Lew.S.A.?

[Cookinflatsix]

So single handedly did the media achieve this that Lewis was not needed?

They would have created the same around Pedro de la Rosa

 

[RasputinLives]

Cook. Whilst Lewis is indeed and excellent excellent driver with an excellent excellent record in junior formula we have some drivers with similar records come into F1 and none of them have landed a Mclaren seat in their rookie season.

I'm in no way saying that he did not prove that he more than deserved that chance and that seat and I'm not saying that I'm not 100% happy that he did but although we'd love to believe drivers chances in F1 come from the pure talent they display we know that a huge factor is the backing and the publicity + management the driver has behind them.

Paul Di Resta is a prime example. The media campaign to get him known and get him into an F1 car started at the begining of last year and was relentless. You could say the same of Bruno Senna. This doesn't mean any of these drivers aren't talented I'm just stating the fact.

The best example I can think of where this is concerened is a chap called Justin Wilson who stormed to the F3000 championship by a country mile - leaving Mark Webber a distant 2nd. Wilson got half a year in a Minardi and a few races in a Jag before becoming an F1 refugee whilst Webber, as you know, has had a long F1 career and currently sits in one of the top cars on the grid? Why? Well Webber was managed by Flavio and Wilson had very little backing.

Lewis was and is a tremendous talent and his sponsors and his management used that who he is and where he came from to push him into the sport at the very top. Unfortunatly as we've seen with some many other young talented sportsstars (Beckham, Owen, Lomu etc etc) if you saturate the media with how great someone is that as soon as something small starts to go wrong the backlash is equally as big. Lewis is a mere victim of the publicity machine. I'm sure all he wants to do is get in his car and race because thats all he knows.

 

[teabagyokel]

So single handedly did the media achieve this that Lewis was not needed?

They would have created the same around Pedro de la Rosa

Lewis was absolutely not required for the process. They wouldn't have crafted the same around Pedro de la Rosa, but they'd have continued on the Button narrative they'd been building for the previous 6 years.

 

[Cookinflatsix]

So the Button narrative would have replicated the rise in global interest in F1, introduced new audiences and sponsors and generated the acres of media coverage worldwide?

I suppose Jenson did beat Reubens, as rookie Lewis beat Alonso

no further comment

/exits thread

 

[RasputinLives]

So the Button narrative would have replicated the rise in global interest in F1, introduced new audiences and sponsors and generated the acres of media coverage worldwide?

I suppose Jenson did beat Reubens, as rookie Lewis beat Alonso

no further comment

/exits thread

I think you're so busy jumping to the defence of Lewis and expecting people to be having a go at him that you've completely missed the point we're trying to make Cook.

No one is having a go at Lewis. Try reading the post more carefuly

 

[teabagyokel]

So the Button narrative would have replicated the rise in global interest in F1, introduced new audiences and sponsors and generated the acres of media coverage worldwide?

Worldwide? I believe the headlines in Bild and Marca differ from those in the Sun where Formula One is concerned!

The English narrative would have been the Button narrative, and it actually makes for a nice fit with the fairytale style of the British media.

The rest of the world would have made do with Alonso, Raikkonen, Vettel, Schumacher, Massa, Rosberg, Button, Kobayashi or anyone else who seemed interesting.

There has not yet been a season I've seen as good as 1999, and Lewis Hamilton was a 14-year-old going to school in Stevenage with a future England football international.