Err...... He was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, and having lived in a town just up the road from there for a while, I can assure you that it's no where near Grenada! So because Lewis Hamilton is from a mixed race family and his Grandparents emigrated from Grenada back in the 50's, that means he does not come from a "good family"? I'd say you're walking a fine line with these statements!
I think you got to be careful with social media. It is the young user group using it and it provides a simple solution to vent anger... I think Hamilton is a polarizing race driver and a polarizing character, hence so much debate and emotion. If you start watching F1 he will be one of those that catch your attention. If you watch F1 for years and develop a deeper understanding you may find how interest shifts. A loud crowd doesn't make wrong right and a lowd crowd doesn't make anger an argument. In that sense EJ seems to have a point that Mercedes should have started punishing long ago and possibly it would have never come to Sunday. A loud crowd doesn't seem to lean back and think... It is an art in itself to run social media pages as a race team, but the stuff you find there and interpreting it is only for tabloid newspapers, I'd guess.
Yes, it's basically groupthink-gone-wild, but most marketing campaigns aren't aimed at critical thinkers... Merc definitely have their hands full with social media. Unfortunately, ignoring it will only make things worse.
Personally I hate FB, twitter okish, but from a business perspective only a complete fool would dismiss it.
Not all the kids of today adopt Hamilton as a role model We are a 3 generations Mercedes owners family, and my sons and grand sons are more in the clean cut mould Nico portrays. Mercedes is a make of tradition and style ...
Rosberg is a nobody with an identity crisis: is he German or Fin? But more importantly: who knows him outside of F1 fans? Hamilton is a WDC, a Brit, a modern man living in the US and Europe with a superstar for a GF, he is hip and multi cultural Sorry for all the cliches but that's from a marketing perspective. Bottom line is that Hami has name recognition and fits the profile of young target markets. PS: I like em both. This isn't just my opinion but also from car journos.
Read it and weep!: ADWATCH: Mercedes-Benz moves away from status-symbol image - Mercedes-Benz is shedding its 'austere' heritage and is bringing individuality to its brand | Marketing Magazine
Exactly. Their target market are the young affluent/metrosexual guys, not old traditional guys. Hami fits that to a T, Rosberg not so much.
Ick. Not the fastest, not the most cutthroat. The most multi cultural with the past tense star gf. Right up there with Rindt , Lauda and Hakkinen. The reason why Daimler wants 44 to win. The same reason why F1 fans and British fans should cringe.
The problem that Mercedes have had is that those darned upstarts, BMW and AUDI, had taken over as the most popular German cars. How? - Because they were smart enough to appeal to the younger, more dynamic car market. Mercedes meanwhile, was getting a reputation as being an old man's car for boring old fuddy-duddy's. (They weren't the only ones mind! -Jaguar also were going down the same road, and in the US, Cadillac were getting into massive trouble). The younger generation didn't want them and the older generation were starting to die off and so Mercedes had to reinvent itself, to play catch-up to the two upstarts and appeal to the younger generation. They've performed this change in market strategy admirably, but today they have to share the German prestige manufacturer mantle with BMW and AUDI, they no longer have a dominant position in the market as they once did. As you say, for Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton is a way for them to show the World of young, dynamic people that a Mercedes is a trendy car to be seen in! The sad thing is, some people simply cannot accept it! (I'm sure Mercedes' biggest supporter in history - Adolf Hitler, would be spitting his coffee out and chewing his carpet to pieces at the thought of Lewis Hamilton driving a Mercedes!) As for insinuations that Rosberg is somehow pure and worthy of representing Mercedes, whilst Hamilton is some how tainted and unworthy, again, it's a fine line being trodden!
I agree that Hamilton is faster (not by a massive amount though), and more talented, but he is also more highly strung than Rosberg, and in some ways, that makes him mentally weaker! It seems easier to disrupt Hamilton over a race weekend than Rosberg. I'd have to say (brace yourself Steve!), that they both seem to be nice enough guys, and either of them deserve the title. Of the two, Hamilton still annoys Me a bit (He needs to stop playing the victim card so much and just get on with it!), whereas Rosberg doesn't, but he's generally an okay guy! (It helps his cause that we don't have to keep seeing his girlfriend every 30 seconds during a race this season!) I think Rosberg is the smarter of the two when it comes to using the press and the team, manipulating them to achieve his goals, whereas Hamilton seems to get swept along a bit by it all. It's a fascinating battle developing this season, both on and off the track!
Is there any evidence that ROS turned up the engine in order to get past Ham? He handily caught the car in front without DRS.
Good point, lap two then DRS wasn't enabled yet normally. some discussion earlier about Nico showing that he won't be pushed around or however you want to say it, sure reminds me of Ayrton Senna answering Jackie Stewart about all his incidents in races, something like: "By being a racing driver you are under risk all the time. By being a racing driver means you are racing with other people. And if you no longer go for a gap that exists, you are no longer a racing driver because we are competing, we are competing to win. And the main motivation to all of us is to compete for victory, it's not to come 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th. I race to win as long as I feel it's possible. Sometimes you get it wrong? Sure, it's impossible to get it right all the time. But I race designed to win, as long as I feel I'm doing it right."
Absolutely the words of a Hamilton fan. Not that of a race fan. Hamilton has only worn his ego on his sleeve for all of these years, not his heart. But you are correct, his is responsible for his actions, and most have been to his detriment. He is a brilliant driver, but a still growing in maturity.
Question, why has Hamilton had such a difficult time with teammates on all of the teams he has inhabited? Someone said that Alonso and Hamilton are friends, so far from the truth. Alonso, a Spaniard, has no affection for English speaking blokes, let alone one with dark skin. Hamilton is an incredible talent, but, why such difficulty with teammates? Especially those that have shown they are as fast as him. Alonso, and yes, Rosberg to name two. And has "double, double TOIL and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble", to quote Shakespeare, now soiled this blog?
Put two alpha dogs on one team and there is no peace. He'll, Webber didn't get along with Vettel. Prost despised Senna. Villenueve and Pironi had fatal consequences. Hamilton had no problems with Hekki, but he was the only clear #2 driver he's been paired with. I don't think Alonso is a racist, and everything I've heard between them suggests they hold each other in high regard. Go back and read articles...there are many examples.
