GrizzleBoy wrote: ↑02 Mar 2022, 14:59
You know there's something afoot when a Verstappen who only got an F1 seat because of his dad and spent most of his rookie years knows as "crashstappen" who couldn't do a Monaco weekend without putting it in the wall, is hailed as more "naturally gifted racer" than a Lewis Hamilton by people like Brundle and Button.
A Hamilton who actually raced in and won in all single seater series leading to F1 and had almost earned a wdc per year of his F1 career going into 2009 and was easily matching and outperforming world champions while doing so.
Maybe some people just have different definitions of "natural" and "talented".
To be honest, LH is very talented, but has also had to work hard to polish that talent. He knows why he is good. Schumacher was the same. Some others may have higher talent levels, but with the pressure of the work involved in maintaining the highest levels can break them.
Hakkinen for one was a fabulous talent, but the sheer pressure of having to perform against Schumacher year on year made him question why he was doing it. There are many others (you could go way back and compare Hill and Clark in the same way). The simple fact is that F1 is, first and foremost, a technical pissing contest between teams, then a competition between drivers.
Was Moss better than Hawthorn? Or vice Versa…?
Lewis Hamilton, Greatest of all time?
A matter of opinion.
Winningest of all time? Certainly.
Greatest of his time? Probably.
One of the greats? Definitely.
Perspective - Understanding that sometimes the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.