Quote:
Originally Posted by chunterer
I don't agree that Hamilton hasn't had no.1 status? Come on!!
He had it in '08/09 then McLaren decided they needed another topliner to fight RB and Ferrari and so Whitmarsh signed Button.
When he joined Merc I find it highly unlikely there wasn't some element of preference in the contract otherwise he wouldn't have taken the risk.
Nico was supposed to play 2nd fiddle but decided not to, hence the fireworks.
Since 2017 there has clearly been a no.1 and no.2. That has generally been the same in RB and also in Ferrari until they decided Vettel wasn't upto it anymore and pushed Leclerc forward.
That aside, there is no doubt in my mind that Hamilton is one of the top 6 drivers ever, maybe top 3 (I do not base that purely on statistics, cause that would be a bit obvious, no?) but he is probably the first driver, with the style of on-track calibre that I admire the most I.E. a real racer (and those talents don't come along very often) who I find quite objectionable in character. But hey, that's just me  |
ENTIRELY different to have number 1 status written into your contract, receive new parts first by default as Schumacher did and Hamilton’s situation where talent got him number 1 status.
2007 - he beat an experienced teammate to become top dog
2008 -2009 top dog against heiki on talent alone
2010-2012 against button there was no number 1/ number 2
2013-present, Hamilton and his teammates have consistently been allowed to race one another, the only time team orders have been implemented is when his teammate was out of the championship hunt