Since 2017, there have been 80 Formula One Grand Prix. This means that in the last 4 years, someone other than Mercedes has had 80 SEPARATE chances to win just ONE race. Mercedes have won 52 – Hamilton winning 43 of them. I’m pretty sure even Mercedes fans are now sick of seeing Hamilton and wingman Bottas on the F1 podium, but their dominance as a driver line-up has started to raise some questions – mainly, are they the greatest 1-2 punch in F1 history?
Not even close.
It’s no secret that the fanfare around F1 has gone stale in recent years, and Mercedes dominance is the pièce de résistance. Since Valtteri Bottas joined in 2017, Mercedes have had a 65%-win rate and earned a combined 2,673 points. Hamilton (otherwise known as Batman) has won 43 races in this time, with Bottas winning a very Robin-like 9. Yet, it isn’t something we haven’t seen before – in fact, it’s been a lot worse. The key difference is that despite there being dominance, it was a dominance that was earned – lap after lap, race after race.
In terms of driver lineup, none in history can touch the dominance of McLaren’s Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost from 1988-1989. In 32 Grand Prix, the pair maintained a 78.13%-win rate, and let only 1 other driver share the top step of the podium in 1988, winning 15 out of the 16 races. I’m not sure how people define dominance these days, but I think McLaren came pretty damn close during these seasons. Unfortunately, McLaren was subject to their own self-destruction, as, with two premier drivers in the cockpit, each desperately wanted to beat the other, ending mostly with costly repair jobs for the mechanics. Senna won the title in 1988 and Prost in 1989 before moving on to rivals Ferrari in 1990.
Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello saw similar success with Ferrari from 2000-2005. Acting as an old-school replica of the modern-day Hamilton and Bottas, one driver won race after race, whilst the other held off any potential attacking threats. In 104 Grand Prix, Ferrari won 58 of them, 49 with Schumacher and 9 with Barrichello, giving them a win rate of 55.77% across 6 seasons. Their most successful season came in 2002 when the Scuderia lost only 2 races - Schumacher claimed his 5th Drivers World Title and Ferrari claimed their 11th Constructors World Title.
So, Mercedes don’t seem so bad now, right? Granted, their dominance as a team has been close to a decade in length, but luckily, cracks have started to appear heading into 2021 and new regulation changes have thankfully brought the field closer together.
In conclusion and in answer to my original question, at no point will Hamilton and Bottas ever challenge the Senna vs Prost mantle. Frankly, both drivers lack the physical ability that both these legends possessed. However, in terms of auditioning for the next Batman and Robin movie, they could certainly give George Clooney and Chris O’Donnell a run for their money.
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