Max on the Lewis effect on F1....Negative?

Interesting article...FIRE AWAY From Crash.net

Hamilton effect 'negative for F1'?
Wed 31 Oct, 09:45 AM



FIA president Max Mosley says he feels that Lewis Hamilton could start to have a negative effect on Formula 1, if the young Briton is able to continue to produce results similar to those of his debut campaign.

Hamilton took F1 by storm as he narrowly missed out on becoming the first rookie champion in the history of the sport, with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen stealing the title by just a single point during the season ending Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.

However, Mosley insists that a similar performance from the young Briton could have a negative effect on the sport - with the risk that people could become bored of seeing the McLaren man at the head of the field.

"If he does the same thing next season as he's done this season, it will certainly have a big effect," he told the BBC. "It will start to be negative because we'll get the Schumacher effect where people start writing to me saying can't you do something to slow him down."

Mosley added that he felt that Hamilton's impact on Formula 1 had been over-exaggerated - with anyone of a number of younger drivers having been waiting for the big break-through.

"He has certainly helped enormously in the UK," the FIA chief continued. "He's also got a lot of interest worldwide because he's come manifestly not from a rich background. He's just made it.

"There is always somebody new. If it wasn't him it would be either Rosberg or Kubica or one of the other new stars, a Vettel, would suddenly be the big one.

"So I think there is a tendency to exaggerate the importance of Lewis Hamilton."

 

Max needs to sit in a corner and just STFU!!! I'm so sick of this guy!


I may be in the minority but I was glad to see a young rookie really racing with the vets, and I look forward to seeing Hamilton and the next great rookie do it again in the future! and with Kimi, Massa, Alonso, Heidfeld, etc.....with so many good drivers I doubt we'll see the Schumacher effect again anytime soon.....

 

I actually agree with what he is saying. One of a few statements from formula 1 that has actually made sense this season.

 

I would say the exact opposite for this season. It was a very exciting and came down to the last race. I for one was pleased with Hamilton's performance. As far as his ability to win like MS, it's too early to tell. One season doesn't make a career. There are just too many variables in the current picture. I hope he continues to do well.

 

+1

I am boycotting any thread with the name Mosley in the title...

 

There were a few years that I didn't need to watch F1 because you knew Schumacher was going to win. Great for Ferrari! but GOD was it dull racing to watch him pull-away and fade off into the distance after just 3 laps.

Lewis can't do that.... MS was in a "golden period" where there wasn't another great driver/great team
to give us a race.

Lewis has a handfull of teams and drivers that will keep next season as interesting as it was this year.



.

 

i think Max doesn't know anything about F1. people will be bored? gimme a break. i think people will look up to Lewis and appreciate his talent.

 

I don't know who is the bigger jagoff; Max or Bernie. I wish they BOTH dropped dead!

 

So let's overhaul F1 again because some driver/team combo can actually win multiple races. I didn't hear anyone complaining when Senna, Prost, and McLaren dominated F1 in the late 80s early 90s.

 

Here is my current ranking of the (w)anking...in the tradition of the R & T late winter driver ratings:

Sir Jackie Stewart: = 1 point. You tried, but if you become any more irrelevant, you will slip off the chart. The back-room attempt to displace Max Mosley saved you for this year.

Lewis = 3 points. He picks up a point for the biography, a point for the home-town disloyalty, and a point each for the "I am the hardest working driver I have ever seen, and I have never made a mistake this season." One point is abated for giving RD the "Swivel".

Fernando = 3.5 points. He starts with five points for being himself at all times. Two points deducted for bunting Lewis off the track in Brazil. One half point added for continuing to be himself at all times - i.e. - "I don't much like Reneault any more".

Max = 6 points. And this is after he loses a point or two for telling it like it is on this one point.

Bernie = 9 points. He loses one point off a perfect score for kind of backing away from the "cold gas fusion" appeal. So far.

Ron Dennis = 10 points. Our winner, and the repeating champion. The most ethical team manager and the most sportsmanlike behavior in all of Formula One. By his own testimony before the FAI.

 

The problem I have with Hamilton, and it's not his fault whatsoever, is that he was given an absolute premium ride right out of the gate. He didn't have to prove anything or impress anyone in a lesser car, which is where a great driver proves himself before getting the premium ride. I cannot blame the guy, since any driver would jump at the chance to get into a McLaren seat.

I'll be more accepting of him when he is not driving the dominant car, which can certainly happen while he is driving for McLaren. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - I want to see what he can do with a sub-par car, and not just 1 race, but over the course of a season.

I am already bored of Hamilton - to me, he is "The Golden Boy" who hasn't really proved a whole lot yet, yet everyone acts as if he's the second coming.

 

AP
LONDON, England -- Motor sport boss Max Mosley has played down the effect that British driver Lewis Hamilton had on Formula One in his debut season this year.

The 22-year-old, the sport's first black driver, went into the final race in Brazil seeking to become the youngest world champion but missed out to Kimi Raikkonen by one point after a gearbox failure hampered his efforts.

He filled headlines all year due to his unexpected on-track success and the off-circuit controversies which enveloped his team McLaren, giving F1 a new superstar following the retirement of Michael Schumacher.

Hamilton has become such a high-profile name that he has decided to leave Britain and move to Switzerland for a quieter life, even though his home town of Stevenage is about to name one of its streets after him.

But Mosley, president of world governing body the FIA, said that any other young driver could have made such an impact.

"He has certainly helped enormously in the UK," he told the BBC's Hardtalk program. "He's also got a lot of interest worldwide because he's come manifestly not from a rich background. He's just made it.

"There is always somebody new. If it wasn't him it would be either Nico Rosberg or Robert Kubica or one of the other new stars, a Sebastian Vettel, they would suddenly be the big one.

"So I think there is a tendency to exaggerate the importance of Lewis Hamilton.

"If he does the same thing next season as he's done this season, it will certainly have a big effect.

"It will start to be negative because we'll get the Schumacher effect where people start writing to me saying 'Can't you do something to slow him down'."

McLaren's appeal against the outcome of the final race in Sao Paulo will be heard on November 15, but Mosley said that even if the Williams and BMW Sauber teams are punished for fuel irregularities, it may not mean that Hamilton will be awarded more points and therefore take the world title.

"It could happen, absolutely, because this will go to a court of appeal. That said, it's very unlikely, because even if they excluded those cars they are not obliged to reclassify Hamilton. There's absolutely no need, if they don't wish to, to change the position that Hamilton was in," Mosley said.

 

Ridiculous

He's beaten the 2X defending WDC in equal machinery. What more does he need to prove for you?? What do you expect him to do in sub-par machinery other than run circles around his teammate?

Folks here sing Massa's glory but then they pull out this nonsense about Hamilton. Had Hamilton been driving with a second-rate teammate then there would be question marks about his talent, but he wasn't. he was driving against the best driver on the F1 grid and he beat him in the same car. It doesn't matter what car he is driving, what matters is how he is doing against his teammate and what calibre of teammate he has. Hamilton has done exceedingly well on both counts. Massa, on the other hand, has never once beaten his teammate yet some folks here think he is the next Schumacher.

Baffling, simply baffling.

 

Ahmen to that

 

I agree with you on Massa, but I have to give him a little credit............had he been allowed to race, he would have won the last 2 races of the season...... still, he's not quite at Kimi's level....

 

Interesting, but Bernie is contradicting his earlier comments ... confused.

BUT I am glad to see that he does recognise that a dominant driver in the best car is not a good thing for the sport. Thus again LH should have had to start in a lesser car so we had something interesting to watch and then graduate to a good car and then see if he can turn that performance into a WDC. That is the way it is done, and for good reason, ie. better for the driver to learn and better for us to watch.

Bernie pushed LH into McLaren ... so he's really has nobody else to blame but himself IF and this is an enormous if, LH does actually become dominant. I, like Mosley, think way too many people are counting their chickens before they hatch.
Pete

 

Someone please tell old Max not to bother about Hamilton. Kimi has finally woken up this year from his McLaren induced sleep. His blood is gushing Rosso Corso now and he is going to win the next few championships on the trot. Hamilton and Alonso are second billing.

 

You're right. And it wasn't just alonso's speed that Lewis overcame but all of the mind games as well. Not bad for a rookie year.

 

And he certainly will. If Hamilton does start to dominate I'm sure we'll some sort of penalty from the FIA/Max. "We've, err..... Discovered that the 2008 McLaren does indeed have something like Ferrari technology in it. That whole rear wing thing-y and brake stuff looks an awful lot like Ferrari's. So, we're penalizing McLaren... how many points is Lewis leading the DC by? Twelve?... 15 points. Yes McLaren will be penalized 15 points. I'm glad the FIA has been able to keep Formula 1 as a beacon of fair play to the world and to its fans."

 

I believe that both drivers were given equal machinery and equal opportunity to win. If one driver fared better under that system, or more precisely if one driver failed to take advantage of that opportunity and instead harangued the team in the press about unfair treatment and thus poisoned his own well, then there is nothing that the team can do about it.

 

Ridiculous? Are you calling my opinion ridiculous? Is that called for? Be as baffled as you want - that is my opinion.

It's easy to be fast in the best machinery, it is very difficult to be fast in sub-par machinery. The ability to set up a mediocre performing car to your style to enable you to go fast in it is what makes the truly great drivers great. Until he does this, I am not convinced. I am not saying he cannot do this, I am saying he HAS not done this. Do you understand the difference?

 

The crucial moment for me was LH's slip in China. There is absolutely no justifiable reason for him to have lost the WDC in that race. And I don't buy the notion that the team made an error in not calling him in. He is in the cockpit and therefore ultimately in control of the situation. He ignored RD when he didn't let FA by in Q3 so he's not shy about expressing his opinion...

I just feel that this particular mistake, rather than the one in Brazil, is a watershed moment for him because its pretty revealing with respect to his intellectual approach to racing. Yes, he's a fast driver in a great car, but he threw away the opportunity to truly be among the greats of the sport in so short a time because he did not sacrifice track position for prudence.

 

Agreed. He had his chance and he made a bad decision. Is he the next best thing to sunshine? Not yet. He is immensly talented and young. Can he do it? Maybe. Im not sold yet on one LUCKY rookie year. There are others as Max M stated this week. We shall see how he handles the adversity of literally choking this WDC away and how he recovers. Also how the car is. SO much is dependent on the car I feel.