Shaich:

Motorsport is 80% dependent on the car sure, but still all F1 drivers should be able to fight each other with the same material. Nico did beat Hamilton... if Bottas is not good enough it’s not Hamilton’s fault, he was hired with the hope to be better than he is. Sure now it’s convenient but nobody can say in advance. Mercedes was before Hamilton a Team without any great achievements, even Schumacher couldn’t do anything with them, he even was beaten most of the time by Rosberg. I think Hamilton had a big part on the success story of Mercedes same as Schumacher had with Ferrari in that time. Yes it’s a team sport but so many parts need to play correctly in order to have one Grand Prix win... he had 94... I think there is nothing else to say. wink

The driver's impact was minimal on the performance advantage of the Merc,  Hamilton joined Mercedes in 2013 and only won just one race due to RBR dominance, but when Turbo regulations came in 2014 and Merc had their superior turbocharged car ready that they had been working on in preparation for years without Hamilton and the car was so superior they instantly started winning every season by a mile. It wouldn't of mattered who was at the wheel, they still would have won.

That is why Hamilton in spite of being better than Vettel won nothing when Vettel was on the RBR, because Vettel was winning thanks to Adrian Newey and his team, and before Vettel it was Button thanks to the Brawn. Schumacher's situation was different, he took the team when it was down and helped gradually build it up.

I'm not saying Hamilton is a mediocre driver or the best of the grid, just the fact that his titles with Mercedes are not that big of an achievement, certainly not compared to the world titles achieved by others in other sports where is all down to the person competing in a level playing field like tennis or a marathon, examples he used and he in the article and is absolutely right if you think objectively and leave our the biases. Not what favs what to hear but it is what it is.


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⇒ Carlos - Porsche 991 Carrera GTS