Yahoo Autos Lewis Hamilton More Good Than Lucky to Win 7 F1 Championships
Lucky or good will be a debate that rages for a long time when it comes to Lewis Hamilton's legacy in Formula 1.
Hamilton and fellow 7-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher were dominate with dominate teams.
Hamilton says he appreciates the efforts that Schumacher put in at Ferrari during his path to racing's peak
By matching Michael Schumacher's record of seven Formula 1 titles, Lewis Hamilton says he now fully appreciates the work that goes into reaching that level of success.
It's not simply a matter of being lucky enough to be in the right car at the right time in history. Mercedes has been dominant in the sport over the past seven seasons with seven F1 Constructors' Championships to show for it, but it takes the right driver to complete the package, according to Hamilton.
Schumacher won five of his championships between 2000 and 2004 with what proved to be a nearly unbeatable Ferrari package.
"As a young driver, you just don't understand how Michael Schumacher was able to put such a successful package on the road, or how I have done that now with Mercedes," Hamilton told German media outlet Auto Motor und Sport. "Half of them believe that I'm just lucky to be in a good car, but today I am able to appreciate what Michael did back then.
"You have to be at the helm to steer this group of smart, determined and creative people on a direction of development so that at some point the car and driver harmonize perfectly."
For instance, he says he sits down with his team weekly to analyze the situation and propose changes.
"At my request, we did this more often and made the group bigger and I always know which way we are going to go with the next car," said Hamilton. "In the past, the aerodynamicists would tell me which problems they are solving in the wind tunnel and what the next steps with the car would be, and every now and then I had to tell them 'This is not our problem.'
"That kind of direct conversation was more and more important to me."
Former Mercedes boss Norbert Haug, who worked with both seven-time champions, said he sees many parallels between the methods of Schumacher and Hamilton.
"Both love what they do, they both demand more of themselves than anyone else, they both never give up, and they are both 'positively dissatisfied'," he told Sport1. "That may sound like a contradiction but it is the elixir of the super champion. Without that, you can be a winner, but not a permanent winner."
Lucky or good? You make the call. Could any other current driver match Hamilton's mark in the No. 44 Mercedes? Let us know where you fall on the debate in the comments section below.
