Former F1 driver Nigel Mansell believes Lewis Hamilton would have adapted well to the older eras of F1. Formula 1 has come a long way in terms of safety and reliability. Drivers these days can afford to take higher risks, knowing the consequences aren’t catastrophic.
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F1: A sport that’s changed over the years
Driving back in the day was proper dangerous. Driving flawlessly was a rewarding task but making mistakes had an even greater risk. Modern F1 cars and circuits are light years ahead of the older generation of tracks and cars.
Back then, deaths in the sport were not uncommon, similarly, injuries were a part and parcel of the sport. Thankfully, those days are long gone and drivers emerge from big shunts, largely unscathed.
It’s difficult to predict how current F1 drivers would fare in the older generations of the sport. This is is especially true for the younger drivers, who haven’t had to deal with a risk factor that’s largely an unknown variable.
However, Mansell believes Lewis Hamilton has what it takes to flourish and deliver under treacherous conditions. The 6 times World Champion rarely makes any mistakes, which is a big strength. Speaking to the Daily Mail, Mansell said:
“Formula One was an incredible sport when you got rewarded for driving well and penalised when you drove indifferently. You couldn’t go barrelling into a corner at 200mph if you didn’t have the skill. Now it has changed beyond belief.
Mansell backs Lewis Hamilton
“Lewis would have done well in those circumstances, but it is very, very difficult to compare eras. Then so many brilliant drivers had a simple accident and broke their legs or arms, or whatever and couldn’t continue their careers. Now good drivers make heinous mistakes and don’t get injured.
“They barely sweat in the car. At the end of the race, it’s as if they have just come out of a hair salon. The beautiful thing in my day was if you had done 180 Grands Prix and you were still alive you patted yourself on the back and said you had a great career.’
It truly would have been epic to see Hamilton take on the likes of Villeneuve, Senna, and Prost in en era that helped shape the sport as we know it today.
