You don ' t need encouragement . You need a boot in the ass to get your act together . Source I flunked out of college the first time , and I wish someone had kicked me in the ass . <| sep |> Isn ' t he already second on the all time win list ? But I get your point , while Hamilton ' s career still puts him among the all time greats he could ' ve had so much more with # 1 status for the entirety of his career , I ' m talking about Schumacher like statistics . I don ' t think Hamilton had # 1 status in 2009 mostly because the car was uncompetitive and there was no hope for a drivers or constructors championship , thus there was no need for the team to favor one driver . I think Lewis had # 1 status in 2008 once it was apparent that Heikki was out of the championship . Remember that great battle they had at Silverstone in the wet , they got within inches of taking each other out but the team let them fight because at that point in the season Heikki was still in with a chance for the championship .