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"

 

[Brogan]

And Alonso and Vettel aren't?

This is the Lewis Hamilton thread.

If he had said Vettel or Alonso were on a mission then it would have been off topic.

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

Fair enough. My main point is that Lewis doesn't operate in a vacuum regardless of who's thread it is and he isn't the only "man on a mission" these days.

I imagine Lewis is always on a mission. And we love him for being that way!

What i'd like, frankly, is for McLaren to be a "Team On A Mission" and focus their primary effort on Hamilton for this race.

McLaren should throw everything, including the proverbial 'kitchen sink', into maximizing Hamilton's chances at this Grand Prix.

We know that Lewis goes about his race weekends only one way. Flat Out. What we don't always see is his Team working that same way towards optimizing his effort.

Cheers.

 

[Sarinaide]

Not many drivers, one could say that the ultimate strength is the ultimate weakness.

Strength/Up/Pro: Never settles for second place, anything less, never gives up.

Weakness/Down/Con: Never settles for second place, anything less, never gives up.

while there are many connotations for this, the best is to describe him as a driver that never settles for lesser points, I don't quite like the "never gives up" description as this all the best have with good instances to back up. That said Lewis will always be an entertaining driver whether one loves or hates him.

 

[Quintessentially]

Fair enough. My main point is that Lewis doesn't operate in a vacuum regardless of who's thread it is and he isn't the only "man on a mission" these days.

I imagine Lewis is always on a mission. And we love him for being that way!

What i'd like, frankly, is for McLaren to be a "Team On A Mission" and focus their primary effort on Hamilton for this race.

McLaren should throw everything, including the proverbial 'kitchen sink', into maximizing Hamilton's chances at this Grand Prix.

We know that Lewis goes about his race weekends only one way. Flat Out. What we don't always see is his Team working that same way towards optimizing his effort.

Cheers.

What McLaren need to do is focus their efforts on optimising the car and this is what they are doing. This is fundamental and anything else is secondary.

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

What McLaren need to do is focus their efforts on optimising the car and this is what they are doing. This is fundamental and anything else is secondary.

With all due respect, Quintessentially, optimising the car doesn't do any good unless you optimize it for the person driving it. It can't only be "optimised" in a vacuum. It has to be "optimised" for a driver. Driver's have different styles and preferences, as you know Quintessentially.

When Berger and Alesi joined Benetton after Schumacher left at the end of 1995, they were over 1.5 seconds slower in the same car in testing. Their style was totally different to Schumacher's unusual style. It wasn't because Schumacher was miles faster.

So, to finish off, McLaren need to optimize the car for Lewis first and Jenson second at this meeting in order to cut into Vettel's WDC lead.

That's, of course, if they actually want to try to win a World Championship. If, of course, they only want to win a race and have given up on collecting a World Championship trophy, then, yes, they can do what you suggest and dilute their efforts and have both in the mix but with possibly neither winning the Grand Prix.

If I were lucky enough to be a McLaren Group shareholder, i'd give only one instruction to Martin Whitmarsh:

"Make sure you give Lewis what ever he needs in order for him to be in a position to win this Grand Prix."

I'm hoping Ron Dennis instructs Whitmarsh so.

 

[Quintessentially]

With all due respect Ray I think what you are referring to is setup and the bits that go with it. This is why Hamilton was running different style brakes to Jenson at Nurbugring to cater for his driving style. McLaren made provisions for this and it contributed to him winning the race. Berger and Alesi were by no means driving the same car as Schumacher once you factor in the variation with setup and the gap between both McLaren drivers last week should give you an indication of how easily different setup (in addition to driver skill of course) can transpire in lap times.

McLaren’s immediate focus should be on improving the underlying performance of the car. You may see tangible benefits in focusing on Hamilton at this stage, I don’t, and it is worth mentioning that Vettel would not be world champion had Redbull swapped cars at Interlagos last year. It is possible to support Hamilton’s cause without impinging on Jenson and recent history suggests supporting two drivers equally is the way forward, until such time when it is mathematically impossible for one of them to win it. I don’t think Hamilton will thank you for asking McLaren to throw their full weight behind him. He needs Jenson up there with him if he is to have a chance and he will naturally beat Jenson in a level playing field without the need for preferential treatment.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

And Alonso and Vettel aren't?

Right now it seems like Ferrari and McLaren and Red Bull have very little to choose between them, frankly. Good luck to Lewis though because you can't be "perfect" every weekend and the situation is so tight that any bit of "luck" helps.

The Ferrari might be the car to have at Hungaroring...and, unfortunately for him, Lewis isn't in one. So, good luck.

Who said they weren't? I think you misquoted me. I said that Lewis is. Did you watch P1 when he was dicing with Algesuari? It is very rare that you will get all three drivers on the top of their form. My point is that Lewis has found a new energy, self-belief and confidence in the car, his team and his approach to racing and if the cards fall right for him he will be an unstoppable force. There is a big "if" in there, of course. I made no mention of Fernando or Seb because if you take away all the differentials and get them all on thier best day, Lewis will win. Lewis' approach when everything is not going his way, which it hasn't, often means that his best day is less frequent.

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

You may see tangible benefits in focusing on Hamilton at this stage, I don’t, and it is worth mentioning that Vettel would not be world championship had Redbull swapped cars at Interlagos last year. It is possible to support Hamilton’s cause without impinging on Jenson and recent history suggests supporting two drivers equally is the way forward, until such time when it is mathematically impossible for one of them to win it.

As you can see, I "liked" your post, Quintessentially!

One point i'd like to differ on is that Vettel was quite clearly the in form RBR driver during that entire final third stretch of the 2010 season and was much, much closer to the WDC lead than Button is now.

In addition, there is a reasonable difference between having a "mathematically impossible" chance and an "unrealistic"/"improbable" chance.

Unless i'm mistaken (and please feel free to correct me if i'm wrong), you're suggesting a "Wait And See" approach while i'm suggesting a "Now Is The Time" response. I think therein lies the fundamental philosophical difference.

I think we can agree to disagree. And, once again, that was a very good post of yours!

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

Did you watch P1 when he was dicing with Algesuari?

No. I didn't. I'm at work...and, regardless, I'll only get that footage late at night on the US's "Speed TV" because we don't get Practice sessions televised here in Canada.

I can only "get" Practice session via Live Timing on the FOM site and follow the text via BBC and Autosport websites.

Where did you watch P1? Did you watch it live? Can I stream it?

 

[lyster]

Lewis Hamilton is clearly in the 'groove' at the moment. when he races like he did in Germany, it's only really Alonso (in my opinion) that can rival him - i agree with Lewis' dad and many others who think their the two best drivers on the grid.

Last weekend - it wasn't about the cars/tactics so much, it was really about the drivers. Both Vettel and Webber were left wanting - if only by a thread. 'If' Mclaren/Ferrari/RedBull really are within a tenth or so in terms of performance, i can see alot more races this year being dominated by Hamilton and Alonso battling at the front with the rest (Button/Massa/Vettel/Webber) fighting for the scraps - i hope so anyway.

Even though Vettel has a very big lead - i'm hoping that Hamilton/Alonso will push each other to new heights (and not into the barrier). Would certainly make a fitting end to the current era of free-to-air Formula 1 to see such a thing. Can either of these two drivers do the impossible and beat Vettel.

Lewis and Alonso battling to the end FTW - everything else is secondary

 

[ExtremeNinja]

No. I didn't. I'm at work...and, regardless, I'll only get that footage late at night on the US's "Speed TV" because we don't get Practice sessions televised here in Canada.

I can only "get" Practice session via Live Timing on the FOM site and follow the text via BBC and Autosport websites.

Where did you watch P1? Did you watch it live? Can I stream it?

Look forward to it. I streamed it on BBC. Hamilton was racing Algy like it was for the championship. Looking for lines around the outside of the final corner. He is in full race mode and if no-one else believes he's in with a chance, they forgot to tell him.

 

[Porceliamone]

Hamilton (compared to Button atm; because it's the same car) demonstrates that he is more than capable of putting a car into positions it would ordinarily not be in on a Formula One track. Christ, he even makes practice exciting.

 

[Sarinaide]

Just a question, did McLaren really become bad for 2 races or was it the fact that the rear/wing redesign increased downforce to much as to increase rear tyre degradation. The reason I am asking is at Valencia Lewis was quick until 7-8 laps into a soft tyre stint thereafter fell of drastically as the tyres went away, that said it was purple after purple sector. At Silverstone, Lewis again was very quick but again seemed to loss his tyre performance quicker.

Is it a case that McLaren have fine tuned the car back to a level of performance the drivers prefer.

The relevance to Lewis, is that if the car is dialed in now, then I can expect Lewis to be very quick and consistant, if the car is not, I don't think Lewis is generally regarded as a driver that gets more out of the car than it is offering, I believe it is down to the pushing of the car rather than driver ability.

 

[Johnny Carwash]

He looked good today in free practice 1 and 2 but as everyone knows it's Q3 and the race that counts.

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

Just a question, did McLaren really become bad for 2 races.

I think you already know why they - and the Mercedes GP cars - were 'bad' at Silverstone where the Off Throttle EBD was banned for that one race.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

I don't think Lewis is generally regarded as a driver that gets more out of the car than it is offering, I believe it is down to the pushing of the car rather than driver ability.

where do you get this stuff from? You always seem to be in a minority of 1. You don't even need to be a Lewis fan to realise that he can extract more from a poor car than any team manager would reasonably expect. You know full and well that the EBD effected McLaren more than anyone else at Silverstone and you know full and well that he had to save fuel and you know full and well that the equipment neutralising conditions in the early part of the race at Silverstone were the reasons why Lewis excelled in the first part of the race. Above all that, and in response to what I have quoted you on, you also know full and well that Lewis is highly regarded as a driver who can extract the maximum from under performing machinery. He may not be highly regarded in this area but surely you can only apply this statement to your own thinking because to most other F1 fans, allegiances aside,he most certainly is. Keep it real.

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

Surely even the greatest driver ever can only extract 100 percent of what's on offer from any car, irrespective of whether it's an "under performing" piece of machinery or not.

Lewis can only extract up to 100 percent of a poor car or a great car. He may get more out of it and at a greater percentage of occasions than a Kovalainen or even a Button...but he can't get anything beyond 100 percent out of it lest he spin it or go off or crash it into the barriers.

 

[Brogan]

It's a term/phrase which has been used throughout motorsport for decades - referring to a driver who "drags a car into a position it doesn't deserve to be in".
The same has been said about many drivers over the years, including Vettel in the Toro Rosso at the 2007 Italian GP.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Surely even the greatest driver ever can only extract 100 percent of what's on offer from any car, irrespective of whether it's an "under performing" piece of machinery or not.

Lewis can only extract up to 100 percent of a poor car or a great car. He may get more out of it and at a greater percentage of occasions than a Kovalainen or even a Button...but he can't get anything beyond 100 percent out of it lest he spin it or go off or crash it into the barriers.

Percentages deal with finite numbers. A driver will only ever verge towards the maximum. Some get closer than others. Percentages versus expectation? I was going to try and explain but read my last sentence three times and hopefully you will get the gist.

 

[Sarinaide]

where do you get this stuff from? You always seem to be in a minority of 1. You don't even need to be a Lewis fan to realise that he can extract more from a poor car than any team manager would reasonably expect. You know full and well that the EBD effected McLaren more than anyone else at Silverstone and you know full and well that he had to save fuel and you know full and well that the equipment neutralising conditions in the early part of the race at Silverstone were the reasons why Lewis excelled in the first part of the race. Above all that, and in response to what I have quoted you on, you also know full and well that Lewis is highly regarded as a driver who can extract the maximum from under performing machinery. He may not be highly regarded in this area but surely you can only apply this statement to your own thinking because to most other F1 fans, allegiances aside,he most certainly is. Keep it real.

So what accords for Valencia then, McLaren were quick there to yet in the later part of the race fell of with more tyre degredation than the other teams, and that was EBD specs, Why does a car go from what many on this site termed "the fastest" to a car that in the later part of stints just fell off. I don't think it was so much the car as the fact that Lewis is a driver that pushes a car a lot harder than others. That said Jenson has been regarded as one of the easiest on tyres and he has had rapid tyre degredation problems.