What on earth has Lewis Hamilton done to upset the British media in Monaco week ? ?

ramilas1

Podium Finisher
They really look to be gunning for him this week in the lead up to the race.

This one portrays him boasting (only I can beat Vettel) and whingeing (I'm driving as fast as possible but the team need to make my car better) with quotes which sound more like they are from an off-the-record chat than a proper interview.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...ebastian-vettels-only-challenger-2288421.html

While this one has him, allegedly, 'angry' at both Toro Rosso drivers for blocking him, to help Red Bull on the basis of some perceived pact between the teams.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/formula_one/13566379.stm
Then, at the end of the article, it sneaks in a deliberately divisive quote from Button completely refuting Hamilton's complaints.

And, of course, yesterday he was 'fuming' about Schumacher blocking him to help, fellow German, Vettel win in Spain.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/motor...redicts-red-bull-bloody-nose-115875-23156171/

I know they've now got to fill our 24/7 appetite for information, but all this semi-fiction is surely self-defeating?
 
Are you sure its semi-fiction? I can see that the Schumacher comment probably was, but the TR one seems more substantial..

The other comment about he's the only one who can beat Vettel seems to be the truth at the moment, so he probably did say something about it, maybe not in that way though..
 
Precisely why I don't bother with most of the stuff reported about drivers.

Reporters have a knack of putting their own spin on things, depending on the angle they want to take.

Unless the interview is transcribed word for word, it's an opinion piece.
 
... and of course there is their obnoxious tendency to use quotes totally out of context to suit their own particular agenda and bias. It also betrays their inability to listen to, or more precisely hear, answers to their questions, especially when the replies don't fit with what they expected to hear.:bored:
 
But its not only the press who do that.Happens a lot on here.One sentence taken out of context then quoted back.
Then you get "Ted Kravitz, DC,Martin Brundle etc" said "xyz" taken comepletly out of context, and used to support the posters opinion.
 
1) Yes, Sportsman, I agree, but we not all of us are not professional reporters being paid to INFORM the public.:)

2) Sorry, :oops:yes Axle, I should qualify my statement by saying that MANY NOT ALL reporters have such tendencies! Hope that clarifies my position.:D
 
The Times had a spread on the Monaco grand prix, 6 pages without a single mention of Lewis, amongst nterviews and mentions of Button, Mansell, Hill, Coulthard, party shenanigans etc

However the biggest advertisement is the full page Tag advert featuring Lewis, Jensons is a quarter page

Oh never mind Times
 
1) Yes, Sportsman, I agree, but we not all of us are not professional reporters being paid to INFORM the public.:)
I reckon that these days 80% of reporters are paid to 'entertain' the public, not inform them. The 20% that are trying to do a 'good' job tend to write on things that actually affect the world and even they are hampered by the constraints of their publication's political bias.

Back on topic - Hamilton has always been a target for the less scrupulous hacks, mostly because he is more accessible than some drivers and there has often been an element of self-belief which those of average intelligence see as arrogance. But then you have to believe that you're going to win or there is no point in racing.

Some drivers rely on team support to achieve and heighten their awareness and self-belief and others rely on public perception to bolster their own thoughts - very few drivers just quietly get on with it and, sadly, Hamilton isn't one of them.

Perhaps, if he was a little more anonymous, he wouldn't attract so much press attention. Not having a pop at Hamilton - just suggesting a driver's character has a lot to do with the way he is treated by the media.
 
In all honesty, Hamilton probably said some of those things, even if they may have been paraphrased or taken out of context.

But so what. All drivers do it.
As do all sports people from all other sports.

When it gets as bad as boxing pre-match press conferences, then we need to worry :D
 
This IS on topic - please bear with me...

When I arrived in a small, insular sea-side town to live I was told by a new friend -

"Believe NOTHING you hear and only HALF of what you see..."

About right!
 
Yeah, its all just salacious gossip. Got to sell papers, you see!

I saw Schumi being lapped by the leaders last week on the TV. He could not have got more out of the way!
 
Lewis is getting pilloried on the American papers too. Oh, wait a sec, that was Hammy McLewiston, dirt-track extraordinaire they were ripping a new one!

As far as the press over here is concerned, Lewis Hamilton is that race car driver guy that is dating "Dancing with the Stars/Pussycat Dolls' sweetheart Nicole Scherzinger.

The extent of the F1 coverage in my local paper is when they list the qualifying times on Sunday morning, by which time I've already watched the Grand Prix.
 
Lap Times leading up to the lapping of Jaime Alguersuari

Lap 27
Vettel - 1:28.447
Ham - 1:28.150

Lap 28
Vettel - 1:28.394
Ham - 1:27.706

Lap 29
Vettel - 1:28.824
Ham - 1:28.090

Lap 30 (Lapping Alguersuari)
Vettel - 1:29.704
Ham - 1:29.879

Lap 31
Vettel - 1:28.998
Ham - 1:28.459

Now it's obvious that both Vettel and Hamilton were held up a bit on Lap 30, but Lewis lost 1.8 seconds compared to his previous lap. He then shaved 1.4 seconds of that lap 30 time on lap 31.
 
I may be fuzzy on the subject but wasn't this whole incident at a tough part of the track to just pull over

We never saw it on the coverage. Alonso and Webber had just raced out of the pits side-by-side and we were watching that, and then a few replays of that, and then more of Fernando holding off Webber.
 
This IS on topic - please bear with me...
When I arrived in a small, insular sea-side town to live I was told by a new friend -
"Believe NOTHING you hear and only HALF of what you see..."
About right!

........... but half of what we see on F1 coverage is live, and half of the other half is a replay of what we'd already seen live, and the other half of the half that wasn't live is a replay what we didn't see live >:( !

Yikes - so which half of any F1 race should I believe? :thinking:.... and which half of your reply can I believe? ROFL
 
........... but half of what we see on F1 coverage is live, and half of the other half is a replay of what we'd already seen live, and the other half of the half that wasn't live is a replay what we didn't see live >:( !

Yikes, so which half of any F1 race should I believe? :thinking:.... and which half of your reply can I believe? ROFL
Just the bit when Seb crosses the line first - bugger again :)
 
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