagree with is that he was screwed last year - was it the wrong decision to do what Masi did? Maybe - poor interpretation, for me Hamilton blew it when he was second and tried to take Perez on the first corner in Azerbaijan, he spun off and got no points. If he’d have taken second he’d be world champion now.

that being said - I’d also argue that’s why people like him and Verstappen are world champions - they go for the win and when the risk is high

Sir Lewis is an all time British icon, and deserves more respect

You can't have it both ways though. Yes he's in the best car because he's the best driver, but surely a lesser driver could also win in that car (albeit not as consistently) whereas a good driver couldn't win in a lesser car (without the better cars failing). I just struggle with the sport because its neither one thing or the other. Either let teams do whatever they want without restrictions and make it a constructors championship or make them all even and then it's a drivers championship. This sort of half n half scarf doesn't appeal to me, although of course accept that it does to millions of others.

For me it's like seeing Usain Bolt being the best sprinter but some of his rivals forced to carry weights in their socks.

 

[HuckerbyDublinWhelan]

You can't have it both ways though. Yes he's in the best car because he's the best driver, but surely a lesser driver could also win in that car (albeit not as consistently) whereas a good driver couldn't win in a lesser car (without the better cars failing). I just struggle with the sport because its neither one thing or the other. Either let teams do whatever they want without restrictions and make it a constructors championship or make them all even and then it's a drivers championship. This sort of half n half scarf doesn't appeal to me, although of course accept that it does to millions of others.

For me it's like seeing Usain Bolt being the best sprinter but some of his rivals forced to carry weights in their socks.

It’s not as simple - Bottas was never anywhere near Hamilton’s level, Rosberg was Hamilton’s partner for years and only beat Hamilton once.

When Hamilton went to Mercedes the car wasn’t anywhere near competing - rule changes and Hamilton’s input led to the car it became

like I said, Mercedes’ trust Hamilton and are willing to pay him 40m a year for it. If it was as simple as anyone could win in it - they’d have turfed Hamilton odd years ago and paid someone less.

Yes - Hamilton has an advantage, but his will to win is the difference between him and nearly everyone else on the grid.

even in first year he beat the current and 2 time world champion in the same car

it’s kind of like putting Messi in our team and being outraged when we don’t win the premier league - doesn’t make him a lesser player

 

[rob9872]

It’s not as simple - Bottas was never anywhere near Hamilton’s level, Rosberg was Hamilton’s partner for years and only beat Hamilton once.

When Hamilton went to Mercedes the car wasn’t anywhere near competing - rule changes and Hamilton’s input led to the car it became

like I said, Mercedes’ trust Hamilton and are willing to pay him 40m a year for it. If it was as simple as anyone could win in it - they’d have turfed Hamilton odd years ago and paid someone less.

Yes - Hamilton has an advantage, but his will to win is the difference between him and nearly everyone else on the grid.

even in first year he beat the current and 2 time world champion in the same car

it’s kind of like putting Messi in our team and being outraged when we don’t win the premier league - doesn’t make him a lesser player

You're clearly more of a fan than I ever could be, so I can't make my point as eloquently and I do understand what you're saying, but isn't your Messi analogy, kind of similar to what I was saying that without the team atound he couldnt succeed? Also how much is Ross Brawn a factor too? He was with him before and wasn't it always Mercedes, just that it was Mclaren Mercedes and then they split off?

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

I do get Rob's point. It would be fun to see all the drivers in exactly the same cars to settle who is the best driver. Simiarly it would be nice to let the constructors just do whatever they want to (mainly just having safety regs) and see what weird and wonderful innovations they come up with.

 

[HuckerbyDublinWhelan]

You're clearly more of a fan than I ever could be, so I can't make my point as eloquently and I do understand what you're saying, but isn't your Messi analogy, kind of similar to what I was saying that without the team atound he couldnt succeed? Also how much is Ross Brawn a factor too? He was with him before and wasn't it always Mercedes, just that it was Mclaren Mercedes and then they split off?

Nah, Mercedes were just an engine supplier at the time. brawn was with Ferrari, I think they entered into F1 as a team in early 2010s I think and split with McLaren, they had Michael Schumacher out of retirement. When he retired again they brought Hamilton in, they were still middle of the pack for a year.

there were some rule changes that they benefitted from and they became the successful team they are.

You are right somewhat, the car is massive in terms of performance, but the drivers input is massively underrated. It’s not a case of just being in the best car, there’s a lot more to it. Of course you couldn’t put Hamilton in a shit car and he we will win. But you couldn’t put say a shit driver - let’s say Mazipan in that car and win the world title.

brawn’s innovations were behind Ferrari and Jenson Button’s world title, but after Mercedes bought them out he largely took a back seat

 

[David O'Day]

Sir Lewis Taxdodge

 

[Saddlebrains]

Well known my thoughts on the man.

So il start with the positives.

Using his standing to promote equality brilliantly, has done phenomenally well in F1 and when under the cosh i dont think I've seen anything like him. Brazil last year for example. Over one lap may be the greatest ever. Certainly the greatest British sportsman ever in my eyes


But the greatest ever? No.

He's had title winning ability cars from lap one of his debut in 2007, bar 2009 McLaren

He has machinery capable of wins in 285 of his 300 races. No surprise hes turned in so many victories

People also forget, an F1 season through Lewis Career is an average of 19 races. In Schumachers time, 15.

Michael will always be the best in my eyes. To win races in some utter shitboxes, 96 - 98 ferrari, to mould ferrari into world dominators after years in the doldrums, to raise the bar for driver fitness which now is the standard.

Some of his wins, Barcelona 96, Spa 95, Monaco 97, Hungary 98, Malaysia 99, Suzuka 2000 i could go on.

Michael had title winning machinery in 8 of his seasons. He won in 7 of those 8 years. Lewis in comparison 7 in 15.

His hypocrisy towards things is what i think doesnt endear him to the British public. "Go vegan guys" wears 2 grand calf skin wellies in the paddock. "Need to save the planet guys" flys around in a private jet.

Only Andy Murray seems to be a more disliked British sportsman.

On the 300 race achievement though, fully deserved as is his knighthood

 

[HuckerbyDublinWhelan]

Well known my thoughts on the man.

So il start with the positives.

Using his standing to promote equality brilliantly, has done phenomenally well in F1 and when under the cosh i dont think I've seen anything like him. Brazil last year for example. Over one lap may be the greatest ever. Certainly the greatest British sportsman ever in my eyes


But the greatest ever? No.

He's had title winning ability cars from lap one of his debut in 2007, bar 2009 McLaren

He has machinery capable of wins in 285 of his 300 races. No surprise hes turned in so many victories

People also forget, an F1 season through Lewis Career is an average of 19 races. In Schumachers time, 15.

Michael will always be the best in my eyes. To win races in some utter shitboxes, 96 - 98 ferrari, to mould ferrari into world dominators after years in the doldrums, to raise the bar for driver fitness which now is the standard.

Some of his wins, Barcelona 96, Spa 95, Monaco 97, Hungary 98, Malaysia 99, Suzuka 2000 i could go on.

Michael had title winning machinery in 8 of his seasons. He won in 7 of those 8 years. Lewis in comparison 7 in 15.

His hypocrisy towards things is what i think doesnt endear him to the British public. "Go vegan guys" wears 2 grand calf skin wellies in the paddock. "Need to save the planet guys" flys around in a private jet.

Only Andy Murray seems to be a more disliked British sportsman.

On the 300 race achievement though, fully deserved as is his knighthood

I’d argue that Hamilton didn’t have title winning cars in his final 3 years at McLaren and his first at Mercedes, on top of this years car being poor.

I’d also argue that Hamilton has had more close competition than Schumacher. Schumacher also benefitted from being de facto and unchallenged no1 driver which would have aided him. Hamilton would have won the world title in his first year without the squabbles with Alonso, and whilst I don’t Agree it was the main reason - with a different interpretation of the rules last year - he’d have won that

they’re both a lot closer than you’ve given Hamilton credit for, both have been instrumental in turning around a dogshite car.

looking historically though - my favourite is Fangio his record is incredible, I also admire Lauda’s technical mind (he’s regularly called Hamilton the greatest)

 

[Alan Dugdales Moustache]

Sir Lewis Taxdodge

Your role model is a dead IRA man . No one cares .

 

[Alan Dugdales Moustache]

I am not a F1 fan at all but today it seems is Lewis Hamiltons 300th Grand Prix race

F1 is an elitist white man rich sport. Hamilton fits neither of those criteria

Yet he has been world champion on seven occasions (and robbed of the 8th by the white elitists) . An incredible achievement

None of the handful of drivers who have made this landmark have it seems managed to win an F1 race after the landmark

Hamilton really is an icon in to me a fairly overlooked sport and probably one of the greatest sport men in UK history

He also takes time to promote other causes and a range of diversity.

I’ll be knocking off the cricket for a couple of hours to watch and hope this great of any sport achieves an accolade no one has managed

I’m sure everyone else who likes sporting Achievement and considers themselves British thinks the same

He really is an absolute role model in every respect. One of the greatest sportsmen this country has ever produced and I don't think will be fully appreciated until he retired.
He's also, as we all know, the REAL current world champion.

 

[NorthernWisdom]

I’d argue that Hamilton didn’t have title winning cars in his final 3 years at McLaren and his first at Mercedes, on top of this years car being poor.

I’d also argue that Hamilton has had more close competition than Schumacher. Schumacher also benefitted from being de facto and unchallenged no1 driver which would have aided him. Hamilton would have won the world title in his first year without the squabbles with Alonso, and whilst I don’t Agree it was the main reason - with a different interpretation of the rules last year - he’d have won that

they’re both a lot closer than you’ve given Hamilton credit for, both have been instrumental in turning around a dogshite car.

looking historically though - my favourite is Fangio his record is incredible, I also admire Lauda’s technical mind (he’s regularly called Hamilton the greatest)

Personally I'd head for Prost but, with so many variables, it's pretty crazy to compare between eras really.

And there's no doubt Hamilton stands head and shoulders above everyone in his generation. Vettell actually looked faster than him when at Red Bull, but he let the pressure at Ferrari get to him, showed flaws, allowed himself to show that under pressure, Hamilton is the better at dealing with that.

 

[SBAndy]

Wasn’t aware he was being knighted, don’t like it if I’m honest. But then I don’t like knighthoods/damehoods(?) for athletes who are still competing. Same goes for Andy Murray, Kelly Holmes, etc.

 

[Paul Anthony]

Looking historically though - my favourite is Fangio his record is incredible, I also admire Lauda’s technical mind (he’s regularly called Hamilton the greatest)

That it took until 2002 for anyone to beat Fangio's record of 5 titles is testament to how good he was. The fact that people argue about how Lewis is only champion because of the car either don't realise or don't know that Fangio changed teams mid season at least twice (I think) to ensure he had the best car available to him.

I think my historical favourite is probably Jim Clark. I've no doubt he would have gone on and beaten Fangio's record had he lived. Just an absolute natural talent, who would drive anything faster than anyone else.

 

[NorthernWisdom]

That it took until 2002 for anyone to beat Fangio's record of 5 titles is testament to how good he was. The fact that people argue about how Lewis is only champion because of the car either don't realise or don't know that Fangio changed teams mid season at least twice (I think) to ensure he had the best car available to him.

And also had teammates hand over their cars to him mid race to help him get points!

 

[Paul Anthony]

And also had teammates hand over their cars to him mid race to help him get points!

Truly was a different time. Could you imagine the sass you'd hear over the radio now if a team ordered their driver to kindly get out of their car for their teammate?

 

[Grendel]

Sir Lewis Taxdodge

Predictable, childish and wrong

 

[Alan Dugdales Moustache]

Predictable, childish and wrong

And just a tad jealous of anyone who's good at anything.

 

[Saddlebrains]

I’d argue that Hamilton didn’t have title winning cars in his final 3 years at McLaren and his first at Mercedes, on top of this years car being poor.

I’d also argue that Hamilton has had more close competition than Schumacher. Schumacher also benefitted from being de facto and unchallenged no1 driver which would have aided him. Hamilton would have won the world title in his first year without the squabbles with Alonso, and whilst I don’t Agree it was the main reason - with a different interpretation of the rules last year - he’d have won that

they’re both a lot closer than you’ve given Hamilton credit for, both have been instrumental in turning around a dogshite car.

looking historically though - my favourite is Fangio his record is incredible, I also admire Lauda’s technical mind (he’s regularly called Hamilton the greatest)

Fair, however 2010 he was still in with a shout at the final race. Took it to the last but one race in 2012 aswell. 2011 fair enough the red bull was another level

Again, yes schumacher did benefit from no1 status at Ferrari but his 2000 V Hakkinen and 03 v Kimi + Montoya he had a lot more competition from other teams than Lewis faced from 2014 - 2020.

The record Hamilton has that does impress me is he has won in every season competed. And i hope he wins one this season to keep that record intact to be honest

 

[Grendel]

And just a tad jealous of anyone who's good at anything.

At least he never had me on ignore as now proved

 

[Grendel]

Fair, however 2010 he was still in with a shout at the final race. Took it to the last but one race in 2012 aswell. 2011 fair enough the red bull was another level

Again, yes schumacher did benefit from no1 status at Ferrari but his 2000 V Hakkinen and 03 v Kimi + Montoya he had a lot more competition from other teams than Lewis faced from 2014 - 2020.

The record Hamilton has that does impress me is he has won in every season competed. And i hope he wins one this season to keep that record intact to be honest

To be honest I never get why if he’s not British you just don’t want him to win every time against some bog eyed Dutch twat with a far right girlfriend

 

[Saddlebrains]

To be honest I never get why if he’s not British you just don’t want him to win every time against some bog eyed Dutch twat with a far right girlfriend

Irrelevant hes british for me. I've just never warmed to him for a multitude of reasons

Dont get me wrong when it was Hamilton v Rosberg 2014 and 16 i was team LH 100%.

But as I've stated before, it could have been Gasly, Alonso, Vettel, anyone last season. I wanted to see an end to Hamilton dominance and backed whoever he was against. Im a formula one fan before any particular driver.

Saying that though however I've always been Ferrari as a team. Something about them, probably from the Michael days as a child, but i would love to see Ferrari take a title again and i feel Charles will do that within the next few seasons

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

Predictable, childish and wrong

Playing devil's advocate, you can still dodge tax AND pay a lot of tax in comparison to others.

I'll bet the biggest tax dodgers are also those that pay the highest amounts of tax.

If I paid twice as much tax as you but earned five times as much income, would I not be dodging tax somewhere?

 

[Grendel]

Playing devil's advocate, you can still dodge tax AND pay a lot of tax in comparison to others.

I'll bet the biggest tax dodgers are also those that pay the highest amounts of tax.

If I paid twice as much tax as you but earned five times as much income, would I not be dodging tax somewhere?

Another jealous man who envies achievement

 

[Alan Dugdales Moustache]

To be honest I never get why if he’s not British you just don’t want him to win every time against some bog eyed Dutch twat with a far right girlfriend

...and a half baked moustache.

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

Another jealous man who envies achievement

Not at all. I've said in the past his achievements in the sport are incredible. Yes, sometimes he gets on my nerves with preaching what he doesn't practice but that doesn't take anything away from what he's done in the sport.

But in the discussion about his tax, are you saying that it's impossible to both pay a lot of tax AND dodge tax? I mean he has been resident in both Switzerland and Monaco, renowned for being rather tax-friendly to the rich, and through his advisors didn't pay VAT a private jet. Nothing illegal in what he's done, but he's definitely paid less tax than he would be morally obliged to for someone so keen to talk about inequality.

 

[SeaSeeEffCee]

He’s a really great guy. A proper role model.

 

[HuckerbyDublinWhelan]

Isn’t Hamilton in the top 5% of tax payers in the country?

 

[Greggs]

What annoys me is “it’s becuase he’s had the best Car” - that may be but if it was just the car Mercedes wouldn’t pay him 40m a year to drive it

F1 is misunderstood as a lot of the car set up is from data and input from the driver. There’s a lot more settings that go into them cars

he’s in the best car because he’s the best driver. The only thing I’d disagree with is that he was screwed last year - was it the wrong decision to do what Masi did? Maybe - poor interpretation, for me Hamilton blew it when he was second and tried to take Perez on the first corner in Azerbaijan, he spun off and got no points. If he’d have taken second he’d be world champion now.

that being said - I’d also argue that’s why people like him and Verstappen are world champions - they go for the win and when the risk is high

Sir Lewis is an all time British icon, and deserves more respect

Hasn't he moved overseas? Seems to be very proud of his heritage!
How many has he won this year now he doesn't have the best car?

 

[Greggs]

Isn’t Hamilton in the top 5% of tax payers in the country?

Didn't he move abroad to avoid paying tax?

 

[fernandopartridge]

Isn’t Hamilton in the top 5% of tax payers in the country?

He's probably in the top 1% of earners