Hamilton's overrated

I thought the way he overtook people at the start of races and during races were pretty good last year. He seems to be pretty good in the rain too iirc (besides when he's behind a safety car that is!)

I don't think he's overrated, but thats just my .2cent.

 

Are you suggesting that you are a quicker driver than LH though? Objectively its just hard to believe since lets face it, LH is one of the top F1 drivers today; overrated or not.

 

But some of these younger guys never learned to drive stick shift...

 

LOL perhaps.

I was just wondering if Napolis was speaking in a circumstantial point of view or not, that's all.

 

Overated as a terrific driver, I think not. However, as the next coming of F1 greatness, perhaps. As has been pointed out many times b4 in this forum, the ability to develop the car as well as arriving at the optimal setup are a part of the package. If he is deficient in these areas, he's deficient.

 

Well, he suggested that Lewis pretty much fried a Lambo clutch; so I just assumed it was a stick. I thought that the E-gear in this car pretty much launched itself.

 

Driver? Mais non. If he was in P 4/5 and I was in the 640 LP he would have smoked me but 4 sure I wouldn't have smoked the clutch just for kicks. In equal cars he would leave most FCHATTERS far behind.

 

I didn't get that inference from Napolis.

 

No there is an egear "Launch Control" that can be a bit tricky.

 

Hamilton overrated??? Slightly
Hamilton over-reported??? Definitely

I think as a driver he is definitely special. He can overtake, he can qualify fast, he is not afraid of wheel to wheel racing. Yet there are aspects of a truely great F1 driver that he is yet to demonstrate: Ability to nurse a poor car to the finish, Ability to help develop a car over the season, ability to bounce back from a big points deficit.

Last year, he had the benefit of surprise - a lot of his overtaking moves were successful because the others were not expecting it. This year, they are aware and are making it more difficult for Lewis to get past.

I am really impressed with the way Heikki is steadily improving in McLaren - he is doing it in a quiet yet confident, step by step evolutionary style. He is just about as good as Hamilton now IMO. I also think the team is missing the input from Alonso.

 

I pretty much agree with Speedy Sam above.

I just took a moment to look up the early career of another outstanding talent from the past - the great Jimmy Clark.

his early season went like this:

1960 - WDC 10th place, best finish 3rd in Portugal.
1961 - WDC 7th place, best finish 3rd in France, 3rd in Netherlands.
(note, was involved in TERRIBLE crash with Wolfgang von Tripps in his Ferrari at Monza. Tripps was killed, along with fifteen spectators)
1962 - WDC 2nd place, best finish 1st Belgium, GBR, USA
1963 - WDC 1st place, best finish WON every race except Monaco, Germany, and USA!!!

So, you could say that he started somewhat slower than Hamilton. You could also say that by the above standards, we should give Hamilton 3-4 years and a few mistakes before passing final judgement.

also +++ on the over-publicity. Similar in a way to Danica Patrick. Let's try to see past it.

James

BTW, Jim - I really did not know you could fry an Egear clutch by bad technique! And here I thought they had taken all the fun out of it with the paddles.

 

You have to read the owners manual very carefully. Basically the brake becomes the clutch. You put one foot on the brake, put the car in gear, and bring the revs to 5K. You step off the brake and plant the throttle. BUT EVERY BRAND IS DIFFERENT AND YOU HAVE TO READ THE MANUAL. I personally don't recommend trying one on any car without an wet clutch like a Veyron.

 

I don't think he is overreated. He almost won WDC as a rookie, and he won the first race of the year. That's pretty damn good, IMHO. Only time will tell if he is a Jacques Villeneuve or a Michael Schumacher.

 

This may be a stupid question...wet clutch?

 

Wikipedia is your friend:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clutch#Wet_and_dry
Wet and dry
"A 'wet clutch' is immersed in a cooling lubricating fluid, which also keeps the surfaces clean and gives smoother performance and longer life. Wet clutches, however, tend to lose some energy to the liquid. A 'dry clutch', as the name implies, is not bathed in fluid. Since the surfaces of a wet clutch can be slippery (as with a motorcycle clutch bathed in engine oil), stacking multiple clutch disks can compensate for slippage."

 

It's too early to tell if he will be great, but there are a few indicators:

1) His record pre-F1. It's incredible.
2) Race craft - GP2 in Turkey - last to first in the feature. His passing was out of this world - Senna at Donnington-esque
3) His Top Gear F1 Star in a reasonable car time. In the wet, no less, his time was very near the Stig's dry best.
4) I had the pleasure of meeting him about 3-4 years ago, and he tutored me a few laps in a Caterham. Around a tighy little handling circuit, he managed to take 10 seconds of my laptime in just 5 laps of tuition. Simply stunning.

He was also humble, personable and genuine. I told him it was an honour to be instructed by him then, and that he'd be a world champion one day. He was embarrassed and said "I've not even got a drive for next year yet!"

I'm a true Tifosi, but This guy is the real deal.

 

It happens quite regularly. Check out last month's Road & Track. There was a charity karting race with a number of top name drivers participating, including several current F1 drivers.

Massa finished 62nd out of 66...

 

Excellent post! This is the truth.

 

Hey let's tell the whole story now, Massa had mechanical problems throughout that race.

 

Oh, so the excuses aren't limited to just his F1 races, I see...

 

I challenge a thread free of Massa-bashing.
anyone else having f1 withdrawal? 2 more weeks...

 

It's only "just 'cause of the car" when he wins, eh?

Impossible. Ask some people on this forum "Where's the nearest gas station?", and they'd turn it into Massa bashing.

What would they cry when a wolf really does show up?