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"

 

[sushifiesta]

I like pointless exercises! I was initially going to post in the McLaren thread just saying that the current issues wouldn't seem so much of a big deal if Hamilton was leading the championship, like he should be.

As for the points Alonso would have lost, excluding Malaysia I think it's only 5. The rain in Malaysia obviously created a big swing, but you could argue that it shouldn't be included in the list. Looking at Ferrari's performance at that time though, you could say maybe 5th would be a realistic (maybe slightly optimistic) finishing position, in which case Alonso would have lost another 15 points were it not for the rain.

So...
Wet Malaysia: Hamilton 133pts, Alonso 124pts
Dry Malaysia: Hamilton 143pts, Alonso 109pts

Then you have to take in to account any misfortune that Alonso has had... off the top of my head I can't think of anything apart from the odd occasion where his strategy hasn't been completely optimal and I've spent too much time on this already!

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Alonso is definitely being dealt better cards this year which sucks for Lewis a bit. However, they have both played their cards perfectly (although it could be and has been said that Lewis lost a big handful by playing a losing hand in Valencia - not that I'd have had that any other way). When you have two drivers doing absolutely everything right then it's going to come down to the smallest of slip-ups or to factors outside of their control. There will only be one man who takes the big trophy at the end of the season and as things look Hamilton is looking less likely to be that man. The tables can turn very quickly in this sport and there's much more to come before the fat lady sings.

I don't think your excersise is pointless. It's quite interesting. I do think it is futile, though.

 

[Jos the Boss]

I think Lewis lost a couple of points in Monaco

 

[Josh]

I think this is pointless. Who knows what would have happened if he didn't have the crash with Pastor, or didn't have a slow pitstop. Who says he wouldn't have had an incident with another driver or that he wouldn't have simply driven it off the road due to pushing too hard? And saying he lost points due to "rain"? I'm sorry but we have no idea what would have happened if it was dry.

No offense of course.

 

[sushifiesta]

Josh Yep, everything you say is true, and the rain issue I address in my second post above. I think it's fair to say that McLaren and Lewis lost out in the lottery caused by the rain in Malaysia though, which was untimely considering they had the quickest car. So in that sense I think you can say he "lost" points. He would still lead this imaginary championship if you take off the extra points he could have won at Malaysia and Valencia.

Jos the Boss I have a terrible memory, what happened at Monaco? I don't recall any bad pit stops, mechanical issues, strategy errors or qualifying issues?

 

[Jos the Boss]

He said that he was told to take it easy out the pits and lost a place to Vettel I think

 

[Il_leone]

luck plays a part and you make your own in F1 like if Lewis did not fluff his start in Melbourne he probably would have romped away and won

 

[Il_leone]

Interesting to read now Lewis would only consider a competitive car to decide his future but the choices he is left with are not really any better unless Red Bull have a fall out with Vettel such that Seb jumps to Ferrari and his seat is free at Red Bull

I don't see much gain Lewis has from joining Mercedes who have been just as inconsistent as Mclaren

 

[Bus Stop Chicane]

The sensible thing for Hamilton to say at this point would be "I'm not going to discuss my future until the season's over", instead of undermining the team at a critical point of the season. For god sake it's not as if he's miles of the championship lead, and the car isn't as bad as people are making out.

Just wish people would stop moaning because he isn't having it his own way this year. If he was ahead by 75 points people here would still find a reason to complain.

 

[Brogan]

Leaving it until the end of the season isn't really an option as all of the seats will be filled by then.

Mid-season negotiations have always been part of F1.

 

[GeoffP]

Didn't McLaren and other teams say they neede to reduce their driver costs as a result of the global financial climate?

Their comments and Lewis' sound simply like the start of negotiations, with a little bait for the media to back their cause.

Personally I can't see Lewis moving for next season, if he's unhappy I suspect one year deal and next year will be when his people will go out and talk to other people's people, but in the quiet, behind closed doors.

 

[Dizzi]

Well he's not going to do a Kimi & flit off to Indy for a year, neither will he go to Ferrari, he's already shown he won't be Alonso's number 2, as someone else said Mercedes aren't any better than McLaren.
I wouldn't be surprised if he signs a one year deal & then looks to see what else there is next year, who knows it may be a move to Williams by then if they have a good car, Sir Frank obviously wants him & it would be a good partnership IMO.
Loyalty only goes so far & both driver and team need to supply the goods to win (something his team mate has been sadly lacking this year).
Perhaps McLaren & Ferrari will swap Jenson and Felipe??! Only joking

 

[Brogan]

The 2012 German GP will be Hamilton's 100th F1 race.

Sky have done an article comparing him with other notable F1 drivers at the same point in their careers.

http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/news/22058/7904492/Hamilton-s-100th-How-his-stats-compare

 

[The Pits]

So, looking at the stats, it seems like Lewis is almost as good as Damon Hill!!

 

[racecub]

McLaren with Lewis could have such a good thing going here and to me it's all being wasted. Lewis is clearly a top drive(the best in my opinion) a marketing dream and would like to have had his whole career at McLaren. What other teams would give for that!!! But it seems to me that mclaren are doing their best to drive lewis away. I'm not talking about the times when the car is not competitive, that happens. I could even forgive the catalogue of mistakes, they are trying to rectify them. But Mclaren for some reason do not seem committed to lewis, and haven't done for the last couple of years.I think Lewis is loyal to his team and would love to have spent his career working for Mclaren, together, through the good and bad times, but there are limits. I just don't feel any warmth from Mclaren towards lewis and i think its a shame and a waste of what could have been.

 

[Kewee]

Unless the reports several weeks ago were fantasy, Hamilton was offered a very lucrative contract by McLaren but stalled signing because he wanted more control over endorsements. If that is true I think he and his management team handled their negotiations very badly. The position in the following weeks have changed everything. Webber is staying with Red Bull, Ferrari will probably stay with Massa in the interests of stability and continuity within the team, and my guess is Schumacher will continue which totally closes all realistically decent options to Hamilton. By stalling before making a decision, possibly in the hope of being in such demand he could make his own choices he's probably been left with no choice at all. Settling for the status quo on McLarens terms is probably all he's been left with. Now that all the other options appear to be closing he has no negotiating power at all. Foolish in my view. I have no doubt loyalty to McLaren and a commitment to help the team through their difficulties would have been greatly appreciated and very much rewarded financially and in results on track.

 

[Kewee]

I like pointless exercises! I was initially going to post in the McLaren thread just saying that the current issues wouldn't seem so much of a big deal if Hamilton was leading the championship, like he should be.

As for the points Alonso would have lost, excluding Malaysia I think it's only 5. The rain in Malaysia obviously created a big swing, but you could argue that it shouldn't be included in the list. Looking at Ferrari's performance at that time though, you could say maybe 5th would be a realistic (maybe slightly optimistic) finishing position, in which case Alonso would have lost another 15 points were it not for the rain.

So...
Wet Malaysia: Hamilton 133pts, Alonso 124pts
Dry Malaysia: Hamilton 143pts, Alonso 109pts

Then you have to take in to account any misfortune that Alonso has had... off the top of my head I can't think of anything apart from the odd occasion where his strategy hasn't been completely optimal and I've spent too much time on this already!

Im unsure why you consider Alonso benefited from the rain in Malaysia. Yes rain is a great equalizer but it wasn't so long ago Hamilton was considered a brilliant wet weather driver, certainly rated in many peoples eyes above Alonso, though that has probably changed now. Considering Hamilton's wet weather reputation I would have thought he would have been the driver expected to win, not Alonso, so I don't think the rain handed any greater advantage to Alonso rather than Hamilton.

 

[Viscount]

I don't stalling would have affected his position, McLaren still want Hamilton more than Hamilton needs McLaren. I think Red Bull always wanted Webber over Hamilton for next season so any potential move there was always going to depend on what Webber chose to do, but either way there would still be the same number of seats available outside McLaren. Webber admitted that Ferrari were giving him serious consideration, so I also think they'll still be considering Hamilton. So with Ferrari and Lotus as realistic options in my opinion, I don't think he's going to have to accept a reduced offer from McLaren.

Anyway, despite what they say for all we know he has already negogiated a deal with McLaren. 8 hours before Red Bull announced Webber for 2013 Helmut Marko was telling the press that Red Bull would decide on their 2013 driver lineup in August.

 

[Senna's_right_foot]

http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/news/12433/7904180/Hamilton-set-for-summer-break-talks

Hamilton will discuss his future with McLaren during the August break.

 

[racecub]

All Ive heard Lewis say is that he doesn't want to consider his future at the moment, he wants to concentrate on the driving. Others will sound things out and he'll look at it later(which he is now saying will be August). Ive heard McLaren say Lewis will have to take a reduced offer because of the current climate.Does that mean a pay cut on his current earnings? That will put him below Jenson in earnings. If Mclaren seriously want to keep Lewis they should be out there shouting it, valuing him, recognising where they'd be this season without him. I hear a deafening silence. I doubt money is Lewis' driving factor, he wants a team capable of delivering a car he can fight with and a team that is 100% behind him. I don't think that's on offer.I really don't know what Whitmarsh does want. Lewis may re-sign but if he does I'd expect a few clauses in the contract.