Mercurial racing talent Lewis Hamilton might have spent the entire 2007 Formula 1 season breaking records, but he’s got a long way to go before being rated as the greatest star the sport’s ever seen. At least he has unless thousands of the sport’s European fans are wrong.Renault team sponsor ING surveyed 8500 F1 fans and, while the 22-year-old romped home in the UK vote for popularity of current drivers, he didn’t even feature in the European stakes of all-time greats.Here’s the all-time top eight according to ING: 1st: Ayrton Senna, 2nd: Michael Schumacher, 3rd: Nelson Piquet, 4th: Nigel Mansell, joint 5th: Mika Hakkinen and Robert Kubica, 7th: Kimi Raikkonen, 8th: Alain Prost.In reaction to the poll results, ING spokesperson Isabelle Conner said: “F1 is a truly global sport and our first ever ING poll throws up some fascinating results.” But with no place for multi-championship-winners Juan Manuel Fangio, Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart or Niki Lauda – and a rather spurious one for Robert Kubica, who so far has one 3rd place finish to him name – “fascinating” isn’t the word we’d use.Perhaps Autocar Award-winner Lewis Hamilton shouldn’t be too concerned. Perhaps he wouldn't expect to be rated so highly so early in his career. Either way, it seems, there's still no accounting for taste.
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Re: Lewis isn't the greatest, says survey
I agree, the media hype isn't necessarily a good thing, but it's hardly surprising. You don't have to be in the pay of McLaren to see that a rookie British driver competing for the championship is a good story.
With regards Matt Bishop, i would say you are erring rather on the cynical side, yes. Matt Bishop worked at Haymarket until it was confirmed that he was going to work for McLaren, at which point both parties knew he had to leave post haste. So he did, and with no ill feeling from anyone. It's just a career decision on his behalf, and the only reasonable action that Haymarket can take.
Just because it says something on wikipedia doesn't mean it's gospel. Or even vaguely true.
Re: Lewis isn't the greatest, says survey
Whatever the press 'motive' behind the piece, the fact that Robert Kubica is joint 5th ahead of Prost in 8th, renders the entire poll a joke. I assume the pole(sic) was highly publicised in Poland?
Re: Lewis isn't the greatest, says survey
Like many of our sports men and women who show a modicum of sporting prowess in their given field, they get written up, and built up without being given the opportunity to really shine. Therefore when they don't show the promise very early on they get lambasted before it's really begun.
Leave Lewis alone to shine in his own good time. He seems to have all the requirements to be a major force in F1 for years to come.