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"

 

[F1ang-o]

Hamberg
Whitmarsh decided not to do his Sky interview after P2.........no reason given, but maybe something on Sky F1 show at 5pm.
Earlier today they showed his Spa interview with Martin Brundle..
Brundle said something about Lewis seemed unhappy..& when he is unhappy he doesn't get the best result..or something.
Whitmarsh replied "I don't care if he's........happiness doesn't matter."
Now he is saying........the opposite.........trying times...
The Artist.....
As with his driving I think Lewis...just gets on with it, doesn't complain...... probably learned this behaviour in his formative years, when his dad had to work hard at three jobs..to get what he needed for Karting. It would have been ungrateful to ask for more...and of course his parents had split up so Anthony was probably cotributing to two homes.
Jenson's parents divorced when he was seven...but he had his mum & three elder sisters...he probably got most things he asked for...so in his formative years... learned how to get what he wanted...

 

[The Artist.....]

F1ang-o

So, JB's parents split up, which meant he got everything he wanted.
LH's parents split up, which meant he had to do without...

Um...

 

[cider_and_toast]

I'm sorry but what a load of old rubbish.

 

[F1ang-o]

@The Artist
You have missed a lot of my post
Jenson had 3 elder sisters & a mum..that is 4 people..
his dad was a rallycross driver, ..had a VW-Audi dealership Autoconi at Trowbridge.

Lewis parents lived on a Stevenage council estate..his dad worked on the railway, put signs up for an estate agent & started doing IT work. They split up when Lewis was almost two years old. Lewis stayed with his mum on weekdays & went to his dad's one bed flat at weekends.They divorced ...later his dad married Linda & they had a son Nicolas....who has cerebral palsy. Lewis was bullied at school because he was black...he may not have had an easy upbringing but both parents were loving & instilled in him good manners.

 

[GermanF1]

F1ang-o Wow Lewis' ability to drive around problems is being rooted back to having a hard childhood due to his parents' divorce. Button's "inability" to do so has its root in a better childhood? Freud is a bloody amateur compared to you really.

 

[F1ang-o]

GermanF1

Lewis had to learn to make do.....with what he was given............because money was tight.......

I was replying to an earlier post 2826 ,,,,,,by The Artist comparing the way the McLaren pair handled things.

 

[Hamberg]

Hmmm, not sure you're on the right lines there, he was given everything he needed by his father before getting sponsorship and even when he broke from McLaren for a short period his gf's dad paid for him.

Button overheard his father say that he'll never make it so I don't think he was used to getting everything he wanted. I don't think it gets worse than that.

Also I don't think Lewis was bullied because he was black, I think it's because he was a loner.

 

[Mephistopheles]

The way I heard it John Button almost went bankrupt supporting Jenson's racing and it has also been said that he could not afford wet weather tyres so I'm not sure they were as affluent as you seem to think they were F1ang-o

 

[Jen]

We seem to spend days/weeks comparing these guys on their entry into racing/karting/GP2/F1, yet none of us actually know the circumstances of their parent(s) ability to propel their offspring into the world of racing - I would suggest that it is all urban myth and that we, as fans, should just debate their performance (how I hate that word) on any given day.

We are all shaped by our parents/history/circumstance - some transcend it, others are mired by it and some just tick over.

Celebrate what they have achieved so far.

 

[Hamberg]

A girlfriend and a dad at each race?

 

[F1ang-o]

I am only quoting from books that have been written about LH & what Nicholas has said....the council estate wasn't a ghetto but wasn't a genteel area either............Lewis didn't get McLaren sponsorship until he was twelve or thirteen.
His dad got a better job.... enabled by IT courses he took...Hard work, determination to succeed & do what he could for his kids.
.
If I heard my dad say I wouldn't make it at something.........I'd do my utmost to prove him wrong & obviously button did...so it worked.

LH was bullied.at school, so he went for karate lessons..........he is a black belt..the bullying stopped...so for whatever reason he was being bullied......... he sorted it...

Formative years........ especially before the age of eight make us what we are...according to some of the top brains in the field.
IMO Lewis learned to be grateful, make do & not complain...he is changing & it is good to see...
He has helped JB on many occasions..at the first corner of one race where FA had spun & JB was going to be stuck behind him LH went wide onto the grass to release him...I think that was Australia 2010.... & Lewis never complained publicly reTurkey 2010 just went quiet.... etc etc etc...................
I cant think of any occasion where JB has looked out for Lewis....but maybe he has.

 

[F1Yorkshire]

Could be a new thread but how many of the working class around the world make it into F1? It helps that you have the talent but unless you have someone putting in the money early in your career you may never make it.

 

[Jen]

A girlfriend and a dad at each race?

Why not just do it on your own - a novel concept perhaps?

 

[Mephistopheles]

Anyway this is turning into the Button v Hamilton thread so I'm bugging out....

 

[Jen]

Indeed Mephistopheles. Let's hope that LH does well this weekend.

 

[Hamberg]

Jenson has 3 older sisters! If that doesn't teach you to make do and keep stum i don't know what would!

Anyway, seriously an eight year old growing up on a council estate that gets to play with motorised go-karts is hardly having to make do. Getting my own bike was a huge deal and I'm fairly sure my family were better off!

Lewis got bullied and dealing with it is a mindset of a winner and someone that won't be defeated.

Here's another theory (that may or may not be supported by having exceptional advanced radio controlled car skills at 4 and being spotted by the owner of a major F1 team) could it not be that he just has an amazing natural talent for racing and that means racing anything?

 

[Hamberg]

Why not just do it on your own - a novel concept perhaps?

Noooo I couldn't go to work without my mum and bf there. That's absurd!

 

[F1ang-o]

Lewis wasn't two years old when his dad left.......

I was answering ........The Artist post 2826? as to why the two Mclaren drivers are different in their approach to a perceived problem with the car.
Lewis puts up with things, Jenson complains until he gets what he wants.

 

[Viscount]

Lewis puts up with things, Jenson complains until he gets what he wants.

So showing private team documents to the public just to prove why you were slower than your teammate on one rare occasion is staying quiet and putting up with things?

This is all fairly pointless debating their backgrounds. No one makes it to F1 without considerable financial and emotional support.

 

[F1ang-o]

I think Lewis has put up with a lot & the document was not anything that Ferrari could do anything with......
IMO .....frustration & 'much ado about nothing'...