It's been another amazing season of Formula 1 and as expected by many, Lewis Hamilton trumps every other driver to win a historic 6th World Drivers Championship. After Michael Schumacher, Hamilton is probably the most decorated driver statistically. Along with the great Ayrton Senna, he is also the fastest in a 1 lap dash as his qualifying record suggests. Having seen him for the past dozen years, none can argue of his brilliance. As Hamilton closes in on Michael's records, one question beckons us all : How well does he match up to Schumacher and is he really the better driver?
His second career at Mercedes was when he was 41+ and way past his prime, still coming to terms with the new regulations. After the exact races, Schumacher leads Hamilton in wins, podiums, championships, only lagging behind in poles. This stat probably tells us that Schumacher perhaps was the better racer. To go along with 68 poles, he had 91 wins, thus having a win to pole ratio of about 1.3. Hamilton on the other hand has 83 wins of 87 poles which makes the win to poles ration even less than 1.
In the most dominant period of Ferrari from 2001-04 on an average they had 72% of the maximum points available with a peak of 82% in 2004. Mercedes, on the other hand, had an average of 82% of the maximum points with a peak of 86% in 2015. To conclude these dominant years, we can say that Mercedes were moredominating than Ferrari in their best years.
Hamillton had to contend with a struggling Mclaren in 2009 and he did brilliant to secure 2 wins in what everyone called a 'dog' of a car. Where Hamilton lacks is though he never finished above the top 4 from 2010-12 in a very competitive Mclaren. His worst year in F1 during this time was 2011 when he and Felipe Massa had many incidents.
Comparison with Team Mates
Before 2010, Michael Schumacher was never beaten by a team mate in all his 15 years in Formula 1. This is one stat that probably defines the winning machine that he was. He always had the edge on the person in the sister car. Lewis made an incredible start to Formula 1 when he tied the 2 time defending World Champion Fernando Alonso. To expect a rookie matching Alonso was the least expected thing fans have ever seen in F1. That alone confirms his status as a prized asset of this sport.
However, he did lose over a season to Jenson Button and even lost a Championship to Nico Rosberg, something Michael has never done, let alone with a World Championship at Stake.
Comparison after the 248 races
I believe for a fairer comparison we must take into account only Schumacher's first career till 2006.His second career at Mercedes was when he was 41+ and way past his prime, still coming to terms with the new regulations. After the exact races, Schumacher leads Hamilton in wins, podiums, championships, only lagging behind in poles. This stat probably tells us that Schumacher perhaps was the better racer. To go along with 68 poles, he had 91 wins, thus having a win to pole ratio of about 1.3. Hamilton on the other hand has 83 wins of 87 poles which makes the win to poles ration even less than 1.
In the most dominant period of Ferrari from 2001-04 on an average they had 72% of the maximum points available with a peak of 82% in 2004. Mercedes, on the other hand, had an average of 82% of the maximum points with a peak of 86% in 2015. To conclude these dominant years, we can say that Mercedes were moredominating than Ferrari in their best years.
The Non-Dominant Years
To compare the years in which both Hamilton and Schumacher did not have the best cars we have to consider the years 1996-99 for Schumacher and 2009-13 for Hamilton. Schumacher had 3 wins in the 1996 season which did not make any sense because the car was third best at the very least. In 1997 and he battled the Williams of Jacques Villenueve till the very end losing in a controversial fashion. In 1998/99 he went toe to toe with Mika Hakkinen and came a close second.Hamillton had to contend with a struggling Mclaren in 2009 and he did brilliant to secure 2 wins in what everyone called a 'dog' of a car. Where Hamilton lacks is though he never finished above the top 4 from 2010-12 in a very competitive Mclaren. His worst year in F1 during this time was 2011 when he and Felipe Massa had many incidents.
Comparison with Team Mates
Before 2010, Michael Schumacher was never beaten by a team mate in all his 15 years in Formula 1. This is one stat that probably defines the winning machine that he was. He always had the edge on the person in the sister car. Lewis made an incredible start to Formula 1 when he tied the 2 time defending World Champion Fernando Alonso. To expect a rookie matching Alonso was the least expected thing fans have ever seen in F1. That alone confirms his status as a prized asset of this sport.
However, he did lose over a season to Jenson Button and even lost a Championship to Nico Rosberg, something Michael has never done, let alone with a World Championship at Stake.
Though i don't watch formula 1 but i i sti read it completely
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