Featured Image Credit: Strongbow
Topics: Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
The SPORTbible Team
Lewis Hamilton has won our poll as the greatest F1 driver of all time, claiming 49.6% of the vote.
The seven-time world champion triumphed over Michael Schumacher (36.1%), Ayrton Senna (13.5%) and Alain Prost (0.8%).
As is always the case with any sporting poll, it attracted plenty of heated debate on Twitter. Many fans sprung to the defence of Schumacher and Senna, and highlighted the former driver’s ability to win races in a comparatively poorer car to Hamilton.
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There was also a lot of love out there for Senna, who tragically lost his life competing at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994.
But Hamilton won by a comfortable distance in the end to leave the two drivers trailing in his wake. The case for Hamilton is a compelling one. He is tied with Schumacher on seven world titles, and holds the outright record for most wins (103), pole positions (103) and podium finishes (183).
It has been one hell of a ride for the man from Stevenage, whose journey in F1 began with McLaren in 2007. He was immediately thrust into a compelling rivalry with Fernando Alonso, and tensions rose with the then rookie driver outshining his established teammate.
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Hamilton missed out on the drivers’ championship to Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen by a single point during his debut season, and even led the standings for five months of the season before being pipped to top spot by the Finn.
The first of his seven world titles followed a year later in an unforgettable climax to the season in Brazil with Felipe Massa. He became the then youngest world champion in history aged 23 years and 300 days – a record which stood for two years until Sebastian Vettel at 23 years and 133 days, won the title with Red Bull.
Hamilton had to wait until 2014 for his second world title, which was secured in Abu Dhabi. He then stormed to another crown in 2015 and raised his game even more in 2017 after scoring points in all 20 of his races, winning nine of them and finishing on the podium 13 times.
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Further titles followed in 2018 and 2019, ahead of a record-setting campaign in 2020. He became statistically the most successful F1 driver of all time, and did so with 11 wins, 10 poles and 14 podiums in an unforgettable year.
The debate as to whether he is the greatest of all time or not will continue to rumble on, but his impact on the sport cannot be questioned.