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Lewis Hamilton's clash with Fernando Alonso and the aftermath left much to be desired. The clip of the Mercedes driver walking solemnly at the side of the track after retiring from the F1 Belgian GP did not look good. At such moments, one wonders if Lewis Hamilton should have retired once he became the seven-time world champion.
He had surpassed almost all of Michael Schumacher's records in his time. He had already matched seven world championships record, and in the eyes of many, he was considered 'The GOAT'.
Now, of course, there is some 'Monday Morning Quarterbacking' here, or should we say 'Hindsight is 20-20', but looking back, it does appear that Lewis Hamilton's legacy would have been much better if he had retired at the end of the 2020 F1 season.
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#1 Lewis Hamilton at the end of the 2020 F1 season was at his peak
The Lewis Hamilton of the 2020 F1 season, especially in perception, was the best he had ever been. He turned up to races and won them comfortably. He championed the BLM movement in F1 and broke whatever Michael Schumacher records were left to be broken, and he made it look easy.
Arguably, the crowing moment in all of this was Hamilton's come-from-behind win at the F1 Turkish GP that season. The Mercedes was not the fastest package that weekend, and even then, Hamilton's precise driving with immaculate race awareness made an improbable win possible. If he had retired then, his claim of being the greatest of all time could not have been better.
He was still at the peak of his powers and had broken almost all the F1 records. In the eyes of the fans, he would have left them wanting more. In the lifetime of a sportsperson, that is the perfect time to retire. Not when you're fading, but when you've still got much more to give.
In Boxing, the legendary Rocky Marciano did it. In Swimming, Michael Phelps did it, and in MMA, Khabib Nurmagomedov did it. Not many legends can time their exits at the perfect moment. But those who do, they do leave with untainted legacies. If Hamilton had retired at his peak at the end of the 2020 F1 season, many more fans would be calling him the 'The GOAT' than there are now.
#2 He was outperformed by Max Verstappen last season
The biggest blow to his legacy came in 2021. The battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton was magnificent as it reached its conclusion on the last lap of the season. While the battle was intense between the two drivers, it was clear who was the better driver that season.
Max Verstappen would not have even had to sweat it out this much if he'd not DNFs at Baku and Silverstone. While Hamilton was having one of his best seasons in F1, he was getting shown up by Max Verstappen when it came to consistency and tenacity. When the season was over, there could have been a controversy over who had won the title in the last race. However, there was no controversy over who was the better driver.
Lewis Hamilton, someone who was named the best driver on the grid for multiple seasons heading into the 2021 season, was dethroned by Max Verstappen. In a poll, the team principals and fellow drivers in the paddock picked Verstappen over Lewis Hamilton as the best driver of the 2021 F1 season.
With this, the doubters that Hamilton had somewhat silenced with his wins in Turkey in the 2020 F1 season were back. This was the first time Hamilton fought a driver in almost equal machinery. The result? He was outperformed. When talking about his claims as being the GOAT, the 2021 F1 season went against Hamilton big time!
#3 Every passing race has a negative impact on his legacy
The 2022 F1 season is a scenario that new-age F1 fans are unaware of. The sport has a lot of fans right now that started following F1 in the Turbo-Hybrid era. These fans have not seen Lewis Hamilton in a car incapable of winning a race or fighting for the title. These fans have not seen Hamilton floundering at the back of the grid. More importantly, in the eyes of these fans, Lewis Hamilton's aura was still intact before the season began.
The aura broke as the season progressed. Lewis looks like any other good driver when he does not have a race-winning car. Additionally, Hamilton has been made to look like a mere mortal that gets overtaken by other drivers in a straight fight 'because the car is not good enough.'
Before Hamilton hopped on to the Mercedes rocketship, he was still one of the top 5 best drivers on the grid. He jumped to the top of the pecking order during the turbo-hybrid era. With Mercedes losing competitiveness, Hamilton is back in the same 'Top-5' drivers category this season.
He's still good, but he's not the 'best.' Every passing race is a blow to his legacy because with every race, the 'he drove a dominant car' narrative gets stronger.
All this could have been avoided if Lewis Hamilton had retired at the end of the 2020 F1 season. Neither would he have found himself getting outperformed by Max Verstappen in the 2021 F1 season, nor would he have looked like any other driver in the 2022 F1 season.
One could argue that Hamilton couldn't have looked into the future to predict how the tides would turn for Mercedes after 2020. If he can get the credit for switching to the German giants at the perfect time, he should take the blame for missing this as well.
Hamilton's aura of invincibility was the highest at the end of the 2020 F1 season. For his legacy, that would have been the perfect time to retire.
Also Checkout:- F1 Schedule 2022
