Formula 1: Is Fernando Alonso right about Lewis Hamilton?

How accurate are Fernando Alonso’s comments that Lewis Hamilton only knows how to drive and start from first place in Formula 1?

On the opening lap of Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso collided, sending the former airborne and resulting in him retiring from a race for the first time in 2022.

Hamilton, who had attempted to pass the Alpine driver on the outside and then slam the door on him mid-corner, rightfully shouldered full blame for the incident afterward.

Alonso had a much more heated reaction in the moment, stating the following on the radio.

"“What an idiot closing the door from the outside. I mean, we had a mega start, but this guy only knows how to drive and start in first.”"

Alonso was able to continue on and finish in a season-high fifth place.

Hamilton didn’t change his stance on the incident after being told what Alonso had said, though he made clear that he would not be apologizing to Alonso because of it, noting that now he knows what Alonso really thinks about him.

Of course, Hamilton is far from innocent when it comes to knee-jerk, heat-of-the-moment reactions in the past, which is exactly what this was from Alonso.

But beyond that aspect of it, is Alonso right about Hamilton only knowing “how to drive and start in first”?

There is no doubt that Hamilton has had the advantage of driving the fastest car throughout much of his career, and starting at the front of the grid has certainly been a key part of that.

The 2022 season has, of course, presented a much different scenario, with the 16-year veteran on pace for his worst career finish in the driver standings, even trailing first-year teammate George Russell, and possibly his first ever winless season.

Has he, for lack of a better word, been exposed?

We all know how the GOAT debate goes in Formula 1. It starts with 280 characters and ends with everyone biting each other’s heads off.

Arguments can be made going in one of many directions here, so we’ll keep it simply by saying that statistically, that title belongs to Hamilton. And for that reason, we’ll stick strictly to the numbers here as well. Make of them what you will.

Not even close to all of his wins have come from the pole position.

This is despite the fact that he holds the record for both wins and poles — and with the same amount of each (103).

With his 103 pole positions, Hamilton sits 35 higher than second place Michael Schumacher, the sport’s only other seven-time world champion. Schumacher also sits second on the overall wins list with 91, giving him 23 more wins than pole positions — compared to Hamilton’s zero.

Hamilton also boasts the most wins from pole, and by a wide margin. With 61 wins from pole, he sits 21 wins ahead Schumacher, again in second place.

This means that Hamilton has won 42 races from a position other than pole. Even if Hamilton only had these 42 career victories, he would rank fourth on the all-time wins list, behind only Schumacher and four-time world champions Sebastian Vettel (53) and Alain Prost (51).

Hamilton has more wins from positions other than pole than three-time world champion Ayrton Senna had total wins (41) throughout his legendary career. Alonso himself owns 32 wins.

Unlike the other statistical categories, however, this is one that Hamilton does not lead.

Despite owning 12 fewer overall victories than Hamilton, Schumacher owns nine more wins from positions other than pole with 51.

That is a record that will be hard to break, though Schumacher is the only driver Hamilton trails.

For some more perspective, Senna only had 12, since 29 of his 41 wins came from pole. Vettel has 22, with 31 wins from pole. Sitting directly behind Hamilton is Prost, who had 33, since only 18 of his 51 wins came from pole.

So was Alonso right? Based on these numbers, it’s hard to fully agree with him, though the fact that this is the one category Hamilton doesn’t lead could lead to some calls of him being overrated.

But even the “overrated” term only really applies if you’re ranking him first instead of second or third. It’s hard to put him much lower than that; he certainly doesn’t “only” know how to drive from P1.