Ed Gorman
Far be it for me to disagree with my predecessor as Times Motor Racing Correspondent Kevin Eason, but it is hard to understand how he can possibly place Jenson above Lewis in his ranking of British Formula One world champions published in today's paper.
I have no firm idea how the others should be ranked but on Hamilton vs Button, I feel I have a pretty good idea, having seen Hamilton's career in Formula One in its entirety and Button's since two races before his first win in Hungary in 2006. I would not put them too close and certainly not in the order Kevin has chosen.
First things first, I would not want to take anything away from Jenson. I think he drove a remarkable race on Sunday and he showed us several times this season that he is not just a smooth stylist but also someone who can fight when it matters and he is a worthy champion, no doubt.
But, in my view, he is not in the same class as Lewis. The most consistently fine spell of race driving I have seen in Formula One was Lewis's debut run of nine podiums in a row in 2007. In some of those races, especially at the starts, Lewis drove with a fluency and flair which no one else on the current grid can match.
Lewis has already assembled a body of work in Formula One which leaves not just Jenson but nearly everyone else struggling in his wake. There is the small matter, after all, of that fact that last year he became the youngest world champion in the sport's history. This is not just a statistic, it speaks to the fact that Lewis is an extraordinary talent even by Formula One's rarefied standards. However it was achieved, whatever the state of the cars and the game, it took Lewis two seasons to achieve what Jenson has managed in 10 and he did it six years younger.
Lewis's two great seasons - 2007 and 2008 - saw him fighting from the outset, tooth and nail with either the very best rival driver in 2007 (Fernando, his then team-mate) or the very best rival car in 2008 (Ferrari). I certainly do not think that Jenson walked to the title in a superior car this year, but there is no doubt that he started the season with a big advantage - half a second per lap on the best of his opponents - whereas Lewis was locked in a battle of 100ths or less with Fernando in 2008 and with Ferrari in 2009.
We should not forget that Lewis took his race seat in 2007, not against Rubens Barrichello in his dotage, but against the then reigning double world champion in Fernando who, himself is widely regarded as a driver from the very top drawer. Of course it turned into a contentious season, but no one can deny that Lewis proved as quick, if not quicker, with next to no experience in Formula One, as Fernando, and as much of a fighter as the redoubtable Spaniard.
This season Jenson reminded us how good he is when the car is perfect in those early races when he drove with lightning speed and with the sort of minimal steering inputs that JYS so applauds. However he also showed us that when the car is not right, he struggles. At the same time Lewis has displayed an ability to do far more, I would argue, in a recalcitrant machine than Jenson. There is no doubt that the McLaren MP 4/24 has come on leaps and bounds but Lewis has wrestled it up the grid in a way that Heikki for example has not been able to do.
My view and I would say the view of many in the paddock these days, is that Lewis threatens a career in Formula One which will leave Jenson and the rest - with the possible exception of Fernando - in his wake. He has far more intensity than Jenson about his racing (not always a good thing, I accept), he has the burning hunger of a man who has to win (not unlike his hero Senna) which you cannot say of Jenson and he certainly will not be satisfied unless he accumulates at least three championships if not many more.
In making these comparisons it is hard not to allow subjective factors to influence judgement. Lewis is certainly not everyone's cup of tea, he has been heavily influenced by Ron in the over-mannered way he presents himself and I, for one, hope that this will gradually fade under Martin Whitmarsh's management. But he is a hell of a racer and there is no team in the pitlane which would hesitate for five seconds about signing him, if money and everything else was no object, and you cannot say that about Jenson.