Every Formula One season comes up with its own plot lines and talking points, but this season’s competition carries extra weight for it could put one of two drivers in the pantheon of the sport’s history.
Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel are now both among the top five drivers in terms of all-time wins with four, after the former reached that mark following his success last season. They’re in exalted company in Alain Prost but it’s the names above them, the names they could join, that gives this season added significance.
Only two drivers have won more than four. Michael Schumacher, of course, holds the all-time record with seven, and with Hamilton 33 years old and Vettel 30, there’s an outside chance one – or maybe even both – can match the German great’s mark. Then there’s Juan Manuel Fangio, who has five, and is thus squarely in the duo’s sights.
Fangio comes in the top two or three of just about every list of F1’s greatest ever drivers, alongside Schumacher and Ayrton Senna. That’s the greatness at stake for Hamilton and Vettel.
The Briton seemingly has the edge, with pre-season testing showing Mercedes look like the team to beat yet again. This year’s car, the Mercedes W09, no longer behaves like a “diva”, according to team boss Toto Wolff – his way of describing the car’s performance issues at some race venues last year.
There is a sense that Vettel and Ferrari blew their best chance to end Mercedes’ dominance, when the German imploded after the European races to hand Hamilton the title despite holding the championship lead all the way until September.
But he is confident in the 2018 Ferrari, the SF-71H, despite the car being around 0.3 seconds behind the Mercedes after pre-season testing. He says the car is “starting from a good base”, and indeed, last year’s car seemed to make up for a deficit in out-and-out speed by performing better over a full race – and even, on occasion, over a single lap. If Ferrari have retained that quality, a more mature Vettel will like his chances.
Hamilton versus Vettel looks set to be a continuing theme in 2018, but just how close are they from a statistical standpoint? 🤔
— Channel 4 F1® (@C4F1) March 20, 2018
Vettel is on the verge of becoming the fourth man in history to reach 100 career podiums this weekend 😮#C4F1 🇦🇺 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/WPe0ff8sso
Others will have their say in the title race – not least the two drivers’ team-mates, with Valtteri Bottas knowing he needs an improved performance to compete with Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen still trying to prove the doubters wrong after being labelled a solid No2 for the last few seasons.
The Red Bull duo of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen last season looked like they were on the verge of being serious title contenders, and they will feel that time has arrived now.
Then, of course, there is Fernando Alonso. He believes he has always been the finest driver of his generation, and plenty of observers have felt the same way, but he’s spent the last ten seasons in sub-par cars, never adding to his 2005 and 2006 titles. The Renault era for McLaren has not begun promisingly but there is still optimism in the team after parting with Honda that they finally have a competitive car.
That’s all Alonso needs. He’s shown during his Ferrari days that his driving is enough to make up a sizable gap to a superior car. And in historical terms, seeing Alonso join the club of three-time champions – or more – would be even more welcomed than either Hamilton or Vettel making it to five.
Not that either driver wouldn’t deserve it. Since Hamilton’s first title win in 2008, either he or Vettel has won the championship in all but two seasons. Only four times during that span has the Drivers’ Championship even been close (and no, last year’s 46-point win for Hamilton doesn’t count). Hamilton and Vettel have dominated like only the greats have – arguably, like only Schumacher and Fangio have.
If this battle is on even terms with both in competitive cars then a real title race could be on the cards. And while chasing Schumacher and Fangio, they could become the next Prost-Senna, a rivalry for the ages.
Otherwise, this battle is to determine which one will be recognised as the best of his time. They have come to define this era of F1 with their competition. Now, the question is who will go down in history as the victor.
