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"

 

[Hamberg]

Well at least Hamilton respects Jenson even if some of Lewis's fans don't.

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/2...t-for-jenson-button-ahead-of-250-gp-milestone

Firstly, yawn.
Secondly, not gushing over somebody is not the same as not respecting them
Thirdly we all (Lewis and Jenson fans) have respect for our elders, to quote Lewis "I have a huge amount of respect for Jenson, watching him come back every year, to have that motivation, because as you get older it gets harder,"
Finally, for goodness sake Mephistopheles this is not the JB thread! Why does everything have to be about Jenson fucking Button!

 

[Mephistopheles]

Because it was Lewis talking about Jenson and showing him some respect I suppose, which I thought was nice of him...

 

[Hamberg]

That was a simply stunning, stunning drive. This performance reminded me why Lewis Hamilton is so damn special. Three huge challenges and came out on top each time with a superb display of race craft.

 

[FB]

The bright face boy of 2007 appears to be back. Great smile across his face in the interview with Sky, nice to see him being positive and let's hope he keeps in that positive mental place. Can't see any reason why he shouldn't given the car Mercedes have provided him with and the relationship with Rosberg looks to be holding up.

 

[Lewywo4]

After the safety car I thought that Lewis was a dead duck, but he managed to hold on for the win....incredible performance on Hamilton's part.....has to be one of his best

 

[downforce]

Every year he has had back to back wins he has been in contention in the final race.

 

[olegg]

It was strong answer who talk about Hamilton couldn't be driving under pressure

 

[teabagyokel]

His lack of pace vs Rosberg this weekend is slightly worrying. The fact he won anyway is one of the most encouraging things it is possible to imagine, especially going from a non-Hamilton circuit in Sakhir to much more friendly territory in Shanghai.

 

[KekeTheKing]

Nico's no slouch in China either. I expect another spirited battle between the Mercedes boys in two weeks.

 

[Mephistopheles]

So where did all this nonsense about Lewis having a lack of pace at Bahrain come from I saw no evidence that he was slower than Nico during the race or at anytime during the weekend..

 

[Brogan]

or at anytime during the weekend..

Remind me who qualified on pole?

 

[Mephistopheles]

Yes but Lewis made a mistake on both of his runs, I just don't buy it that he was slower in overall pace.

 

[Lewywo4]

I don't either Meph, because Lewis had a 9 sec. lead over Rosberg, before Maldonado's antics, which brought out the safety car.

 

[Hamberg]

When they were both on the same tyre Hamilton could not get away and a lesser driver wouldn't have kept his place. 9 second gap was when Hamilton was on options/ Nico on primes . Look what happened after the safety car.

He didn't lack pace but if they were both driving on equal tyres (a la quali) Nico was slightly quicker. Hamilton couldn't get a quicker clean lap, he tried where he needed to make up times but mistakes suggest he couldn't pull it off.

 

[Quintessentially]

Hamilton's radio message at the end of the race acknowledged the fact that he didn't have the pace on his side of the garage, especially compared to Malaysia where he was able to pull away. There is no question in my mind Lewis has superior race craft to Rosberg and that's what won him the race. It was quite interesting some of the racing lines he took when he came under attack.

Replay

02:30 Lap19 - Rosberg got past

02:37 - Look at the line Hamilton takes into the corner. He uses the full width of the road to the extent of having two wheels off the track near the marker boards. Rosberg was in a similar situation at 07:48 but he was so eager to get past he failed to exploit this opportunity. Note how close Lewis parks his car close to the edge. The race came down to these small details and Lewis showed his superiority here.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Sounds like a a load of beating of the chest, peacock strutting and posturing to me, in other words mind games, i.e either Lewis is saying or his fans are saying, even without the right set up or the ultimate pace and even when on the slower tyre I/he still beat you berger boy...

An unnecessary put down to Nico me thinks, Nico got beat, there is no need to rub it in I'm sure he feels bad enough as it is....

This is one reason I'm turned off by Lewis he has no issue with putting the boot in when he wins or even when he doesn't, one year at Spa springs to mind, to be honest it is very ungracious of him...

I've never heard Usain Bolt say to his rivals "I beat you even with my shoelaces undone."

 

[Viscount]

Mephistopheles It's not mind games it's simple fact that Rosberg was faster in Malaysia, he said it himself after the race.

Nico: "I didn’t have the best of starts. It was still good but Lewis had a little of a better one and that’s the way it went. And then, yeah, I was quicker today, which I was pleased about and gave it a run."

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2014/4/15695.html

EDIT: I meant Bahrain not Malaysia.

 

[Hamberg]

I am absolutely at a loss to understand what on earth he said that was a put down to Nico and peacock strutting, posturing and chest beating. Honestly not even a smidgen.

Clear case of he can't say anything right and whatever he does say will be twisted so suit ones own perception, whether it's there or not.

Quintessentially your last sentence is spot on and it's those displays of skill that takes a great driver to a whole new level. There are very few of these special ones on the grid - Alonso being another and I'd go out to say Hulk being another. My opinion of course.

 

[downforce]

And a fine opinion it is too.

 

[teabagyokel]

It is clear that Hamilton did not have pace over his team-mate in Bahrain. His post-race reaction was to praise Rosberg's effort and to suggest he would learn from that, a comment which looks more like a magnanimous acceptance of his own relative shortcomings than Muhammad Ali strutting around saying "I am the greatest".

Hamilton took the 25 points, and Rosberg took all the window dressing. Even if Hamilton was the faster driver, such an advantage would have been destroyed by the Safety Car and the primes.

He held an equal car with superior tyres and DRS from a nominal advantage. That's top drawer.