Carrera51

I'm not so sure on that one. Nico had the same car for all his years teamed with Lewis. He got one Championship. Perez, Albon, Gasly etc, all had the same car as Max. Zero Championships. Rubens had the same Ferrari that Michael did. Zero championships Of course Newey and his team get credit for building a dominant car. But the great ones, Max, Lewis, Alonso, Michael, Senna, Prost, Mansell all have/had another level of killer instinct that some drivers don't have. It's like an utter ruthlessness for lack of a better term. They just don't want to win, they want to completely demoralize and dominate their competition and even their teammates. This is just my opinion of course.

gbuff

Perfect example, 1990 Suzuka when Senna blasted Prost on the first lap and became WDC as a result (priceless commentary from Murray Walker and James Hunt too)...
Click on the Youtube link to watch.

winders

Based on your past posts, it's not clear if you are trying to be funny or believe what you wrote...

You are wrong. Verstappen is the best driver on the grid and certainly makes the RB20, and the RB19 before it, look even bette that it is. The other drivers know it and say it and do many of the team principles. Yes, the RB20 is the best car right now. But, I don't care who else you put in the RB20, they are not going to be faster than Verstappen. That was not the case for Hamilton....Rosberg was a real problem for him and Rosberg was no Schumacher or Senna....or Verstappen....

multi21

Riding right seat with your family member.... Funniest part is Sainz Jr. tightening up his harness at one point.

Glyndellis

To be fair, there have been many posts that say that the only reason HAM won WC titles was that the Mercedes was head and shoulders above all others. Suddenly, the key separating factor is the driver.......

winders

Sure...and I think those posts are fair. Hamilton has had the best car and lost championships to teammates AND drivers in inferior cars. This is why I rubbish claims of him being GOAT. His stats are inflated. Verstappen has won a championship in the second best car and, since 2018 when he matured at 20 years old, has destroyed all teammates. Once Verstappen got the best car, he has completely dominated the field...including his teammate.

Glyndellis

Hmmmm. Harnesses and no Hans.

Glyndellis

Which years did HAM have the best car and lost a championship to a driver in an inferior car? I have regarded the constructors championship being the litmus test of the best car, and since HAM came into F1, the only 2 years that the driving WC was not in the Constructors' WC car were 2008 (HAM was WC) and 2021 (when Masi awarded the WC to VER). HAM has been beaten by teammates - Button in 2011, Rosberg in 2016 and RUS in 2022 - but not by another driver with an inferior car. VER is the best active driver, but still has not amassed the portfolio of achievement that Hamilton has, even if the number of poles and wins is "easier" to obtain now as a superior car within a season gives much more opportunity vs. the Schumacher era.

thebishman

Hamilton could have won 10 WDCs by now, and there are some who would still belittle his accomplishments.

Also, the only time where one could factually say Hamilton was beaten by his teammate in equal machinery was 2016 when Rosberg won the WDC, and that was primarily down to Hamilton experiencing more DNFs and mechanical issues than Rosberg. Otherwise Hamilton would have been WDC in 2016.

Rig.Stunts

The real question for me - if Lewis had 'parked' his car on top of a competitors, would he have checked on the well being of other driver - or just walked away without a glance.

multi21

This is simply not true. Button beat him in equal machinery and Russell beat him in his first year in a Mercedes in 2022... and is doing it again in 2024, thus far.

The real question for me is when has Hamilton ever not had the best car prior to 2022?

Glyndellis

I seem to remember the Brawn being the best car in 2009, Red Bull being much better 2010 - 2013 and Ferrari having some car superiority in 2015-2018 (Merc pegged it back late in the season). Just a couple of examples.

Historically, the best drivers have migrated to the best cars. (This is why VER will not go to Mercedes!!)

TRAKCAR

H

Hes gonna fix Ferrari through diversity LOL

Ferrari is their own worst enemy..

multi21

I couldn't agree more. This is going to be the biggest **** show Ferrari will experience in a long long time. Ferrari management just traded in a guy who is the only one besides Max to win races in over a year and beating LEC in both qualifying and the races for a guy who is so washed up that an average driver like Russell is soundly beating him. Hamilton has been in a Brit centric team all his life and going to a team that is markedly different in every way possible in terms of culture, emotion and politics. I hope the money was worth it for both Ferrari and HAM because I can't see any upside to having him within the team as it relates to performance.

NaroEscape

I find it funny the whole discussion of “it’s the car not the driver”.
Is Max’s car (RB) the best? Absolutely.
Was MB the best when Lewis was winning? Absolutely
Was Ferrari the best when Schumy was winning? Absolutely

But each of those drivers had teammates in arguably the same car and each dominated their teammates with limited exceptions.
If it’s all about RB, why has Perez not won a championship? Let alone a race in forever.
You need the best car AND the best driver to win a championship. Both.