Lewis Hamilton - Unlucky, Unskilled or Unsupported?
- Thread starter marksawatsky
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Kewee
Race Winner
What's all this nonsense about Lewis whining. He goes a little silent to let people know he's pissed off then does his talking on the track as soon as he gets the chance. The last example of someone whining was Nico complaining that Lewis wouldn't let him past. He wasn't close enough to even threaten Hamilton. A couple of points I don't agree with in Watsons article. He considers Lewis is fragile, it's the other way round for me, I believe Nico is the one showing fragility. Watson was also wrong when he quoted Lauda saying Hamilton was right to move over for Rosberg. Lauda actually said Hamilton was right NOT to move over for Rosberg, which of course is the complete opposite. I'm assuming that was a misprint.
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Now you know how I feel when reading your posts.
When one uses the word "nearly", its a recognition that no driver can truly face every eventuality in GP Racing. No one driver can expect to be faced with skull fractures, broken legs, and fallen teammates in modern Formula One. I was referring to actual racing, not terrible one-off incidents that occur every decade or so. Your all too literal interpretation of my closing paragraph completely misses the point of my post anyway, of which I never really expected a serious reply from you anyway.
Are you kids at it again?
If by "at it" you mean delivering somewhat cogent responses in an effort to express my points in the simplest possible terms, then yes.
I meant bickering really.
KekeTheKing - If you look at 2011, the most sensible explanation of Hamilton's defeat was psychological fragility, because I'm sure we can agree it damn well wasn't a lack of pace relative to Button.
I've said numerous times that 2011 was his worst season, for a number of reasons. I don't ascribe his incidents with JB and Kobash to mental fragility however. The season was a Vettel benefit and Hamilton was always on the attack looking for race wins. It cost him a couple times. JB was more than content to collect podiums in an effort to best Lewis, an achievement which he often seems to regard as equivalent to his World Title.
Even if this were true, that is a symptom of psychological fragility. Rather than maximise his potential, he went for race wins in a way that mentally stronger drivers such as Alonso or Button never would. The fact of not being able to win a race seems not to affect the performance of others in quite the same way.
The only problem is this doesn't explain a number of things that happened in 2011, such as why he was so often in the company of Massa, why he celebrated pole in Korea by walking around looking like someone had shot his budgie and why his media training competely disintegrated in Monaco.
Luckily for Lewis, 2014 is a whole new kettle of fish and one can be certain that any real or perceived fragility experienced in 2011 will have zero bearing on this year's championship.
If everyone were judged by their worst moments, then we've got a grid full of immature weaklings struggling to deal with the massive pressure placed on pilots in the fire of Formula One.
In my opinion the notion of a World Champion being mentally fragile is completely incongruous.
If everyone were judged by their worst moments, then we've got a grid full of immature weaklings struggling to deal with the massive pressure placed on pilots in the fire of Formula One.
In my opinion the notion of a World Champion being mentally fragile is completely incongruous.
Fenderman
Rooters Reporter
I've been away from CTA for a while and I always visit Hamilton threads with some trepidation. I find this "mental fragility" argument somewhat comical. When something is fragile it breaks easily and is never as strong or better without a completely new replacement part. One of Hamiltons notable characteristics is that when he has a setback he always fights back harder and comes back stronger. So, two things are happening there. One he obviously does have, and uses, the capacity to analyse what went wrong and two he has the mysterious ability to defy nature and repair himself better than he was before.
When I think about the whinging and wimpering that we hear in nearly every cockpit at some time or another, I am bewildered by the constant accusation that it Hamilton is fragile. As if Hamilton is the only human who has an off day. I once said in a previous sequel to this somewhat repetitive roundabout, bull crap, parody of a script, "Most drivers who have made it to F1 would have been chuffed to even to have matched Hamilton's worst season" - or words to that effect.
The fact is Hamilton is as human as the next bloke and right up there with the very best in the game. How bad is that?
When I think about the whinging and wimpering that we hear in nearly every cockpit at some time or another, I am bewildered by the constant accusation that it Hamilton is fragile. As if Hamilton is the only human who has an off day. I once said in a previous sequel to this somewhat repetitive roundabout, bull crap, parody of a script, "Most drivers who have made it to F1 would have been chuffed to even to have matched Hamilton's worst season" - or words to that effect.
The fact is Hamilton is as human as the next bloke and right up there with the very best in the game. How bad is that?
That does not prove that he is not psychologically fragile. That proves, which is true, that he is by a considerable distance the most naturally talented driver on the grid. Hamilton is not the only human to have an off day, but there is a repeated pattern of inconsistency in every single season he has ever driven a Formula One car, with 2011 the most obvious example of it.
It would if "World Champion" was an absolute measure of quality, which of course it isn't. World Titles can be won by a certain measure of circumstance. Hamilton's world title, of course, wasn't due to circumstance, it was due to brilliance. Because Hamilton is a brilliant, brilliant, shining light of a Grand Prix driver, but consistent he is not.
What are we even talking about here? Is Lewis Hamilton, World Champion and 27 time GP winner mentally fragile? Of course not. Has he had off days/weeks? Certainly, but not nearly as many as you would seem to be indicating. When you've put in as many remarkable performances as Lewis has, the average ones get seriously downgraded. The days where Hamilton has seriously under-performed to the cars capabilities have been few and far between.
My point about the World Champion thing is that in my opinion it is simply impossible for someone to win a Formula One Driver's Championship if they are indeed mentally fragile. This applies to each and every one of them across the decades.
My point about the World Champion thing is that in my opinion it is simply impossible for someone to win a Formula One Driver's Championship if they are indeed mentally fragile. This applies to each and every one of them across the decades.
Shogun
Rookie
Well, when your team tells you that your teammate is going to let you through and he doesnt, isnt it fair to ask why? Can you imagine the radio conversation if they had asked Nico to let Lewis through and he didnt?
I mean, if my team told me that I was faster and my teammate was going to let me by and then he didnt, Id be keying the mic and being like, "Hey, guys....sooooo, I thought you said Lewis was going to let me through. Whats the deal?" Then Id probably go up to him after the race, grab him by the chin bar of his helmet and say, "next time, let me through".
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Shogun
Rookie
Not to mention how boring would he be if he always talked nicely about his fellow drivers, complimented them and loved everyone?
Fenderman
Rooters Reporter
I'm firmly in KekeTheKing 's camp on this one. Yes Hamilton is very, very good and like the best of F1 drivers can be described using superlatives but I have trouble with the "natural talent" notion. There is nothing natural about racing an automobile. Maybe natural talent = spatial awareness + 20/20 vision + quick reactions + dexterity + intelligence + fearlessness + learning ability + application + a load of other characteristics I can't think of right now (because my natural talent to remember things has been seriously eroded due to under-use). If so, then, okay he must have shed loads of it.
I just have difficulty with the idea that his occasional lapses in judgement and (usually) minor errors are due to mental fragility and IMHO it's a real stretch. Everything about F1 is high pressure and high stress, what with the intensity of competition on track, hard work in the garage and the media circus, etc. If mental fragility had anything to do with it he would have cracked under pressure, feelings of inadequacy and of defeat probably before ever getting to F1. Again IMHO, putting him on a pedestal as an idol is as bad as knocking him off of it because he apparently betrays signs of humanity. He's a bloke in a job he's very, very good at. Period.
I just have difficulty with the idea that his occasional lapses in judgement and (usually) minor errors are due to mental fragility and IMHO it's a real stretch. Everything about F1 is high pressure and high stress, what with the intensity of competition on track, hard work in the garage and the media circus, etc. If mental fragility had anything to do with it he would have cracked under pressure, feelings of inadequacy and of defeat probably before ever getting to F1. Again IMHO, putting him on a pedestal as an idol is as bad as knocking him off of it because he apparently betrays signs of humanity. He's a bloke in a job he's very, very good at. Period.
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