In the words of Lew-Ham, "Quote"

Well, one quote from that article is the first thing he's said recently, with which i agree ... i'll never mention him in the same sentence with Michael Schumacher either.

When you treat other drivers on the track as nothing but annoying impediments to your self-perceived "destiny" ... rather than respected competitors ... you're dangerous and reckless. In my view, Hamilton does not suffer from excessive aggressiveness, he suffers from delusions of grandeur. His ego is WAY bigger than his (considerable) talent ... and that makes him flat-out dangerous. Not "exciting", not just the new "bad boy" of F1 ... but dangerous. Lauda is right.

my opinion.

 

If you're happy being the "roach on the wedding cake" sobeit.

 

The quote from the end of this article speaks volumes :

"He added: 'Onwards and upwards. Go to the next one and try to stay out of trouble. It would be great if we could qualify a little bit higher and try to avoid these sorts of situations, but that's the way it is."

as I see it, this is identical to saying : "The only thing that's going to stop me from crashing through the other so-called drivers on the grid, is to qualify higher. That's just the way it is. I mean ... I can't really be expected to avoid all these crashes, if I'm racing from deep in the grid! Don't these guys know that I'm the true champion out there?"

yeah ... i don't like this guy I just have no respect for him. Lauda is right, in my view.

 

+1

Schumacher was excessively aggressive, especially in his early years. Hamilton seems to suffer from an oversized ego, which may be the downside of grooming drivers from a very young age on. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw more of these types in the future, with more teams having or planning recruitment programs like the one Hamilton has brought to McLaren.

 

Spot on. Its happened in other major league sports, now its F1's turn.

 

I remember another driver described in similar terms that first caused spectator death and then his own. Fast he also was. Colorful he also was. A thrill to watch, absolutely. Big mouth like Hamilton, thankfully no. Hamilton is leaving the absurd comment category he has mastered to the "how could he say that" creepy category. Now when he speaks its like so what. I hope we do not waste another forum category on such dribble.

Hamilton and the drivers around him are very fortunate that today's cars are much safer than when Gilles was driving.

 

Very well said, I would have to agree. He (Ham) is out of control.

 

Man wouldn't it be something if he "ran" from the team that gave him everything and has sponsored him since he was a little kid? Makes Alonso's move look like nothing (and so many on here hold that against him).

 

I don't think he would be to blame if he left McLaren. They'd fire him, too, if he didn't bring the results they expect for a while. F1 is about money and success, not loyalty...

 

Tell that to the MS haters.

 

It was a dumb enough statement not to need any comment, right?

 

LOL!!!!

You'll beat me back into the second row... way back in P2.

 

It's not that he is out of control, it is that he is one of the most polarizing drivers in the sport.

Schumi was too. Those that loved him would give him a pass for virtually anything. Those that hated him wanted him banned from the sport forever, every time he broke the smallest of rules.

Hamilton had one forgiveable incident this past weekend with Webber, that he acknowledged fault in. The Button incident was clearly Buttons fault, everyone realizes this.

So for one minor incident, you have Lauda saying he's going to kill someone, F-chatters calling for 12-race bans, others saying he is clearly (in their expert opinion?) not mature enough to be in the sport, and he feels entitled and on and on and on.

Meanwhile, Massa crashes into Karthikeyan this week, and crashed into the wall last race - only thing said is he maybe should move on from Ferrari.

Force India - how many crashes did those guys have? STR as well. But if you look at the nature of F1, basically nobody cares how bad you drive or who you crash into if you're a backmarker. If you're one of the top guys, you are under a microscope. And in F1, everyone is only as good as their last couple of races. Massa was the golden boy when he was beating Kimi, now he's useless waste. Webber was the experienced pro who should have gotten the nod last year - now he's just an also-ran. Vettel was an immature crash-prone kid who didn't have the maturity to be in F1 at the end of 2010.. yet a few races into 2011 and he's a wise and likeable young chap who always does right.

It's the nature of people and of F1. Short memories and attention span, fickle in their likes and dislikes, don't like someone who wins too much or loses too much, and definitely don't like anyone who isn't humble, even subservient.



There is a reason the FIA don't act on the whining from the Intarwebz whenever these things happen (be it Vettel crashing with Webber, or Hamilton and Button, or Button and Alonso). They recognize irrelevant whining when they see it.

 

+1 to infinity.
Outstanding post.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/formula_one/13755883.stm

 

+1 fantastic post!

 

Interesting observations Michael. Sinice neither of us have been present at these events, I will still stick with the observations of those that have been there, especially those in an official capacity.

While you are mostly correct about all of the other drivers you mentioned, I think you miss the point about Hamilton. There is no doubt that he is an incredible driving talent, but based on those in official capacities at F1 events, he takes chances that not only cost him race finishes, but have affected the race of other drivers. Through its on-site officials, the FIA has in fact reacted to Hamilton's driving, so from that, the criticism of Hamilton is likely much warranted. You can sit at your large screen TV and think you can judge who was at fault at any particular incident, but you would only be guessing based on your personal prejudices. That is true of all of us here in the peanut gallery. At the end of the day, those at the track have a better idea of what really happened, and from the last few races, Hamilton's "colorful" driving got him penalized on more than one occasion.

I place more credibility on Whiting and his crew than anyone here on FChat. And that credibility includes Fittipaldi and the volunteer corner workers at Montreal. All felt Hamilton went too far.

Add to these penalty prone driving demonstrations, Hamilton's off track foot in mouth comments that have taken him to race control, nothing you or anyone says to the contrary can change fact. Hamilton is rapidly nearing that line of leaving the category of agressive and correctly being called reckless. You can debate his maturity level, but his mouth pretty much dictates that reality. He has stepped on toes unlike any other driver in recent history. I appreciate you and a few others here on FChat like Hamilton, but you do not appear to want to see the entire picture for whatever reason. No, he does not deserve, yet, some multi race ban. But each time he repeats stupid moves, the penalty needs to increase proportionately. He would never survive Mike Helton.

I give Hamilton another couple of years, he will mature, and he will go on to greatness. but for now, his ego has surpassed his driving ability. His DNFs and all the crticisms are factually warranted and what he deserves.

Thanks

 

I think this article does a great job of analyzing LH and his "issues".

To paraphrase, he wants to dominate the field in F1 but there is the problem of Vettel being in P1 and pulling away. He gets frustrated because he wants to go head-to-head, but when he doesn't qualify in P2 things tend to unwravel for him.

It appears the author also agrees that Button sent Hamilton a message by driving him into the wall. It will be interesting to see how their relationship plays out during the rest of the season. Lewis will see the replays, he will see the glances into the mirror and he will see that the door was shut on him. I think things will get very "interesting" around McLaren the rest of the season.

 

"Talking about Hamilton's unadulterated driving skill between the walls of Montreal, Button said: "He is unreal around here. Last year I got within 0.4s of him in qualifying and that's the closest any teammate has ever got to him."

That gap was down to 0.273s last Saturday, but the point remains: Hamilton is almost certainly the fastest driver in F1. "He is one of the fastest the sport has ever seen," said Button recently. "

Couple this with Alonso taking his ball and going home (Ferrari).
Alonso aint stupid. Make no bones about it he knew very well when he was outclassed

In terms of all out speed Hammi is it..

Problem is he's on the "wrong" team.
Hes black.
Didnt "pay his dues."
He tells it as he sees it. Right or wrong. No PC whitewash.

Sure you can hate him. Lots of reasons.
Or recognize and salute his uniqueness.
I prefer the latter.

 

+1, good on Button ... he must after all have a penis.

+1, will always niggle me that, sorry.

And that my friend is why he should have LEARNT the art in a back marker team. That is the whole point of back marker teams, and because they are slow you learn how to battle with inferior machinery (very important when your dominant team is not er, the best team on the grid anymore). Lewis has not grown out of loosing points to unnecessary crashes. Yes it is fun to watch him over drive his car, but a top team wants POINTS not TV mileage.

Again as I said in my previous post that you have not answered, he should watch a few videos of Prost and learn the art of winning WDC's. Yes he has won one, but when you are in the best car on the grid you can get lucky. He's used his luck up now, he thus now needs to mature quickly and stop loosing these points to silly crashes.

Yes Button closed the door, of course he was going to. LH can't honestly expect every driver in front of him to pull over and wave him past. A mature driver knows this and bides his time and bags the best points possible from each race and becomes a dominant force. All we have with LH is a very fast rookie type driver. He should be past this phase by now.
Pete

 

I think a team loves the exciting style, but at the end of the day it IS all about points. The thing about Lewis is, going through his rough spot should help him learn to be patient when he passes (which is his primary issue, imo). Then again, he could be another Gilles Villeneuve who drives the wheels off the car whenever he's in it...actually, he's not a Gilles Villeneuve. I don't think I've seen a similar driver to him.

I think Lewis will be a better driver for his current adversity. He needs to season his aggression with discretion and he will become a complete driver.

Oh, and I think both Button AND Schu closed the door on him. They made up their mind they weren't just going to give him position because he was coming (although I think Schu's defense was more justifiable. Lewis had the momentum on Button, who out-braked himself at the chicane).

 

I stopped listening to McHam years ago. It's better that way.

 

Listening to any pro athlete opine is usually a waste of time. Why should Lewis be any different?