Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Nurburgring, 2020

Wolff: Hamilton’s dominance isn’t only because he drives a Mercedes

2020 Eifel Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton’s achievement in equalling Michael Schumacher’s winning record should be respected, and not dismissed because of the quality of the equipment he’s had, says Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.

With his victory in today’s Eifel Grand Prix, Hamilton equalled Schumacher’s 14-year-old benchmark of 91 Formula 1 wins. He has scored most of his wins since joining Mercedes, but Wolff rejected the claim that he owes his success to the standard of cars the team has produced in recent seasons.

“In my opinion that’s not quite fair,” said Wolff. “Winning races and winning championships is always in this sport a team exercise.

“But you need to put yourself in a position that you end up in the best car. There you can see lots of talents and skilled drivers took the wrong decisions, not well-advised decisions. And in that respect it was him who joined us in 2013, and it is him that sits in the car and is able to execute on track with a tool that we provide to him. But it’s always the two that are that are part of this.

“We couldn’t achieve the records that we have and he probably couldn’t achieve the records with[out] the right car, full stop. I don’t want to allow these voices that say ‘he drives a Mercedes, it’s obvious that he wins so many races’. The drivers who say that should analyse why they haven’t found their way into a Mercedes.”

Schumacher had won 40 more races than any other driver when he set the record in 2006. Wolff admitted he found it hard to believe Hamilton had equalled it.

“It’s unbelievable that Lewis has reached those 91 wins. For me, Michael stands above all. He’s an icon.

“Equalising that record and us equalising the Ferrari record last year is almost surreal. But records are here to be broken and I think that’s what Michael said as well. And Lewis is still on his journey.

“But maybe there’s somebody in nursery or school that will one day go for the Lewis record. And this is how it should be.”

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86 comments on “Wolff: Hamilton’s dominance isn’t only because he drives a Mercedes”

  1. Wolf is100000% corrrect. Its not about having the fastest car. Bottas proved that it’s how you handle the car that determine’s if your a good driver or not. Hamilton pressurized Bottas into a mistake. Hamilton is better on his tyres and cooling down the car and waiting till he is ready to make an attack.
    To all those people who insist Hamilton only wins in the best car then go on YouTube and watch Hamilton in todays this race again, and while your at it watch again this years British Grand Prix where Hamilton won with a 3 wheel car, and also the styrian grand prix qualifying, where Hamilton beat Mad Max in the wet by 1. 2 seconds.
    You dont have to like someone to admit they are truely great. Many people did not like ex boxer Mike Tyson, but only a fool would deny he was a great fighter.

    1. You’re right, you have to use the car to it’s maximum. But that merc is the fastest car, and he has no real challenge from his team mate. But Hamilton in that RBR wouldn’t be winning as much eighter.

    2. I would argue if you wanted to see how good Hamilton is, watch some of his older races (pre Mercedes days). Even in the GP2 days – everyone knew he was special (the drives in Turkey and Britain were insane), and first years in F1 were incredible against class opposition.
      And he’s only got better as a driver as time has gone on

    3. Lewis sure is special and amongst the best. WDC tally however 50% car dominance

      1. Exactly, this last comment sums it up, he is a top driver, but other top drivers only won 2-3 titles and 30-40 races, look at alonso and senna, it’s about the circumstances, you need the right car especially, not to mention, who says hamilton is better than fangio, ascari or clark? Those drivers had literally no chance to win 91 races, they didn’t get enough grand prix, but they were, as far as team mate comparisons go, up there with the best of this era.

        As it’s the case with hamilton, he won only 2008 with mclaren, deserved 2007 as well but you can argue massa deserved 2008 more (reliability), apart from that he wasn’t close enough to challenge in the other mclaren years, I still think he drove well, then 2014, 2015, 2016 A LOT of drivers would’ve beaten anyone not in a mercedes, the only thing hamilton can take credit for here is beating rosberg, which I believe was underrated and ricciardo level; nowadays I think only hamilton, leclerc and verstappen could beat rosberg, ricciardo and some of the best midfielders could equal him.

        2017 I think it was always a hard task for a ferrari driver to win it, but only a handful of drivers on that grid would’ve won in hamilton’s place, 2018 again similar, ferrari was better but vettel was worse, and then again in 2019 and 2020 there was hardly any competition for title, only for wins in 2019, and with bottas there’s not even the intra-team competition, hence I think around half the current grid could win these last 2 titles, provided they can beat bottas, but they should be up there.

  2. Such articles generally get good number of hits and fans from everywhere to keep making the same argument one more time. I don’t think anyone is going to change their position on how they view Hamilton or anyone else based on what others are saying. So, it is better to leave everyone to their own opinion while record books show the stats.

    1. Good insight!

  3. Did Button outscore Lewis one year at Mac? My memory’s getting a bit rusty….

    1. Yes, but…

      1. Davethechicken
        11th October 2020, 18:33

        Did Rosberg outscore Schumacher every season for 3 seasons? Did Riccardo outscore Verstappen over 3 seasons? My memory is rusty..

        1. Was schumacher 41-43 perhaps during those seasons? Just guessing.

        2. No teammate ever came close to beating Schumacher for 10 years after senna tragically passed he was head and shoulders better than everyone and they all knew it

          1. Micheal Schumachers’ team mates were administratively neutered

    2. I think Button narrowly outscored Hamilton over the three seasons they spent at McLaren together. But they both had poor reliability at times and it could easily have been the other way round.

      1. Jonathan Parkin
        11th October 2020, 20:44

        Which is why I always say Jenson v Lewis was a draw in the end

        1. Nah mate, Hamilton beat jenson 2 seasons to 1. You wouldn’t say its a draw if it was 2 titles to 1 would you.

          And that one season was quite possibly worst of his career with crashes and dnfs.

          Yet look at qualifying for that season and there overall qualifying record. About a draw far from it mate 2-1.

    3. More statistics from Button vs Hamilton over the same time period:

      Poles: Hamilton/Button: 9/1
      Front row starts: Hamilton/Button: 23/9
      Races where both cars finished: Hamilton/Button: 24/14 (32/26 including DNFs, with Lewis DNF 13 times (one of which was a mistake by the team after a collision caused by Button), Button: DNF 8 times.
      Lewis outqualified Jenson 44/14. The qualifying average between them was 0.429 seconds (Lewis was more than half a second clear on 7 occasions between them).
      Jenson Button was also completely lost on setup several times (despite the development of the car being directly shifted more towards suiting his driving style from 2011 onward… naturally, of course… nothing strange about that) and had to revert to using Lewis’ setup on SEVERAL occasions.
      But yes… in 2011 when Lewis split with his girlfriend, fired his Dad as manager & had a pretty public mini-meltdown (& some nefarious villain hid super strong magnets in Lewis & Felipe’s cars that year… I’m guessing Professor Zündapp), Jenson scored more points than he did… even though Lewis still won more races & qualified ahead… but apparently, Jenson’s points triumph is still cause for celebration. Huzzah!???…

      1. Excellent reply. Even though they said its a draw, this whole Button beats Hamilton thing is rinsed over and over again, as if saying it enough times will make it true when it is utter nonsense.

  4. Not just that, but Wolff should acknowledge that Mercedes has to thank Hamilton for their dominance.

    1. @f1osaurus
      Hamilton averaged 2.6 wins per season from 2009-2013, and then that average jumped up to 10.3 wins per season from 2014-2019.

      I doubt Hamilton magically became a much better driver at the age of 29.

      1. Nice stats and comment:)

      2. Why are judging Lewis career from 09?

        1. True, I suppose his average must be higher in 2007 and 2008, in fact it has to! But the main point stays ofc, mercedes carried hamilton for stats. Likewise mercedes wouldn’t have been THAT dominant with a worse driver, but good enough to win titles.

          1. Not by much, if you factor in 07 and 08, the win average goes up to 3.1…but I’m not sure why this matters.

            I dont know why all this is up for argument. Lewis has accomplished the task set out before him in the best way possible, and that is a great achievement. This is not to say that another driver could not have achieved the same thing in similar circumstances. Some drivers are better than others, thats why its a sport! Bottas maybe very close to Lewis on Saturdays, but he certainly not very consistent on Sundays. Perhaps thats his level, and there is nothing wrong with that.

            There is no denying that the Merc team is probably the most cohesive unit to ever grace the pitlane. I dont think that even the Ferrari of Schumi-Todt-Brawn were in the same league (well because there were Italians involved :) ). Are there many other drivers who could have accomplished the same level of success given the circumstances? Certainly, but that is “whataboutism”.

            Is Lewis the greatest of all time? I dont know, and frankly, I dont care. He is a very good racing driver who has achieved the results he is paid to deliver.

        2. DeanR Because those where the years were Red Bull had the dominant car of course. Dumb people always force their point trying to look smarter

      3. @kingshark Well actually he would have. That’s what’s is called experience. Hamilton is more mature and knows better what a teams needs to improve the car.

        But yeah already in 2009 you could see Hamilton helped the team progress from a back marker car to winning races.

        Plus he learned to simply bring the car home rather than take unnecessary risks. Just see how Vettel threw away 2009, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Or how Verstappen keeps on throwing away races where he has the fastest car (many Monaco, Mexico and Malaysia races).

        Vettel never seems to learn that it’s better to keep the car in one piece and on the track rather than go for a red mist moment overtake or defense. Verstappen also doesn’t seem to learn. See how he ruined his front wing and tyres in Styria trying to keep a gap to Bottas. Just like he ruined his tyres keeping a gap to Hamilton in Hungary 2019. He would have easily staid ahead in both races if he would just learn to keep his cool. Yet he keeps on panicking and messing up.

        1. @f1osaurus
          Mercedes spend $425m per year on chassis and another $250m per year on engines. That’s $675m per year on car development. They have spent billions since the beginning of the hybrid era. Mercedes have a team of 1500 people, with 1000 people working on the chassis and another 500 people working on the engine. Their dominance has nothing to do with Hamilton’s feedback lol. Hamilton simply lucked into the most dominant team ever.

          Hamilton spent the entirety of 2009-2013 finishing fourth or fifth, constantly beaten by drivers with equal or inferior cars. The “Red Bull dominance” excuse doesn’t even hold up because Hamilton was regularly beaten by non-RBR drivers.

          1. @kingshark Red Bull and Honda spends just as much. get lost with your nonsense

          2. @f1osaurus
            Wrong:
            https://www.racefans.net/2020/01/02/the-cost-of-f1-2019-part-two-what-the-top-teams-spent/

            That’s just how much Mercedes spend on chassis. They have another 500 employers and spend another $250 million on engine development.

            There is a reason why Hamilton was mostly irrelevant from 2009-2013 before the Mercedes superteam.

          3. @kingshark Lol, funny that you actually take that nonsense as gospel.

            More reliable sources report spending as quite equal. And then Honda reportedly doubled their spending.

  5. Yes Toto, time to tell Bottas to shut up and support Lewis.
    The team needs to respect the 6 times champion and don’t make him work too hard. Look at redbull, look at Ferrari during Schumacher era. There’s no challenge from the no 2 driver.

    What’s up with Bottas driving to match Lewis? Where was the sleeping beauty when Lewis single handedly carried this team through 2017 and 2018 Seasons???

    1. I don’t agree.
      I think one of the reasons Hamilton has excelled is that his teammate pushes him on to a higher level.
      When any of us, in all walks of life, are not pushed to perform we generally get away with as little effort as possible.

      1. Hamilton is miles better than bottas even on a bad day it is no challenge for him . Dont get me wrong I think lewis would beat everyone easily apart from max in the same equipment and even then I would fancy lewis to win but let’s not kid on that bottas is elite he is a poor driver

      2. Good point Colly, Hamilton does prefer to be pushed. Plus the loss he took in 2016 taught him another valuable lesson, even though he is confident that he has the measure of his team mate, the little things accumulated enough to prevent him from winning what would’ve been his fourth title.

        1. @icarby The only thing Hamilton learned from 2016 is that reliability is more important than a slight increase in speed.

          Also a lesson which Red Bull have still not learned. And then they blame Renault and Honda for the consequences of “we are going for performance only and we will sort out the reliability later” demands.

          1. @f1osaurus – Think he learnt more than that, if I remember correctly a few races whilst taking pole he dropped places due to a clutch “qwerk” that Rosberg got on top of quite quickly and those few races all add to the tally.

            For Ham’s development a necessary evil, he’s a much more accomplished driver in many respects now.

          2. @icarby The Mercedes start system was changed because Rosberg could not get the hang of the system that Hamilton loved and was making blindingly fast starts with.

            Both Rosberg and Hamilton suffered equally from the poorly developed new start system. Both of them suffered a poor start in Australia, Hamilton in Bahrain and Rosberg in Germany. Overall that pretty much evened out. Perhaps Hamilton had slightly more trouble with it since it was mostly an issue when starting from pole.

            Rather than being the first to get “on top of it”, actually it was Rosberg who was last to suffer from it when his start system failed in Germany. Dropping him from pole to P4.

            If I remember correctly, by then they figured out it could be related to the grip level change from going over the start line. Whatever the issue was, it didn’t fail again after that.

          3. @f1osaurus – Wasn’t that the year of the clutch change for all teams? True both Ham and Ros had issues but Ham definitely had a worse time of it. Whether it was him or the design, etc, it didn’t help the cause.

          4. @icarby
            Rosberg lost out in: Australia, Hungary and Germany.
            Hamilton: Australia, Bahrain, Monza

  6. Jelle van der Meer (@)
    11th October 2020, 17:24

    Certainly correct that Hamilton adds his 10-20% but the remainder 80-90% is the dominance of Mercedes. Hamilton would have far less wins and championships if he had driven for Ferrari or Red Bull the last 7 years. He still would have had wins but no extra championships.

    It is a combination of really good car and really good driver. Lewis certainly delivers his part but the car is the bigger factor certainly when it comes to winning championships over 20+ races.

    1. equipment matters in every single level. WDCs, wins, podiums, points.

      people get shots at good opportunities all the time, and they don’t always deliver, just look at Vettel being sacked from Ferrari after a long time underperforming there. He is a 4 time WDC and got the equipment to win races and even a WDC in 2018 and didn’t live up to it.

      Did Hamilton got the right car? Yes. And makes great use of it for 7 seasons already? Also yes.

      In fact, his only “off” season was 2011. He’s among the best since day one 13 years ago. How many have come and gone and he is still there?

    2. Mmm, honestly I think if you swapped vettel and hamilton around the last few years, with the same identical cars and performance, hamilton should be able to win the 2018 title, vettel was terrible in 2018 which is when hamilton stepped up.

    3. @jelle-van-der-meer With Hamilton in a Ferrari and Vettel in a Mercedes, Hamilton would have won 2017 and 2018 for sure and probably 2019 as well.

      In 2019, Bahrain, Baku, Canada, Austria, Russia, Japan, Mexico should all have been won by Ferrari. Spa, Monza and Singapore they did win. That’s 10 wins they should have had instead of 3.

      Apart from the fact that Hamilton is much better at helping the team develop the car, so Vettel would not even have had Mercedes at the same level as Hamilton got it. And Ferrari would have been better.

  7. This means that Rosberg should legitimately be considered amongst the true F1 greats for being the only one to take a championship against the greatest driver in the greatest car

    1. Rosberg was a serial cheat who lucked in with being in the greatest car while his teammate had 5 car failures in one season.

      1. GtisBetter (@)
        11th October 2020, 19:11

        You sound very bitter.

        1. You came here to talk about me @passingisoverrated? I’ll tell you a bit more then: I don’t like it when F1 is dishonest, because sport is ultimately about values and so a dishonest sport is a waste of everyone’s time, and they were over Rosberg. And then people pretending Rosberg won 2016 on merit isn’t really honest either.

          1. Indeed, hamilton deserved 2016 more, however there’s no saying a non-mercedes driver didn’t deserve it more than him, considering the car difference.

      2. Lewis sworn his first title by having less dnfs than massa every single champion deserved their win and near enough all won in the best car

        1. Lol, Massa crashing does not count as a mitigating DNF.

    2. Yes, correct. Same as we now know how poor Webber was

    3. Davethechicken
      11th October 2020, 18:42

      Rosberg demolished Schumacher and was close to Hamilton but ultimately not as fast, if you look at their time together in any way objectively.
      So yes, you could argue Nico Rosberg among the fastest of his era.
      As has been repeated so many times before it isn’t possible to compare eras.

      1. Schumacher was 41-43, damn it, always the same argument from schumacher’s detractors, you lose 5-6 tenths at that age compared to peak time!

        1. @esploratore It’s always cute how people say this afterwards. Often the same people who beforehand claimed that Schumacher would be winning races and WDC’s and how sorry they felt for Rosberg’s career being ruined.

    4. He could’ve if he stayed in F1. For leaving in the manner he did I have (not that he would care) 0 respect for him. I acknowledge Rosberg’s opportunistic nature and achievements but that’s it.

      1. @icarby people say how Rosberg is afraid of Lewis that’s why he left but I don’t think that was the reason. He wanted to be a YouTube star and wanted fame ASAP. However he still needs to wait for that world title to boost his cv as a YouTube star.

        1. @f1fan-2000 It was Rosberg who said it though. He phrased it slightly differently, but saying that he couldn’t stand the pressure of the WDC fight again is pretty much the same as being afraid.

  8. I think what sets Lewis apart is the lap by lap consistency. He has incredible focus for long stretches in a race. He rarely makes mistakes, even if he is pressured or having to come from behind. Yes, he has the best car, but he seems to get the most out of the car’s potential.

    1. Also that he’s always “on it”. That’s also what set Schumacher aside from his competition. Not raw speed, but consistency is key. Especially when Ecclestone changed the scoring system to make it more difficult for Schumacher to win (exactly achieving the opposite) when all he did was try to make slightly more sure the final race would see the WDC decided.

      You see Verstappen sudden 1 second a lap slower in Hungary and Monza. Especially Hungary was beforehand proclaimed as a race where they would take on Mercedes. Monza they had the lame excuse that it was a power circuit. While in 2019 they would have been close to getting pole. Yet they decided to take a new engine and started from the back. Plus other power circuits Red Bull did just fine too. Spa just before.

      So yeah that’s on Verstappen not being consistent. Same with Bottas. Bottas can be quick now and then, but Hamilton is mostly faster and in the exceptional case he’s not, he’s very close behind.

  9. petebaldwin (@)
    11th October 2020, 18:05

    Hamilton’s dominance isn’t purely down to driving a Mercedes however if he wasn’t driving a Mercedes, he wouldn’t be dominant. A driver of Hamilton’s level (personally, I think that includes Verstappen, Ricciardo, Alonso in his prime) would be dominant in that car but a midfield driver like Bottas isn’t.

    If Mercedes only ran 1 car, Bottas would still be Champion by a comfortable margin but he wouldn’t win every race where he doesn’t have an issue like Hamilton does.

    1. @petebaldwin – Alonso I agree the others not convinced they are on Ham’s level.

      Definitely not sure about Bottas winning the title, even in the Merc. With the way Merc operate they appear to share driving stats which I think helped Rosberg and Bottas more than Ham, but that’s pure speculation.

      1. Mmm, indeed, it might be a challenge for title without hamilton, verstappen isn’t that far from bottas atm and that’s despite worse reliability.

        1. @esploratore Reliability is not that much worse. Bottas also lost two races. Plus one of the DNF’s for Verstappen, Bottas also had a rather troublesome race.

          Verstappen was also lucky that Bottas was on the dirty side more often at the start. Plus Verstappen didn’t have to focus on Q3 setup. So he can be faster on race pace.

    2. i think alonso’s still in his prime. he was when at mclaren in his last year.

  10. Sure ‘Wolff’.
    Mercedes have 98 wins out of 132 races despite their own goof-ups since 2014 started.

    Last time Mercedes wasn’t dominant was early 2013 where Hamilton only won 1 race.
    Hamilton is definitely a top tier competitor but to downplay the lack
    of competition due to machinery is extremely disingenuous.

    1. Vettel should have won in 2018 but he messed up too many times. Ferrari had their “trick” engine.

      1. Mercedes were quicker in 2017 and 2018.

        The only reason Vettel found himself ahead in the championship was because of Mercedes strategy blunders, driver errors, and timely mechanical problems.

        Off the top of my head Australia 2017 was handed to Vettel on a platter when he used the overcut, Hamilton kicked an own goal in Bahrain by trying to hold up Ricciardo and getting penalised for it, Russia Bottas won the race with Hamilton 4th (just poor driving from Hamilton he had the best car), Hamilton qualified 14th at Monaco, Bottas won Austria from pole while Hamilton finished 4th.

        As you see, Hamilton just underperfomed in the first half of 2017.

        Mercedes had 12 wins while Ferrari had 5.

        Similar story in 2018 with Mercedes only winning 2 of the first 7 races.

        Mercedes quickest in Australia with Vettel jumping into the lead with a fortunate VSC allowing him to pit, Bahrain had Bottas all over the back of Vettel at the end with Vettel doing well to hold him off despite being much slower, China Hamilton got outqualified by Bottas with Bottas leading the race when safety car came out Mercedes didn’t pit the RBRs did gifting them the win.

        Mercedes were always quickest but Hamilton underperformed and team made blunders.

        1. I cannot believe you cut and paste your comments from thread to thread despite scores of people replying and pointing out that your comment is complete tripe!

          That is sheer laziness

    2. yeah, and how many of these 98 they only won because hamilton was the driver?
      Brazil 2018, when the almighty genius Verstappen crashed in front of him with a faster car, for example.

      A lot of those wins were easy wins, but the best are paid the big bucks to deliver when things get difficult. Hamiton beat Bottas by more than 150 poins in ’18. The closest they were to losing a WDC. What about that ?

      1. Yes, that’s a good point but you should consider bottas is a driver around half the grid in ability, as in there’s a few other drivers that would’ve won the title (without hamilton as a team mate at mercedes).

    3. Lack of competition is Wolff’s fault???? Tool!
      Tell Horner the big mouth to build a better car, now that they have the fastest engine. And where is Ferrari?

  11. I remember a time when three or four front row lock outs in a season was incredible. Mercedes have 9/11 so far this season.

    Won 9/11 too. It’s only a bizarre problem with extreme graining at Silverstone and Hamilton not being able to understand what the pitlane closed sign means stopped them from winning 11/11.

    And this has been repeated since 2014. And will be in 2021.

    1. So what?

      That’s not the race – that Important bit with the points comes the next day. After a couple of hundred miles of racing and stuff.

      In 2013 Mercedes were often on the front row. Only to go straight backwards.

      In 2011 there was only 1 single none red bull pole position (sorry pal you will hate the fact it was LH striking again)

      While the year was a complete walkover for Vettel with one of the largest gaps to second position ever, they still did not win all the races did they? You hint at dominating but Vettel was able to win by miles in 2011 with some truly awful driving performances and inaccuracy in that years RB, such was its astounding performance. Even it’s designer admits that.

      Your comments are becoming more and more unhinged.

    2. David Bondo So explain how Ferrari had 9 pole positions and won only 3 races in 2019?

      Actually, Hamilton winning most of those races where he did not have the fastest car shows what an exceptional talent he is.

      1. They cheated with their one lap party mode speed.

        Mercedes had the quickest car by quite a margin.

  12. The drivers who say that should analyse why they haven’t found their way into a Mercedes

    That’s just because Bottas is still occupying the second seat while he’s not the second best driver on the grid.

    Eleven races into the season Hamilton is leading the constructors’ standings by himself, which says something about the level of competition in F1 these days. That said: a team needs to be built, it needs a leader, it needs to stay motivated after so much success and once you’ve got an edge you have to keep it, so Lewis is definitely doing something right there.

  13. I’m pretty sure that I have said it before but I shall say it again.

    You don’t get to drive the best car unless you are the best driver.

    Why would Merc pay Lewis millions when Daddy Stroll would pay them to let his brat be the winner?

    I’m not a Lewis fan.
    He is a bit of a drama queen in my opinion, but he deserves every respect for what he has achieved and is indeed a Master at what he does.

    If LeClerc was on pole in a Merc and Lewis was at the back in the Ferrari I still wouldn’t risk money on who might win.

    1. Well, I suppose stroll as bottas team mate would make the season interesting, as in they’d face stiff competition by verstappen, good for the sport, but not what toto wants ofc.

    2. Well that statement is nonsense Schumacher was the best 96 – 99 yet the William’s was miles better

  14. Certainly helps though, doesn’t it? Like he was hardly going to win everything in a Williams, or if he’d stayed at McLaren was he? Dumb remark really.

    Of course the dude’s mad talented, he wouldn’t be where he is if he wasn’t. But to suggest that a *considerable* amount of his domination isn’t down to the fact he’s driving a rocketship with a performance margin over his competition for literally years is ridiculous. Pretty easy to do when the only person that can beat you to poles and wins at the moment is your team-mate or your own reliability.

    1. The 2002 Ferrari was considered one of the most dominant cars of all time at the time.

      It had 6 front row lock outs in a 17 race season.

      Mercedes has had 9 front row lock outs in 11 races.

      And that’s just 2020. There’s been a similar level of dominance since 2014.

      The 2001 Ferrari was a strong car, not as strong as the 2002 Ferrari but people like to talk about it as a dominant car.

      It had 2 front row lockouts in 17 races.

      Mercedes in their “worst” years 2017-2019 had front row lockouts in:

      2017 4/20 races (Ferrari 3/21)
      2018 7/21 races (Ferrari 1/21)
      2019 7/21 races (Ferrari 3/21)

      Red Bull in their most dominant year 2011 had “only” 6/19 front row lock outs.

      1. Indeed, the dominance level is appalling for that car.

      2. Again so what?

        Do they park the cars at the front and leave them there. Race done weekend over?

        I really love your complete ignorance of the refuelling era by the way.

        Remember? You know when cars had starting fuel on board and it was not actually an absolute requirement or advantage to get a front row lockout.

        But then that would screw with your ‘it’s all the car’ and that bloke that keeps winning has absolutely no ability other than luck. If only Max, Charles, even Stroll (although I am not sure if your issues would not preclude his background as well) was in such a car they would show him what was what!

  15. Bondo let’s celebrate 100/100 in 2021

  16. I mean, it is the car. As if the number 1 driver, the highest paid driver, the big ‘investment’, the team has, isn’t being given the best car.

    Sit down for a sec while I explain something.

    F1 is a business. There are two drivers in each team. Teams normally have one good driver, the golden boy, the investment, the sure thing. And they have one okay driver, who is on a lower salary, a bottas, a barrichello, an irvine. This driver is not the investment, but is a safe pair of hands to keep the points flowing in so the team can win the constructors championship and win that sweet, sweet prize money, and add another title to the list.

    The second driver is there to stay out of the way, even if they are extremely talented. The team doesn’t hold as much faith in the second driver. Why would they waste extra time preparing the other guy’s car, when he isn’t even denting their wallet to drive in circles?

    The moment the first driver is considered the better racer, he is given a higher salary, a better car, more of a say in how the team is run. The second driver becomes an employee. A wingman. They are just happy to have some money flowing into the bank.

    This is what happened to Vettel after last year. They were roughly equal, but this year, Leclerc has the better car, and it’s built around him.

    This is how it goes. Don’t rely on the teammate to have a good title fight. Rely on the other teams to eventually catch up.

    Max is the only one who can win.

    So yes. It is the car, and the team’s faith in the driver.

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