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"

 

[RasputinLives]

Well FB he's been in a very dark place this year. But looks like his Mum has sorted it out for him...........she showed him how to fit new lightbulbs at his flat.

all seriousness though good drive from Lewis - would have liked to see him go head to head with Vettel but great win because I really think Fernando Alonso was on it yesterday.

 

[Viscount]

James Corden made a comment once on the awful "A League of their own" that no one likes a sulky multi millionaire. As much as I like Lewis he's gone down in my estimation this season. I don't care what's going on off the track, a lad in the football league went out to play only a few days after his son died now that takes guts - he scored at one match and even the opposition fans were chanting his name.

Great win for him at the weekend. NIce to see him smiling but if he is that fragile mentally I doubt we will see him take another World Title unless he manages to get into a team which will allow him Alonso like power over the other driver.

So just because he has a lot of money and is constantly in the public eye he shouldn't be allowed to go through the same emotions as 'normal' people? Every minute action he takes inside or outside of the car is criticised by millions and his peers so understandably it might have an affect on him, though to what extent we don't know.

Personally I don't think he's mentally fragile. Drives like China, Germany and more recently Korea and Abu Dhabi make me belief that if McLaren can produce a car consistently able to race the Red Bulls, Hamilton can win another world championship against a competitive teammate.

 

[Road of Bones]

... if McLaren can produce a car consistently able to race the Red Bulls, Hamilton can win a nother world championship against a competitive teammate.

Fixed that for you...

 

[Jen]

So just because he has a lot of money and is constantly in the public eye he shouldn't be allowed to go through the same emotions as 'normal' people? Every minute action he takes inside or outside of the car is criticised by millions and his peers so understandably it might have an affect on him, though to what extent we don't know.

Personally I don't think he's mentally fragile. Drives like China, Germany and more recently Korea and Abu Dhabi make me belief that if McLaren can produce a car consistently able to race the Red Bulls, Hamilton can win another world championship against a competitive teammate.

I don't think he is mentally fragile either. Having said that, I do think he has had to cope with a 'lot of adversity' (by his standards anyway) and that always takes a while to get used to

 

[KekeTheKing]

Quite enjoyed that Abu Dhabi drive. Fernando made it a bit uncomfortable, but that made it a bit sweeter in the end.

How about another in Brazil?

 

[Cookinflatsix]

James Corden made a comment once on the awful "A League of their own" that no one likes a sulky multi millionaire. As much as I like Lewis he's gone down in my estimation this season. I don't care what's going on off the track, a lad in the football league went out to play only a few days after his son died now that takes guts - he scored at one match and even the opposition fans were chanting his name.

Great win for him at the weekend. NIce to see him smiling but if he is that fragile mentally I doubt we will see him take another World Title unless he manages to get into a team which will allow him Alonso like power over the other driver.

Not sure James Corden is an expert on anything serious but I thought the whole idea of sportsmen as opposed to pop celebrities, commedians etc was that their God given talent overides their need to be smiley, fake and nice?

Traditionally sportsmen and their demeanour and ability to 'be gruff and manly' does not really correlate to how successful and popular they become

In fact sometimes Primadonnas and the truly highly strung super achievers lack in the manly gutsy attributes that 'real men' find attractive?

John McEnroe was fragile, he won a couple of things, not the sort of chap you might have round for a family picnic
Maradonna, a genius, but not maybe the shining example of how to cope with fame and money
Gazza, no further comment
Tyson, would you introduce him to your sister?

If Lewis was a pop idol star then teenage girls might be dissapointed that he is sulky and doesnt say much in interviews, but a kid who spends his time driving at 200mph doesnt really have to worry about coming across as acceptable. Unless its Kimi or Ayrton, err hold on, maybe not

As far as mentally fragile, if he can dust Button (who has double his experience, is having his best ever season, is a WC) as comprehensively as we saw on Sunday, the last thing he will want is a new teammate. Nope far easier to concentrate on avoiding the distractions of fame and money that have brought down other drivers (like Button in his first few years) and having a teammate that only beats him if he has issues outside his ability to drive fast.

 

[RasputinLives]

by 'dusting Button' are you refering to him cleaning Jenson's car for him? It can't be that your possibley claiming that Lewis was comprehensibley faster than Jenson because with only 0.0009 between them in quali and Jenson losing his kers system in the race surely you have to judge the 2 of them of being pretty much on the same pace.

I'm only saying that you can't possibley be claiming that Lewis beat Jenson comprehensivly this weekend Cook because you've chastised me so many times for claiming Jenson has comprehensivly been faster than Lewis and used close quali times and mechanical and race issues to prove this at weekends such as Suzuka and Singapore.

I must have read it wrong because I'm sure after all those arguments with me about that you can't possibley have said that. I'm sure what you meant to say was that Lewis and Jenson were pretty evenly matched this weekend and that Lewis just about had the upper hand and that had Jenson's Kers system have been working all weekend it would have been interesting to see if JB could have got on the end of the fight with Lewis and Fernando.

That must be what you meant by 'dusted' right?

 

[KekeTheKing]

Let's enjoy Lewis' on-track exploits for a couple of weeks here guys.

Forget all the other nonsense.

 

[Bill Boddy]

....

As far as mentally fragile, if he can dust Button (who has double his experience, is having his best ever season, is a WC) as comprehensively as we saw on Sunday, the last thing he will want is a new teammate. Nope far easier to concentrate on avoiding the distractions of fame and money that have brought down other drivers (like Button in his first few years) and having a teammate that only beats him if he has issues outside his ability to drive fast.

What a shame that the McLaren team do not agree with you on this http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96215 . Just start looking at how many laps Button had where he had no KERS, work out how much time he would have lost there, he could well have finished in second place.

Button has beaten Hamilton in the points race this year because he can race consistently in any sort of conditions and has learnt how to handle distractions.

 

[RasputinLives]

Let's enjoy Lewis' on-track exploits for a couple of weeks here guys.

Forget all the other nonsense.

I didn't mean to distract just hate that doubles sided sword

I did really enjoy Lewis performance yesterday. Was nice to see him on form and nice to see him control a race from the front with the best of them. I know his chase through the pack on China probably gets people more excited than a race like this but its actually his ability to control a race like that which makes him one of the greats. People get hung up on his overtaking skills and whilst they are brilliant he shouldn't be having to use them half as much as he is doing because he's quick enough not to have too. The boy should be out front dictating the pace - he loses his cool and gets in a mess when he's having to drive someone elses race like Vettel has been making him do all season. Both here and Germany Lewis got out front and whilst they all look quick behind him he never looked like letting it slip. To some extent the same thing was happening in Hungary until the weather struck.

There are some who like to mix it in the pack and take it to the guy leading at the front but there are those, and these usually are the greats, who are much better off hitting the front and controlling everyone else. We have four all time greats a doing that in the field at the moment Vettel, Alonso, Schumacher and Hamilton. Its only when they're mixed up in the pack that things start to go wrong for those guys - put em at the front and its impossible to catch em.

 

[teabagyokel]

There are some who like to mix it in the pack and take it to the guy leading at the front but there are those, and these usually are the greats, who are much better off hitting the front and controlling everyone else. We have four all time greats a doing that in the field at the moment Vettel, Alonso, Schumacher and Hamilton. Its only when they're mixed up in the pack that things start to go wrong for those guys - put em at the front and its impossible to catch em.

Without a "dominance" stat, the best I could come up with is number of laps lead in a winning race:

Twice, Hamilton has lead every lap of a Grand Prix (#3 and #14). Other races have pit stop phases to explain for the discrepancy (#1, #2, #4, #5, #7, #9, #11 and #17).

 

[Cookinflatsix]

by 'dusting Button' are you refering to him cleaning Jenson's car for him? It can't be that your possibley claiming that Lewis was comprehensibley faster than Jenson because with only 0.0009 between them in quali and Jenson losing his kers system in the race surely you have to judge the 2 of them of being pretty much on the same pace.

I'm only saying that you can't possibley be claiming that Lewis beat Jenson comprehensivly this weekend Cook because you've chastised me so many times for claiming Jenson has comprehensivly been faster than Lewis and used close quali times and mechanical and race issues to prove this at weekends such as Suzuka and Singapore.

I must have read it wrong because I'm sure after all those arguments with me about that you can't possibley have said that. I'm sure what you meant to say was that Lewis and Jenson were pretty evenly matched this weekend and that Lewis just about had the upper hand and that had Jenson's Kers system have been working all weekend it would have been interesting to see if JB could have got on the end of the fight with Lewis and Fernando.

That must be what you meant by 'dusted' right?

Firstly in Q3, Lewis went slower than his Q2, so it wasn't a normal result, Jenson did very very well there but Lewis still beat him

In the race Jenson was slow at the start and Lewis pulled away, this was before Jensons Kers issue, Jenson himself says as much. Alonso and Lewis left dust behind as they pulled away leaving Jenson to mix it up with Webber and Massa.

Lap time chart.

View attachment 2838

Which lap did Button lose KERS on?

Jenson has had a great season as befits a driver with his quality and maturity

I was responding to the suggestion by MW amongst others that Lewis allows his head to be affected by his teammate.
Jenson is yet to beat Lewis without Lewis having an issue that is quantifiable and avoidable therefore I reckon Lewis has no worries with Jenson as a teammate

His mindset, his alleged fragility this year is not completely surprising considering the issues he has had, some self inflicted but these types of things have had effect on many sports stars before

And he has still won 3 times this year, and is a win from his stable consistent teammate who is having his best year ever and is nowhere near the WC

Jenson has come good, but Lewis with his worst period and 'fragile' condition is right there. Without his kers issue would Jenson have beaten Alonso and Lewis? How fragile can Lewis be? He is just responding to all the negativity created by others around what is simply a bad season by putting forward reasons like his girl left him, I have driven at 180 mph and I sure as hell wasn't thinking about my love life

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Lewis must have stumbled across this.

 

[RasputinLives]

Firstly in Q3, Lewis went slower than his Q2, so it wasn't a normal result, Jenson did very very well there but Lewis still beat him

In the race Jenson was slow at the start and Lewis pulled away, this was before Jensons Kers issue, Jenson himself says as much. Alonso and Lewis left dust behind as they pulled away leaving Jenson to mix it up with Webber and Massa.




Jenson has had a great season as befits a driver with his quality and maturity

I was responding to the suggestion by MW amongst others that Lewis allows his head to be affected by his teammate.
Jenson is yet to beat Lewis without Lewis having an issue that is quantifiable and avoidable therefore I reckon Lewis has no worries with Jenson as a teammate

His mindset, his alleged fragility this year is not completely surprising considering the issues he has had, some self inflicted but these types of things have had effect on many sports stars before

And he has still won 3 times this year, and is a win from his stable consistent teammate who is having his best year ever and is nowhere near the WC

Jenson has come good, but Lewis with his worst period and 'fragile' condition is right there. Without his kers issue would Jenson have beaten Alonso and Lewis? How fragile can Lewis be? He is just responding to all the negativity created by others around what is simply a bad season by putting forward reasons like his girl left him, I have driven at 180 mph and I sure as hell wasn't thinking about my love life

I don't disagree with you on any point Cook but you know if it had been the exact reverse yesterday and I'd used the phrase 'dusted' you'd have picked me up on it.

As for responding to MW - I don't think he reads the forum

 

[Cookinflatsix]

As for responding to MW - I don't think he reads the forum

My Freudian typo, I meant FB

 

[The Artist.....]

Jenson is yet to beat Lewis without Lewis having an issue that is quantifiable and avoidable therefore I reckon Lewis has no worries with Jenson as a teammate

Well, other than in Japan, (LH was beaten by Button even before the Massa incident), or Hungary, or Italy, or Singapore, or or or....

I COULD make the same claim about LH and Button, but as with the other way round, it just wouldn't be true!

 

[FB]

I probably didn't help this thread with my post earlier and I apologise for that. I think I've mentioned before that Hamilton's highs are really high and his lows really low. After the race, once again, he said this was his greatest win ever and it does wear a little thin. It might have been his best win this year (although not from where I was sitting), it might have been one of his best ever given what has happened this season but it plainly wasn't his best ever.

Anywho, more power to Lewis. I hope he gets his mojo back and we see him challenging regularly for wins next season. He seemed in a much better place so maybe he needs to have his Mum with him more regularly or get his Dad back as manager. I think we've discussed before the importance to him of a support network and that was what prompted me to question how strong he is mentally. F1 is a peculiar mix of an individual and a team sport and often there is nowhere for the drivers to hide, especially one as high profile as Lewis Hamilton. Perhaps McLaren need to cut back on their promotional activities, not sure if that's possible with the amount of money they demand from their sponsors.

Perhaps the Ron Dennis & the Mclaren team need to reassess what is their most important asset their drivers or their sponsors.

 

[Lewywo4]

.and dont forget lewis started making mistakes when he was ahead of button on points

Something which many choose to discount, and Lewis still remained ahead, even after his disaster at Monte Carlo.

 

[Lewywo4]

Firstly in Q3, Lewis went slower than his Q2, so it wasn't a normal result, Jenson did very very well there but Lewis still beat him

In the race Jenson was slow at the start and Lewis pulled away, this was before Jensons Kers issue, Jenson himself says as much. Alonso and Lewis left dust behind as they pulled away leaving Jenson to mix it up with Webber and Massa.

 

[Road of Bones]

Perhaps the Ron Dennis & the Mclaren team need to reassess what is their most important asset their drivers or their sponsors.

No Bucks - no Buck Rodgers...