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"

 

[racecub]

Red Bull - Austrian team with German driver who is well favoured by the team and younger than Hamilton.

Ferrari - Alonso has long term contract and Ferrari have always preferred to have a number one driver.

Mercedes - not throwing money at F1 to get further up the grid; Schumacher gets most of his money from sponsors, they also notably have two German drivers.

Force India could have been an outside punt due to their link with McLaren but it seems that they may well have money problems.

At the moment I would advise Hamilton to stay put but then he still has the problem that Button could pinch the odd wins which could make the WDC difficult.

Overall maybe RBR is the one to sound out.

Red Bull- Primarily concerned with marketing, Lewis is extremely marketable.

Ferrari- They like to win. Lewis has beaten their top driver in the same car as a rookie.

Mercedes- I think Brawn likes to win. Lewis can win

 

[Cookinflatsix]

From an F1 business POV, absolutely spot on Racecub

Merc is the one the interests me the most, yes they are not throwing money around like the Japanese did, but they are quietly building a great operation. Also MS will remain there in a management role after he tires of driving

Brawn MS LH combination could do what MS did for Ferrari, but for Merc

And Merc are now in the road supercar space that Ferrari used to dominate

They will have noticed that Ferrari spend nothing on advertising leaving it to their racing success ( sometimes) to sell cars costing a quarter of a mill plus

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Merc have got two drivers who are both capable of winning. Their problem has been not having a car capable of winning.

I would have to say that Red Bull are the only alternative to McLaren for Hamilton.

 

[Brogan]

Hamilton to Red Bull will never happen while Vettel is there.

For several reasons.

 

[Cookinflatsix]

Hamilton to Red Bull will never happen while Vettel is there.

For several reasons.

Yes, it might pan out like Vettel to Ferrari, Hamilton to RB

would be good to see the two of them in the same team tho

 

[Lewywo4]

By that I mean that Jenson was at great pains to keep all of the Mclaren guys on side and spend time with them while Lewis tended to rock up, do his thing and then go. He has apparently created a bit of an atmosphere in the team.

What action by the team at Turkey in 2010, play in setting an atmosphere in which Lewis asked the pitwall, in an obviously and justifiably annoyed manner........... " What the hell is going on? "

 

[Cookinflatsix]

That incident is just one of many that sets some of the context for Lewis beginning to estrange himself from the team that had previously provided an incubator under Ron Denis' leadership.

Sneaky though it was, looking back It was great that Jenson did it as it allowed us to see the real difference in their racing ability

More reason to hope he does not stay and leaves for the best seat available

 

[The Pits]

Previously in the race, Lewis had chastised his team after he pulled out of the pits behind Vettel. Earlier in the season he had also had an outburst about the teams strategy in Australia. In 2007 he was given a dressing down by Ron Dennis for questioning strategy.

I am not an insider in McLaren, nor do I know, or claim to know anyone who is, but the suggestions that Lewis is always the victim is one that I find hard to swallow, as it makes no logical sense whatsoever.

Personally, I want to see the best drivers in the best cars, to ensure a good racing season, I am not overly concerned about who is where, but it is important to remeber that there will always be stiff competition for the top seats, and with a large portion of the grid seeming to favour finance over talent, the competition is only going to get more fierce, and the top 8 seats will always be highly coveted, and there are no guarantees for any driver.

 

[Cookinflatsix]

Previously in the race, Lewis had chastised his team after he pulled out of the pits behind Vettel. Earlier in the season he had also had an outburst about the teams strategy in Australia. In 2007 he was given a dressing down by Ron Dennis for questioning strategy.

He definitely is no angel, (monkeys at the back of the grid anyone?) and since his father left has floundered a little, as others have done also

Chastising his team and having outbursts is what we have come to expect from top drivers who are described as complete. Indeed Lewis is often criticised for not controlling the team and not making enough cockpit decisions a la Alonso

like someone said earlier its like a marriage where both parties have made good and bad, but the best years are behind and all that remains bar the shouting is to move on and take your chances

 

[Bill Boddy]

Sorry, but I just do not see how Hamilton can move at the moment.

Vettel to Ferrari? Why? RBR has been the number one car for two and a half seasons, Ferrari have been third best during that time. Where is the encouragement for Vettel to move?

 

[Brogan]

Where is the encouragement for Vettel to move?

A challenge?



(A topic for another thread though)

 

[Cookinflatsix]

Vettel has said himself that its every drivers dream to drive for Ferrari

MS moved to Ferrari when they were not even 3rd best and turned them into serial WCs

Vettel will be itching to surpass anything his compatriot MS has achieved

Seb is a winner who wants his place in the history books, once he has won in the best car 3 years in a row, I suspect his next challenge to take Ferrari to multiple WCs would not be an alien concept to the lad

Red Bull have been the class of the field for a few years, in F1 terms that's a flash in the pan compared to Ferraris pedigree

Besides its all change with the new engine regs etc in a couple of years

The point I am making is that history tells us that the least predictable moves can and will happen in the next couple of years

Those two are in the drivers seat (pardon the pun) as far as the top teams in the next few years

So I speculate

 

[Bill Boddy]

Ferrari may be in Vettel's dreams but whilst awake he probably realises that Newey is his best bet.

 

[Cookinflatsix]

Fair enough

But already Brundle is suggesting that Neweys Red Bull has being caught by Mclaren

Neweys monster car has evolved over the last few years fed by a diet of manipulating the regulation regime change that caught out McLaren and Ferrari in 2009. That could be at an end, and with another regulation regime change approaching anything could happen

Ferrari could even buy Newey out of Red Bull, I know Adrian said recently that leaving RB would be like leaving his kids, but the cynical part of me wonders what exactly he was trying to achieve by saying that in public

Guys like Newey don't say things in public for sentimental reasons

 

[siffert_fan]

Ferrari may have the pedigree now, but when Schumacher moved to the team, they hadn't won a WDC since 1979. Not exactly awe-inspiring. He took a chance by moving there, and the team was able to attract enough talented people, at least partly because they had MS on board, that they were able to turn it all around and become the powerhouse of today. Why shouldn't Lewis be willing to take the same sort of risk and move to someone like Williams in the belief, or at least hope, that he could do the same for them? If he were able to pull it off, there could be NO lingering doubts about his abilities.

 

[no-FIAt-please]

Ferrari had the money behind them to make it work, it's easy to ascertain that by simply looking at Maldonado being at Williams. I would compare Toyota to the Ferrari team before MS was there, they had the money but just didn't have the right people and the 'ace' drivers.

 

[racecub]

Brawn MS LH combination could do what MS did for Ferrari, but for Merc

Yes! Not right now but in a couple of years. Michael in an advisory role. He would be excellent with Lewis. Controversy to Michael is just water of a ducks back. He could guide Lewis through all the crap that is constantly thrown at him. He would be the thick skin that Lewis hasnt got and lewis could just get on and drive without the politics and games.

 

[racecub]

What action by the team at Turkey in 2010, play in setting an atmosphere in which Lewis asked the pitwall, in an obviously and justifiably annoyed manner........... " What the hell is going on? "

Blood still boils when I watch this.

 

[Bill Boddy]

Blood still boils when I watch this.

Why? There was a team cock-up, it's happened in all teams at one time or another. Btw, did you notice how much space Button left for Hamilton? If he'd really wanted to screw him that would not have been there.

 

[Cookinflatsix]

Blood still boils when I watch this.

It has been well documented that Button changed his story about the instructions he received wrt the delta required to achieve fuel saving.

He initially said one thing then changed it to another, this is why some regard him as sneaky

I don't think he wanted to screw him or wanted to cause a crash, but he would have been aware that Lewis as the driver who had just been tricked wouldn't have any such scruples in reclaiming the spot


But this happened 2 years ago and I doubt anyone will now change their feelings about what did or didn't happen that day