Lewis Hamilton has argued no driver has won the Formula 1 world title without a “great team around him”.
The Briton made the claim after being asked about those who suggest his remarkable tally of six world titles is simply linked to having the best car, as he’s had with Mercedes since 2014.
Confining his answer to this season initially, Hamilton, who won eight of the first 10 races, began by suggesting that wasn’t always the case because of Ferrari’s engine advantage.
“You saw that advantage they had through the season and even last year, they had a huge amount of power, but more so this year, out of nowhere they had a tonne of power and I really just think, at will, whenever they wanted they seemed to have more,” he suggested.
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His argument then seemed to change tack as he pointed to how any success in F1 is impossible without the best support.
“Winning world titles… there’s not a single driver in the past that’s won a title without having a great team around him,” Lewis said.
“It’s part of the game and it’s how you navigate, and how you utilise those tools that are around you and those people around you to shape the future of the journey that you guys are on.
“I’m just a chink the chain with this team but I feel very, very privileged and feel very… I feel really happy with my contribution,” he added.
“I’ve been able to help steer the team in the right direction with the development, with the way the car needs to get quicker. More often than not [I] have delivered performances for them when we’ve had a car that’s quicker than the others and also when the car has not been as quick as the others.
“Particularly that last year, they [Ferrari] were just too quick for us to beat but we out-willed them, we had to out-think them and we did that collectively as a team.”
Hamilton does have a point given the likes of Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel can largely attribute their success to those in the garage, the likes of Jean Todt, Ross Brawn and Adrian Newey.
But then there are the multiple-time champions like Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost who had to beat each other sometimes in the same team to achieve their titles.
So while Lewis’ accomplishments can’t be overlooked, it is the different factors such as that which makes deciding who is F1’s GOAT so difficult.