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Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins
Lewis has never even "had it", so he certainly could not have "lost it". He has been out qualified by, and beaten on race day by, even beaten for a championship by his teammates on every team for which he has ever driven. Even Alex Albon was going to win, in Lewis's car, until the team somehow screwed up the pit stop. I still believe they did that just so as not to expose how easy it was to win in that car. No, I'm sorry, but this year Lewis is showing where he really is, and always has been as a driver.
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Obviously Lewis would not have seven championships had he not landed with Mercedes, but saying he's never "had it" is a touch hyperbolic. He's always appeared to let his feelings get to him, which isn't great, but when he's competitive he's truly wonderful. His qualifying pace has waned over time, but his race pace is still top tier.
Really I don't think you can say he never had it when he tied Alonso in his first season, and could have won '21 against Max, who probably is one of the best of all time, in a year where the RB and MB were on equal footing, or arguably the MB was less competitive. That's being competitive at the front for 14 years which is something impressive. Is he maybe overhyped? I think so, but he definitely "had it".
If he doesn't feel comfortable in the new regs, though, I think he calls it quits after '26.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rtrorkt
was at Spa. HAM was one of the first to change from inters to slicks. Watched timing and scoring to see him turning laps 10 seconds, not .10 but 1.0 seconds faster than anyone else which is how he got from 17th to 7th. I was at both Spa and Hungaroring and it is fine that we are criticizing but when you see the skills of even the slowest you come away with a different appreciation. The difference between LEC and HAM this year has been relatively small. I am not necessary a HAM fan but not a hater. I believe part of why Ferrari has made the strides they have is HAM's knowledge and ability to verbalize what is happening with the car. Having said that, there is a gap that he needs to close
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He's said before he drives a lot by feel, even spurning sim time because of the lack of physical input, and is struggling to feel the cars in the ground effects generation. I'm not sure he can really close that gap.