From Autosport, today: Lewis Hamilton considered quitting McLaren, and even Formula 1, over the controversy surrounding his exclusion from last week's Australian Grand Prix, according to a report in The Sunday Times newspaper. The newspaper claims that the world champion was talked out of walking away from the sport by FIA president Max Mosley, after Hamilton contacted the governing body to express his frustration that McLaren had misled him over the affair. The Briton was disqualified from the Melbourne results after the stewards deemed he and McLaren sporting director Dave Ryan had 'deliberately misled' them about a radio conversation that took place after he had passed Toyota driver Jarno Trulli behind the safety car. Hamilton and his father Anthony are reported to have been furious that his public perception had been tarnished by the affair, and both apparently insisted McLaren allow him to take the unprecendented step of holding a press conference in the FIA media centre so he could come clean about the situation. He subsequently made an emotional open apology to the stewards and his fans. "I was misled and that is the way it went," he told the press. "I would like to say a big sorry to all my fans who have believed in me, who have supported me for years, who I showed who I am for the past three years, and it is who I am. I am not a liar. I am not a dishonest person. Bernie Ecclestone told the Daily Mail: "Lewis is terribly upset but his father is even more upset having his son called a cheat. Anthony has brought Lewis up not to be like that and he is disappointed somebody has called him a liar when he isn't deliberately lying." Hamilton's future with McLaren now remains unclear. BBC commentator Martin Brundle pointed out in his Sunday Times column today that the 24-year-old could walk free from his multi-year contract citing a breach on the team's behalf. "McLaren could also now be perceived to be in breach of Lewis's contract for bringing him into disrepute especially as a senior team member has taken the whole rap," said Brundle, who raced for McLaren in 1994. "This would make him a free agent if he wanted to move teams." Brundle also suggested that the scandal may stay with Hamilton forever. "The Briton's reputation has understandably taken a battering but a sense of perspective is required here. "He will recover from this in time but he will have to live with the stigma in perpetuity, just as [Michael] Schumacher does. It will always be mentioned in his epitaph."
I thought this was an April Fools joke. Maybe Mosely promised to invite Lewis to some of his parties. Gotta be a publicity stunt to generate consternation from his fans. If he is really that much of a wimp he needs to man-up, face the music and do his job for crying out loud.
You know Phil, none of us know the guy. He might be genuine, or he might be the complete prick the press and the majority of the paddock thinks he is. I have no idea. But you are correct, he should just accept his mistake, his punishment, and move on and do his best. Only one person at McLaren was the problem, so he should not blame the entire team. The thought of quitting really sounds childish.
Quitting??? Cmon, Lewis gets paid 20 or 30 million a year to do something where people would pay more than that to do. To even consider quitting is a disrespect to his father who has sacrificed a lot and McLaren who have trained him. This affair has been mishandled by McLaren though and mistakes like this cost teams WDC/WCCs.
McLaren are going to pay more for this I believe. A look at Whitmarsh's statements post race suggest nothing stopped at Davey Ryan. The FIA has made a statement that can be summed up as LH is off the hook but McLaren may still get a visit to the WMSC. We are now awaiting reports from the FIA observer and stewards before consideration can be given to further investigation of his team's conduct, the spokesman added. We cannot rule out the matter being referred to the World Motor Sport Council at this stage. http://www.crash.net/Formula+One/News/144835/1/fia_mclaren_put_hamilton_in_impossible_position.html
Sounds like another play to McLaren that he might jump ship to another team. Thats twice in the past week when he said earlier that he'd be "open" to hearing other team's interest in him.
$$$$$$!!! Mosley would be a fool to let him leave. For the record, I agree with you about lying being intolerable. It's just that the people crucifying the driver for lying don't appear to be very forthright with the fans. That just sticks in my craw. Also, they let lying and cheating go in some cases, but punish it harshly in others. Just be consistent, that's all I ask. The FIA involvement over the last 3-4 seasons seems to be anything but consistent, in my opinion. I don't remember feeling so frustrated watching the series as I have the last few years. That's my beef with the situation, for the record.
Alright sorry if i'm inept or something, but what exactly is all the fuss about? What exactly did Hamilton/McLaren do? The stepneygate stuff was pretty easy to understand, but could someone explain what all the fuss is about right now?
So did I. This presents an opportunity to compare eras--somehow I don't see drivers from the 60s - 80s thinking about quitting because of something like this. More likely they'd put their fist in someone's nose.
From Autosport the other day: THE FULL FIA HAMILTON/STEWARD'S DECISION -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At the first hearing following the Australian Grand Prix the Stewards did not have the benefit of the radio exchanges between driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and his Team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes nor did they have access to the comments to the Media given by Lewis Hamilton immediately after the end of the race. From the video recordings available to the Stewards during the hearing it appeared that Jarno Trulli's car left the track and car No 1 moved into third place. It then appeared that Trulli overtook Hamilton to regain third place, which at the time was prohibited as it was during the Safety Car period. During the hearing, held approximately one hour after the end of the race, the Stewards and the Race Director questioned Lewis Hamilton and his Team Manager David Ryan specifically about whether there had been an instruction given to Hamilton to allow Trulli to overtake. Both the driver and the Team Manager stated that no such instruction had been given. The Race Director specifically asked Hamilton whether he had consciously allowed Trulli to overtake. Hamilton insisted that he had not done so. The new elements presented to the Stewards several days after the 2009 Australian Grand Prix which led to the reconvened Stewards Meeting clearly show that: a. Immediately after the race and before Lewis Hamilton attended the Stewards Meeting he gave an interview to the Media where he clearly stated that the Team had told him to let Trulli pass. b. Furthermore, the radio exchanges between the driver and the Team contain two explicit orders from the Team to let the Toyota pass. The Stewards, having learned about the radio exchanges and the Media interview, felt strongly that they had been misled by the driver and his Team Manager which led to Jarno Trulli being unfairly penalised and Lewis Hamilton gaining third place. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Furthermore, both Hamilton and Martin Whitmarsh admitted that false and misleading information was intentionally given to the stewards by both Hamilton and Ryan. They lied. The next day Hamilton held a press conference and admitted he was wrong. Not everyone believed he was sincere (http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=238478), as not 'fessing up could of had him suspended from the series the rest of the season. Team Manager David Ryan was "suspended", I have no idea what that means in England. To me it means he will be back some day, fired or terminated is more definitive. Team McLaren will likely get a big fine. Lewis kind of took away from his apology by suggesting he would quit McLaren, and possibly F1. Stay tuned. I hope this brings you up to speed.
Thanks Ron sounds like a pretty good synopsis. IMO it seems like something that shouldn't be a big deal, but what do I know.
IMO, it would be silly if Lewis did quit. I think it's part and parcel of the sport, u get DQ over certain things.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/suspended the phrase is self explanatory but as you didnt understand it put simply, it means they arent going to jump the gun, they will look into it the matter and then decide upon a suitable course of action. that course of action could be a fixed term of suspension without pay or a fine or termination etc etc
Hamilton is only upset that he got caught. Everything since has been a PR campaign to cover it up. This story is just another attempt to explain, excuse, and win some simpathy. Can you imagine what would happened if Tiger Woods was caught cheating on the course during a tournament? That's the problem that Lewis faces now.
Lewis isn't going to quit F1. Too much money to be made yet. Daddy might use it to rewrite a few deals though, depending on how much he's seen to be a better asset than PR liability. We might get an idea of how serious this really is from that. Mercedes must be getting sick of being regularly covered in crap by now, surely.
I never mentioned Alonso... I still don't like the idea of him ever being with Ferrari...IMO he is bad for the sport, but has shown a few small signs of keeping his mouth shut. I do think if Brawn GP will get him when RB leaves....when ever that century comes about.
No I mentioned Alonso. Don't see much difference between them really. Except Fred's won two WDC to LH's one and Fred hasn't been a bad role model to thousands of British children. Both exciting drivers but I'd rather Ferrari muddle through without them. If they have to take one I vote Fred.
There are times I feel sorry for Lewis. He's been caught up in an F1 pipeline built for him by McLaren and his dad. But I think he'd personally be happier trash-talkin' with the drifting crowd or flinging a rally car through the gravel. But he doesn't personally have a whole lot of say in the matter. This whole stewards thing just again demonstrates that Lewis is not the master of his own fate. He's being "directed" from both sides: McLaren on one side and his dad on the other. Of *course* he doesn't come across as being genuine. Too many strings attached.
If he did go to another sport then that sports viewing figures would go through the roof. All the nasty bsatards would follow him to pray for him to mess up. Although i dont understand the "drifting" bit. How does drifting correlate to F1?? Regarding the point that he "of course does not seem genuine", how so? Whats that based on? Does the guy have to draw blood for people like you to believe how genuine he is? And i still dont understand all the negativity directed towards the guys dad...very sad.
