who else? i think Mac is in hot soup now, if this is true : Lewis Hamilton reportedly ranted and raved over the McLaren team radio after being told to hold station behind team-mate Fernando Alonso during Sunday's Monaco GP and only agreed to slow down after the personal intervention of Ron Dennis. The admission of the McLaren team principal that he had asked his drivers to 'cool it' has prompted the FIA to launch an investigation into their victory for a "possible breach of the International Sporting Code." According to The Daily Mail, Hamilton 'vented his frustration' at being denied the opportunity to push for victory 'by ranting at his race engineer Phil Prew.' 'Dennis was forced to step in over the in-car radio and speak to his protege directly,' the newspaper claims. 'It was only then that rookie Hamilton, who made his views clear with several high-speed laps, finally relented and abided by his boss's demand that he should settle for second place.' "Lewis was very angry. He turned the air blue when he was told to take it easy," a 'paddock insider' claimed.
Angry he was told not to RACE Alonso. I hope McL gets the fine they deserve just like Ferrari did in Austria. Bernie wants a points deduction. Couldnt agree more. Anger like this that LH displayed only confirms he was told NOT to race. That is against the FIA instructions. I hope they find against Mclaren for this
Apparently Hamilton was so P****d at Monaco that the rumors have already started. http://www.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/070530095236.sht "Just five races into his young career, British rookie Lewis Hamilton is already being linked with a shock switch to Ferrari. The 22-year-old, after making the most successful start to a debut season in the history of Formula One, is now at the centre of the Monaco team order storm. Hamilton has even been mentioned as the instigator of the pending FIA investigation, after suggesting to reporters last Sunday that he had been ordered to finish second to Fernando Alonso because he is 'the number two driver' at McLaren. But even though team boss Ron Dennis groomed Hamilton through racing's junior classes at huge expense, not to mention the existence of a long term contract (to about 2011), British newspaper The Times said there is now 'a raft of speculation' hinting at a future link between Hamilton and F1's famous Italian team. "Paddock wags (are) suggesting that his route to Ferrari is already being 'lawyered', on the assumption that Kimi Raikkonen is shown the door," motor racing correspondent Edward Gorman wrote. Gorman added that Hamilton's annual salary could potentially rise from about $500,000 in 2007 to up to $40m 'or more' with Ferrari. The rumour is backed by another British newspaper - the Daily Mail - and its claim that Hamilton was unashamedly 'angry' in Monaco when it became clear that he was being asked to sacrifice his lead of the drivers' championship and settle for second."
More like told not to try anything stupid and risk taking out both cars. Monaco is not the place to try and overtake your teamate. Hamilton was never going to beat Alonso at Monaco last weekend. Alonso could pull a gap anytime he wished. He simply had LH covered. Anyone who thinks there is any chance of LH in a Ferrari, keep dreaming. There is no way Ron Dennis is gonna let him out of his contract. Alonso on the other hand.......
If Lewis becomes unhappy at Mclaren then no contract in the world can make him stay put. Every contract is negotiable.Just ask Jenson Button.
Good job McLaren, you are going to lose the greatest F1 driver in this generation and he is going to go to your arch-rivals. Thank you very much Ron Dennis, Ferrari fans are rejoicing.
Ever heard of the Contract Recognitions Board? When JB was under contract to Honda, he couldn't go to Williams. The following year, when he was under contract to Williams, he had to pay them a rumored $30 million to gain release from that contract. If McLaren has Hamilton under contract, then he goes nowhere unless they release him. Fat chance of that happening, especially to Ferrari.
LH was told to calm down and safely bring the car home in 2nd. Can't argue with that. Regardless if he was indeed faster, he could have made a mistake and taken himself and his teammate out at the closing stages of the race. Not exactly something you'd want, specially with the way the 2 of them were dominating the race. I think the team was noticing that he was starting to get a little hot during the race, which was probably why he was told to calm down. I'm not sure why he'd be so upset. With the maturity level he's displayed recently, you'd think he'd understand the call the team made. Yes, he had the chance to win the grand prix. But he lost it because he got blocked by Webber. There was no way Alonso was going to let anyone past him (specially his rookie teammate who's been giving him a good challenge). Though, I do hope that some trouble is brewing within the team. I'd really love to see a bit of the old Senna (LH) vs. Prost (FA) magic back into F1 LH To Ferrari? Hah. Typical pre-GP rumor to keep fans interested
Lewis Hamilton -> Ferrari = Fat chance It sells newspapers, but I highly doubt we'll see him in a red car in the near future, we'd have a better chance seeing Alonso in one (hope not). All the rumors are fun to read tho, and hopefully it's partially true stirring up the team over in the silver cars.
Exactly and Lewis isn't going anywhere. Nor would he have passed Alonso without the Team telling both drivers to cool it. He even admitted to tapping the barriers 5 or 6 times.
That's what I meant when I said every contract is negotiable. Or maybe Ron would go for a swap.>>>>Kimi for Lewis.!!!!!! Just kidding.
Kimi being shown the door? Hamilton to Ferrari? common...get real...ain't gonna happen. it's just 5 races in and the rumours have already started. we all know, RD is never going to let go of Hamilton, someone who he has been grooming for over 10 years now. and of cos, KImi shown the door? he needs more time to settle in. if he wins the next 2 races, trust me, there'll be wayy lot more different rumours by the time, maybe something like Ferrari offering Kimi a contract for life. if Hamilton wasn't in the picture here, probably the rumours will sound like 'Schumi getting ready to come out of retirement and replace Kimi'
+1 Only positive is atleast he is a racer. I wish they had left him to race because I bet he would have stuck it in the wall ... there is some maturing required in LH. Monaco has proved that he is not perfect ... ranting and raving and constantly fiddling with car setup, his team are going to grow tired of this real quick. Did he honestly think he was going to be WDC in his first year ... welcome to the political corporate world of F1 mate! Pete
LH probably did not think he would be the WDC when he started, but now that he was tied with FA, he most likely thought to himself, why the hell not? I like that he ranted and raved, it really puts Ron Dennis on notice that he should not asked to play second fiddle. Although I Ferrari to win every race, I still want to see great racing between LH and FA.
Nothing is going to happen 5 races into the season....still, as I said on another thread earlier in the season, LH is the British driver on a British team and he'll be revered; FA better take his head out of his cuolo and start beating LH convincingly, which he hasn't been able to do. Come the British GP the fans are going to start throwing pints at Ron Dennis and FA.....
And then some. First of all, what proof do we have that such a conversation actually took place. Certainly at the beginning of the season Ron Dennis explained to Lewis the role he would be playing. LH should not be surprised if in fact there were orders to "cool it". Secondly, as someone else already said, this is Monaco. Where would Hamilton have safely passed Alonso? No where. They would have taken each other out which would have been great for the tifosi, but not for McLaren. That team did the smart and right thing, protect their positions. Remember, the WDC is not as important to the team as is the Constructor's Championship. Kimi is not going anywhere, and neither is Hamilton.
At the start. That's the issue. LH was apparantly told to just fall in line at the start. That's when he allegedly "ranted and raved."
The story is that he was told to fall in line at the end of the race, not at the start. If you watch the start, Alonso did a great job, Hamilton had no where else to go, and no better assignment than to protect Alonso's rear and take second place. If he had not cut right in behind Alonso, Massa would have. I would really believe that if Hamilton took the lead at turn one, he would have won the race. And I really believe if it were humanly possible for Hamilton to take Turn 1 in the lead, he would have, up yours Ron Dennis.