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"

 

[Hamberg]

Cool pic

 

[Lewywo4]

Kewee.....Let's not forget the actions of the pitwall at China in 2007. By not bringing Lewis in 5 laps earlier as suggested by Bridgestone"s Director of Motorsport who was in Mclaren's pit at the time, also played it's role in costing Hamilton the championship in his rooke year.

 

[Kewee]

I'm not being critical of Hamilton Lewywo4 just pointing out how pressure can affect a driver once expectations are placed on them. Another example for Lewis was 2010. He was in a position of real strength on 182 points after Spa, fighting for the title with Webber, then in the following two GP's, first Monza then Singapore, he made two errors which resulted in retirements and his title chance was gone. This was a driver that was flawless in his rookie year until the last couple of races, which reinforces what I meant when comparing a rookie to a champion and the effect of expectations on a driver which is what Alonso was contending within 2007.

 

[FB]

Yeah, but Lewis still beat him

 

[teabagyokel]

Raking over old ground, but he did not make two mistakes. The two incidents were exactly the same aside from Hamilton's role.

Singapore was another successful buck-pass by the master.

 

[Kewee]

teabagyokel ..... Accident on the first lap at Monza, accident on the 35 lap at Singapore. The commentators at the time agreed that a little more patience and he could have avoided both and the subsequent retirements. Todays Lewis Hamilton would have avoided both.

 

[teabagyokel]

Assuming, of course, Webber didn't clean drive into him when he attempted it later.

 

[Lewywo4]

I'm not being critical of Hamilton Lewywo4 just pointing out how pressure can affect a driver once expectations are placed on them. Another example for Lewis was 2010. He was in a position of real strength on 182 points after Spa, fighting for the title with Webber, then in the following two GP's, first Monza then Singapore, he made two errors which resulted in retirements and his title chance was gone. .

I couldn't believe then, while watching the 2010 Italian GP at Monza Kewee, as Lewis so early in the race tried to make an impossible pass on Massa, which had me yelling at my tv no, no before they collided. At the Singapore race, I was saying to some friends be patient Lewis especially with Webber, be patient, but he wasn't and only to made contact with Mark, which ended with him throwing his steering wheel out of his car, along with a chance for the 2010 WDC..

I wouldn't say that pressure was a problem for Hamilton Kewee that cost him a shot at the 2010 WDC, but more of a lack of patience.

 

[Kewee]

I know how you felt Lewywo4, I was also pissed off when he lost two chances for good points. I would still say it was pressure though. If he wasn't feeling pressure he would have been more patient. The good thing about Lewis is he has learned from all his errors which is why he's become one of the best drivers Formula One has ever seen. I really do hope McLaren produce a good car so we can see Hamilton and Alonso go head to head again now that they've both matured. It may not happen next year but 2016 could be very special.

 

[Hamberg]

Kewee
1. They would both still be under pressure to get the third WDC
2. You know Hamilton would still beat him right?

 

[Kewee]

I just hope the McLaren/Honda is a good match for the Mercedes. Regarding who will win if their cars are close to equal, I think they will be so closely matched it will come down to who makes the fewer mistakes and if it does come to that I will say advantage to Alonso. Whoever comes out on top, it will be fabulous to watch......lets hope for equal cars.

To be honest I think Lewis may win a third title before Alonso because I don't think McLaren will be a match for Mercedes in their first year back with Honda. We will probably have to wait until 2016 for the real head to head.

 

[Il_leone]

2010 Lewis had things under control after his Spa win and then a poor qualifying where Jenson outqualified him with the F Duct put him on the backfoot and he felt he needed to attack

Really he should have been thinking who is my nearest challenger - Webber and the Red Bulls were struggling that weekend so he could have probably got 3rd then and extended his lead

He probably would not have gone for that move in Singapore the following race

I did say in his early days he tends to try win races on the 1st lap and its cost him more than he gained

 

[Brogan]

Anyone who thinks both Monza and Singapore were Hamilton's fault needs to look again.

I have said it multiple times but Hamilton can't be at fault for both - he was on the inside for one and the outside for the other.

I would far rather a driver goes for a move than one who just sits behind waiting for them to make a mistake, pit, etc. We all know who that is and they are boring as hell to watch.

 

[Il_leone]

Singapore was a follow on from Monza because Hamilton would not have needed to attack to make up for the lost points

- At Monza he was not really alongside Massa to make the move work.. he did not need to attack lap 1 because Webber was behind him . He could have waited to settle down into the race and then worked Massa out to pass him

We did not mean he just sit behind Massa the whole race - he probably was fast enough to have got 3rd or even 2nd

 

[Kewee]

Monza was a racing incident, no penalties were incurred though patience would have prevented contact and he would have still been in the race and able to attack a few laps later. It's rarely a good idea to try and win a GP on lap one.
Singapore was very different. Lewis tried an outside pass and ran out of room, he then had to turn back in on the racing line which Webber was already committed to and rode Webber's wheel, game over. If you view Hamilton's reaction afterwards he was fuming with himself. He blamed himself when he realised he turned in on Webber. In his words he didn't know Webber was there, he thought he had cleared him.

 

[teabagyokel]

He had. The Webber chop was his favourite intimidation.

 

[Kewee]

teabagyokel ..... No teabag, he hadn't cleared him, if he had he wouldn't have rode a wheel. Regarding the Webber chop, call it what you like, Webber is a racer too, you can't expect him to surrender the racing line when he's halfway through a turn and committed to his line. Some may consider he was overly aggressive but on the other hand if we are aware of his reputation you can be sure Hamilton would have been, or should have been also. We come back to that basic rule, the onus is on the overtaking driver to complete a pass cleanly, Lewis didn't quite make it.

 

[Hamberg]

Are we really doing this?

Btw Webber wasn't on the racing line.

 

[Kewee]

Just for the record and removing any fan bias, the stewards considered it a racing incident and did not apportion blame on either driver and both drivers agreed with the stewards decision. I always consider there's a level of blame in any incident and this is always resolved with the rule I've mentioned, the onus is always on the overtaking driver to complete his pass cleanly. Even at club level in karting that is one of the first lessons young drivers are taught.
Incidentally, Webber touched the apex right where he should have, if a driver makes the apex he's on the racing line. He couldn't have given Lewis more room without risking his own car on the kerb. Lewis turned in too soon.

 

[Brogan]

if a driver makes the apex he's on the racing line.

Oh dear...

That comment above all others says it all.