What Now For Lewis Hamilton?

[The Enforcer]

"What Now For Lewis Hamilton".

He should start taking more responsibility for strategy and calling the race and pit stops himself. He is the one behind the wheel with a feel for what the car is doing and should use the advice being given and balance it with his own ideas. We have seen over the years the greats taking charge of their destiny and pushing the teams with their opinions and demands. I suspect Alonso does this still, I know Schumacher did and even Jenson has had great results from calling the shots. IMHO he's got more natural skill than the aforementioned and if he could couple this with a bit more mind management he could elevate himself further.

I think he needs to leave the Pussycat doll and the rest of his entourage behind for a few races as they can only be massaging his ego and backing up his views when things aren't going his way. I suspect they unintentionally
egg him on when his head drops and by isolating himself from his closest confidants and exposing himself to only the ears of the team, he will surely have to bite his tongue and reach a harmonious outcome.

Finally he needs to learn when to pick his fights and control that wild racing urge that makes him so brilliant yet so fragile at times. This is a difficult one as his spectacular style and sheer will to win is what makes me follow him along with millions of others. The aggressive style will often get you the result, but it won't always work out and he needs to understand more clearly to bide his time when a strategy / overtake / fast pace is marginal and carries risk.

 

[Jen]

Ok Lewis is quoted as saying this when called into the stewards office to explain his comments

".....what I said was a bit of a joke, which wasn't funny at the time.
"I made them aware that when emotions are high, and it's very intense at the end of those kind of races, you don't always say the right thing, and the joke didn't come at the most appropriate time."

Glad he came out and said that - Hopefully we'll all move on from that now, would hate for him to be remember for that.

What anyone remembers Lewis for will depend entirely on whether one is a fan or not. Forums in fifty years time (if they exist) will still have divided opinions.

 

[VanChallis]

To be honest I think that Lewis was well within his rights to say what he did. Both incidents on Sunday were not his fault. Massa spotted him coming up the inside and turned in on him, as did Maldonado. If you watch a replay you clearly see Massa look in his left mirror before he turns in to Lewis. This to me confirms that Massa has conceded that he is second in command to Alonso and will just try to disrupt the plans of the other title contenders. And the Maldonado incident was even more of a joke. Watching the replay, Maldonado turns in so early that he would have cut the chicane if Lewis wasn't there. It seems to me that drivers are being told that if Lewis goes for a move, drive into him and he'll be penalised.
Look at Kobayashi messing up and ramming into the back of Sutil, causing damage to him. No penalty at all.
I must state that I am not just a Lewis fanboy, I'm a fan of F1, and general equality for all. Lewis clearly is treated differently and more harshly, and this has been the case pretty much since he started. The new rules have made the sport much better and more entertaining than it has been for a long time, but over - zealous stewarding is ruining the sport.

 

[sushifiesta]

He's apologised to Maldonado and Massa in a message to fans, albeit on twitter in horrendous text speak. As James Allen says though it's a big deal for a racing driver to give any sort of apology whatsoever:
http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/...d-bridges-with-apologies-for-monaco-outburst/

I really hope he uses the frustration from this weekend to really drive himself forward and to take more responsibility in strategy decisions etc.

 

[F1ang-o]

Following his, let's be honest, quite startling interview Lewis Hamilton has shown for the first time really sheer frustration towards the his fellow drivers and the stewards. Claiming other drivers "are absolutely fricking ridiculously stupid" and his treatment from the stewards "is an absolute fricking joke... maybe because I'm black", I almost choked on the water I was drinking at the time! This is clearly not just because of one bad weekend in Monaco but must be a build up of the frustration of prior incidents going all the way back to the beginning of his Formula One career.

It will be easy for many to take this out of context and criticize these words. However, his comments themselves are not the topic for this thread. What the point is is that Hamilton seems to genuinely think that the F1 world is against him. Whether he is right or not is a matter of opinion.

So what direction does his career take now seeing as he is clearlrhiny rattled? If he feels that there is no point in racing on an uneven track will he cut his F1 experience prematurely short? If so, would he possibly end up on the other side of the pond racing in Indy or some other form of racing? Or will he feel it is his duty to continue in F1, stick it out and, in his mind, battle against the odds?

In any case, it will be interesting to see the reaction of the FIA, Mclaren and particularly other drivers...

If he leaves F1 he will take millions of supporters with him.......he has revitalised the SPORT?
But as with many greats.......he has created a jealous faction, he needs to grow a Rhino skin & put on ear defenders,
and keep doing what he does best, using his lightening reactions to win & thrill in F1 RACING

 

[sushifiesta]

Martin Brundle's written a good unbiased view on the weekend's results here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/13606369.stm

He basically says that great champions are the ones that push the boat out the most and hence get into trouble the most (making the mandatory Senna comparison). Then he goes on to say that after looking at the incidents again he wouldn't have punished Hamilton for the Maldonado incident but the Massa one is less clear cut with arguments both ways, although he says that if you are going to overtake there you should expect contact most of the time. He actually seems to be more concerned about the move in the tunnel, which personally I didn't see as a problem.

My initial thoughts after the race was that Lewis was to blame for both the incidents but after looking at them again and reading articles like this I can completely see why he said what he did (black comment aside). After looking like he had the pace to get pole his weekend just got worse and worse from Q3 with frustration building up all the time and he got at least one penalty he didn't deserve.