Hamilton's Best

[KekeTheKing]

So the consensus around here is that Hamilton's Monaco victory was somewhat hum-drum in the pantheon of his entire career. Who am I to argue with such a notion? The man does have literally dozens of remarkable Formula One wins, and it's obvious that people feel strongly about this topic, so why not examine it a bit more.

 

[KekeTheKing]

Last night I put together a few Highlight packages of a couple personal favorites.

Hungaroring 2009

 

[KekeTheKing]

Hockenheim 2008

 

[KekeTheKing]

Istanbul 2010

 

[gethinceri]

I've got to be honest, the only Hamilton win I can remember is last weekend's.

 

[KekeTheKing]

That makes your participation in this thread quite limited I'm afraid.

 

[teabagyokel]

Germany 2008 edges it from China 2011. Complete mess from the pit wall ruined a dominant performance, had to effectively then take 25s out of everyone else to negate the pit stop. He only did so by passing Massa and Piquet (and Kovalainen - in a less than challenging move) in the 10 laps after his stop.

It is one of a few races where a driver has shown that they have the ability to lights-to-flag, to build a gap after a Safety Car and to pass cars on the circuit, all the while still winning. Outstanding performance, and some excellent mental strength shown to recover from finding himself on the worse strategy, too.

As an aside, he also prevented Nelson Piquet Jr. from ever winning a Formula One race, although I wonder if the lightbulb of "look what a Safety Car can do to strategy - what if we knew when it would be deployed?" got set off in a malevolent mind somewhere at Renault took hold that day.

Hamilton certainly has the best portfolio of great wins compared to his peers. In particular, his time at McLaren was distinguished by excellent performances which were somewhat against the odds in some respect.

Monaco 2008 was a fluke though .

 

[Spinodontosaurus]

Probably Silverstone 2008. Qualified 4th, jumped up to 2nd by Turn 1 then passed team mate Kovaleinen for the lead a few laps into the race. From there on he was in a class of his own, finishing over a minute ahead of 2nd place and lapping everybody up to and including 4th place Raikkonen. He lapped Kovaleinen and lapped Massa in the Ferrari twice. As a Massa supporter at the time that race was painful to watch.

 

[KekeTheKing]

@TBY - I was very surprised Sky didn't even include Germany 08 in their poll. And you'll notice I didn't even include Monaco 08 in this one as Lewis did actually benefit from his own error.

 

[RasputinLives]

Japan 2007. An oldie but a goodie. Masterful in the wet and made the rest of the field look like they were driving F3 cars.

 

[taptap]

its a tough one for me..... between 2008 Germany & 2008 GBR.. can i just say 2008...

 

[NJB13]

Japan 2007. An oldie but a goodie. Masterful in the wet and made the rest of the field look like they were driving F3 cars.

I'd agree with this one. A really good drive in the wet.

 

[racecub]

I've voted same as I voted in the Sky vote. Silverstone 2008. I was at the track which made it even more special. It rained like I've never seen it rain. And it differed around the track. I was sitting just as they came under Abbey Bridge ( not part of the track now)
As was said above. Hamilton just about lapped the field that day and was over a minute ahead of anyone else. It was incredible to watch, even with rain seeping into every bit of clothing. It was worth it!

This is the view I had for the race. ( I don't think this acrptually is the race, I think I was probably too wet and too excited to take photos during the race.p itself Lol)

P.S I was voting for his F1 races. Two absolute favourites of mine are Silverstone 2007 and Turkey 2007. Both amazing races!!

 

[cider_and_toast]

Looking at that list the only races I can remember are Canada 07 and Turkey 2010. It's nothing unusual for me though, I don't remember many individual races by any driver.

 

[snowy]

Singapore 2009 and Hungary that year were among his best wins, the McLaren was a pile of shit and he made it look like a race winning car.

So I suppose I'll have to vote for Hungary...

 

[Dario Resta]

I was driving on the Essex section of the M25 on Tuesday morning in rain heavier than I've ever seen. You couldn't see any lane markings, just a mirror of water and spray. That was a pretty attention grabbing experience, so for me it had to be between Japan 2007 and Silverstone 2008. I've gone for Silverstone, as he was just in a class of one. To be that much quicker than everyone else was astonishing.

 

[Johnny Carwash]

Silverstone 2008 was for me his best race win, in atrocious weather he put on a driving masterclass that would have made Ayrton Senna or Michael Schumacher proud. Not only did he win by over 1 minute he hardly out a foot wrong whilst his rivals were either ending up in the gravel trap or spinning their cars around multiple times during the race.

 

[Lewywo4]

So the consensus around here is that Hamilton's Monaco victory was somewhat hum-drum in the pantheon of his entire career. .

If I had to pick one race, it would have to be the 2008 German GP. After being placed on the back foot by the pit wall, but still Lewis was able to put in a fantastic drive, for a terrific win. The next race at Silverstone wasn't too shabby either.

It wasn't hum-drum as far as Damon Hill was concerned. Damon felt that his performance at Monaco was one of Lewis's best, and made him think of Ayrton Senna at Donnington in 1993.

Lewis Hamilton's 2016 Monaco win among his best, says Damon Hill

 

[F1Brits_90]

For me Monaco last week was pretty good to have wet tyres on a dry track using the uniqueness of Monaco to his advantage. But it may scrape into my top 5 but its not even his best in Monaco 2008 was better. an idea that you've not mentioned Germany 2011 wet
/dry that pass around alonso to take the lead was pretty special

But overall the best & always will be Britain 2008. Atrocious conditions, was just on another level despite home & championship pressure. Was like watching Schumacher winning 96 Spanish gp, while massa was putting the lake in Swan Lake Lewis was at times 2/3seconds a lap quicker

 

[The Pits]

Fwiw, my view is that many of Hamiltons best races have not been wins, and some of his best drives have not been races. Additionally, it seems to me that he thrives on being in a battle, and sometimes the underdog, with some exceptions.

My favourites? 2009 was a great example. He was wdc, and handed a pile of shit to defend his title. And was still able to churn out drives like Hungary. 2007 Canada, a strong maiden win. China 2011 and Germany 2008 I think sum up Lewis in 2 races.

Notable others for me, pole in Canada 2010, Korea pole 2011, Spain 2010, Abu Dhabi 2009.