Current Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton MBE

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"

 

[The Pits]

 

[F1Brits_90]

He's not the only British F1 driver who lives or has lived in a tax haven, but he is the only British F1 driver who lives in a tax haven who is black.

ive brought this up with many people ive said why is fine for Paul di Resta & Eddie Irvine to live in Monaco but not Hamilton. the response is mostly. who

& we wonder why brexit won. too many people have 1/2 the information

 

[The Pits]

too many people have 1/2 the information

Or all the information that they need.......

 

[cider_and_toast]

It's a bit worrying that you can be free to dislike any F1 driver you like but if you dislike Hamilton you're liable to be labelled a racist.

Not sure I'm too happy with that generalisation.

 

[The Pits]

You can be free to like or dislike whoever you want without fear in my opinion. My point was related to those who would raise these issues only about Lewis, where they would not and did not for others. for example, a tweet from the same person in question, from 2015

"Andy Murray does have a personality. Gloomy and dour but first Davis Cup win since 1936 makes him front runner".

Clearly for Andy Murray, its not his personality that stops him winning SPOTY

The post was in answer to something directed at Lewis alone (as far as I can tell) where there are significant double standards. I mean, is he the only sportsman ever to move abroad for tax reasons? or the only one have a rather avant garde dress sense?

It was more directed at those who hide behind "reasonable" points

 

[Dartman]

Jackie Stewart has lived in Switzerland since 1977, still got knighted, he also owns an estate near Chequers but seemingly doesn't live there, how much tax he pays in the UK if any, doesn't seem to bother anyone so why the problem with Lewis Hamilton?

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

Jackie Stewart has lived in Switzerland since 1977, still got knighted, he also owns an estate near Chequers but seemingly doesn't live there, how much tax he pays in the UK if any, doesn't seem to bother anyone so why the problem with Lewis Hamilton?

The Stewarts left Switzerland in 1997. He lives in Ellesborough in Buckinghamshire.

 

[The Pits]

I don't know how accurate this is but: "As well as their main residence on the shores of Lake Geneva, they have an estate in Buckinghamshire." and there are stories about him adapting his home in Switzerland to cater for his wifes dementia.

Incidentally, the cycling in that area is great, his estate is on one of the toughest hills, I will look out for him next time I'm there. I also got told off by his son (not sure which one, I found out later!) for trying to get a football out of his garden!!

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

Ignore me, I may be wrong.

 

[F1Brits_90]

im not going to say its racist cider_and_toast but i think this is very similar to point raheem sterling made about man city + daily mail & then Meghan markle & Kate middleton. when they call it unconscious racial bias. you dont blame them for think it could be 1 rule for & 1 rule for another. the media dont realise they are doing it

Here Are 20 Headlines Comparing Meghan Markle To Kate Middleton That May Show Why She And Prince Harry Left Royal Life

www.buzzfeednews.com

 

[cider_and_toast]

I accept there are proper assholes in the press and some of them very well could be racist or have racist tendencies.

I just think it's dangerous to suggest that all critique of Hamilton could stem from racist intentions.

Hamilton is potentially the first Formula 1 superstar of the social media era. Facebook was only 3 years old when he made his debut and Twitter less than a year old.

Opinions that would only be shared among friends in a pub over a pint are now shared with thousands of people all over the world. Likewise we rarely heard from drivers between races and now they are always on Instagram and other outlets.

Jim Clark was advised by his accountant's to live overseas for tax reasons and I don't expect anyone even noticed.

 

[gethinceri]

Incidentally, the cycling in that area is great, his estate is on one of the toughest hills, I will look out for him next time I'm there. I also got told off by his son (not sure which one, I found out later!) for trying to get a football out of his garden!!

The cycling in the area around his Swiss home is also great.

 

[F1Brits_90]

good point on jim clark, but that is point where you hit the head on brick wall with people who arent big fans like us or fans at all. & they dont realise that F1 drivers living in monaco is normal, as normal as moving to woking or milton keynes if you had a job with mclaren or red bull

 

[siffert_fan]

Nico Rosberg: Lewis Hamilton not the 'complete driver' MSC was

Nico Rosberg feels Lewis Hamilton isn't quite the "complete" driver that Michael Schumacher was in his Formula 1 career.

www.planetf1.com

 

[Brogan]

Yawn

 

[Dartman]

Actually Jim Clark moving to Monaco hit the headlines as he was the first F1 UK driver to do so, I think that he was the first driver that couldn't lose his earnings being a farmer, Mike Hawthorne had a garage as did most other F1 drivers, in the 60s drivers were begining to earn more and tax became a problem, Graham Hill had a tuning company Speedwell I think which he could pay his earnings into as his employer. The exception was Tony Brookes who was a dentist but wasn't a full time driver more an amateur with a holding contract to Lotus

 

[FB]

I think the marginal rate of income tax for high earners back then was 90%, so you can see why they would choose to live somewhere more "tax efficient". The UK now has quite a generous tax system which doesn't penalise high earners in anywhere near such an aggressive manner. The problem the super rich have very creative accountants who see the whole thing as a game. It's not a game.

Many of the super rich spend their time bleating on about how society could and should be improved. One of the best ways they can improve the lot of those most vulnerable is to pay what they are supposed to pay in to the tax system, whether they are private individuals or major companies.

 

[Dartman]

Tax was very complicated in those days, I remember Paul McCartney saying he paid 99% on some of his earnings, there was some sort of sliding scale that ended up as working for nothing

 

[Johnny Carwash]

Nico Rosberg: Lewis Hamilton not the 'complete driver' MSC was

Nico Rosberg feels Lewis Hamilton isn't quite the "complete" driver that Michael Schumacher was in his Formula 1 career.

www.planetf1.com

The Nico Rosberg who won 1 Championship and then immediately retired. His bitterness towards Lewis Hamilton is hardly a surprise.

 

[The Pits]

Well, it looks like he will need to race next season wearing a suit of armour. That should level the playing field a little bit!!

Arise, Sir Lewis! Hamilton to become F1's sixth knight | Planet F1

Lewis Hamilton has been awarded a knighthood in the New Year’s Honours list after securing his seventh World Championship title in 2020.

www.planetf1.com