Is Hamilton one of the GOAT F1 drivers?

Only time will tell. However, with his WDCs and wins he does seem to be headed in the right direction.

 

Don´t confuse "the most successful" with "the greatest off all time"...With 4 WDC (at the end of this season) both he and Vettel have one more than Senna but I doubt that either of them can match Senna nevertheless...

 

NO
NO WAY
NOT A CHANCE
SUCCESSFUL IN TITLES DOESNT MEAN GREATEST DRIVER, JUST MEANS THE CAR WAS THE CLASS OF ITS FIELD.

next question - does Elton experience a healthy bias from the stewards and FIA, resulting in the avoidance of many sanctions others have to serve?

 

Nope.

He's quicker than the average F1 driver, but nothing outright special. Schumacher, Senna...what those guys did, almost every time they got in the car they did something special.

The way he's talked about, he should never have lost a race to Rosberg; only when his car breaks down. Rosberg has beaten him straight up way too many times.

 

Stirling Moss is arguably the most successful F1 driver of all time and has not even won a WDC.

Elton, like Vettel, is simply better than his team mate. Both benefited from having the dominating car, as M. Schumacher did for some of his WDC's.
Pete

 

I think he's one of the more talented around today but Merc's technological dominance of the sport has elevated him and Nico far beyond their actual raw abilities.

Put Bottas in Hamilton's Merc, or Button, or Alonso, or half the grid for that matter and they would claim win after win.

 

If he is the GOAT Rosberg must be second or third at worse

 

I hope in 2017 we will get a shake up in the pecking order,and possibly some closer racing.Then we can get a clearer picture of how good Lewis is (or not ).

I would rate him somewhere behind Ayrton and Schumi so far, difficult to see anyone surpassing those two in the next few years if ever.

The new guys coming through into F1 might turn out to be something special,and of course young Max is a shining example.If he can keep his head screwed on then he may well go onto be one of the all time greats, given a good car!

 

As Mansell has stated previously there is not 1 great driver, but a group, who in the right car can win. LH and Nico are doing what is possible with the machine at hand.

LH failed to dominate Button. End of in terms of 'greatness'.

 

I'll give him top 20. But i think he's also been very lucky like Vettel to have been in top machinery most of his career.

 

This, and I've been watching for 40 years. He isn't even the best driver on the MB TEAM-Lauda was far superior.

 

Is a jet greater than a car?

"All Time" infers a disregard for starting position, type/era of vehicle being driven, and team and power unit. Winning isn't everything. A few years ago, a Renault powered Red Bull had Seb Vettel out so far ahead of the field that the cameras didn't have him in sight. The tight field was from second place down.

Give Rio Haryanto a 2016 silver arrow for a season and you'd mark him down as most improved driver of all time.


If LH had stayed with McLaren, would you have asked? At the moment, Mercedes is enjoying a winning streak- regardless of pilot. That will change.

 

Hamilton's car from 2014 to present is a GOAT.

 

Jenson Button scored more points than Hamilton during the years they drove for the same team.

Hamilton made a good move leaving Mclaren, Mclaren denied him making his own personal branding. He is much better off personally and financially with his arrangement with Mercedes. The change also worked out well for him on the track. However, as a driver, he's amongst the really really good, but not one of the greats.

I would put both Alonso and Vettel as better than Hamilton.

 

Yes.

 

No.
He's been in the best car with no rival team even close for the past few years.

Until he secures a second place while his car is stuck in 5th gear, and doesn't moan about said car being stuck in 5th gear. No

 

+1

The Mercedes is -by far- the best ever car F1 has ever seen.

Since 2014, there have only been 2 races (Malaysia and Singapore 2015, both extreme temperatures) they've lost on pace (to date that's 2.5 seasons!!!). They've only lost 6 races in total, the other 4 all due to either them crashing into each other (Belgium 2014, Hungary 2015, Barcelona 2016) or plain unlucky (Hungary 2014, SC coming out when Rosberg already went passed the pit). Nothing to do with their drivers. Mercedes would've won the championships with Ericsson and Palmer as drivers, easily. Would we be singing songs of praise for them? No.

All the had to do so far is get on the front row (easy) and not take each other out. The difference in speed between the two is not so great. Rosberg only just beat an elderly Schumacher, and Rosberg for the most part is matching Hamilton in both quali and racing. Button outscored Hamilton, Hamilton matched Alonso during an extremely controversial year where Alonso was being booted out (why invest anything in your driver when you know he will NOT be part of the team any longer than necessary). Even Kovalainen on the weekends when he had no car issues got close or beat him.

Hamilton should have been completely dominating Rosberg but has failed to have done so. He should've been dominating Button, too...but hasn't done so.

 

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO..sorry, the question just made me laugh....

 

http://www.f1-fansite.com/f1-teams/mercedes/

How much domination of Nicole do you need? These numbers do not include Hockenheim,they are for real.

 

..The other day someone from motorsport magazine was laughing and shaking his head at the fat that maldonado had won a g.p and Chris Amon had not, to exemplify how absurd the sport could be, and how anything was possible in f.1.....there are so many examples like this.....Damon Hill wasn't half the driver Jean alesi was, and yet if you look at the stats!! Hamilton couldn't kiss the shoes from Ickx or Peterson, but when you look at the stats....truth is, if we talk about it seriously, Hamilton would not be in the first 20 best drivers of all time..not even close!!

 

But you have realized that your statistic includes all the races and victories before joining Mercedes? Take only those of the Mercedes-years Lewis is still better but not "dominant"...

 

I think he's one of the best F1 drivers ever. He was WC very nearly (should have been but for McLaren's incompetence) in his first ever F1 season, and with a 3 time WC as his team mate.

Senna was a great talent, as was Jim Clark and I think history will say that Hamilton was up with them (maybe Alonso too). Schumacher, Vettel and Prost (for all their records) are a tiny notch below IMO.

Moss, Fangio et al are all before my time.

 

Fixed your post.

I would put Hamilton around 10th all time.

 

Really? Hamilton even among the greatest?
Hamster owes his success to the car. You'd have a hard time convincing him unless you stuck him in a second rate ride. Nearly anyone on the grid could win in the current MB