[ashok_lat]

Out of all these i see Narin Karthikeyan with decent & consistent performance. Hope HRT can improve there cars further in the upcoming races.

[StarrySky]

Maybe Ferrari/McLaren have got closer to RB because RB is now concentating on optimising their car for the non-EBD phase of the championship starting at Silverstone.

I also suspect that the importance of this technology is being over-stated and over-estimated in the media. Since it affects all major manufacturer teams (Ferrari/McLaren/Merc/Renault), I can't see the big guys agreeing to these changes in the middle of the season unless they are confident of retaining their top positions even after the ban.

[PuntoMania]

Originally Posted by Newpunter

Ah, I have been crying for years now on this topic. Steve Slater should have been fired long back. I can't believe ESPN Star cannot find a more competent commentator. Chris Goodwin was awesome, but i heard he is busy with his racing career. Karun Chandok would make a good commentator if he can cut down on his "Bernie told me this....", "I was talking to Berni last night..." comments. Meanwhile, they can atleast promote Alex Yoong to full time commenting. He might not be as enthusiastic as Steve Slater, but atleast he has the knowledge and doesn't make mistakes.

Totally agreed with this. I get irritated each time he picks up the microphone. He makes atleast 5 major mistakes every race. In Canada his commentary when he confused Rosberg for a Williams takes the cake really.

BTW, in almost every dry race watch out for these comments :
1. "You can almost see him willing the car on with his head for the extra two tenths" : Yeah,as if your head was able to give you 2/10s.

And towards the end
2. "This race has taken a lot out of the drivers, now you can see how <insert driver name> he is resting his head on the sidewall of his car because his neck is tired" When actually the pilot is racing exactly in the car in the same position as he was in lap one.

Originally Posted by mayankk

That is because hamilton's a perceived threat for most drivers..
but surprisingly you will not see vettel fans here bashing him
you'll see fans of schumie, who was a legend in his own right, and heeded the call of going out while on top.
he'll forever be remembered for his greatness and his, ahem, follies....
its the eternal battle of ferrari vs mclaren.
you wont hear anyone talking about his current greatness at mercedes...

without people like him and schumie, taking chances and messing up at times, you'd think f1 was being driven by accountants!
so far the season has been monotonous, except for hamilton's antics!

I am sorry this is rubbish. Lewis Hamilton has a long long way to go to be even considered in the same league as the likes of Schumacher, Senna, Prost et all. He's not done nearly enough to be considered as an all time great.

BTW, just so you know, Lewis is the most penalized driver in F1 since 2007. Doesnt exactly augur well for one who always thinks he's "super fair" because he simply is not.
Make no mistake, every F1 fan enjoys his aggressive driving, but there are many times when he goes over the limit of what is "acceptable" driving. And his constant I-am-so-great-I-feel-like-God comments in the media are irritating to anyone who has ever watched this sport.

BTW, I think Lewis cracks a lot under pressure. He lost the 2007 championship, nearly binned the 2008 one, and now he's unable to handle the pressure of Vettel taking away all his glory and replacing him as the numero uno driver in F1. He's a superb driver, but has a massive tendency to crack when a bit of pressure is applied.

[mgh]

This is not the first time that Button has made the right call on tyres in a rain-affected race, when it mattered.
Force India needs a more innovative technical team to improve the car, and better race strategy, even to finish 7th as they did last year. The way they are going, they will likely finish ninth, just ahead of the newer teams.
At the moment, their need is a much better car.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by PuntoMania

I am sorry this is rubbish. Lewis Hamilton has a long long way to go to be even considered in the same league as the likes of Schumacher, Senna, Prost et all. He's not done nearly enough to be considered as an all time great.

BTW, just so you know, Lewis is the most penalized driver in F1 since 2007. Doesnt exactly augur well for one who always thinks he's "super fair" because he simply is not.
Make no mistake, every F1 fan enjoys his aggressive driving, but there are many times when he goes over the limit of what is "acceptable" driving. And his constant I-am-so-great-I-feel-like-God comments in the media are irritating to anyone who has ever watched this sport.

BTW, I think Lewis cracks a lot under pressure. He lost the 2007 championship, nearly binned the 2008 one, and now he's unable to handle the pressure of Vettel taking away all his glory and replacing him as the numero uno driver in F1. He's a superb driver, but has a massive tendency to crack when a bit of pressure is applied.

Appreciated.
Can i introduce you to mr. Point-of-view, and Mr. opinion?

[PuntoMania]

Originally Posted by mayankk

Appreciated.
Can i introduce you to mr. Point-of-view, and Mr. opinion?

An opinion is one thing is this is not one of them, infact this is just slander :

"without people like him and schumie, taking chances and messing up at times, you'd think f1 was being driven by accountants!"

There are brilliant drivers on this grid like Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and (the injured) Robert Kubica who will give Hamilton a run for his money throughout his career. You're trying to make it out as though there is only Lewis and then there is everyone else. Let me remind you that although Lewis is definitely in the top league of drivers on this grid, he is not miles better than the rest as you're trying to make it out to be. He has a lot to prove to show he is the best on this grid alone, let alone being an alltime great.
Regards

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by MaserQ

Ferrari were hoping for rain but given how close they are to Vettel, now i'm sure they would prefer a dry race.

In theory, the Ferrari aero is its weakness and hence lower grip, but Alonso is a driver who is supremely confident in the wet, so lets see....

Canada comprises of long straights and slow chicanes - no quick corners, therefore dependence on aero is reduced (thats why gap to red bull too was reduced)

[ajmat]

Interesting article on how Lewis is getting frustrated

It is Hamilton's burning rage to win that is causing him to overdrive slower car - Motor Racing, Sport - The Independent

[PuntoMania]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Interesting article on how Lewis is getting frustrated

It is Hamilton's burning rage to win that is causing him to overdrive slower car - Motor Racing, Sport - The Independent

That is typical British media spin :
1. Hamilton is being compared to Gilles Villeneuve. This is complete lunacy. The author has no idea what he's talking about. Gilles Villeneuve is probably the most talented driver to have ever sat inside an F1 car. He was also simply the best combination of a hard + fair racing driver, never once has he been accused of causing a collision deliberately by his co-drivers unlike Senna, Schumacher or Hamilton. Not once. For the motor racing die hards here the book "Gilles Villeneuve:the life of a legendary racing driver" is a MUST read. Lewis is not a patch on the legend they call Gilles.

2. The author's contention that the Red Bull is a mighty car is also flawed. Red Bull are behind Mclaren on race pace in many races this year. Look at Mark Webber, he almost always finds himself behind one or both the Mclarens. In 1988,1993,2002,2004 or 2009, when there truly was a dominant car on the grid, there were a series of races where the dominant car finished one-two. How many times has it happened this year ? Once ?

This constant effort by the Brits of trying to project Lewis as this other worldy driver is really really wrong.

[good.car-ma]

Originally Posted by anachronix

Atleast Michael was not stupid to go crash to the pitwall!

Did I see Jacques Villeneuve giving a hand to Lewis in Canada!?

Anachronix, you are a distinguished BHPian and we value your posts because you are usually unbiased. Please don't resort to fanboy-ism. Defending MS is ok, lets not scoff at other members to take up his cause

Originally Posted by RacingForIndia

Yes, Michael was wise enough to Park in the middle of the last corner at Monaco (if you as me it was a "soft" crash).

Jokes apart, I think Michael is a quick driver and would have been respected more had he not tried the some of his antics. What I am not comfortable with is that I am sucked into calling him names to defend a pilot whom I support.
Lets discuss Montreal on here, and if you want to discuss MS, I can open a thread and sit down with my diary.

Maybe we should begin a thread as you said, but I dont believe the Michael Schumacher - good or bad guy discussion will ever be solved!! So let us discuss particular incidents, enough has been said about the past.

Maybe he will do something silly and try to ram someone in the next race but in Canada, he drove an excellent race and exploited the fact Brawn gave him a good strategy, Massa and Kobayashi were squabbling, JB and MW underestimated him. That was clever driving so lets not take that away, whatever personal opinion on him may be.

Originally Posted by anachronix

And like what Senna did to Prost in Japan? I am sure you must be carrying another diary for that!


Nothing more than the antics what Ron & Co wanted to do to kill Michael in Spa 98!


Calling him names? Are you talking about this thread or you are trying to get me into calling someone names?

Senna-Prost rivalry had a different background altogether. Im not defending the times he tried to take Prost off but his reasons were different. Lets not get into that.

Ron & Co wanted to kill Michael?? Please enlighten me, i dont seem to recall anything of the sort!!

As i said, it is unbecoming of a distinguished BHPian to resort to such statements so please dont call names and post fairly as u always do

Originally Posted by jraj

If you think that Wheel to wheel racing was a term which came into existence because of guys like Lewis,then I have nothing more to say to you.

Couldnt agree more!!!

Originally Posted by bhagathgowda

I don’t understand why everyone is making a big issue with the way Hamilton drives. He was racing just like anyone else, of course with a different style.

At least in Canada, 2011 I don’t see any unnecessary moves made by Hamilton.

With Webber, Webber has the outside line on turn one which is actually the inside line for turn 2, I don’t know why Webber had to change lines there.

With Button, he saw a gap and attacked it, unfortunately due to visibility issues button could not see Hamilton, and hence both collided.

Not sure why people want the drivers to just overtake under DRS or using strategy or in the event the front runner makes a mistake, let them fight it out on track its fun to watch and that is real motor racing.

And why isn’t anyone taking about Alonso’s crash with Button, clearly Button was on the racing line, agreed Alonso was in front but was on the wrong line. He tried to comeback and crashed into Button, and visibility was better than the time when the McLaren’s had the contact.

There is a huge difference between aggressive driving and dangerous driving. Aggressive overtaking is what Jenson Button did in the last few laps of the race. Dangerous driving is Hamilton's driving since 2007 - too many incidents to list.

Maybe the incident with JB was a genuine racing incident but that doesnt mean he isnt dangerous and sometimes desperate. we have debated enough about that on the Monaco thread.

People arent talking about FA-JB incident since it is rare to see eiother of these driviers involved in a controversial crash. With Hamilton its not once-in-how-many-races, its how-many-times-per-race.

Last, real motor racing doesnt need to involve hitting other cars. Please see the Japanese GP 2010 for a demonstration from Kamui Kobayashi about how to overtake.

Originally Posted by ashok_lat

Out of all these i see Narin Karthikeyan with decent & consistent performance. Hope HRT can improve there cars further in the upcoming races.

i saulte your patriotism

Originally Posted by PuntoMania

Totally agreed with this. I get irritated each time he picks up the microphone.....

Slater has standard phrases like mano-a-mano, magic, neck is resting etc.. From what i remember, he has always bingled. One of the incidents that sticks in my memory is the French GP 2000 where he claimed that Mika Hakkinen's Ferrari had beaten David Coulthard's McLaren (note: it was DC lapping a Minardi)

BBC commentary is not much better either. EJ and DC spout rubbish and the less said about Brundle the better. Its just that it sounds very informative and insightful to those who are used to Steve Slater's rubbish.

[anachronix]

Originally Posted by good.car-ma

Anachronix, you are a distinguished BHPian and we value your posts because you are usually unbiased. Please don't resort to fanboy-ism. Defending MS is ok, lets not scoff at other members to take up his cause

News to me really

Fanboy-ism? Can you help me pointing out please?

Scoff at other members? Need your help again!

Hamilton is as close as becoming the next Jacques. Got the pure talent of a racing driver but he is completely losing it because of his attitude on track. The Mclaren defenitely had the pace to fight for a win, its his attitude that got him to the wall! Not that he was pushing hard on a slow Mclaren! Thats strongly my opinion.

Most people who have a clue about racing will understand how important it is to stay on the racing line on a wet race. Button did just that and never expected his teammate to put his nose there!

Did you really forget about what happened in Spa? DC slowing down in the racing line on a wet Spa GP in 98 to get MS to crash into him. Later DC confessed that he slowed down in the racing line on purpose!

[RacingForIndia]

Originally Posted by good.car-ma

Maybe we should begin a thread as you said, but I dont believe the Michael Schumacher - good or bad guy discussion will ever be solved!! So let us discuss particular incidents, enough has been said about the past.

I am not to keen on starting one either.
Anyways, this thread and topic is closed as far as I am concerned. Looking forward to the next race already.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by PuntoMania

An opinion is one thing is this is not one of them, infact this is just slander :

"without people like him and schumie, taking chances and messing up at times, you'd think f1 was being driven by accountants!"

There are brilliant drivers on this grid like Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and (the injured) Robert Kubica who will give Hamilton a run for his money throughout his career. You're trying to make it out as though there is only Lewis and then there is everyone else. Let me remind you that although Lewis is definitely in the top league of drivers on this grid, he is not miles better than the rest as you're trying to make it out to be. He has a lot to prove to show he is the best on this grid alone, let alone being an alltime great.
Regards

Slander?
really?
on a forum, heaven forbid!
like i said, wordplay is not something i want to get into a discussion about.
For me,there is only one team on the grid, that is mclaren.
For me, then are the drivers for mclaren.
And then (for me) there is everybody else.
I hope that clears things up.

waiting now for the next race.

[good.car-ma]

Originally Posted by anachronix

News to me really

Fanboy-ism? Can you help me pointing out please?

Scoff at other members? Need your help again!

Hamilton is as close as becoming the next Jacques. Got the pure talent of a racing driver but he is completely losing it because of his attitude on track. The Mclaren defenitely had the pace to fight for a win, its his attitude that got him to the wall! Not that he was pushing hard on a slow Mclaren! Thats strongly my opinion.

Most people who have a clue about racing will understand how important it is to stay on the racing line on a wet race. Button did just that and never expected his teammate to put his nose there!

Did you really forget about what happened in Spa? DC slowing down in the racing line on a wet Spa GP in 98 to get MS to crash into him. Later DC confessed that he slowed down in the racing line on purpose!

I leave it to your discretion. If you feel you've been fair and respectful, i wont bring it up again.

Regarding Spa 98, it was 100% DC's fault but to say they tried to kill MS is absolute bs.

The instruction from the pitwall (Ron & Co) to DC was to let Michael Schumacher through.
DC obeyed and lifted but didnt move off the racing line. MS didnt see him in the spray and hit him.

As far as "admitting" is concerned, DC only said that it was his mistake that he lifted on the racing line and that he wouldnt do that again if it were now. He never said "oh i tried to kill michael schumacher, thats why i lifted on the racing line". He openly said that it was his stupidity that although he lifted he hadnt moved off the racing line, nothing about wanting to get hit by MS.

The only people who thought DC was trying to kill MS were the man himself and his fans. In blind anger "What are you trying to f****** kill me?" was what he said.

Referring to the first part of my previous post, i expected that you would be part of the objective group who saw DC's stupidity rather the fanboy group who imagined Ron & Co.'s murderous intent.

[StarrySky]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Interesting article on how Lewis is getting frustrated

It is Hamilton's burning rage to win that is causing him to overdrive slower car - Motor Racing, Sport - The Independent

I'm not convinced. Slower car? Hamilton's own team mate survived 5 (or 6?) pitstops and came from behind (21st to 1st!!) to WIN the grand prix - overtaking both RBs on track in the process. Makes you wonder what Hamilton could've achieved if he had shown a bit more patience in the beginning.

The car is clearly slower in qualifying, but it's not too far away in the race. Hamilton himself won in China, ran Vettel really close in Spain, Button was clearly fast in Monaco and they won in Canada.

The article seems to be simply an attempt to justify/glorify Hamilton's mistakes by blaming the car. All good about burning rage to win, but it seems the rage is blinding him at the moment.