I haven’t seen anything like this in a while. https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/what-aftermath-photos-reveal-about-grosjean-escape/4918718/
So George Russell hops in Hamilton’s car and puts it on the front row, missing pole by .026. But please tell me how Lewis Hamilton is the greatest F1 driver of all time.
The car finished 8th and 9th without him there? Maybe there's more to winning races than get in fast car and drive?
The car qualified on the front row, like it normally does. The car was going to win the race, like it normally does. The car finished 8th and 9th because of the team’s inability to execute a pit stop, which they don’t normally do. Otherwise, Russell drove away from Bottas at the start (like that car normally does too) and was going to chase down the leader (like the normal driver would have done), if not for bad luck.
F1 has been all about the car for a while. Insert another good driver for Schumacher back in the day, and I'd have expected similar. You can say that about all forms of racing, but I'd say F1 is worse than other series.
I feel like if I can speak intelligently on anything in this world it's auto racing. Lewis Hamilton is NOT the best to ever do it by any means. He's good, he's skilled. But the guy has had the absolute dominant car for how many years in a row now? Russell was going to win that race and was sabotaged by a pit stop. Any driver who participates in F1 for the most part are near the top of the food chain as far as ability. You could hotswap any of those guys on the grid into that Mercedes and they'd be the dominant driver/car combination. What's truly impressive is a guy who can elevate his car above what it's meant to do. There's been some guys who were just so immensely talented their talent shone through no matter what they drove. Senna, Mansell, Alonso when he won his first title, etc. Hamilton is a good driver in equipment that is far superior to everyone else on the grid. Anyone would look like an all time great driver in that equipment. Verstappen right now is probably the most naturally talented driver in F1 always getting more out of that car than he should be able to. Yeah, he makes mistakes and crashes but it's because he's overdriving a car that isn't competitive and willing it to running as good as it does.
Lewis won twice in the shithouse 2009 McLaren, which was a worse car than anything Alonso ever won in. And for sure a worse car than anything Senna or Mansell ever won in compared to the rest of the field. When Lewis left, McLaren fell off a cliff, and Mercedes became a front running car. People just see that he's raced for McLaren and Mercedes and think that he's had top equipment for the balance of his career. McLaren were an absolute mess after 2009, and having two world champions and the best engine covered that for awhile. When Alonso left Ferrari, they got better the next year. When he left McLaren, they got better the next year. This year, Mercedes has been absolutely dominant, yes. But in 2017 and 2018, Ferrari was right there yet they fumbled away chance after chance like Merc did this past weekend. Just like they did in 2012, 2010, and 2008. This isn't stock car racing. Part of being the best F1 driver is being able to get the team around you and developing the car constantly, and there's no one in Formula One who is more involved with the minutiae of development than Lewis and Mercedes. He's constantly demanding more and never resting on his laurels. And no one ever discredits Schumacher for being in top equipment all of his career, either. People laud him for bringing Ferrari back, but Lewis did the same for Mercedes, and he did it quicker.
Never mentioned Schumacher because I think he's pretty overrated also. Ferrari was untouchable for the most part back then.
Eh, I'm a nobody, and I do. I think both are good drivers, but both have had such good equipment making it hard to call them great.
You could say the same for Prost as well. Senna and Vettel both did well in lesser cars, but everyone shits on Vettel's achievements as well. It's very rare for multiple world champions to be in lesser cars, the whole outdriving your car thing is a myth in Formula One. It can be done in sprint cars or stock cars, but it is very very rare in Formula One. You have to develop the car, and for that you have to have the right aptitude. If Formula One was just about "get in car and drive fast" Kimi Raikkonen would have about 10 world titles.
One of the best to ever strap in a race car. And in his mind he was THE best to ever strap in a race car.
