Lewis Hamilton continues to amaze. It's not so much that he's good--even the worst driver in F1 is mighty good--it's that he is so good, and so fast. And, so composed.

He's now, 7 races into his F1 career, never finished off the podium and never finished in a position less than his starting position. That's not just unusual, it's entirely unprecedented. I'll say that again: NOBODY has ever done that.

Not Senna.

Not Schumacher.

Not Fangio.

Nobody.

At Monaco--you watched Monaco, didn't you?--he "only" finished second, to Alonso, his teammate. Afterward Lewis complained they wouldn't let him go for the win. He'd never raced F1 there, of course--it's his first F1 season, after all--but he's been there before with several other series. He had never not won in Monte Carlo. Ever. They should have let him go. Mind, I can appreciate why Ron Dennis didn't want his two boys taking each other out trying to win...

...but DAMN it would have been fun to watch.

At the USGP, Alonso was always behind but had one shot at Lewis at the end of the main straight, mid-way through the race. Lewis, typically, was cool as a cucumber as the reigning Formula 1 World Champion took his best shot. Unsuccessfully. And, as always watching him race, I learned a little more about racing technique. In this case, about protecting my position.

In both the Canadian and the US Grands Prix he won from the pole. On tracks he'd never seen before. I can't tell you how impossible that actually is. Track knowledge is a valuable commodity at any level of racing. There are nuances of any track you simply have to get to know to go completely fast.

Apparently this rule does not apply to superheros.

Actually, I'm sure somewhere he's been playing video games or, more to the taste of an F1-sized budget, spending hours in a VR simulator but, still, the pole and the win without ever seeing the tracks before?

Incredible.

(Thanks to Kevin Mort for this terrific shot he took at the end of the USGP qualifying)

1. Keith06/22/2007 12:20:10 PM
Homepage: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk

Not taking anything away from Hamilton at all - but this shows the value of the investment McLaren made in him and the unprecedented level of preparation he underwent before making his F1 debut.

In particular I'm sure all the top teams are writing big cheques to build F1 simulators like McLarens which, reports suggest, has set a new benchmark in F1 virtualisation.

We all thought Michael Schumacher had raised the bar for professionalism and preparation in Formula 1. Maybe we were wrong?

2. Ben Dubuc06/22/2007 05:34:51 PM
Homepage: http://www.benoitdubuc.com

I wouldn't want to be in Alonso's shoes right now. This kid is really amazing and as seen at Indianapolis, MacLaren seems to let them fight for the win. I think Alonso is smart and kept quiet after his attempt to pass Hamilton because he's a wise man: he knew it would be hard to pass Hamilton and would probably cost MacLaren the first two steps on the podium. Mind you, the aspiration on a track like Indianapolis should have worked for Alonso... Can't wait for the next Grand Prix.

Who said F1 would be boring without Michael???

3. Josep Alemany06/24/2007 05:41:54 AM
Homepage: http://jalemanyf.wordpress.com/

I don't enjoy this so much. McLaren is more competitive this year because Alonso shows them a lot and now, they give all to the "little-boy" (sorry for my English, I don't wanna be despective, it is only a lovely nick).

I have to recognise that Hamilton have done a incredible debut but, he starts with the best team too. I thing him needs more experience... but only time could give us the responses.

Regards to all F1 fans ;)

4. Vitor Pereira06/24/2007 10:45:17 AM
Homepage: http://www.vitor-pereira.com

It's only entirely unprecedented because some of the drivers you mentioned did have some quite decent opponents, Hamilton simply doesn't. Just go look at the drivers entry list back when Senna was racing.

As for track knowledge, at this level it should/must take only a couple of laps. And like Keith said, with the current level of virtualization you get a good head start.

Now, if F1 could get another driver this good it would be a great season.

5. Kevin Mort06/25/2007 10:19:35 AM

The difficult thing in comparing drivers of different eras has always been the inability to compare them where it really matters...side by side on the track.

It was really too bad that we didn't get a really good Senna vs Schumacher decade or now a Schumacher vs Hamilton fight. We had Alonso vs Schumacher, and Schumi vs Kimi, and I think overall Michael was still better overall although Alonso showed he could get the job done and capitalize on the issues Ferrari had in 2005/2006. Some of those issues continue today at the Scuderia. So far Kimi has not impressed me there, and I think Massa is the better technician, something that you need to be at Ferrari.

There is no doubt to me that Hamilton is impressive. Ok so fit me into that group of bandwagoneers on that one. Sure, he has awesome equipment. So does Alonso. I don't buy the rumour he's getting inferior gear.

If Alonso isn't feeling pressure, he should be. The kid has guts, brains and raw talent. Things a champion is made of.

K.

6. Vitor Pereira06/26/2007 05:12:13 AM
Homepage: http://www.vitor-pereira.com

Agree with you Kevin, mostly.

But I did see Senna work (and some others) and the major difference is that he would get out of the car and tell the engineers 'I want the car to do this at turn X, this is what you have to do', not the other way around.
What happens now is what Hamilton has been through the last decade, intensive training at pushing buttons and anticipating every possible scenario and is very good at it. And like you pointed the kid has guts, brains and raw talent.

Never mind Alonso, Kimi or Massa, Michael was the only one to come close to this level of preparation.
Alonso has been, from very early stages, a sore loser. It's natural he is alleging inferior material, but that's just plain stupid.

7. Kevin Mort06/27/2007 08:39:52 AM

Vitor,

I would agree with your assessment of Senna. I would also say that Michael definately was of that same mindset. I think it was clearly evident. Of the two, Massa is more of that ilk than Kimi, and I think that stems partly from his stint as test driver. Kimi really just doesn't have that skill.

As for Alonso, I don't particularly care for his overall attitude. Not a fan.

K.

8. Hamilton=Senna is ridiculous08/09/2007 03:54:35 AM

Hamilton is not even near to be Senna. How many times he has overtaken another rival in a race (Alonso, Raikonnen or Massa)?... Never! When it was raining the other day... he did nothing! Hamilton= next Senna Hamilton brings fun to F1? He only needs to copy Alonso telemetry, in Silverstone he tried to do it by himself and he did nothing. Currently F1 is ruled by British... and Hamilton is... He is more a marketing product than a driver (even when he is a good one).<br><br>Please, don't compare a genious with just a good driver with a lot of marketing behind him.

9. myles03/06/2008 04:31:54 PM
Homepage: http://www.mylesckarting.wordpress.com

i'm sure that you all think lewis hamilton is a fantastic driver and dont get me wrong he's amazing but i'm sure infact i no that there are fantastic drivers like himself lewis. Lewis could of never got to f1 without his sponsers by mclaren which were a massive sum of money. Myself i go karting just like hamilton did. I have seen fantastic drivers very much so who could become like hamilton is now. But they can never do that themselves with there own money. only if they are a multi-millionaire which i'm pretty certain that there aren't a lot of people out there who are. So any way these drivers who i myself have driven with in karting are amazing and could very much so become just like lewis is.

but still LEWIS YOU ARE AMAZING AND YOU ARE MY BIGGEST FAN!

cheers,
Myles.