No sure who his idol is but whether it's Senna or Schumacher...
Senna. Hamilton's idol is Senna. There a video of the time Hamilton got to drive one of Senna's McLaren-Hondas and the word I'd use to describe it is "reverential".
The point I was making is that Hamilton if he wants a less competitive no.2 is practicing what used to be called the "South American" way of racing. The idea being that there is a designated and clear no.1 driver and the majority of the team's resources are put behind the no.1. Nelson Piquet asked for it when he joined Williams in 1986. Frank Williams, who was a racer himself, responded with (paraphrasing) "If you're the no.1 driver, you'll get equal equipment ad then it's your job to get out there and prove it". At the end of the season, Piquet could point to the lack of team orders that meant that Prost was able to sneak in and win the Driver's Championship in his McLaren-Porsche. Has there been team orders Piquet would have won, but we'd have been denied Mansell's epic manoeuvre at Stowe on the last lap.
In 1987 Piquet used the active ride Williams to win the Italian GP. Mansell didn't want to know as he'd had a bad experience with Lotus' fledgling system (he had his legs sprayed with hot hydraulic fluid). Having done all the development on the Williams system Piquet then had to hand the fruits of his hard work over to Mansell.
there is one difference between them two and Hamilton in that they were pretty much undisputedly the best drivers on the grid, I don't think that applies as much with Hamilton, the competition is a lot tighter with Alonso, Verstappen and possibly Riciardo as to whose currently the fastest driver on the grid between those four but for the good of the sport Hamilton needs a decent team mate otherwise people will switch off.
Hmmm. It's always up for debate. Prost was a brilliant driver in his own right. Arguably the best of all time when he beat the record for wins. But things change over a long career, as do perceptions over time. A notable absentee from your list of quickest drivers is quadruple World Champion Vettel. Is he no longer quick now he's in a not that great Ferrari? It's always up for debate as the cars people drive are a huge factor on how quick we think they are; does the car suit their style? In the Red Bull, Vettel had a car that handled like a cart (a lot of front end). It might be undrivable to someone else. Mansell once scoffed at the fact that Prost spent all his time setting up the car "so the car does all the work", to which Prost would have replied "That's the point". Different cars, different styles, it's all a bit murky.
Besides which, Senna and Schumacher's careers overlapped and they shared the grid, which, I think, rather undermines your point on "undisputable".
