My initial thoughts when reading the poll was that he doesn't have the "smart/savvy" intangible to get it done. So unless he works into a Hamilton-type situation where he is given an unbeatable car I think he'll have an also-ran career. I'm not sure he is capable of growing into his talent.
Not having a functioning team mate has taken some pressure off and he is less twitchy this year. Will he ever get the combination of unbeatable car and limp dick team mate, though?
It's sad what they've done to Gasly's career. Torpedo in the other car would have been awesome.
acket.
Ayrton Senna didn't feel entitled, he knows he is God's #1 favorite.
Senna also crashed into teammates, thrown away races and showed mastery in rain...
You are right that Max is no Prost nor Rosberg nor Mansell, Kimi, Button... I think Ricciardo is more in this camp.
I'd put Max in the Senna, Hamilton camp.
I think Schumaher, Vettel are in there special German camp, when things go well, they can do really well with multiple championships, but when faced with a faster teammate, they don't seem to respond very well. Maybe Schumacher was just too old to fairly compete with Rosberg, but Vettel clearly doesn't do very well under pressure from a faster teammate.
I think one important step all racers gotta be careful of is to never accept a #2 position. If Bottas doesn't win it this year, it's very possible that he may never win one in his career. Charlie boy also gotta be careful in Ferrari... not to submit as the #2 for another season. Once you do that, you can for sure kiss the possibility of multi championships good bye. You absolutely HAVE to feel 'entitled'. If you don't, somebody feeling more entitled, in your team, will finish ahead of you.
Last edited by Crazed_Insanity; May 14th, 2019 at 12:20 PM.
How many of those guys were racing F1 in their teens? Of course he's going to have a few more seasons under his belt. You guys keep talking about his attitude but the guy has been a beast since after the summer break last year. He doesn't complain on the track (his radio transmissions are always eerily calm and reassuring), his tire management is top of the class, race craft is amazing, patience...he's got it all...except the top machinery. And Mercedes wants him badly if you read the reports. So...put him in a Merc with Ham or Bot as a teammate? I bet Max wins those inter-team battles every time.
So Max is what, 22 now? Or late 21? He's got another 10-15yrs at least. If he can secure a top car could break Hamilton's records for sure.
I voted yes - multiple. I don't think that there's much connection between being a nice guy and being a world champion, so the argument about his personality is to me moot.
I agree with Billi that years is probably a better guide than races, in as far as there's only one winner per year. Being in his 5th season now, I wouldn't say he's missing his chance. Additionally, he started younger than a lot of the others above - this coming September he will turn 22, or the same age that Michael Schumacher was when he made his F1 debut at Spa in 1991. If he retires at the same age that Michael did, he'll hang up his helmet in December 2030. So I don't think we need worry about the timescale.
There are only two questions really - is he good enough, and will he get the chance of a winning car? To me the answer to the first is a clear yes, his ability against his teammates, and his habit of snatching opportunistic race wins against superior competition, plus great car control, are the marks of a real talent behind the wheel. And as above, he's got another decade to grow up and learn a slightly more mature approach, if needed.
For the second, I would say probably yes. At present, sure the top seats are occupied. Max is a decade younger than Vettel and Hamilton - the only question is who else is around his age, who might beat him to a winning seat. Charles Leclerc is the obvious one, I can't personally think of anyone else who's going to hog the best seats. I also suspect that at some point in the next decade, F1 will move back to a slightly closer level of competition between the teams, leading to maybe up to 6 drivers having a theoretical shot at the title - and if Max has vaguely equal equipment, I'd expect him to be a contender.
So basically, given talent plus many years' worth of opportunities, and a lack of many other contemporaries who will beat him to the chance, I personally expect to see Max be WDC at least a couple of times.
Edit - took so long drafting, Joe said it more concisely already :-)
Last edited by samoht; May 14th, 2019 at 02:00 PM.
I'm sure he's got the talent.
I think he'll mature enough to not blow it.
I'm not sure he'll ever be in the right car. The sport is so much more about being in the right car than being the most talented.
I can't say that he's alienated teams; but I will say that we heard non-stop all last year that Alonso was the greatest driver to ever grace a motorsports track and 'oh what could have been' if he hadn't pissed off everyone he ever worked with. Attitude does matter.
All I'm saying is: a) he is supremely talented. b) he has been massively oversold, mostly by dad. c) a + b sound like a recipe for feeling he's wasting his talent. d) time has shown that the type of guys that hit it late in life have developed something more than just pure talent. e) I haven't seen anything more than talent from Max in his six years in Formula one, except of course for off-track behavior similar to that of his abusive father.
acket.