2019 Mexican Grand Prix - Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, 25-27 October

[Vasconia]

It was a decent race though I was expecting Vettel to put Lewis under some pressure but it seems that the Mercedes had still some pace in their hands. I find increasingly annoying to see how Lewis complains always about their strategy when they normally do it right. His engineer must be a guy with a lot of pacience.

[Restomaniac]

It was a decent race though I was expecting Vettel to put Lewis under some pressure but it seems that the Mercedes had still some pace in their hands. I find increasingly annoying to see how Lewis complains always about their strategy when they normally do it right. His engineer must be a guy with a lot of pacience.

His engineer is in on it.

[NathanOlder]

Yeah and starting from Pole he probably would have kept that scumbag Maldonado out of the record books

Hey! I like Moldanado!

Sorry, I meant the wonderful magnificent Maldonado

[sAx]

It's happening at a similar point in his career as it happened to Hamilton in 2011.

The difference is though he hasn't got a teammate who is matching him in qualy or race pace like Button did, Albon is doing a decent job but let's be honest he's miles off Max.

Button matched Hamilton in races (in terms of wins they were close at 10:8 to Hamilton),
Button scored 3 more podiums than Hamilton in 2011 (Hamilton's "breakdown season") to give him a better overall podium comparison of 25:22.
But in qualifying Button never got anywhere near. It was 9 poles :1 pole in favour of Hamilton in qualifying. It was also 9:6 to Hamilton in fastest laps.

Button was a canny operator, beautifully smooth and quick on his day but he didn't have Hamilton's raw pace or ability to drive around a problem. Button's admitted as much in interviews over the years.

Rosberg was much closer to Hamilton than Button was.

But that's a side issue when comparing Hamilton and Vestappen. Hamilton had already beaten the reigning world champion and secured his own first world title by the time he got to Vestappen's current tenure in F1...Max needs to calm down in order to maximise his obvious ability. If he doesn't, he'll be one of those "what if" drivers that history is littered with.

Actually, thinking about it, I wonder if Max's meteoric rise to F1 is working against him. He was put in an F1 seat after only 1 year of single seater racing. Hamilton did 5 years in single seaters before his F1 debut (although lots of people moan that he got a winning car from the off, he showed his talent over the years to earn the opportunity). Alonso only did 2 seasons in single seaters before F1 but, having had a year at the back in Minardi he went and had a season as a test driver before getting back in a race seat. Vettel did 4 and a half seasons in single seaters (including test driver roles) before getting his own seat. Even Michael had 3-4 years of junior stuff before his break in to F1.

I think Max has basically been learning on the job and it's a difficult way to polish your skill set. I think he'd have been a real force in F1 if he'd had 2, 3 or even 4 years in junior formulae learning his trade, and more specifically learning about how other drivers behave. He's blindingly quick - we all know that - but it seems as if he's always driving relying on his reactions rather than experience when driving near other drivers.

A curious conclusion to have arrived at when you consider man au man combats with the likes of Button, Vettel, Webber, Raikkonen, Massa, Rosberg, Schumacher or anyone else competing at the front since he came into F1. The gap between his first and second Championships has taught Hamilton to maximise opportunities over a weekend, to get the best out of the car consistently. Attempting to outbreak everyone into the first corner, only increases the risk of losing the race before the second, so his racing craft now comes with a great deal of wisdom. The difference between Hamilton, Verstappen and Leclerc, is that the latter two have not been running tightly against him in the Championship for him to play 'banging-wheels' with them, as he would have the most to lose from a Championship perspective (e.g. Lap 36 Hungary), where he may have approached it differently if it was Vettel (e.g. Monza 2018).
Verstappen is desperate to join the elite, whereas Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso (had he still been racing) are already there. Hamilton's racing intelligence certainly has evolved, but I don't see it as a non-aggression pact. His racing cunning is now applied to maximising the best performance, that he, the team and the car can deliver over the race weekend and this is what makes him a formidable opponent. It's amazing to think were it not for poor intra-team strategy in 2007 and unfortunate mechanical reliability in 2016, we may have been talking about a driver on the verge of an 8th WDC! If next year the top teams can converge their performance envelope to incremental margins, then maybe we will how well the pretenders to the throne fair with man on man racing.

[Wass85]

It goes against everything Hamilton was but avoiding race ending incidents wins you championships. Verstappen can afford to be over aggressive as he's got nothing to lose, I'm sure Lewis would revert back to his old ways if he knew he was out of the title battle.

[Wass85]

One thing to note, Hamilton has become the master tyre whisperer on these tyres. The turnaround there is astonishing, he struggled massively in 2011 with tyre management. He will never admit it but I think he learned massively from Button in that regard.

[NathanOlder]

One thing to note, Hamilton has become the master tyre whisperer on these tyres. The turnaround there is astonishing, he struggled massively in 2011 with tyre management. He will never admit it but I think he learned massively from Button in that regard.

I'm sure he has said as much himself over the years. He said he learned a lot from Jenson, he has no issues admitting that.

[Wass85]

One thing to note, Hamilton has become the master tyre whisperer on these tyres. The turnaround there is astonishing, he struggled massively in 2011 with tyre management. He will never admit it but I think he learned massively from Button in that regard.

I'm sure he has said as much himself over the years. He said he learned a lot from Jenson, he has no issues admitting that.

Source? I've never heard him say that tbh.

[NathanOlder]

One thing to note, Hamilton has become the master tyre whisperer on these tyres. The turnaround there is astonishing, he struggled massively in 2011 with tyre management. He will never admit it but I think he learned massively from Button in that regard.

I'm sure he has said as much himself over the years. He said he learned a lot from Jenson, he has no issues admitting that.

Source? I've never heard him say that tbh.

Sky sports F1, if you watched it over the last decade, you would have heard it

[Wass85]

I'm sure he has said as much himself over the years. He said he learned a lot from Jenson, he has no issues admitting that.

Source? I've never heard him say that tbh.

Sky sports F1, if you watched it over the last decade, you would have heard it

They haven't ran F1 for over a decade. When they have I've never heard Hamilton stating he learnt a lot from Button.

[NathanOlder]

Source? I've never heard him say that tbh.

Sky sports F1, if you watched it over the last decade, you would have heard it

They haven't ran F1 for over a decade. When they have I've never heard Hamilton stating he learnt a lot from Button.

8 seasons then, but pretty much the whole of the decade. Are you in the UK ?

[Wass85]

Source? I've never heard him say that tbh.

Sky sports F1, if you watched it over the last decade, you would have heard it

They haven't ran F1 for over a decade. When they have I've never heard Hamilton stating he learnt a lot from Button.

Yes, I still can't recall Hamilton ever saying he learnt a lot from Button though. 2011 was a real struggle for him tyre wise but by 2012 he was much better on them.

I still think Button would have pushed Hamilton more in the Mercedes than both Rosberg or Bottas, he had much better race pace than both IMO.

[sAx]

I'm sure he has said as much himself over the years. He said he learned a lot from Jenson, he has no issues admitting that.

Source? I've never heard him say that tbh.

Sky sports F1, if you watched it over the last decade, you would have heard it

Placing the 'tyre-whispering' to one side, he was also 0.5/1.0 ltr +Ve on fuel conservation over a race distance compared to Rosberg, whilst lapping faster when lift and coasting...he certainly seems to have added to his racing craft over the years.

[Just_a_fan]

Source? I've never heard him say that tbh.

Sky sports F1, if you watched it over the last decade, you would have heard it

Placing the 'tyre-whispering' to one side, he was also 0.5/1.0 ltr +Ve on fuel conservation over a race distance compared to Rosberg, whilst lapping faster when lift and coasting...he certainly seems to have added to his racing craft over the years.

He's developed to become the best driver on the grid. Max might be quicker on a lap, but Lewis has a whole box of tools at his disposal which is why he keeps scoring points when people think he shouldn't. Max is still filling his tool box.

[Capharol]

for those still claiming there was no gap or there was no room left for Bottas to go .......