S

he/him

[cutie bricks⁴⁴ #W8FORIT2027 @noobbricks]

Max is the perfect statbook driver. He's the sort of driver for the people that watch F1 from a ChatGPT summary. In Red Bull he's found a perfect team, a sort of team that literally every driver would pray to have. A team that focuses 100% on him and him alone and that one driver layout helps Red Bull fight in ways that no other team has the luxury to do. Max is a brilliant driver, don't get me wrong but its really silly to compare stats like this when his and Lewis' careers are not remotely similar.

It boils down to the fact that Red Bull and the way they operate have built this image of an untouchable force of nature when that, with all due respect, simply isnt true. We saw in early 2022 that Checo, even though he was clearly inferior, was good enough to be there and take points off Max when he had an off weekend. That wasn't the case at any later point in Max's career. In 2023 he could've driven a horrible weekend and we simply wouldn't know because there's no standard to hold him to. Bottas, like early 22 Perez, was clearly not as good as Lewis but always good enough to make sure Lewis had to bring his A-game, especially in qualifying. Thats how both Max and Lewis in those times lost some poles and even some wins to their respective teammates because even the best aren't always going to be perfect. I think of 2020 Eifel for Lewis or 2022 Baku for Max. They were simply not where they needed to be on Saturday and got punished for it but set the record straight on Sunday. Thats how the best work but Max since that early 2022 run simply hasn't had that anymore. He now sets the standard for how good we think his car is.

If you put a Nico Rosberg, a Charles Leclerc, a Lando Norris in the Red Bull alongside Max, he doesnt win 15 races in 2022. He doesnt win 19 races in 2023. I am convinced that he wouldn't win 2021 and possibly not even 2024 against a teammate of that level simply because they would take too many points off him. Lewis on the other hand could've won 2016 or even 2010 with weaker teammates (plus 2007 but I doubt it because of Spygate). Thats how good teammates work. Max isnt above that and its naive to think that because of how Red Bull operates he somehow is. Michael Schumacher was much better than Barrichello but he still didn't beat him every race either and there was heavy favoring in that team too. Think of 2017 too. You could argue Max was better than Daniel Ricciardo that season and yet he lost. Why? Because he had worse luck, because the two were putting pressure on one another and infighting. Hungary 2017 where he crashed Daniel out of the race. All those things that come with teammates that Max simply doesnt have to deal with anymore.

Lewis will forever be my goat because he is the one driver where there are zero hypotheticals needed to grasp how great he truly was. We know exactly how he stacked up against Alonso and Vettel and Rosberg, how he can still keep up with the best of the next generation. Yes, he lost to Nico in 2016 but its clear he was always the superior driver the way Max fans will argue Max was superior to Daniel but when it comes to slandering Lewis things like pure bad luck due to reliability suddenly don't count anymore.

Now there will be plenty of people in the comments who clearly have neither read this entire thing nor understood a word I said but despite my regular agendas I dont mean this as slander against Max, I think you'd be silly to claim theres a better driver in this current generation of drivers. This is merely a criticism of how too many people read his stats and use it to slander other drivers without context.
Does Max winning 19 races in 2023 prove he could beat Nico Rosberg in all four years of Brocedes? No.
Does Lewis beating Nico over four years prove he could win 19 races in 2023? No. I like to slander Max, its great fun, but there are people that actually do think on such a one dimensional plane and it boggles my mind.

[DrivenF1 @F1_driven]

Why is he being so combative & obnoxious?

Every time the team or Leclerc makes a mistake he's all "don't overreact", "these things happen"...

but Lewis makes a mistake and he's on a PR tour to slander him???

[S @drhanfastolfe]

@TomP1Bellingham I like following you and Matt and P1, but I'm regretting getting in your replies because I don't understand what it was about my tweet that made Max fanboys think I'm going to entertain their silly arguments against Lewis in my replies 😂😂

[glow @tillcurtaincall]

some of my friends saying "this is the first time we have seen such resistance" and im like, well, yeah, you guys didn't care before because it didn't affect you. i still remember the kind of words used against muslims at the time.

[Laal Saalan @laalsaalan]

this is delhi police lynch*ng a 23 year old muslim, faizan, during the delhi riots forcing him to sing the national anthem as he lay there dying. he wasn't accused of any offence except being a muslim.

this is what delhi police has always been like. you just weren't looking.

[Swati Moitra @swatiatrest]

This is Delhi Police dragging Fatima Nafees, Najeeb Ahmed's mother, through the streets. The second image is from the same protest called by JNUSU. Both by TOI.

Date? Nov 7, 2016. 250 odd people.

This is who they have always been. You weren't looking.

[._. @awolaxolotl]

a buddhist monk, a hijabi girl, a bihari student, a queer person, a delhi local, a gurudwara prabandhak, an old grandpa, a young journalist...nothing worth saving in this country is a monolith, and that's true for its democracy as well.

[S @drhanfastolfe]

I don't think ever felt such visceral hate for a team my player/driver is part of than I have today

[Stefanie @fastpitstop]

Pitting the driver on 13 mediums and letting the driver on 30 lap old softs stay out…Ferrari logic at it’s best.
Losing a double podium.

[S @drhanfastolfe]

Genuinely how is the Ferrari pit wall so stupid..... At some point we've got to question if this is severe incompetence or malice

[Scuderia Ferrari HP @ScuderiaFerrari]

Lap 55/62: ANT gets by Lewis as his tyres begin to fade, NOR also uses his fresh rubber to take P4

[S @drhanfastolfe]

I used to think surely it can't be that bad at Ferrari but now I'm convinced that team ain't winning anything until the whole culture is ripped out from the roots

[ً @FER44Rl]

FERRARI BOX CHARLES LECLERC AND MADE LEWIS HAMILTON STAYED OUT DO YOU SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING

[S @drhanfastolfe]

No team has ever deserved a meme as much as this about the Ferrari pit wall
#F1 #P1

[Stefanie @fastpitstop]

Welcome back to „let’s put our drivers on different strategies and make them lose time behind each other“

[Spanners 🔧🔧 @SpannersReady]

Why on earth would you have your driver on mediums hold up your other driver charging on softs

[S @drhanfastolfe]

The audacity of Leclerc to say "let's not lose time" when he's the one on a different strategy behind Lewis #F1 #P1

[S @drhanfastolfe]

ALSO THEN WHY DIDN'T THEY DOUBLE STACK AND LET LEWIS PIT IN THE VSC I HATE THIS TEAM SO MUCH

[cutie bricks⁴⁴ #W8FORIT2027 @noobbricks]

What the actual fuck are Ferrari trying to do here? Two stop Lewis? If so then why is he stuck behind Charles? If he is one stopping then they're just settling for a P2-P3 or something? Just such a horrible, horrible team when it comes to race management.

[S @drhanfastolfe]

Me when Ferrari pits Leclerc from fresher mediums instead of Lewis who is on ancient softs #F1 #P1

[aish🔻 @wonderingsher]

even during the CAA NRC and farmers’ protests, the RW tried hard to pass the narrative that the women protesters were bought for 100 rupees. the thing is that these manuvadis can’t even fathom to think that a woman can possess the courage required to stand against fascism

[Anubhav Singh @lucifer_damned]

Very funny considering Modi has campaigned for Trump, cowered before him, catered to his whims and can’t even let out a squeal in response to Trump’s tirades and policies against India.

[S @drhanfastolfe]

Everyone SSSHHHHHHH

[Pablo Martinez (Holiness) @F1BigData]

A look at today's starting grid

P1 - Max Verstappen (The polesitter has always retired on October 11th)
P2 - Charles Leclerc (Hamilton's teammate has always retired on October 11th)
P3 - Lewis Hamilton (Has won every race ever held on October 11th)