///Formula 1 - Lewis Hamilton, the new Ayrton Senna ?

Lewis Comparison to Ayrton

Most people compare Lewis Hamilton to the late, the great Ayrton Senna. Especially when Lewis insists about the fact that Ayrton is his idol, and all he wants is matching his records. He did indeed match the number of wins (41) in the Japanese Grand Prix, but it took him one more start to achieve that.
Realistically, he is likely to win this year's world championship, which will match the number of championships won by the late Brazilian.

All these achievements are of course very impressive, achievements of a great driver. But there are many reasons why these comparisons are nonsense.

Reliability of recent Formula One Cars

Formula One cars of the late 80s and early 90s were nowhere near as reliable as the cars of this era. Let us check some figures. Ayrton had 40 mechanical DNF in his career. So his car broke down almost once every 4 races, while Lewis had only 13. Almost 4 times as much.

Now let's move on to raw talent. 

Less pole positions

Pole positions are the true test of raw talent of a driver. There is no interference of car problems, just the driver and the car. Let's do the stats. Ayrton has an incredible 65 pole positions in his career. Lewis has 49. 

Passion

Lewis Hamilton is a great driver. One of the greatest of this generation. But I can't help noticing that he is more involved and dedicated in his "superstar" life than his racing career. I remember many interviews with Alain Prost, that they were spending a lot of time in the briefing, 4 to 5 hours according to the frenchman. I watched an interview with Nico Rosberg at the Japanese Grand Prix. Talking about how they reacted to that massive disappointment in the Singapore Grand Prix. He said that he spent a lot of time in the briefing with the engineers going through all the data from the cars and analysing as much as they can to figure out what the problem was, and Lewis wasn't there, as we know Pharrell Williams was in Singapore so ... 

Skill

There is nothing more exciting than watching Ayrton Senna, the master of racing in the rain, drive in wet conditions. We all remember a certain Portuguese Grand Prix, where he finished a whole minute ahead of his nearest challenger. We all remember the fantastic driving in Donington in 1993, where he just flew by the grid, making his way from fifth to first in the first lap. 

If we really think about Senna as a driver, and all the amazing things he achieved, we know how stupid it is to even think about comparing another driver to him.