I’ve been following F1 pretty closely for a good ten odd years now.
I’ll say that, apart from Michael Schumacher, there are basically two drivers in the last ten years whom I consider to be “special”.
One is Fernando Alonso, simply because of what he did in 2005 and 2006.
The other is Lewis Hamilton.
(I say it in all honesty, even though I am not a huge fan of both Alonso and Lewis.)
No, Massa is not in the list. Although I am a Ferrari fan, I think it is fairly obvious that Massa does not come anywhere near to being called “special”.
No, Montoya is not considered “special” too. He was a great racer, but we knew he was never going to win a championship in F1 with that kind of temperament.
No, I don’t even consider Kimi to be “special”, even though I am fully aware that he is the current World Champion. Kimi is easily the quickest driver in the world on his day, but I’m afraid he hasn’t really done enough in my opinion to be considered “special”. You could say Kimi is “extremely gifted”, but I would hesitate to use the term “special” for him.
Don’t get me started on Hakkinen. That is a discussion for another day. That one is a really close call, but I would hesitate to call Hakkinen “special”, to be honest. Something tells me his McLaren in 1998 and 1999 had a huge part to play in his two world titles. I never really saw enough evidence that allowed me to conclude that Hakkinen was “special”. I tend to think that Hakkinen basically took what was given to him. He made the most of the opportunities that he had.
Of all the drivers, I guess the only other driver who may potentially be called “special” would be Robert Kubica. But time will tell on that one.
There are many drivers who can be really quick on their day. There are many drivers who are capable of winning races. And there are some drivers who are capable of winning championships.
But only Alonso and Lewis are “special”.
Sometimes it’s hard for me to fully define what being “special” really is. Sometimes you just know it when you see it. It’s more than just being a race-winner or even a championship winner. There is that “x-factor” involved as well.
Alonso demonstrated in 2005, 2006, and in some parts of 2007 that he definitely has what it takes to be multiple world champion. He showed patience when he needed to, he showed intelligence when he needed to (Imola ‘05), he showed aggression when he needed to, he showed stability under pressure when he needed to (Imola ‘05), he showed brilliance when he needed to, he showed brilliance in the wet when he needed to (Hungary ‘06).
Lewis, although he has yet to win a championship, is definitely “special”. His starts are amazing. You’ll notice that he hardly ever loses places at the start. His British GP victory this year was incredible. He controlled the race to perfection. And so was Canada and Fuji ‘07. He definitely has that special ability to drive in the wet that perhaps only Schumacher and Alonso have. And last week’s German GP once again showed that Lewis is fully capable of dominating a race like no other driver. He is only in his second year in F1 and he’s showing the ability and the composure to win races in F1.
Most importantly, he has that ruthless streak in him which is what I think the “special” ones need to have in them. It’s simple: You never become great in F1 if you don’t have that sense of ruthlessness. Senna had it. Schumacher had it. Alonso definitely has it. Drivers like Kovalainen, Webber, Button, Heidfeld, Massa, Coulthard, etc. don’t seem like they have it.
Being ruthless means you not only take every single thing that is given to you, but you also take it even when it is not given to you. Being ruthless means you tear up the field when you have to. Being ruthless means you go for the win at all cost. (Maybe not always the “race win”, but definitely the “championship win”.)
And I think that in the last ten years, only Schumacher, Alonso and Lewis had it.
