Lewis Hamilton - No more Mr Nice Guy?

[The Enforcer]

Hamilton needs to ditch his ego massaging entourage for a couple of races and start taking charge of his own destiny. I get the impression he's too happy to let the engineers and pitwall dictate his entire race and when it doesn't meet with his approval he looses a degree of calm and mind control.

 

[Hamberg]

Just for info on the Maldonado one, Sam Michael was asked this...
Q. What is your view on Pastor's race-ending accident with Lewis Hamilton?
SM: It was a racing incident.

I can understand that a precedent was set with Di Resta (although I think there were differences) but I don't think the Massa incident was anything other than a racing incident. I said on the "overtaking overrated" thread that attitudes to F1 and safety now mean that drivers are afraid to overtake - and these punishments show why.

Also engineers and strategists are there for a reason, no driver operates without them and he can't just drive that car out onto the track without their consent. Lewis has said he also should have known better as well so he probably didn't say anything about not going out earlier. Also it wasn't as early as the others but it wasn't exactly the end of qualifying. Had he not been 'distracted' by Massa he would have had a banker lap in. It was the most unbelievable amount of bad luck he had. If he hadn't reacted you'd question if he was human.

But to suggest he has to basically ditch the expertise of his team now is a little naive. If he has a judgement, yes he should call it out but I strongly suspect he didn't even raise it. His team will be getting a massive kicking for that first pit stop (and btw 3rd race in a row the right rear has stuck - not acceptable).

 

[Pyrope]

SM: It was a racing incident.

It's intriguing that this phrase seems to have become the accepted shorthand for 'nobody to blame', instead of its real meaning of 'stuff happens'. Mistakes and errors of judgement are both covered by the term. I love the way Hamilton drives, I love his aggression and racy attitude, and I love his optimism. I certainly wouldn't want to change that, but with that has to come some realisation from him that he's going to fluff it some times as a result. The opposite end of the scale is Nick Heidfeld who tools around week in week out, never really excites, never makes much of an impact, but then never has to explain his actions to the stewards. I think Lewis needs to grow up a bit and accept responibility for the outcome of his driving style. When he wins I'm sure he pockets the cash (although I'm sure the trophies stay in Woking), so when he bites off more then he can chew he should also put his hand up.

 

[The Enforcer]

Also engineers and strategists are there for a reason, no driver operates without them and he can't just drive that car out onto the track without their consent. Lewis has said he also should have known better as well so he probably didn't say anything about not going out earlier.
But to suggest he has to basically ditch the expertise of his team now is a little naive. If he has a judgement, yes he should call it out but I strongly suspect he didn't even raise it.

Hamberg, just to clear up my comments regarding his engineers and pitwall, I am suggesting that he allows them too much control and it appears as though he doesn't put enough of his own opinions into strategy etc. You pointed out that he said "he should have known better" and that's exactly my point, the team of experts must always be listened to, but I would like to see him interact further and call a few more decisions for himself.

I would love to be a fly on the wall at the briefing sessions and perhaps I've got it completely wrong, but I suspect he implicitly trust the team around him just as he did when he was fresh faced and learning the ropes. That was fine back then but he's been around for a long while now and if he doesn't feel a decision is correct then he should speak up.

As for the right rear, do we know if this is the same mechanic or have they swapped it around yet? They really need to catch up with Red Bull in the pit stop stakes and they can't allow this to keep happening. It's said that finding 1/10th costs £1mil +, well they've certainly flushed a lot of £'s down the toilet recently.

 

[Hamberg]

Hamberg, just to clear up my comments regarding his engineers and pitwall, I am suggesting that he allows them too much control and it appears as though he doesn't put enough of his own opinions into strategy etc.

I wonder if he is very good at strategy though? He knows when his tyres have given up or when to change to slicks if its wet. He is fantastic at racing - but when he's not in the car this may not be his area of strength and therefore he is fairly dependant on his team, who more often than not get it right. It was just so unfortunate that 2 events in the space of a few minutes destroyed his qualifying. Had either Massa not blocked him or Perez not crashed we'd be celebrating a race winner. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Don't know about the mechanic. The nut was dropped once but they are having a problem with it sticking. To add insult Button's best pit stop was 3.5 seconds.

 

[Pyrope]

I thought Dario Franchitti made an interesting point about trusting your pit team just this week end: a driver has to. If they tell you that the sky is green you have to trust to their judgement and observation as you simply don't have the full picture. You don't know where everyone else is on track, you don't know their tyre conditions, you don't know their likely strategy. If a driver then decides to over rule the team call then the responsibility is theirs, but the underlying assumption must always be that the team knows best.

 

[FB]

Sometimes the team have the upper hand but specifically on Q3 last Saturday Lewis should have spoken up if he felt setting a "banker lap time" was the best idea. The team don't always know best though, remember Kimi struggling round on full wet tyres in, I think, Malaysia a few years ago as the team were certain it was going to rain. Or JB knicking two wins last season for McLaren by telling them what tyres he wanted to be on - I think in one of those races Lewis was driving round complaining about "who's idea was it to change tyres" or something similar.

The boy needs to find his voice if he thinks he's right or keep quiet if he accepts the teams judgment and it goes wrong.

 

[The Enforcer]

FB - Thanks for clearing up what I was trying to say in a very convoluted fashion

 

[snowy]

or keep quiet if he accepts the teams judgment and it goes wrong

Lewis made it very clear in the interview after qualifying that the team chose the strategy and that he agreed with them, it was a collective decision. He went on to suggest that he wished he had spoken up and not gone down that road. Everyone has twisted what he said in that interview into him damning the team, which is not what he was doing. The interview is still on the BBC website, listen to it again and listen to what he actually says and the way he says it. It is regret and hindsight, if he is actually berating anyone it is himself for not twigging that this track is definitely not the place to use that sort of strategy.

After the race he had a go at everyone but that might actually be understandable since he would have heard how his previous interview had been twisted and turned around by everyone.

However, he does not believe that this was the main reason behind his worst qualifying performance since Japan last year.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/91813

It wasn't the waiting in the pitlane, it was the strategy [we took]. I think we've been going well all weekend and I had the pace for pole; I'm certain about that.
Engineers advised that we should do one [run] at the end of Q3 and I didn't contest it. You always have to take a balanced view with the engineers.
I definitely didn't take into account - and I know they didn't either - that in Monaco you can't take risks in leaving it [your lap] right to the end.
You have to get out and get in a banker, like everyone else did. With racing experience you'd assume that most people would have that, but I guess other things were going on and we didn't have that. It's my worst Q3 for a long time.

 

[Cookinflatsix]

Hamilton needs to ditch his ego massaging entourage for a couple of races and start taking charge of his own destiny. I get the impression he's too happy to let the engineers and pitwall dictate his entire race and when it doesn't meet with his approval he looses a degree of calm and mind control.

Mr Enforcer

These guys are part of the team and must all be experts. I think though that they all still see Lewis as the you g kid they have nurtured for years. It was only a couple of years ago he was told on radio to not question tactical decisions of the pitfall and to 'just drive, leave thinking to us'

Now though he must take leadership of the team more, I really believe that if members of the team felt that they would face the wrath of Lewis after the race a la Alonso then support would sharpen up and pitstops and strategy improve

I would personally pick a crew member or two and publicly berate them, (maybe some karate) definitely threaten to quit or strike, just make a show of losing my rag , it's game theory, football managers do it all the time, Ferguson kicking a boot at Beckham or berating referees

It's human nature for these highly paid experts to want to do what they think best and not what the driver thinks, maybe down to ego or professional pride. They should be made to feel like support to a demanding star act

I find in a similar way the same dynamic with my mechanics albeit at a much more modest level

 

[FB]

Snowy - I wasn't talking about this specific situation, I'll be honest and admit I haven't heard the post race interview only the snippets on the radio. My comment was more of a general one about him, although, on reflection, his words are often twisted into meaning something else by the media but thus it is a for all people in the public eye.

Anyway, suffice to say I do think he needs to be a stronger personality in the team. There have been other occasions where his attitude could be considered a bit "whiney". But, he is one of the most exciting things to happen to F1 for many a year and his spirit on the track is second to none especially when he finds himself in situations someone with his talent shouldn't be getting into.

Enough of this hero worship - brilliant driver, really engaging young man and, as my wife never fails to point out whenever she sees him, one of the coolest men out there. Oh, and his girlfriend ain't 'alf bad either...

 

[Bill Boddy]

Imo, if Hamilton starts to publicly berate members of his pit crew then he will be on a slippery slope. Encouragement is the best way to get the best out of them.

In all the moans there are about the pit crew it should be remembered that they got Hamilton out of the pits before Massa when Massa had past him just before pitting. They managed to get Hamilton out in time when there was fuel on the garage floor whish resulted in a lot of work to do. And then at Monaco they managed to replace his rear wing by sheer hard work and determination.

The pit crew share the spoils of the result, they do not purposely throw that money away.

 

[Brogan]

You would think he would have learnt from China 2007, where by all accounts Bridgestone had been ordering McLaren to bring him in for 2 or 3 laps as his tyres were down to the canvas...

Then there was Brazil 2008 where they decided to qualify him in a "safe" 4th on the grid.

He definitely needs to start making calls of his own as McLaren as a team have proven time and time again they're not particularly good when it comes to strategy.

 

[no-FIAt-please]

You would think he would have learnt from China 2007, where by all accounts Bridgestone had been ordering McLaren to bring him in for 2 or 3 laps as his tyres were down to the canvas...

Then there was Brazil 2008 where they decided to qualify him in a "safe" 4th on the grid.

He definitely needs to start making calls of his own as McLaren as a team have proven time and time again they're not particularly good when it comes to strategy.

Don't forget the shambles that was Malaysia 2010 when they left it too late on Saurday.

 

[Basil3]

In my eyes, Lewis was never Mr Nice Guy. In his first season, he came across as cocky and arrogant, with little respect for fellow drivers....particularly those at the back of the grid that were getting in his way. Although there is no problem with this, I didn't feel he had earnt the right to be this way. In subsequent years, Lewis has been more of a PR machine, and i have never felt this has been natural for Lewis.

Sunday was a Lewis reverting to his natural self, and this is how I believe he should be. I also feel he has now earnt the right to be this way.

Of course, this is all just my opinion.

 

[guitargraham]

i'd rather see Lewis having a damn good go than seeing a Coulthard Bernoldi type stalemate for 35 laps (was that really TEN years ago???!) He's a racer and there are certain aspects of his character that go with this. i know its not to some people's taste but as someone who likes drivers who have that edge (Hunt, Alan Jones, Keke Rosberg, Mansell) i'm all for it.

 

[Brogan]

All the best drivers have a ruthless side to them don't they?
Senna, Prost, Schumacher, Alonso, etc.

 

[guitargraham]

All the best drivers have a ruthless side to them don't they?
Senna, Prost, Schumacher, Alonso, etc.
-=-=-=
absolutely. it then all falls down to personal preference as to who you like/dislike but if you were to really analyse them, the top guys are not too dissimilar. i know RAF fighter pilots, they're just the same, and i have to admit it gets to me at times but you have to allow them their idiosyncrasies as it goes with the territory

 

[Slyboogy]

Imo, if Hamilton starts to publicly berate members of his pit crew then he will be on a slippery slope. Encouragement is the best way to get the best out of them.

In all the moans there are about the pit crew it should be remembered that they got Hamilton out of the pits before Massa when Massa had past him just before pitting. They managed to get Hamilton out in time when there was fuel on the garage floor whish resulted in a lot of work to do. And then at Monaco they managed to replace his rear wing by sheer hard work and determination.

The pit crew share the spoils of the result, they do not purposely throw that money away.

Now this is a great point...

In my opinion a driver has no right to moan, these mechanics and pit crews work there asses off for months, more hours in a day than the driver, more hours a week, more hours in a whole year. They get less credit than the driver and the management team. These are the guys that make a difference, these guys don't live like celebreties, these guys don't be-rate the driver when the driver bins it and gives them more sleepless nights.

To be-rate another team member that just works as hard as you maybe even more is a ridiculous thing to do.

You should encourage them, not come out saying things to make them look bad, did Vettel ever come out saying anything last year when he had so many failures? No...he encouraged the team and says this happens

Same with Hakkinen, Schumacher and Raikkonen.

 

[Fenderman]

Unfortunately in this modern cut and thrust world one seems to be only as good (or bad) as ones most recent statement. Until very recently Lewis only had good words for everyone in his team. I think this is the first time he's actually criticised them - at least in public (don't know about privately) but I think many people have criticised McLaren for exactly the same reasons that lay behind his outburst. Sometimes you just have to rock the boat to shake off some flotsam.

Edit: I retract the part of my post referring to Lewis as having criticised his team. This was not so as pointed out by Snowy on 1st June 2011.