'Formula 1's greatest? Why statistics don't lie about Lewis Hamilton'

Lewis Hamilton claimed his 106th Formula 1 Grand Prix victory in Barcelona and stood on the top step of the podium for the first time as a Ferrari driver. The statistics suggest Hamilton is the greatest, but is that really the case?

GPblog's lead columnist, Ben Hunt says about the debate: "It’s hard. I mean, you can go by the statistics, which is the easy and probably only way to do it, really, looking at the one with the most wins. But who's to say that those pioneers, when Formula 1 first started, aren't the greatest of all time, because of the way that they're risking their lives in the in the flying machines and with rudimentary brakes and no safety devices. It's too impossible to compare eras, I think that's the hardest thing for Formula 1.

He continues: "Who's to say that there's a driver on the grid that we've just not been watching or experiencing? Perhaps if you put Pierre Gasly, for instance, in Mercedes, maybe he would be blitzing the season and won everything you just don't know. The only thing you do know is this, the wins, the statistics, and that's that has Hamilton now on his own at the moment."

While we may never have a definitive answer, debating who is the greatest is usually still a lot of fun. "We can't dial that out. I mean, it's good to have opinions, isn't it? My Messi-Ronaldo thing earlier on, it's what sparks debate. It's what we enjoy doing as human beings, arguing why one's better than the other. And you can see it on social media. And it's interesting that you've still got the tribes that do support or don't support, it's fascinating even at this stage of Hamilton's career where you've got people saying that he isn't the greatest, or he is the greatest. It's great."