Mika Hakkinen, Kimi Raikkonen or Lewis Hamilton - who was a better McLaren driver?

The Rising Star – Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton

Kimi’s departure for Ferrari saw another promising young talent take his place in the McLaren. Lewis Hamilton, the British driver, realized his childhood dream of driving for McLaren in 2007. The talented driver had driven remarkably in his debut season, winning four races and 12 podium finishes.

After a hard fought season (having led the championship for some time in the year), which saw a three-way race for the title, he and then team-mate Fernando Alonso lost to Kimi in the final race of 2007 by just one point. But by the end of it all, McLaren had realised that they had invested their resources in the right candidate, and the results spoke for themselves.

Having missed out in 2007 by the minimum possible margin, the Brit was determined to start afresh in 2008 and achieved what he had set out for. The single point came into the picture again at the final race of the season in Brazil. Hamilton, having won five races and finished on the podium ten times, had to finish no less than fifth to clinch the title, while rival Felipe Massa driving for Ferrari had to win to his home Grand Prix to win the Championship. Massa won the race but Lewis won the title on the final lap, meters before the finish line by overtaking Timo Glock in the struggling Toyota, to finish fifth. He thus became the youngest Drivers’ champion back then.

The McLaren wasn’t the best car in the years that followed, though Hamilton tried his best to turn the fortunes around. The young protégé finally announced his move to Mercedes for the 2013 season, which ended a 14 year relationship with McLaren.

Statistics of Races with McLaren-Mercedes

The Verdict

Mika’s committed drive in his McLaren helped him achieve two championships, Kimi’s never say die attitude and his remarkable consistency at podiums was astonishing (my heart feels he is better), but probably it was Hamilton who had an edge over the Finnish drivers.

Having said that, both Mika and Kimi were remarkable in their own ways, and had produced exciting and memorable moments in Formula One race after race, year after year in their McLarens. But Hamilton was consistently on pole positions, won races , finished on the podiums and is probably what one can say closer to a complete driver (I might be putting my foot in my mouth here). His achievements speak for himself and they came at a very young age, that would help him to achieve more in his Formula One career.

Whatever said and done, there’s no doubt that all three of them have been inspirational and exciting to watch. So while people may have their opinions on who might be the best among them, the one thing that united them was the passion for the sport of Formula One.