Lewis Hamilton - Double Standards?

[Brogan]

Disregarding the Fans, most pundits found Hamilton at fault for the Canada incident.

Those same pundits now find him at fault for the Belgium incident.

This is getting off topic for this thread but Hamilton was also blamed for turning in on Webber at the Singapore GP, when he was on the outside.

He was also blamed for trying to pass Massa on the inside at the Italian GP.

You can see why more and more people are claiming double standards when it comes to any incident involving Hamilton.

In front, behind, on the outside, on the inside, on the racing line, off the racing line.
Makes no difference, it's always his fault according to a growing, vocal group of detractors.

 

[Josh]

Yeah, but when those same people are doing the same thing I have a hard time takign them serious. Sorry.

 

[tranquility2k9]

In front, behind, on the outside, on the inside, on the racing line, off the racing line.
Makes no difference, it's always his fault.

lol... so true.

 

[Jos the Boss]

Don't forget the is it cuz im black comment, Nearly got a 6 race ban for a joke! Maybe it is cuz he's black? (Off topic again!)

 

[Josh]

Err, Todt said he would get a 6 race ban if Mosley was still in charge, didn't he? Not that Hamilton was on the verge of getting a 6 race ban.

 

[Jos the Boss]

Woops my mistake

 

[Fenderman]

Err, Todt said he would get a 6 race ban if Mosley was still in charge, didn't he? Not that Hamilton was on the verge of getting a 6 race ban.

No, Todt said that had Hamilton not apologised he would have considered giving him a six race ban.

Woops my mistake

You weren't wrong, Jos.

Edit: and this is going off topic.

 

[Jos the Boss]

You weren' wrong, Jos.

Oh I knew it!

 

[Quintessentially]

The only thing Hamilton was guilty off was for not ensuring that the door was firmly shut in front of Kobayashi like Jenson did to him in Canada. Queue the inevitable outpouring of grief had Kamui ended up on the grass and subsequently the wall, not to mention the almost certain investigation by our wonderful stewards.

 

[teabagyokel]

Lewis Hamilton has currently been blamed, by my count, for incidents where:

1. He crashed into the guy ahead of him
2. He crashed into the guy behind him
3. He took the racing line and the guy crashed next to him
4. Someone deliberately drove into him
5. Half the field outbraked themselves into Turn 1
6. He was leading the race behind the Safety Car and the guys behind him ploughed into each other
7. He needed to pit and his team-mate deliberately blocked the pit box

He has also been disqualified from a race for lying to the stewards, which every driver who has ever been in a stewards room in Formula One is guilty of, and has not merited a disqualification from any other event.

He has also seen a rule changed retrospectively to ensure he lost a Grand Prix, and seen Michael Schumacher and Nico Hulkenburg repeatedly commit the same offence since with no punishment.

Also, his team had stolen* a dossier of secrets from a rival and his team-mate had participated in the implementation of these to the car, and then attempted to blackmail his team. This was also his fault.

In a sense, he has been blamed for every single incident he has been involved in since 2007, and a not insignificant number of incidents he has not been involved in.

*Or as it is known outside the FIA, "been given"

 

[Fenderman]

He is also responsible for regularly forcing drivers, who he has well and truly overtaken and left behind, off the track. I think that is a particularly nasty trait. What on Earth is he thinking about? Driving his racing car? Dear God!

Edit: Oh, and I forgot, he's also to blame for being there in the first place.

 

[Josh]

No, Todt said that had Hamilton not apologised he would have considered giving him a six race ban.

You weren't wrong, Jos.

Edit: and this is going off topic.

Oh, my mistake! Sorry Jos

 

[Hamberg]

I'm confused. Why is there a question mark at the end of the thread title?

 

[Brogan]

I didn't actually start the thread, the posts were split off from the race discussion thread.

 

[Quintessentially]

There is this errorneous belief that he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and this has led to misplaced resentment from certain sections of the paddock.

 

[Fenderman]

... and Nigel Mansell.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Disregarding the Fans, most pundits found Hamilton at fault for the Canada incident.

Those same pundits now find him at fault for the Belgium incident.

This is getting off topic for this thread but Hamilton was also blamed for turning in on Webber at the Singapore GP, when he was on the outside.

He was also blamed for trying to pass Massa on the inside at the Italian GP.

You can see why more and more people are claiming double standards when it comes to any incident involving Hamilton.

In front, behind, on the outside, on the inside, on the racing line, off the racing line.
Makes no difference, it's always his fault according to a growing, vocal group of detractors.

Brogan. I am gals you said this. When I was sitting in the stands at Spa yesterday I thought exactly the same thing. I thought, oh no, this was an exact reversal of the incident at Spa and the exact opposite outcome. The Hamilton detractors are going to need putting straight on this one because I know what the posts are going to be before I have read them.

This is not a defence of Hamilton. In both incidents the stewards took no action and that is because in both incidents, each driver had an equal portion of blame to be held accountable for. It is unfortunate for Lewis that in both incidents it was him that came out worse.

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

I don't think the proper observers will put all the incidents in one basket saying "Lewis' Fault".

You have to go through each separately.

- Massa at Monza is defintely not Massa's fault.

- Singapore with Webber was 50/50...a simple racing incident in which Lewis came off worse.

- In Canada, Lewis could have been more patient and - so - needs to take more than 50 percent of the responsibilty.

- Spa yesterday was an unfortunate incident but to blame Koba for it would be silly. That, unfortunately again, leaves Hamilton as - at a minumum - 50 percent responsible for his own exit. He moved to the left assuming he was clear when he could have gone in from where he was without much concern.

So, in all good conscience, it has to be taken one incident at a time as opposed to lumping them all in one box.

 

[teabagyokel]

But, Ray, they are taking one incident at a time and finding a way to blame Lewis for the damn lot of them.

The Massa (Monza) and Webber (Singapore) incidents and the Button (Montreal) and Kobayashi (Spa) incidents were straight reversals of each other. Hamilton was eliminated on all four occasions (which was unfortuanate) and pilloried for all of them.

You cannot contend that Lewis was to blame in all of these incidents, because you're not being consistent.

But that is in addition to far more ludicrous penalties. Disqualification for lying? It seems the sentence for perjury is steeper than the sentence for murder!

Then he was blamed because Vettel ploughed into Webber in Fuji. He's even to blame for incidents that don't involve him! Presumably the sinking of the Titanic, the Heidelberg disaster and the extinction of the dinosaurs were his fault too?

You can't have a rule that flexes when it is seen who is involved.

Lewis Hamilton was punished for being driven into this Saturday, in an incident that may have cost him pole. That is sodding ridiculous.

 

[Jen]

I can't help but think that maybe we (the viewing public and F1 site members, in particular) are partly to blame - leaping to Lewis's defence all the time gives the wrong impression and if we were a little more laid back there would not be so much publicity.

It is this very publicity that drives LH into issuing grovelling apologies over the public airways, which in turn damages his reputation. If he really felt the need to apologise to the team he should have done it in private - he had no need to apologise to us as it was a racing incident and all drivers have those. Hopefully, we all realise that whoever we support.