England’s greatest ever sportsman

He didnt achieve anything in the national team though.

 

They put George Russell in a Merc, largely unadapted to his own characteristics, and he would have won the race without the pit team messing up.

So either he's brilliant or the car is. Or both.

I suspect that there are at least a dozen drivers who would have won the championship if put in a Merc for the past few seasons.

 

Yeah, good points. But there is still a big difference (for me anyway) between training players to perform better and designing cars to perform better.

F1 would probably appear more competitive and exciting to naysayers like myself if there was one constructor and all teams used the same stock car. The only difference would then be the driver, which would then make it sporting.

 

True but he must have inspired millions, the greatest captain I've ever seen in a England shirt criminal how the teams he played in with England never won anything.

 

Harry tufnell​

 

My daughter had his name on the back of her England shirt. Eldest daughter had more class and went for the Brazil kit and Ronahldinio!

 

I'm not knocking Hamilton. He's likely the best driver. Although he doesn't always beat his team mate, and that includes over a whole season.

I don't believe he'd have won any of his recent championships unless he'd been in the Merc. But the cars don't drive themselves - you've got to get the best out of them. I reckon there are others who can do that sufficiently well to win in a Merc (except maybe perhaps this season).

 

Our brilliant data use was outplayed by a couple of dozen teams with better footballers.

There have probably been some remarkable results by lower tier teams, but over the course of a season, resources buys a better chance of success - just same as any other sport.

Giving a rubbish football manager a load of expensive players won’t buy any success, but the amount of money spent by Man City plays a large part in their success. It’s not either / or, it’s always about the whole package.

In every F1 race there’s a driver with exactly the same car and support that Hamilton has, all things being equal; that driver would be ‘as successful’. In some years, other cars are better, in some races, other race strategies are better, but over the course of his career, his success illustrates his talent.

I’m not a fan of roundy roundy racing, which is why I wouldn’t say Hamilton was the greatest sportsman. But he’s definitely the best F1 driver.

 

You have to think on that a driver's job is not simply to pilot the car. The best drivers, your Schmaker's, Senna's Prost's and Hamilton's are all instrumental in the development of their car, giving feedback and insights into it's performance, strengths and weaknesses that designers and engineers(and lesser drivers) could never understand. The best help develop their car to become almost an extension of themselves.

 

George Formby won the Grand National and the Isle of Man TT and played a mean ukulele!!!

 

Anyone could have ridden a Shuttleworth Snap to victory in the TT!!

 

Which explains why every teammate Verstappen has had at Red Bull has been miles behind him, explains why Hamilton in 14 completed seasons has been beaten by a teammate I think a total number of twice despite never having team orders. Explains how he beat a two time world champion in the same car in his first season....

Sorry, that is a complete load of *****.

Hamilton, when the McLaren was very much less than competitive in the years after his title there before he moved to Mercedes, and then in the Mercedes prior to it being anything like a match for the Red Bull’s, was consistently at the front end and always still managed to win races every season.

The argument that he’s not that great because he’s in the best car is missing the point. He’s in the best car and paid the most because he’s the best. To be four points behind Verstappen at this point this season given the clear issues the Mercedes team have is very indicative.

He qualified second today (ok he got a slight tow down the straight, but not much as he was a long way behind) - his teammate qualified tenth. In the same car. And make no mistake, Valtteri Bottas would get a drive at the majority of the rest of the teams if he was available. He’s just not in the same league as Lewis or Max.

If the drivers at the teams at the back of the grid were as good or better, they wouldn’t be driving cars at the back of the grid. The exception being on-loan drivers being groomed to take over at the top teams, like George Russell.

Is Hamilton England’s greatest ever sportsman? I mean that will always be subjective regardless, but to be honest I’d argue maybe not, there are countless other people who have achieved things in multiple disciplines.

But he’s comfortably the best F1 driver of all time in my view. He’s beaten or equalled every record there is - and never had team orders in the way Schumacher did to guarantee he was in front of his teammate every race. So this claptrap about it only being the car really grinds my gears, it truly does. I’d love to see the vast list of F1 world champions who didn’t have the best car. To be honest, the only time I’ve seen someone win a championship without having the overall fastest package was probably Lewis Hamilton himself, when the Ferrari‘s were great a few years ago but Seb Vettel wasn’t up to it.

The red bull is quite clearly much better so far this season, and Max Verstappen is a fantastic driver. My money isn’t on anyone but Hamilton though, the car will improve yeah, but he will maximise everything he can.

 

Jenson Button driving a Brawn in 2009

 

impossible to pick a single individual for this as there are too many sports with stand out performers in their era.

My love of cycling makes me say Chris Froome. One of the greatest of all time in his sport not just his own era
Lewis Hamilton is the same for F1

 

To be fair that Brawn was an absolute beast and much quicker than the rest of the grid in the first half of that season. It wasn’t a case of Jenson outdriving people in an inferior car - for a lot of the season it was the best car.

And that team morphed into what is now Mercedes.