Schumacher v Hamilton

[Esceptico]

Not going to provide a definitive answer but will shine a light on the size of the two tribes on PH.

[TheDeuce]

Tricky because my overwhelming sentiment is that it's best not to compare drivers of different era's. But in the end I went for Lewis on the basis he has, imo, enjoyed less 'help' than MS during his career. But most of all, Lewis has learned from his past heroes including MS and evolved from their examples.

It's correct that the current best F1 driver should be objectively better than previous bests, because F1 drivers have evolved just as F1 cars have.

[Mr Tidy]

I chose the last option because we will never get to see them together at the height of their abilities.

Although if we had I think LH would have been better than MS.

But if we could find a time machine I can't help thinking Jim Clarke would have been better than both of them!

[Schermerhorn]

Ask the same question on a German forum....

[The spinner of plates]

I went for Different eras: difficult/unfair to judge

[kambites]

It's very difficult to judge but I think the F1 field is (Mazapin aside) of far higher quality now than in Schumacher's era so I'm going for Hamilton.

[Drooles]

I’ve gone Lewis. I’m not his biggest fan but I think he’s won his seven fairly. I can’t get over the way Schumacher won a couple - the Hill incident in particular - and, to me, that sours his legacy slightly

[Muzzer79]

Different eras, impossible to judge.

This thread will descend, like all other Hamilton threads, into arguments over cheating, superior cars, power over team-mates, BLM, clothes and backing from a young age.

[Welshbeef]

Both great drivers.

Schumacher brought a massive level of professionalism / fitness / nutrition / huge involvement with the engineering team.

Hamilton has carried this in & frankly all other drivers have followed the step forward Michael made.

Schumacher elected to go to Ferrari at the time in the doldrums to turn it around (which he as part of the team did) in so doing he missed out on further titles.

Hamilton is a great racer ruthless (so is Schumacher so is Senna so is Prost so are ALL the top racers).

[cgt2]

We got a few tantalising head to head glimpses such as Monza 2011 but it's hard to judge.

Could Hamilton have matched Schumacher in Spain 1996 or Hungary 1997 in the same equipment?

Impossible to tell, the 1996 Ferrari in particular was a complete dog.

Much the same as we never really saw Senna and Schumacher go truly head to head other than a few brief moments in 1992/3.

[TheDeuce]

kambites said:

It's very difficult to judge but I think the F1 field is (Mazapin aside) of far higher quality now than in Schumacher's era so I'm going for Hamilton.

You're definitely right imo - but with the caveat we can never know how great former heroes could have been vs Lewis if they had been born in to the same era as him.

[PH User]

When they both raced together Lewis was better, but I think he was at least as good as MSC even when he was in his prime.

MSC was a dirty driver though, so that has to come into it as well.

[glazbagun]

kambites said:

It's very difficult to judge but I think the F1 field is (Mazapin aside) of far higher quality now than in Schumacher's era so I'm going for Hamilton.

Even Mazepin gets in under the 107% rule which wasn't always a given in the 90's!

[kambites]

glazbagun said:

kambites said:

It's very difficult to judge but I think the F1 field is (Mazapin aside) of far higher quality now than in Schumacher's era so I'm going for Hamilton.

Even Mazepin gets in under the 107% rule which wasn't always a given in the 90's!

True, although the cars are considerably closer in performance now than they were in the 90s too!

[Welshbeef]

glazbagun said:

kambites said:

It's very difficult to judge but I think the F1 field is (Mazapin aside) of far higher quality now than in Schumacher's era so I'm going for Hamilton.

Even Mazepin gets in under the 107% rule which wasn't always a given in the 90's!

Isn’t that down to regulations budget controls etc making cars far more equal.

[kambites]

Welshbeef said:

Isn’t that down to regulations budget controls etc making cars far more equal.

That's certainly part of it, but there have been some truly appalling drivers in F1 in the past.

[LostM135idriver]

Welshbeef said:

glazbagun said:

kambites said:

It's very difficult to judge but I think the F1 field is (Mazapin aside) of far higher quality now than in Schumacher's era so I'm going for Hamilton.

Even Mazepin gets in under the 107% rule which wasn't always a given in the 90's!

Isn’t that down to regulations budget controls etc making cars far more equal.

Team mates are much closer too, mostly because the performance is so limited by the tyres,

Tyres overheat on a flat out quali lap = drive to the tyres
Tyres need to be conserved during race = drive to delta time.

Drive much slower than peak performance = fewer mistakes from everyone, ultra-elite are less separated from elite.

In races where tyre conservation isn’t a factor (check turkey last year), gaps get much bigger.

[HARTLEYHARE1]

I know who I would have loved a few beers with and it sure not the fool on the kids scooter most weekends

[PH User]

HARTLEYHARE1 said:

I know who I would have loved a few beers with and it sure not the fool on the kids scooter most weekends

Kimi? Yeah me too.

[HARTLEYHARE1]

Mmmmmm.