Lewis Hamiton and the MP4-24

[Miguel]

If he did say that is an asshole thing to say.

Even if it's actually true? I heard the comments by Alonso*, and I do think they were spot on. It may not be the wisest thing to say, but it's true. In the case of Hamilton, I'm quite sure he's found out how hard it is to do well when your car is not up to scratch. I'm actually sure he found this out on the very first race. And I can say it (after all, newspapers don't quote me):

When McLaren give a winning car to Lewis, he will win. And this is the most complimentary thing you can say to a driver.

* Live to La Sexta, no autosport translation involved, even if Pablo Elizalde did a good job.

[KiwiF1]

I think you mistook my original comments as me being supportive of alonso. I wasnt, i dont like alonso in the least.

Oh well, at the end of the day what he says isnt what makes me grumpy. I just get so annoyed with the media always putting up the poor old lewis has been so wronged to have to even sit in such a car line whilst ignoring the fact about half the grid has never even had a race winning car fullstop.

In the end though it is what he does now that will be the measure of him. With the lack of a proper test driver this year and with heikki having even less experience than lewis, the onus is really on him to show us what he is made of. He needs to put the team on his shoulders, do the lions share of the development work and lead them through these dark times if he is truly destined to be an all time great.

[ISLAMATRON]

I think you mistook my original comments as me being supportive of alonso. I wasnt, i dont like alonso in the least.

Oh well, at the end of the day what he says isnt what makes me grumpy. I just get so annoyed with the media always putting up the poor old lewis has been so wronged to have to even sit in such a car line whilst ignoring the fact about half the grid has never even had a race winning car fullstop.

In the end though it is what he does now that will be the measure of him. With the lack of a proper test driver this year and with heikki having even less experience than lewis, the onus is really on him to show us what he is made of. He needs to put the team on his shoulders, do the lions share of the development work and lead them through these dark times if he is truly destined to be an all time great.

You cant blame Lewis for the stupidity of the media, just like I dont judge Alonso for the stupidity of the Spanish press. Alonso does a good enough job of being an ass all by himself.

[KiwiF1]

Yeah, im not. There are several things lewis has said this season wich i didnt like no matter how the media framed it. But hey, im done complaining now. Go lewis yeah!?

[lkocev]

I think this is the true nature of the team McLaren. They are not good at making fast cars. They knew how to steal and copy from Ferrari and improve on that to win the championship.

Now with all rules changed, they need to start spying again to get on terms. However, recent lie-gate thing would make it very risky to steal. So they just end up at the bottom.

I can see one good thing out of these, Lewis will be more level-headed and hopefully he will be a better driver. Rather than one who thinks he is some sort of super-driver.

Yes because the red cars and the silver cars looked like carbon fiber copies the last couple years... especially with much different wheelbases.

That's after they've been caught spying. So what if the wheelbase or any other specs appear different. The point is that they have learnt from spying and thus reduced the time and effort compared to learning from scratch. Once you have the knowledge, you'll know what NOT to do. so appearing different in specs does not mean they have not applied their know-how which was learnt from spying.

Fancy making such a comment jamsbong. Your saying that that is the 'only' reason McLaren had a quick car in 07 and 08? Then what about the super quick MP4-20 in 2005?? how about the 13&14 that Hakkinen was back to back champion in?? what about the dominance they had back in the days of Prost and Senna.

On the topic of 'development' drivers and all sorts of other mystical powers that drivers may or may not have, I'm pretty sure in an interview not long ago with Kimi Raikkonen, he said something along the lines of... "well I don't know a team where the drivers design the cars" ...

"The Finn has never shown me he can lead a car's development," Coulthard, now Red Bull's reserve driver and a pundit for British TV, wrote in a column.

To the Finnish broadcaster MTV3 in Bahrain, 29-year-old Raikkonen responded: "I don't know any driver who develops the cars."

"I think it's pretty funny to hear comments like those from people who never really achieved anything. It's none of my business, what a guy," the Finn added.

Talk of Alonso bringing 3 tenths of a seconds worth of performance to the MP4-22 in 2007 is in my view, crap. He may have helped them alot with feedback to get that performance gain, but ultimatley, its the engineers that crunch the numbers and figure things out.

I would agree that this would be an experience that will make Hamilton better at dealing with these type of situations in the future, but I think ultimatley that he may have gained just as much experience, had he been in a championship-winning car from the get-go this season. Saying that his 'development' skills arent up to scratch is crap, as is saying that McLaren need to steal Ferarri designs.

[DaveKillens]

I think this is the true nature of the team McLaren. They are not good at making fast cars. They knew how to steal and copy from Ferrari and improve on that to win the championship.

Now with all rules changed, they need to start spying again to get on terms. However, recent lie-gate thing would make it very risky to steal. So they just end up at the bottom.

I can see one good thing out of these, Lewis will be more level-headed and hopefully he will be a better driver. Rather than one who thinks he is some sort of super-driver.

I consider this post a very low blow. Although Mclaren did find themselves guilty in the Stepneygate saga, that was years ago. No team achieves any level of success without a lot of people putting in a lot of hard work. Please don't disrespect all the hard working technicians and mechanics involved in McLaren.

Due to the manner in which the press receive credentials to gain access to the teams and drivers in Formula One, they have to report the news without resorting to wild and unfounded speculation. Anyone else who cannot gain credentials just report whatever they feel, and are not being held accountable, or acting in a responsible manner. But what the heck, they have to sell newspapers or web site space.

There's a lot of emotion being expressed in this thread, and I wish everyone take a more balanced perspective, and not react to the moment. Barring misfortune, great drivers change teams, enjoy a long career, and also experience bad years. Even Michael Schumacher went through this. He won the WDC title in Benetton in 1994/95, and it took him five years in Ferrari before he won the WDC again. Schumacher also went through 2005, with just one win. So my point is that drivers go through good times and bad times. Obviously, this is the worse time Hamilton has experienced in Mclaren. The car is not at the front, and it probably won't, at least in 2009. So what? This happens to many drivers a lot. It's not uncommon, in fact it is part of what happens to a driver during their career. They have ups, they have downs.
So what if Hamilton is having a bad year? That can also be said of Alonso and Raikkonen, also past WDC and respected as above-average Formula One drivers. Get past the hysteria coming from the British press, and get over it.

[Mitsuhirato]

It's history repeating itself all over again.
When I look at Hamilton now, all I can see is Jacques Villeneuve... I mean it's all there: two first seasons with the best car, awesome rookie season, then world champion by a hair, regulations changes the next year and a dive in the abyss (although the FW20 wasn't nearly as bad as the MP4-24, it was far from being championship material).

All that is missing (and I hope it will not happen) is a wrong move to a wrong team and we'll have the full picture complete.

[vall]

IMO, the British press is giving LH what he deserves! When you are so self-confident, arrogant and dis-respectful to the other fellow drivers, sooner or later you get a slap in the face. When he was sitting in the best car, he was the hero, the super-driver, -man, etc. Now what? Buemi and Piquet are giving him ---.

Alonso, whom many here dis-like, is fair enough to say that the car is a very decisive factor, and that he was lucky in 2005-2007 to be in a fast car and to fight for WDC (comments in relation to what Flavio said about poor Button and Baricello sitting in the best car). This season is a good lesson for LH and the press should even fire more on him. It is quite obvious that the completely fails to carry the team ahead as he is supposed to do, given his No.1 status.

[ISLAMATRON]

HA! complete BS!... Lewis has completely outclassed Alonso this year, even with Alonso in a superior car.

Beat him in Austrailia, MAlaysia, China, & BAhrain.

Who cares about who finished ahead in Turkey when neither scored points.

[ISLAMATRON]

It's history repeating itself all over again.
When I look at Hamilton now, all I can see is Jacques Villeneuve... I mean it's all there: two first seasons with the best car, awesome rookie season, then world champion by a hair, regulations changes the next year and a dive in the abyss (although the FW20 wasn't nearly as bad as the MP4-24, it was far from being championship material).

All that is missing (and I hope it will not happen) is a wrong move to a wrong team and we'll have the full picture complete.

Answer this... how many championships have Williams won since JV left?

In case you dont know, its the same amount BAR did. JV didnt really make that bad a move, what he should have done was get part ownership in the team.

[Mitsuhirato]

How many points did JV score in 1999? The number we're looking for is 0 (zero).
I rest my case.

[ISLAMATRON]

How many points did JV score in 1999? The number we're looking for is 0 (zero).
I rest my case.

Same amount as Zanardi

You really think JV would have cared about being 6th in the WDC as Ralf was that year?

[FGD]

It's history repeating itself all over again.
When I look at Hamilton now, all I can see is Jacques Villeneuve... I mean it's all there: two first seasons with the best car, awesome rookie season, then world champion by a hair, regulations changes the next year and a dive in the abyss (although the FW20 wasn't nearly as bad as the MP4-24, it was far from being championship material).

All that is missing (and I hope it will not happen) is a wrong move to a wrong team and we'll have the full picture complete.

Answer this... how many championships have Williams won since JV left?

In case you dont know, its the same amount BAR did. JV didnt really make that bad a move, what he should have done was get part ownership in the team.

True, they lost Jacques. But they also lost their factory Renaults. Can you say Mecachrome V10?

[wrcsti]

Bad thing about having 2 newbies in your car is they limit development a lot compared to a red bull style with the newbie to push the car to the edge and the veteran that knows better what a car needs to be fast.

[Giblet]

My driver is better than your driver, because your driver sucks.

Do you think Mclaren in their desperation to get their aero up to snuff, will drop KERS and revise the car accordingly?

At this point they don't have much to lose.