Current Lewis Hamilton

A place to put all the posts from all the other threads primarily but love him or hate him, and even for the indifferent amongst us this is the place to discuss the marmite that is Lewis Hamilton, to learn a thing or two about his rise, talk about those controversial, genius or mad moments and something that i am bemused by, the recent articles that suggest something quite different to my perception of what's going on. Any experiences of meeting LH?

Brundle had to write a Lewis Hamilton article recently and in my tweets (which were probably ignored) I asked him to talk about LH the driver not LH the personality. It seems that you can't have one without the other.

So as a starter for ten, here is a fairly recent LH article. Posts should not be limited to this link but it can get some discussion going. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/13755883.stm

The only banned topic as it is clearly ridiculous involves these four things "Glock" "2008" "Brazil" "conspiracy"

 

[sushifiesta]

Im unsure why you consider Alonso benefited from the rain in Malaysia

Because McLaren clearly had the fastest car in the dry, qualifying 1-2, and Ferrari obviously didn't, qualifying 9th and 12th. So in normal conditions McLaren/Lewis were likely to win. I realise that this is dubious though, so I included points for a wet and dry race in my second post.

 

[Kewee]

sushifiesta......I understand the point your making. My reasoning was simply Lewis with his undisputed wet weather skills in a superior car should have been able to beat Alonso. Malaysia was simply a touch of brilliance by Alonso in very difficult conditions and to be honest, I think it surprised a lot of people.

 

[KekeTheKing]

Unless the reports several weeks ago were fantasy

Yeah, I believe they were. Mostly media speculation and McLaren posturing. Dennis has made it clear on a number of occasions that they have no plans of offering Hamilton anything remotely approaching his previous contract. Another fantasy is the notion that if Hamilton had already signed a piece of paper then he would have been rewarded with better results in the pits and on the track.

People used to say that Lewis should just do his talking on the circuit, which is clearly what he's done in 2012, yet now there are people calling for him to be more vocal about his personal ideals and to take on a cheerleading role within McLaren.

The Pits

Age at time of 100th start;
Damon - 37
Lewis - 27

I'd hold off on the comparisons.

 

[The Pits]

KekeTheKing it was an attempt (possibly poor) at humour.

 

[KekeTheKing]

I got a chuckle out of it The Pits

As with (almost) all stats, different people see different things.

 

[Jen]

Stats are stats - unless you start factoring in all sorts of other stuff - ages, backgrounds, parental access to funds, the weather, the teams they started off in, where 'they are at' at any given moment, etc., etc.

 

[The Pits]

To be fair KekeTheKing, looking through wiki (I know!!) The sheer number of times lewis appear in any of the stats says all you need to know. The company he is in within this stats also speaks volumes. The fact he still has many years left, (along with Alonso and moreso Vettel) would lead to assume they will only get better.

I appreciate stats can be very specific, and open to comment, but if there was a stat which showed how many stats a driver was within the top 10 of, I think that the patterns would be quite predictable.

 

[KekeTheKing]

access to funds

I think you can discount that when talking about Top 10 F1 categories.

Money alone may get some drivers into Formula One, but it surely will not put them on the same statistical lists as historically great racing legends.

 

[Jen]

They all needed money to race, even more so in the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

 

[KekeTheKing]

I realize that Jen. The point is that no amount of money or support will make you a great driver.

 

[Jen]

And what I was trying to say KekeTheKing was stats, if taken purely on face value are not a moveable feast - they are what they are and no amount of if, buts and whens changes them.

This might well mean the comparison is flawed at its inception, but doesn't necessarily invalidate them completely.

 

[ZakspeedYakspeed]

Good luck to Lewis in his 100th... it would be rather sweet if he could pull off a win on Vettel home soil... young Seb has never really run that well at home...

 

[Lewywo4]

Now that all the other options appear to be closing he has no negotiating power at all.

If Jenson was setting the world on fire, which he isn't, Lewis's standing at Mclaren could possibly be questioned.

Hamilton still has some leverage with Mclaren!

 

[Jen]

Are you suggesting that Lewis drive both McLarens?

 

[racecub]

I think he's suggesting that since Jenson has lost his way, McLaren need a driver that can grab the car by the scruff of its neck and do something with it......so to speak

 

[KekeTheKing]

Not to belabor this any further, but certainly some caveats are more worthwhile than others Jen.

it's all well and good to say that stats are stats and numbers never lie, but in actuality we all know that's nonsense. Especially on an F1 forum. Numbers are there to be picked apart, scrutinized, analyzed, and criticized.

Would we look at two sets of laptimes, one set in the dry and the other wet, and say; "oh well, they are what they are". Of course not, and by the same token, few drivers have had the exact same set of circumstances when approaching their 100th start. What's the harm in pointing out one of the most glaring differences?

This doesn't condemn the original comparison, it just adds context, allowing further debate to commence on the subject.

 

[Lewywo4]

Are you suggesting that Lewis drive both McLarens?

..................

 

[Jen]

Couldn't agree with you more KekeTheKing, but we have to remember what thread we are on here and how much bias will be involved.

My interpretation of those stats will not be the same as the next man's, that's a given. However much these things are debated we won't actually know where Lewis stands until he retires, along with all the others mentioned.

 

[KekeTheKing]

I'll meet you back here in about 12 years

 

[Jen]

I'll be long gone by then, but will keep an eye on all my old pals from a distance!