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"

 

[Mephistopheles]

I know that I was being sarcastic....

 

[Il_leone]

RasputinLives

Yes that in relation to the young chargers having accidents - Grosjean and Maldonado a few races back but that his situation was different...he was coming to the end of his career and he could not repeat his practice form in quali and race whilst his teammate was performing and the accident rates was higher than usual..which suggests his reflexes and other skills are not what it use to be

I also think there were whispers that Red Bull wanted to promote Vettel from STR and someone had to make way and it was him
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as for Hamilton and Mercedes ...he's put his foot down that he does not want Schumacher in the background but also he expects next season to be a building year for 2014

 

[Senna's_right_foot]

as for Hamilton and Mercedes ...he's put his foot down that he does not want Schumacher in the background

No he hasn't, that much was established about 3 days ago.

 

[The Artist.....]

No he hasn't, that much was established about 3 days ago.

Ok then... He has stated categorically that Schumacher will not be involved with the mercedes lineup when asked a direct question... Some have interpreted this as him putting his foot down, but that seems unlikely...

 

[Lewywo4]

It's to be expected, another attempt by those who will always try and put a negative spin, on whatever Lewis may say or do.

 

[Josh]

The BBC had an intro focusing on Hamilton & Mclaren and gpudate.net now have it on their site. It's quite beautiful, check it out: http://www.gpupdate.net/en/videos/2...gpupdate&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=news

 

[cider_and_toast]

I watched that intro on the Beeb yesterday. They made it look more like Hamilton had shuffled off his mortal coil and not just changed teams. Some iconic footage though.

 

[Senna's_right_foot]

This has been bugging me for a few days: I saw an interview on Sky F1 with Hamilton a few weeks ago at Monza I believe, where he talked about his contract negotiations. He was asked about Ron Dennis' statement that his contract was signed in a different economic climate. Hamilton said (paraphrasing as I can't remember the exact quote) 'Ron is a great negotiator but he has the tendency to say stupid things sometimes'. That's when I thought 'he knows he's leaving'. I can't find the interview anywhere though nor can I find it reported anywhere. If anyone can find it, i'd be greatful. There clearly was a breakdown within the team, I didn't expect it to be with Ron Dennis though.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

I'll vouch for you on that. It was at Monza on Sky.

 

[Senna's_right_foot]

Ah good, I knew I wasn't imagining it I mean, he's right, Ron does talk some bollocks, but when it's said it about the guy with whom you're negotiating a new contact with, you kind of know he won't be your boss in the near future. I'm just surprised it wasn't reported more widely, especially when coupled with Hamilton's sullen demeanour after winning the race. Ah well, makes no odds now I suppose.

 

[Lewywo4]

. He was asked about Ron Dennis' statement that his contract was signed in a different economic climate. Hamilton said (paraphrasing as I can't remember the exact quote) 'Ron is a great negotiator but he has the tendency to say stupid things sometimes'. .

I really have a hard time believing that Lewis Hamilton would have ever used the word ....stupid....in anyway regarding Ron Dennis, without the heavens opening up. The rage and outcry from Lewis's critics and haters, would have caused a complete crashing and meltdowns of internet sites worldwide.

Lewis did say at Valencia, " Ron is a very tough negotiator when they negotiated the contract that I have now and I expect him to be the same when we go back in."

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/...x-hamilton-idUKL3E8HL59U20120621?feedType=RSS

 

[cider_and_toast]

I've just got around to reading Nigel Roebuck's column in the November issue of Motorsport which was published before Hamilton's announced move to Merc. He quotes Ron Dennis as saying in Hungary "There's no reason Lewis won't be driving our cars in the future. I think people get the wrong impression. When I last looked at the contract, I was paying him, not the other way round." In response Hamilton is quoted as saying "what he says has nothing to do with me. Martin is my boss. At some stage we'll talk." This coupled with Hamilton's comments post announcement that he had spoken to Whitmarsh about his decision bu had not spoken to Ron seems to suggest the real break down in relationships at Mclaren is not the oft quoted one with Martin Whitmarsh but the much longer relationship between Dennis and Hamilton. Mark Hughes made a strange comment in last weeks Autosport where he said 'The resignation of Dennis from the team in early 2009 - under controversial circumstances that had much to do with the uneasy relationship between the team principal and the Hamiltons - gave the Whitmarsh-directed team a looser, warmer ambience.'

i've not heard the Monzza quotes as posted above but in the light of these other quotes they don't seem too far off the mark.

 

[Il_leone]

the fact that the TV cameras focused on Ron for a split second and he did not even blink or clap hands suggests something odd to be doing that with Lewis Hamilton

Going back to Melbourne 2009 ... I do believe Anthony Hamilton made noises behind the scenes that Mclaren landed Lewis right in it and was obviously going to be ready for all out war if something was not so therefore make Dave Ryan the scapegoat and just to please Max - Ron resign as well

There are some Mclaren engineers who were loyal to Dave who thought he got treated harshly to protect Lewis .

I am sure when Lewis joins Mercedes we are going to hear more about these spats including Monaco and Hungary 2007

 

[Il_leone]

I am more disappointed with Lewis' attitude on twitter over Jenson not following him and then having to back track you could say he was being mislead but the way he expressed himself was not clever

 

[Senna's_right_foot]

I really have a hard time believing that Lewis Hamilton would have ever used the word ....stupid....in anyway regarding Ron Dennis, without the heavens opening up. The rage and outcry from Lewis's critics and haters, would have caused a complete crashing and meltdowns of internet sites worldwide.

Lewis did say at Valencia, " Ron is a very tough negotiator when they negotiated the contract that I have now and I expect him to be the same when we go back in."

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/...x-hamilton-idUKL3E8HL59U20120621?feedType=RSS

There's nothing to believe, he did say it. Whether he said 'stupid' or 'silly' - it was definitely one of the two but i'm sure it was 'stupid' - is irrelevent. The fact he said it at all speaks volumes for the way in which intra-team relationships have gone this season at McLaren. I don't blame Hamilton for leaving.

 

[Brogan]

Posted on the Japanese GP thread but that has been archived so I'll post it here also.

A bit late, but McLaren have stated Hamilton had a rear suspension problem, which accounted for the handling problems at the Japanese GP.

When asked by AUTOSPORT if his setup choice had led to the car's poor handling, Hamilton said: "It didn't actually.

"I know my car very well, so it's very rare that I get it wrong. And if I do it's only a little bit and I can still manage it.

"But this was the worst it has ever been set up, and I was really shocked that I had done that.

"I hoped it wasn't my fault, but fortunately the guys did a lot of analysis after the race and found our that we had a failure on part of the rear suspension, so that's comforting."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/103277

 

[FB]

Hmmm, "that's comforting"? Suppose it means the problem was with him, although Martin Whitmarsh was seen absconding from Parc Ferme with a tool roll and greasy paws at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning.

 

[KekeTheKing]

There are some Mclaren engineers who were loyal to Dave who thought he got treated harshly to protect Lewis .

Let's be perfectly clear. McLaren were saving their own ass when Dave Ryan was dismissed and Ron stepped down. If they ever had a notion to "protect Lewis" they would have come clean following the race, knowing full well that their instructions were recorded on audio tape and that they could never sell that bogus story they came up with.

If anyone in Woking has been holding a grudge since Oz 09, then that's just another reason why Hamilton HAD to make a change.

 

[ZakspeedYakspeed]

It is about perspective isn't it...

"I know my car very well, so it's very rare that I get it wrong" - Japan set-up ... wasn't there a shedload of blame foisted onto the team about the Belgium set-up... "THEY told me it was quicker"... or something similar...

I was surprised at how silent and invisible Hamilton was during Suzuka... I thought that he would come out all guns blazing... I guess we shall see in Korea whether he and the car are "on" ... I hope so... the WDC isn't over yet... stranger things have happened... Vettel could be 3rd on the grid with Grosjean in 4th and Maldonado in 5th... Lotus could engineer another double DNF or two to even out the fight... having done in LH, FA (twice) and MW they owe SV a couple...

 

[Senna's_right_foot]

hamilton to re-think his use of twitter:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/19908257