This is not intended to be a WUM thread just one discussing whether the quote is true or not. Murray Walker said after Lewis`s first grand prix victory in Canada 2007 that he was nothing but a genius. But is Lewis Hamilton still a genius today?
He is an intelligent and aggressive driver, an all round goo driver, I just want more WDC's from him to show that he is great.
IMO not as much as in '07, that (for me) was his best season because of a competitive teammate. His race craft needs a bit of improvement and needs to stop going for ******ed overtakes that cost championships
From Australia 07 - Canada 07, he was brilliant - but I don't think Murray Walker would have called him a genius at the end of the year. When he stops making rookie errors, over-exuberant overtakes and becomes generally a more intelligent driver, he will be a genius.
Genius is bandied about far too often, very few, if any, sportsmen are geniuses. Apart from perhaps Adrian Newey, I wouldn't call anyone in F1 a genius. I think we'll find out a lot about how intelligent Lewis is this season when he has to drive against his instincts to protect the fragile Pirellis.
I wouldn't call him a genius. A very talented driver prone to rash mistakes and if he can cut them out he'll become an F1 great but not a genius.
Ok, I'm a fan of Lewis Hamilton, so you can all say "well you would say that wouldn't you?" But why, why, why does he keep getting labelled as one who makes rash mistakes? He has made fewer errors this year than most of his competitors: Hamilton: Spa (but he went on to win), Monza Vettel: Turkey, Silverstone, Hungary, Spa Webber: Australia, Valencia, Singapore, Korea Alonso: Shanghai, Monaco, Silverstone, Spa, Abu Dhabi So you could say that of his main title challengers, only Button made fewer major errors. And yet Lewis was consistently quicker than Jenson and finished ahead of him in the standings.
I'm sorry but you're ridiculously biased there. If you include Alonso's crash at Monaco you have to include Hamilton's in Germany and Japan. The Singapore crash was 50:50, you include it in Webber's list but not Hamilton's. Vettel at Silverstone? It was Hamilton getting too hot into the first corner that punctured his tyre, he did exactly the same in the race before (Valencia) and damaged his own front wing but didn't learn. Alonso in Abu Dhabi was a tactical mistake by the pit wall.
I thought about including Hamilton's mistake at Hockenheim, but in the end I didn't feel that it affected his race, as it was in first practice and he went on to qualify 6th and finish 4th. Alonso's crash at Monaco was in final practice and meant he had to start from the pit lane. he was fortunate in the race to gain places through attrition, and was also caught napping at the end by the wily old Schumacher. At Japan, Hamilton's accident was again in Freepractice 1 and ok, it affected his set-up time in the remaining sessions, but he still went on to finish on the podium! The reason I put Singapore down to Webber is because I firmly believe, you won't be surprised to hear, that it was NOT 50:50, and that Lewis 'had' the corner. It can only be you and other Vettel fans who think that Silverstone was Hamilton's fault; Sebastien made a pigs ear of the start where he unnecessarily and unsuccessfully tried to squeeze his teammate into the wall and suffered the consequences round the first corner. Hamilton was not 'too hot' into that corner, he followed the inside line behind Webber. I'll concede that Hamilton made an error at Valencia but I believe it was more like 50:50 between him and Vettel, and it didn't prevent him from finishing second; however I'll add that to the list on Hamilton's side for you. Alonso's issue at Abu Dhabi was not so much the pit stop, which was a team decision, but the inability of a two-time champion to pass a rookie in a Renault in about 34 laps of trying. However, even though it directly affected his championship hopes, it was not an error as such, so I'll remove it. So the revised list reads: Hamilton: Valencia, Spa (but he went on to win), Monza Vettel: Turkey, Silverstone, Hungary, Spa Webber: Australia, Valencia, Singapore, Korea Alonso: Shanghai, Monaco, Silverstone My point remains valid: Hamilton in 2010 made no more errors than any of his main championship rivals, and fewer than some. And other than Monza, the errors he did make had a relatively minor effect on his finishing positions in those races. And yet people still persist in believing that he is unduly prone to making rash mistakes.
IMO the top four all made too many errors. I don't really want to get into the ins and outs because different people have differing views on what actually defines an error. The only one of the top five who was suitably error-free was Button, but he suffered a general lack of pace, which is worse than suffering from inconsistency and poor decision making.
I like a driver that takes a chance, is aggresive and doesn't give way to anyone>>> Schumacher>>> he is a borderline cheat though This is why I respect Hamilton and Vettel.
Sarge you are spot on. That list actually was confirmed by Autosport - The only driver that made less critical errors (one's that cost points) was Button. Alonso and Vettel had quite a few more. Is he a genius? Depends what you class as genius but the boy can make that car do things that others couldn't. You can't deny he is one of the most talented on the grid.
