Hami charged with Reckless Driving, Car Impounded *edited*

Fixed

 

The difference between Lewis Hamilton and Gilles Villenueve though, is that Gilles was driving fast, Hamilton was just showing off!.

 

Fixed.

 

Hamilton's got balls. He will win the GP.

 

Re-fixed for accuracy

 

No disagreement there.

Just for the record: I'm a big Gilles fan. I'm no Hami fan and I'm sure that Aussie policeman simply didn't recognize him.

I know this is politically incorrect, but I would exempt F1 drivers from traffic laws.

 

Good.

I also believe in personal speed limits based on car handling ability that is tested periodically. Cars should also have different speed limits based on their tested performance. And finally, only qualified drivers should be allowed to drive fast cars on dedicated autobahn lanes.

 

+1, I have to agree. I would guarantee that despite breaking traction, at no point was Hamilton not totally in control of that vehicle.

 

Please run for President...

 

Shoot. You guys are too easy on me. <reeling in my hook>

I had the next argument already lined up.

 

Bagsy PM in the coming election in the UK!

 

Actually, I've been testing the waters here but -to be honest- it isn't looking very good.

 

That's because your waters are friggen ice cold.

Ever noticed how corruption increases the closer you get to the equator?

 

now what's your stand on Health Care? J/k of course

Tifosi12 for President,

 

Yes, I have but I choose to keep quiet about it after a couple of near domestic violence incidents.

 

Guys, since no other Aussie (I think) has chimed in here, I'll try to give some background....

There have been many tragic deaths in Melbourne and Oz generally caused by irresponsible, stupid driving by young drivers - dozens of deaths in the last few months, 5 and 6 deaths in one crash. These have been highly publicised in the media. Despite this, the problem continues - new, very tough laws, severe penalties including jail time ( how about 3 years in the pokey for causing a police car chase?) - granted, a lot of the kids involved in this stuff - and street racing is only part of it -are from the lower end of the evolutionary scale and maybe we should consider this problem to be a form of selective evolution, but lots of innocents get killed too - like the elderly couple who were killed by a provisional driver dragging another car, running a red light.

The Melbourne GP is on shaky ground - it loses 40-50 million each time (the tab gets picked up by the taxpayer) and there are some heavy duty politics, lobbyists and of course the greenies, who want the GP to go away. If it wasn't for Melbourne, there probably wouldn't be an Oz GP at all.

LH's "indescretion" plays right into the hands of the naysayers - apart from convincing the general population that motorsport is for playboys and/or irresponsible idiots who think the law doesn't apply to them. He has done great damage to the whole GP scene in Oz and motorsport at all levels - right down to club level, where I occasionally have some fun. Maybe LH isn't the brightest spark in the bonfire, but he seems to be trying hard to convince a lot of people that he is a complete prat.

So, not only is it entirely appropriate that he apologise (though he seems to be doing this a lot recently) he should offer to make amends by spending some of HIS time lecturing/talking to young offenders and community groups about the folly of dumb driving.

Watch the local press articles - they will be having a fine time - this is the most interesting thing that could happen at the GP - unless Mark Webber wins.

 

Very well put David.

 

A very interesting and informative read up to this point. Then it starts to get silly and exaggerated.
If your country don't want F1 any more it will be a shame for the calendar. But F1s moving on into other virgin country's these days, so the game will continue.

 

My fiancée's extended family in Australia are complaining about the GP in e-mails. Her Uncle Roy wasn't very pleased when his Saturday morning lay in was disrupted by the sound of F1 engines being started and revved at 8:10am. I had no idea they lived that close to the circuit, which is strange for a family that isn't interested in motorsport.

Or do you hear the F1 engines wherever you an in Melbourne?

All the best,
Andrew.

 

I think you can hear them from a reasonable distance. There aren't any hills or so about to kill the sound a little, such as silverstone and barcelona have. Shame they didn't like it...When I lived in Zandvoort I lived right next to the track, every now and then Jan Lammers would test his Le Mans car there (unofficial tests) and even though the Dunes would dampen the sound, it was pretty loud.
Such a shame idiots bought property right next to the track for sweet FA and started to complain about the noise every weekend (its only a very small group that actually complains, all of them losers who haven't quite made it in life, who wanted to live close to the beach but ended up buying property 1/3rd the price next to the track where they can't see the sea). Now Zandvoort only has like 15 'loud' days a year, or 5 weekends.

Oh dear!

Don't get me wrong, like all AMG mercedes I bet it'll be fun to drive, not as precise as say an M BMW, but you'll be laughing like a loonatic hanging the ass out on roundabouts!

I just happen to think its ugly

 

Well, apart from grumbling a bit in a private e-mail, I don't think Nicky's relatives aren't going to do any 'official' complaining about it. They've only just moved recently, so the track has been there long before they were. From what I gathered from the e-mail, most motorsports are easy for them to sleep through, but F1 engines were like an alarm clock.

I wish I was there now... that'd sound great. Even if I couldn't afford to get into the track, I'd put it on the TV and open all the doors and windows to supplement the sound.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Yasmin, thanks for the comment - you would be in a better position to observe, though.

Sambo, I don't think that there is a motorsport enthuasist in Oz who doesn't want the GP here - the Oz GP has a long tradition, going back to the 20's I think. The problem is that it is very political - there are many political and commercial interests that want the GP in various places in Oz , or not at all. Unfortunately the GP has always been subject to political grandstanding and the egos of state government leaders - it is a sad comment on the pariochial nature of government in Oz. The fact that state governments are willingly kow-towing to Ecclestones increasingly outrageous demands is evidence that the GP has long since been a sporting or national pride issue. So long as the leader of a government who is in electoral difficulties is able to deflect real issues with a sideshow like the GP, then we will always suffer from the vagaries of the media. Thats why it is important that LH should have been on his best behavior and needed to appear as an ambassador, rather than another clown with a heavy right foot and more money than brains.

It really could have a far reaching effect - in Sydney we were blessed with 3 circuits, now we only have one - that no clubs can afford for small events. Despite all the calls (and some well founded and justified) for driver education, does the owners of the one circuit ( the government, at last count) offer a discount for educational use? not a cent!
Does the media pick this up as a disgrace? - of course not; reporting deaths, police car chases and politicians caught DUI is much more entertaining..

 

Ok Dave456, well put and i now see your points.

 

It was a silver C63 AMG, been shown on the news here over and over again.

Some amatuer video at the scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adQoG_pZpx4

 

Thanks.

Healthcare needed reform. So I'm glad the bill got passed. Sadly the reform is only half baked: What really is required is government control of the cost side, which this doesn't achieve. But you can't expect that in a country where lobbying is legal.

Sorry for the off topic rant, back to the thread at hand:

I always thought of Australia as the land of the free and a place where men had balls. Crocodile Dundee is my hero and image of a real Australian. So it is shocking and disappointing to hear that this wonderful country and continent has been invaded by tree huggers and lefties.

I totally understand your point and I'm sure you are right, but it is so wrong and sad.

F1 is for playboys and the law should not apply to them. Just my opinion. James Hunt, Gilles Villeneuve, Eddie Irvine, Clay Regazzoni and a donut driving Hamilton with a Nicole Sherzinger as his playmate are my heroes.

Too bad the police of political correctness has discovered Australia too. I should have known better since it was the green environmentalists who canned the Adelaide GP. Bummer.