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"

 

[Mephistopheles]

What annoys me most is people who suggest that it is the colour of his skin that makes people dislike him, it is such a sweeping statement and quite frankly the only time it has been mentioned in connection with Lewis is in testing at Barcelona in 2007 by a very very minority of Spanish Alonso fans and by Lewis himself in Monaco one year when he said maybe it is cuz I is black.

Like someone else said there are many different cultures in F1 and zero proof of any racism so let's not stir that particular barrel of shit, because to be honest it offends me.....

It is perfectly okay to not like a driver for many different reasons and I don't believe that any serious F1 fan basis his like or dislike of a driver on racism..

Rant over....

Thank you...

 

[cider_and_toast]

Mephistopheles, beautifully put.

I feel exactly the same way.

 

[Brogan]

Still doesn't explain the vitriol directed at him since his first race.

Don't give me that crap about people being pissed off at him not being entitled to the seat.
He was faster than everyone else who tested for it. End of.

A whole media centre getting to their feet to cheer when he slid off at China in 2007 has fuck all to do with that.

 

[Mephistopheles]

But the thing is Brogan it is a matter of point of view being a Button fan I have felt similar hate for him from certain fans, it needs to be kept in perspective, I am sure that Alonso fans feel this and I am definitely sure that Vettel fans feel it, as have fans of other drivers and I have in no way felt that Lewis has been singled out as a hate figure anymore than anyone else.

I've seen drivers booed and jeered though out my time of being interested in F1 it is nothing new and it is nothing specific to Lewis.....

 

[Lewywo4]

What annoys me most is people who suggest that it is the colour of his skin that makes people dislike him, it is such a sweeping statement and quite frankly the only time it has been mentioned in connection with Lewis is in testing at Barcelona in 2007 by a very very minority of Spanish Alonso fans and by Lewis himself in Monaco one year when he said maybe it is cuz I is black.

Like someone else said there are many different cultures in F1 and zero proof of any racism so let's not stir that particular barrel of shit, because to be honest it offends me...

First of all at Monaco, Lewis didn't say....maybe it is cuz I is black, Hamilton said.....maybe because I'm black.

If it was only a very very small minority of Spanish fans as you say, then why did the officials in 08' section off and closed the grandstand opposite and facing the Mclaren garage, because what clearly could be heard by large sections of the crowd shouting in the stands, was black and black .

It's true that drivers of Asian, South American or Indian backgrounds haven't faced that kind of treatment, but the same cannot be said, for the first black to enter F1

 

[Lewywo4]

Still doesn't explain the vitriol directed at him since his first race.

Don't give me that crap about people being pissed off at him not being entitled to the seat.
He was faster than everyone else who tested for it. End of.

A whole media centre to getting to their feet to cheer when he slid off at China in 2007 has **** all to do with that.

It was that incident of cheering by journalists at the media center, when Lewis beached himself at China in 2007 (IMO due to the incompetence of the pitwall) that I realized how much that he was disliked.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Lewis was mimicking Ali G as a joke and so my quote is probably more accurate then yours, and I refuse to subscribe to any sort of racism theory concerning Lewis or any other driver....

Or should I say that I AM NOT A RACIST and I do not believe that anyone else on this forum is.....

 

[Lewywo4]

Lewis was mimicking Ali G as a joke and so my quote is probably more accurate then yours

Lewis may have been mimicking Ali G, but he did say, " maybe because I'm black. "

 

[sushifiesta]

A quick google search will show you that Hamilton has had to deal with racism at at least some level throughout his racing career, so to dismiss it completely is an injustice. I don't think he lets it affect him and I don't think it's the reason a lot of people dislike him, however.

 

[mnmracer]

The problem with all these racism claims is that they're too easily made. Fact is that most everyone in the world has to deal with negative sentiments one way or another. Yet when someone is a minority, it is suddenly because of racism? The overuse of the term devalues the actual racism that exists (on every level, white to black and black to white).

There is no reason to believe that if Hamilton was white, he would have been not been hated by Alonso's fans. Look at all the hate Vettel gets, and although I'm sure he might sport a tan after a beach vacation, he is most definitely not black.

 

[Brogan]

People are still missing the point.

It is entirely normal for fans of other drivers to hate/dislike their rivals.
It is not normal for a room full of professional journalists to clap, cheer and whoop when one particular driver has an accident.

I am not saying it is racism,
I am saying no other driver has endured this level of vitriol and hatred from all sections upon entering F1.

 

[mnmracer]

Do you have a link to that story?

 

[Brogan]

Try Google.

 

[mnmracer]

For future reference, , when I ask such a thing, it's because Google turns up blank.

 

[Brogan]

So you expect me to have kept a link from 2007?

 

[no-FIAt-please]

This article mentions the cheering. Yet states that it might be because the season changed so dramatically.

http://doctorvee.co.uk/2007/10/11/the-most-biased-article-about-lewis-hamilton-i-have-ever-read/

I have the Google power!

 

[Brogan]

I read several reports at the time and the meaning was obvious.

Either all of the authors were biased or...

 

[no-FIAt-please]

Oh, I agree with you Brogan. There's no doubt that he has a certain factor that draws more attention than any other driver. Often a lot of this attention is negative and Hamilton has done nothing to warrant the amount of hate he gets. The grilling he got about Oz 2009 was extraordinary considering every driver on the grid will have lied at some point, whether or not they get caught doing it.

 

[Josh]

British media being biased towards British drivers? Nah, that never happens.

 

[Brogan]

All other media being against one driver in particular? Nah, that never happens. Oh wait....