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"

 

[F1ang-o]

Gearboxes fail, accidents happen. It's all been part of motor racing
There's no conspiracy, the teams want the maximum WCC points so they wouldn't compromise one of their own drivers to suit another one. (Does not include crashgate)

Yeah right...where it suits?

 

[Quintessentially]

Just take it on the chin like this guy has - Wet wipes

 

[FB]

Right - this is getting personal and it doesn't need to be. This is a sport, some people think one thing, some others but PLEASE don't start with personal insults.

Thanks

FB

 

[The Artist.....]

Well, hopefully this puts the idea to bed that McLaren had gambled on the gearbox...

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/102824

Sounds pretty much like a freak failure to me!

 

[F1ang-o]

More like f failing...........
Martin Brundle said on Sky that he couldn't understand .........why McLaren hadn't brought LH in, when he had done that brilliant pole lap...the brush with the wall happened on his next slower lap........using his tyres... that he would be starting the race on too....
Sad

 

[Lewywo4]

Terrible luck for Lewis today, and i hope that this incident with gearbox failure doesn't aid in pushing him to leave Mclaren, especially with the speed of the MP4-27, which can only help in producing a possible formidable and dominating MP4-28 for 2013.

 

[MCLS]

I fail to see why the whole thing is a conspiracy to hinder Hamilton, I think some fans are really clutching at straws now..... I noticed there weren't any similar claims when Button retired in Monza

 

[F1ang-o]

Maybe because there were no indications that there could be a problem...
Martin Brundle said on SKY...there could be a problem with LH car/gearbox etc.. after the brush with the wall...on a try for a fastr lap in Q3...that LH need not have been doing..
Better to take a five grid drop...& maybe move forward ...
Than a DNF?

 

[MCLS]

Overtaking at Singapore is notoriously difficult, Hamilton proved that in 2010 and 2011. Would he want to play safe and go down, or start first and risk it but have a better chance of a win?

 

[The Artist.....]

MCLS
McLaren have already come out and said they didn't know anything was wrong with the gearbox till it started failing.... So it may have been a gamble to start with the same gearbox, but then just as much as at any race!

 

[F1ang-o]

IMO the consistency stakes would have proved the better option...better to have some points...than none

 

[MCLS]

Just like McLaren not electing to pit Raikkonen at the Nurburgring in 2005, McLaren always want to go for the win, doesn't mean there is some big conspiracy against one of their drivers

 

[sushifiesta]

Well, here we are again with an update to the Lewis Hamilton bad luck world championship I'm afraid. What looked like a good chance of victory this weekend was snatched away, along with our best hope of a competitive drivers championship.

Australia - Lost 2nd place due to Safety Car.
China - Gearbox change.
Bahrain - 2 slow pit stops.
Spain - Low fuelled in qualifying.
Valencia - Maldonado crash
Germany - Puncture
Belgium - Grosjean crash
Singapore - Gearbox failure

Problems in 8/14 races (1 problem every 1.75 races, or equivalently an issue in 57% of races)
Team Errors: 2 (25% of issues, 1 problem every 7 races)
Car Issues: 2 (25% of issues, 1 problem every 7 races)
Caused By Other Drivers: 4 (50% of issues, 1 problem every 3.5 races)
Points Lost: Up to in the region of 85pts.

One team error every seven races and one car problem every seven races doesn't sound so bad but the cars are so reliable nowadays that a DNF is a massive penalty, particularly when you have the Ferrari/Alonso package who, whilst not being the quickest, have barely put a foot wrong so far. Hamilton has also been the victim of crashes that were either not his fault or that he simply was not a part of at at all more than most.

I really thought that Lewis had a shot of the championship despite all his previous issues coming in to today. It just seems like the universe has decided it's Alonso's year. To be fair to Fernando, he has been quite unfortunate that circumstances have meant he hasn't won another championship since 2006.

As far as Lewis leaving McLaren goes, this year does have a certain similarity to Kimi's years with McLAren. The fastest car but a number of issues prevented him picking up the championships. Kimi left and went on to pick up the drivers championship the next year but then his reputation fell somewhat in the years that followed and he left disillusioned with F1. Will something similar happen with Leiws I wonder?

 

[F1ang-o]

Well I haven't mentioned conspiracy...ever
Bloody incompetence...more like.

 

[F1Yorkshire]

IMO the consistency stakes would have proved the better option...better to have some points...than none

The report says the only damage to the car was some slight scuffing to the wheel, no suspension or axle damage. This failure would have probably happened without the impact to the wall.

What should McLaren do? Change the gearbox every race to consistently score points?

 

[F1ang-o]

No just when damage could have been incurred...by contact

 

[Mephistopheles]

I would imagine that if McLaren had have changed the Gear Box and Lewis took the five place grid penalty then some fans would be complaining about that as well......

 

[F1ang-o]

Better to be safe than sorry...
I knew as soon as Martin Brundle on SKY, started rabbiting on...about possible damage to LH car & what a punishing track S/pore is...I was fully expecting a DNF.....
Any points would be better than none
LH showed what a brilliant driver he is...result...sweet

 

[F1Yorkshire]

That's motor racing for you, hopefully he will bounce back as he has proven many times before.

 

[Mephistopheles]

There is nothing wrong with being disappointed,,, I was disappointed when Button's car stopped at Monza but I slammed my head in the door several times and I felt a lot worse after that....