McLaren vs Lewis

[Mr Alcatraz]

The feedback from FP1 and FP2 suggested that the super fast option was not degrading anything like feared. Alonso and Massa did long runs on the option and kept posting strong lap times. Pirelli's view was a 2 stop max and that they expected to see many teams opt to make it through on 1 stop. With this information in hand and Lewis' pace in Q1 and Q2, there was no need to save tyres. Monaco is about track position and getting on the front row had to be a must. My analyis is that McLaren tried to be too clever. In truth Lewis must bear some responsibility on the strategy call, as he has shown a single minded determination from his rookie year to stay resolute to any path he feels to be correct. If being in the most relaxed frame of mind is a pre-requisite to maximise performance, then he must have felt a little uncomfortable standing beside his car with half of Q3 practice gone. Coulthard and Brundle made this point on the Q3 in commentary feed. I cannot understand why the quickest car in Q1 and Q2 would all of a sudden think they needed to play 'safe' and save tyres for the race.

sAx

Good post!
I think all the teams (with good reason) don't know what to expect from the tyres untill they are into the races. I think McLaren made a call that is very easy to critcize in retrospect

[Coefficient]

Exactly, lewis earned his spot in f1 probably more so then any other driver that has ever raced in F1.

...............

Mclaren spent £18 million on Hamilton's junior career, always ensuring he was in the best team/car regardless of the category. He has led a charmed life since he was a child which is why he is such a smug, conceited idiot. He thinks he is automatically entitled to win and that's because he has been handed everything on a plate. In fact, I would go as far as to say that he displays all the traits of a person who has Narcissistic Personality Disorder. He has a haughty opinion of himself and a horrendous acquired yankee accent to boot.

His performance at Monaco was appalling! Barging past other cars, scattering carbon fibre all over the principality and endangering the lives of fellow drivers and spectators because he can't take a bad weekend on the chin is just pathetic. He ruined the race not just for himself but for the whole Mclaren team amongst others and handed the victory to Vettel on a plate.

Undoubtedly, Hamilton is a fierce competitor and ferociously quick but he lacks circumspection and this will always hold him back. As long as he is in F1 and has the misfortune to find himself back in the pack at Monaco he will ruin the spectacle of the event just has he did at the weekend. The wheel to wheel argy bargy approach doesn't lend itself to the narrow streets of the principality and he needs to wake up and smell the coffee.

The race aside, Hamilton's conduct post race was utterly reprehensible. Accusing the Stewards of penalising him because he's black is pathetic and anyway, he's only half black. The only reason he was penalised was because he made some very badly judged manoeuvres during the race that caused avoidable incidents. Unless the rule book has been rewritten since the last race, this sort of thing carries a penalty and mouthing off like he did about it reduced him to nothing more than a spoiled brat.

His arrogance took him to Monaco thinking he was guaranteed the win because he's so much braver and more heroic than everyone else and when events didn't unfold as he expected he chucks his toys out of the pram like a big baby. The guy is an embarrassment!!

[Richard]

The race aside, Hamilton's conduct post race was utterly reprehensible. Accusing the Stewards of penalising him because he's black is pathetic

Calm down dear, its only a quote from a comedian.

"Is it cos I is black?"

[HampusA]

Mclaren spent £18 million on Hamilton's junior career, always ensuring he was in the best team/car regardless of the category. He has led a charmed life since he was a child which is why he is such a smug, conceited idiot. He thinks he is automatically entitled to win and that's because he has been handed everything on a plate. In fact, I would go as far as to say that he displays all the traits of a person who has Narcissistic Personality Disorder. He has a haughty opinion of himself and a horrendous acquired yankee accent to boot.

Are you delirious? Honestly..

This is pure bullshit. Hamilton has not always had the best car or the best team.
A look at his career would provide enough evidence of that but since you clearly has no idea on what you talk about i´m thinking about not answering the rest of the bullshit.

His performance at Monaco was appalling! Barging past other cars, scattering carbon fibre all over the principality and endangering the lives of fellow drivers and spectators because he can't take a bad weekend on the chin is just pathetic. He ruined the race not just for himself but for the whole Mclaren team amongst others and handed the victory to Vettel on a plate.

You are appalling. Yes he made contact with cars, but who did not?
Did some other drivers end other peoples races aswell or are you so ignorant that you only see what Hamilton does?
"Ruined the race not for himself but Mclaren"
Now it starts to get funny. Button could have won the race, button sits in his own car not driven by Hamilton. Button did a fantastic race but obviously could have done better.
Mclaren i´m sure are happy with Button´s results. Sure they would probably liked to win the race or atleast finish the race in the position they started it but it´s a hell of alot better then getting a DNF.

Undoubtedly, Hamilton is a fierce competitor and ferociously quick but he lacks circumspection and this will always hold him back. As long as he is in F1 and has the misfortune to find himself back in the pack at Monaco he will ruin the spectacle of the event just has he did at the weekend. The wheel to wheel argy bargy approach doesn't lend itself to the narrow streets of the principality and he needs to wake up and smell the coffee.

I think you need to wake up and smell the coffee. He´s a heated driver with alot of passion. That´s how he races. Senna was exactly the same and with 3 WDC´s you can´t see he misses anything.
Out of all the overtakes he did or even all he has done in F1. How many percentage of those has caused contact where parts fly off or causing a DNF to the guy he just overtook?
Honestly, riddle me that.

The race aside, Hamilton's conduct post race was utterly reprehensible. Accusing the Stewards of penalising him because he's black is pathetic and anyway, he's only half black. The only reason he was penalised was because he made some very badly judged manoeuvres during the race that caused avoidable incidents. Unless the rule book has been rewritten since the last race, this sort of thing carries a penalty and mouthing off like he did about it reduced him to nothing more than a spoiled brat.

His arrogance took him to Monaco thinking he was guaranteed the win because he's so much braver and more heroic than everyone else and when events didn't unfold as he expected he chucks his toys out of the pram like a big baby. The guy is an embarrassment!!

Again, he´s a passionate driver and speaks whatever he has on his mind.
IT WAS A JOKE, it´s clear you have no idea on body language or has any sense of humor.
The fact that he even says a joke after all that has happened says he´s a very healthy young guy and not some person with Narcissistic Personality Disorder which i would say you have.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

So sax,

Let me get this straight.

1 race in a BMW Sauber(obviously the most feared team in the paddock) and then a season in a Torro Rosso(the mighty Torro Rosso) = A full first season racing a Mclaren with the potential of 8 race wins and Constructors winning performance(ban aside)?

To me the difference is night and day.

As for Vettel, where are you getting the info that Mateschitz sponsored him at an early age? They boy struggled all right!! He had to deal with issues Hamilton had no worry at all over.

Heres a quote that puts your theory on its head!

“I must clarify a tale,” said Noack, the chairman of the Kerpen kart track who is credited for discovering and supporting the young Vettel, as well as Schumacher years earlier.

“It is often said that Michael was not only a good friend but also a financial supporter of Vettel. That’s not true,” he wrote in Die Welt newspaper.

“Yes, we asked him for his help, but from Michael’s side it never came. He was probably too busy with his own career to think about the younger guys,” added Noack.

He said it was a struggle to keep Vettel’s racing afloat in the early days.

“When I think of his first contract with Red Bull, I laugh — it was four digits,” revealed Noack.

“But a start was made so that a big talent would not be lost under the wheels, while the big car makers were blind. I know of one F1 team boss who for years wanted me to believe that Vettel would come to nothing,” he added.

“Now he is world champion.”

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

The race aside, Hamilton's conduct post race was utterly reprehensible. Accusing the Stewards of penalising him because he's black is pathetic

Calm down dear, its only a quote from a comedian.

"Is it cos I is black?"

When was Ali G ever aired before the watershed? We know its an Ali G phrase, but there is a reason why its a popular phrase other than humour.
Being black/mixed race does not mean you can hide behind a humourous racial facade to hide your own shortcomings.

[Coefficient]

[Did some other drivers end other peoples races aswell or are you so ignorant that you only see what Hamilton does?

Of course I am aware of other events in the race involving other drivers but as this topic is about Hamilton I chose not to mention them here as it would be "off topic".

All this nonesense about "it was only a joke" etc. It was a cheap shot motivated purely by his displeasure at being deservedly punished for doing a bad job. If you can't accept that more fool you.

This weekend, and admittedly this is not often the case, Hamilton's ambition far exceeded his reach and ultimately his inability to control the rage led to his downfall and ultimate failure.

He cocked up and that's all there is to it.

[Richard]

Sorry JET, I was so wrong. We must henceforth demand that all drivers undergo intense introspection with the aid of a psychotherapist in the their press interview. Nothing short of a complete and absolute confession of their sins and full act of contrition will suffice.

Any attempt at humour shall be punished by a 5 place grid penalty at the next race.

[sAx]

So sax,

Let me get this straight.

1 race in a BMW Sauber(obviously the most feared team in the paddock) and then a season in a Torro Rosso(the mighty Torro Rosso) = A full first season racing a Mclaren with the potential of 8 race wins and Constructors winning performance(ban aside)?

To me the difference is night and day.

As for Vettel, where are you getting the info that Mateschitz sponsored him at an early age? They boy struggled all right!! He had to deal with issues Hamilton had no worry at all over.

Heres a quote that puts your theory on its head!

“I must clarify a tale,” said Noack, the chairman of the Kerpen kart track who is credited for discovering and supporting the young Vettel, as well as Schumacher years earlier.

“It is often said that Michael was not only a good friend but also a financial supporter of Vettel. That’s not true,” he wrote in Die Welt newspaper.

“Yes, we asked him for his help, but from Michael’s side it never came. He was probably too busy with his own career to think about the younger guys,” added Noack.

He said it was a struggle to keep Vettel’s racing afloat in the early days.

“When I think of his first contract with Red Bull, I laugh — it was four digits,” revealed Noack.

“But a start was made so that a big talent would not be lost under the wheels, while the big car makers were blind. I know of one F1 team boss who for years wanted me to believe that Vettel would come to nothing,” he added.

“Now he is world champion.”

As the German began to make a name for himself, he attracted the attentions of Red Bull, who swiftly signed him up to their young driver programme in 1998. With Red Bull’s backing, Vettel continued to perform well and in 2000 was invited to join the Austrian drinks company’s junior team. Two seasons of karting later, Vettel - then aged just 15 - was ready to make the switch to single-seater racing.'

Whatever the digits were, he clearly did not have to pay them himself!

If you had managed to shoe-horn yourself into an RB6/7, then surely the Sauber BMW 07 and Torro Rosso 08, would have been none too shabby for you to have demonstrated your latent talent.

F1 has been filled with promising talents never fully revealed Jan Magnussen, Mike Thackwell, Allan McNish to name but three. If McLaren's decision to promote an untried rookie into a race winning car was misguided and unworthy in 2007, then no amount of bank rolling would have left him in place if he was unable to justify that position in 2011. By the standards of the figures quoted here (£18M??), if true would have to be the bargain of the Century, when compared to the return in terms of global marketing exposure and a none too shabby talent behind the wheel.

sAx [sic]

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Sorry JET, I was so wrong. We must henceforth demand that all drivers undergo intense introspection with the aid of a psychotherapist in the their press interview. Any attempt at humour shall be punished by a 5 place grid penalty at the next race.

Why are you apologising? Iam trying to ascertain your defense of him for something that really is (excuse the pun) black or white.

Are you condoning the use of race related humour by top sports personalities? Because I can tell you exactly how that will end as Im sure you could guess.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Every driver in F1 is backed by someone or the other.

Vettel was part of a group of youngsters, he was not a shoe in for anything. Witness Buemi, Alguesari, and various others. Juniors often get sponsored by teams for a set period then get made or fall by the wayside.
What happened with Hamilton is incomparable. He got the best of everything from the age of 13. He still had to make the grade, but that is easier than if you had to do the rounds backed by a non manufacturer like 99% of others.
Hamilton was groomed by McLaren, a phrase used often. He walked into a winning team, that backed him the thick end of 10 years and now its Mclaren Vs Hamilton?

How can Button take dissapointments so gracefully, yet Hamilton bemoans others, his team and even his ethnicity?

The shortfalls here are clear. And they rest on Hamiltons shoulders.

[sAx]

What happened with Hamilton is incomparable.

Incomparable to what? I am sure that you are intelligent enough to realise that any view formed on the basis of limited information, remains only a view. Unless all teams release how much they have spent and on who we will never know!

sAx

[Richard]

Are you condoning the use of race related humour by top sports personalities? Because I can tell you exactly how that will end as Im sure you could guess.

I am condoning humour. It is a very funny line by a very funny comedian. It is a very sad world if certain topics are deemed too taboo for humour.

Yes, it is unfortunate that Hamilton chose a line that was open to misinterpretation. However, any upset reflects more on the intolerance of people who are unable to take it at face value.

He'd be better to have said "I didn't expect the Spanish inquisition". No doubt if he used that in Barcelona or Valencia people would say he was attacking the stewards for bias to Alsonso.

If he'd said "calm down dear" it would be seen as sexist.

The poor chap is doomed no matter what he says. That's why sports interviews are so anodyne and bland these days.

Maybe he should take Coulthard's approach of saying unprintable things. If Coulthard wanted to deflect a journalist he'd just reply "I like your tits". Far more offensive, but never broadcast on TV.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

The doors McLaren open Hamilton are much Wider than the doors that were opened for Vettel.

Both were privileged, as most drivers in F1 are. Some more than others.

[Hangaku]

How can Button take dissapointments so gracefully, yet Hamilton bemoans others, his team and even his ethnicity?

The shortfalls here are clear. And they rest on Hamiltons shoulders.

Nonsense.

I can easily dig up MANY intervfiews with Button on youtube where he is critizing others and not himself. And in fact, pretty much any other driver.

He said the black comment as a joke, and he later made a statement about it being a joke. Regardless of what YOU think, that's what HE's said, and we've no reason to believe otherwise. Why should your word count over his?

In my opinion, the people that have got a chip on their shoulders are the people that are bothered about what he said. HE wasn't, so why the hell does anyone else? Some people need to get a grip.