Take two young men......

racecub

Champion Elect
The two young men are Ayrton Senna and Lewis Hamilton. I watched the Senna movie with friends on the eve of the Australian GP and was struck afresh by the similarities between the two, and also by the differences.
Taking the similarities first, as they are probably the more obvious; both outrageously talented, both with the same driving style, both fast, both aggressive, both out and out racers, both with unbelievable car control, both sensitive and passionate young men with total belief in their ability, both incur the wrath of peers and ‘experts’ and both dealt with harshly by the powers that be. Both also dislike greatly the political nature of racing in F1.
Ayrton’s destiny was not to completely fulfil that huge potential. Had he not died who knows how many more championships he’d have won. I believe he’d have had ’94, ’95, and ’96 at least, probably two or three more.
And Lewis? What is his destiny? Will it be fulfilled or not? I think the answer lies in the differences between Lewis and Ayrton , how those differences affect Lewis and how Lewis deals with the situations he finds himself.
So.......the differences.....
Ayrton was born of an almost aristocratic Brazilian family. He was very rich, well educated and used to moving in privileged circles. He was confident in all social situations he found himself in. He was articulate, charismatic and could hold audiences spellbound with his eloquence in several different languages. Despite this, he would not hesitate to tell someone to ‘**** off’ if he felt they deserved it. He was not afraid to challenge the ruling powers and would not be put down. This young man is completely confident that the decisions he makes are the right ones. He is steadfast in his beliefs and answerable to no-one but himself and his god.
Lewis was born of a working class family in Stevenage where he attended the local comprehensive school. He suffered some racial abuse and bullying and learnt karate to defend himself. He is not multilingual and sometimes finds expressing himself in his first language difficult, especially when emotional, often giving the wrong impression and not getting his point across. He is not at ease in all social settings and not confident to hold his own when challenged about something he has done or said. He is the first black driver in what has traditionally been a rich white man's sport. This young man falters if the decisions he makes are challenged. He tries to please too many and looses his way.
And there we have it. Two very similar and very different young men . Fate deprived us of seeing one of them achieve all he could have done . Will the other one overcome the difficulties he faces or not.......
For me, both young men arouse great respect and also sadness.
Just my thoughts...don’t be too hard on me
 
The two young men are Ayrton Senna and Lewis Hamilton.

I don't think those two names should be even used in the same sentence. Its a vast over exaggeration to even compare the two, Senna was just a different animal compared to not only LH but the majority of F1 drivers.. but each to their own opinion.

I guess we have to thank to James Allen and the biased ITV1 team in 2007/2008 :crazy: for starting this nonsense. Ive never understood the logic behind it and i don't think i ever will
 
I've never seen the comparison and as OnTheLimit says it seems to be built upon the '07-08 ITV overhyping of a young man who while no doubt talented has his fair share of flaws. Hold on, I'd better retract that since that sounds just like Senna. Forgive me.

Racecub said:
Taking the similarities first, as they are probably the more obvious; both outrageously talented, both with the same driving style, both fast, both aggressive, both out and out racers, both with unbelievable car control, both sensitive and passionate young men with total belief in their ability, both incur the wrath of peers and ‘experts’ and both dealt with harshly by the powers that be. Both also dislike greatly the political nature of racing in F1.
Sounds like the perfect description for just about any F1 driver whose ever driven, quite frankly. Everyone in F1 is extremely talented* and everyone is motivated. They all have excellent car control and they probably all hate the politics and the realities of being an F1 driver. Moaning about those things from time to time and holding a disgruntled demeanour really does not make you special.

The reason Lewis 'incurs wrath' is because in critical moments he has shown an inability to respond well to pressure, something that has always been lurking in his F1 career. He has made some poor decisions on-track and, perhaps because of the poor decisions he has allegedly made off track, he is in the public eye a great deal and those decisions at 200mph get scrutinised an awful lot by an aggressive, tabloid-lead media circus in England. I don't know what Brazilian journalism was like in the late 80s, early 90s, but I'm guessing it wasn't anywhere near as perversive and intrusive. As for Senna - he was holding (quite literally) the flag for Brazilian sport in those years and was idolized in his own country. Compare that to the English who are these days quite tribal in their support of sportsmen and women, people who on the whole right now seem to be fairly cold towards F1 drivers.



*Narain Karthikeyan and friends excluded
 
Great OP racecub

Yes it's hard to compare 2 drivers but parallels can be drawn as you have done

Senna was a South American away from home on a mission in what was then mainly an European sport, he was an outsider and lots of his attitude and approach were forged by this siege mentality. He was not liked by many however he gained fans from those outside F1 and without and attachment to a particular nationality, he gained fans across the board by his energy, passion and talent

I see something similar with Lewis, from his background, to rise to the top of this expensive sport littered with sons of drivers and privileged pay drivers is almost unbelievable. This fact here will ensure that he attracts fans again from beyond F1 and amongst those who truly understand what it takes to rise from unlikely beginnings in a top sport.

His talent and ability are just not in question, neither were Sennas

As for saying his legend was created by the media, this did not happen until after his spectacular stand to the WC Alonso, who really thinks the media would have got behind him if he had trailed Alonso the whole year?

Again it's easy to discredit his achievements just as many try to do with Senna, someone said the two cant be mentioned in the same sentence? Ofcourse they can, they just have. Who else can we compare Senna to in the current grid, Maldonado? Bruno? Seb? Button?
 
Cookin' name any two F1 driver you want or indeed any two famous people you want and with the tiniest bit of thought I bet I could draw comparisons between them.

Yes I can compare senna to bruno he's his nephew and Senna talked of him in very high regard..He said if you think I'm fast wait until you see my nephew...

I definitely could draw comparisons between Button and Lewis no problem.

Do you want me too?
 
Ok I was a bit too cryptic I realise

I didn't mean we can't compare Senna to those drivers, we can they all have something in common, I mean if not Lewis then who else

It can't be said that 'you can't mention those two in the same sentence' when they are racing drivers

The parallels racecub points to are valid
 
Okay I misread your meaning of course you can mention Lewis in the same breath as Senna and Lewis himself says Senna is his hero but maybe instead of trying to be like him or drive like him he should find his own way and stop trying to copy somebody else's, then just maybe he will start being the driver we know he can be.

PS

Did you know that when Lewis was growing up and started Karting he looked up to Jenson as one of his hero's and wanted to beat his Karting records but he didn't manage it?
 
....Had he not died who knows how many more championships he’d have won. I believe he’d have had ’94, ’95, and ’96 at least, probably two or three more.

Well, that is a bit contentious. All we know is what he did win, to say that he would have won anything else is, I am afraid, simply moonshine.

And Lewis? What is his destiny? Will it be fulfilled or not? I think the answer lies in the differences between Lewis and Ayrton , how those differences affect Lewis and how Lewis deals with the situations he finds himself.

I don't think Hamilton has a "Destiny" any more than Senna had. He declared that he had one in 2007, but it was not fulfilled. Since then he has not spoken (as far as I know) anything about "Destiny", very sensible too.
 
To me, at this point Hamilton can more rightly be compared to Jacques Villenueve. Both had outstanding rookie seasons, both won a WDC early in their career, both were subsequently outperformed by the same team-mate--Button. It is far too early to try to equate Hamilton with Senna.
 
To me, at this point Hamilton can more rightly be compared to Jacques Villenueve. Both had outstanding rookie seasons, both won a WDC early in their career, both were subsequently outperformed by the same team-mate--Button. It is far too early to try to equate Hamilton with Senna.
Well said siffert_fan.Fully agree with your opinion.
 
Comparisons with J Villeneuve are just as ridiculous as comparisons with Senna.

Hell, comparisons between any active driver and any retired driver are often ridiculous.

Imagine trying to place Senna in the pantheon of Champions after his 6th season. 1 WDC, just got beat by his teammate, threatening to quit the sport due to injustices.

Point being.....Career comparisons can wait.
 
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