[suman]

Originally Posted by srishiva

Really ? Almost won the championship on debut. Leading the championship in the second year.

Come on, its not luck.

His arrogance & attitude would be tolerated by all if he actually had a championship under his belt. He has a long way to go yet. Unfortunately, "almosts" don't count.

Oh & yes - he needs to be a better loser; he sulks like a 5 year old when he cannot make pole, I mean, come on........

[akrish01]

Originally Posted by speedzak

Guys! I still cannot get the story behind how Hamilton screwed up!
Too aggressive on tires? That's how he screwed it up?
I think there could be a more better reason/answer for the word SCREWED.

And he deserved it because he is a bit haut for me!
Is it something called jealousy? Just seeing another team's driver having some qualities of one of Ferrari's early driver?

Speedzak, I think the use of the word "SCREWED" is perfectly justified since Hamilton had no one else to blame for the tyre failure but himself. Hamilton did not know the limits of his car or to be precise, the limits of his tyres and pushed too hard and in the process, "Overcooked" them. Tyre failures have become extremely rare in F1 and Hamilton seems to have a knack of making his tyres fail every now and then by pushing it too far.

Massa was plain unlucky. He drove a fantastic race, as Jai said, making Hamilton eat humble pie, by overtaking him right at the start and thereafter, there was nothing Hamilton could do but watch Massa pull away from him. It was a good comeback from Massa after the Hockenheim drubbing but when his engine went up in smoke, just 3 laps from the finish, it was sheer bad luck.

And by the way, If you were to make a list of Schumi haters, I would be on top of that list. I'm not jealous of Hamilton. I just don't like his attitude - He's too full of himself. This is my honest opinion.

Krishnan

[im_srini]

Hi guys, I'm not sure if a separate thread is warranted, but was just going through the latest update of the 2009 F1 Technical Regulations & was stumped by article 3.18 (which wasn't there in the previous version of the 2009 regulations)...

[3.18 Driver adjustable bodywork:
A single closed section situated each side of car center line in the volume bounded by:
- lines 450mm and 800mm in front of the front wheel center line;
- a vertical plane which intersects these lines at a distance 250mm from the car center line;
- and the inboard face of the bodywork described in Article 3.7.5;
is allowed to change incidence while the vehicle is in motion within a maximum range of 6 degrees, provided any such change maintains compliance with all of the bodywork dimensional regulations. Alteration of the incidence of these sections must be made simultaneously and may only be commanded by direct driver input and controlled using the control electronics specified in Article 8.2. Except when the car is in the pit lane, a maximum of two adjustments may be made within any single lap of a circuit.]

In essence this means that drivers next year can move bits of the front wing about (albeit only twice per lap) to gain an advantage ! With the addition of KERS, slick tires, & minus the fins, antlers, dumbo-ears, & other aero paraphernalia, racing next year could be very very interesting !

[speedzak]

For all those who crib about Hamilton being a sore loser, I found this article interesting.
BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Hamilton sees positives in defeat

Now, guys!! Hit me or do what.. But I am a Hamilton fan and sorry for pushing my point.

[Sandeep_K_Ram]

Originally Posted by speedzak

........
Remember the last race of Michael when he got a puncture? Did he deserve it?
Definitely not. It was pure bad luck. We all were sad.

Michaels last race was very weird. He had problems all through that weekend. And that incident where he had a puncture is really not comparable to Hamiltons problems. Purely because - he had a puncuture coz Fisichellas front wing just sheared into the sidewall of michaels LHS rear tyre - it was something that happened during overtaking.

But Hamilton has issues with these tyres - its not the first time. Maybe this will lend you a better idea -
autosport.com - the Daily Grapevine: F1: Paddock Life - Hungaroring edition

I not so many words, the boss of Bridgestone motorsports talks about Hamilton and MAssa being hard on the machinery.



Well my point is - Lews is being very hard on the machine to do great things - he reallly really wrings the neck of the car. Many great drivers have been like that - think Schumacher,Senna, Mansell (my god he was a brute)...and of late Montoya and Villeneuve. A side-effect of that is the occasional failure as we have seen. Maybe Lewis can do better with knowing how much to push - surely he will do that with experience.

[finneyp]

Zak, I guess you would have gone to Mumbai recently to meet your favourite F1 racer!

But, you quoted the wrong website, it is no secret that British media hail Hamilton as the greatest Champion of F1 racing even before he is one!
So, take their views with a pinch of salt!

[tifosikrishna]

Originally Posted by speedzak

Now, guys!! Hit me or do what.. But I am a Hamilton fan and sorry for pushing my point.

Zak,

Did you remember sepang 07, every lap when hamilton turned into the last left-hander after running at full clip in the back-straight, he braked hard and smoked his tires. in fact we were discussing that he might lose the grip in due course, but it never happened. however nobody else was including alonso was locking the brakes as hamilton did.

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by srishiva

Has there been anyone so successful and good like Hamilton at his age in F1 history ?
There is some bit of jealousy I guess for his achievements.

Originally Posted by srishiva

Really ? Almost won the championship on debut. Leading the championship in the second year.

Come on, its not luck.

Yes, two drivers actually, one with striking similarities to Hamilton's career path till now, his name you might ask? Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve. Won the '95 CART championship, '95 Indy 500 & runner up in the '96 F1 championship. His age at the time? 25 years. He lost to Damon Hill in the final GP of the season but recovered to win the '97 title.

What happened to him after that season?? Don't ask, Williams lost the Renault engines & so became uncompetitive, he moved to BAR (British American Racing) in '99 & then on to Renault in '04 & subsequently on to Sauber in '05 (Where he was outclassed by an unknown & inexperienced team mate named Felipe Massa) who were then bought out by BMW in '06. After a poor 7 point in 11 races, he was replaced by Robert Kubica & he left F1 for good.

What is most interesting to note is that after the '97 title he never won a GP or even finished amongst the top three drivers for the next 9 years!

The other driver's history is even more interesting, his name Micheal Schumacher. Won his first driver's title at the age of 24 years in 1994 with the Benetton team. What he went on to do subsequently is the stuff of legends.

However, MS was not known to have such a hoighty-toighty attitude at the start of his career & neither was he so hard on the cars he drove. If he did develop an attitude after winning 3 or 5 or say 7 championships, I daresay we can't blame him for that.

In closing, I'll give Hamilton the due credit when he "Proves" himself on the racetrack & not on the basis of the British media making a Demi-God out of him. You might be the greatest driver ever, but if you don't have the statistics to back you up, nobody's gonna remember you in time. I mean how many of you even know of a driver called Stefan Bellof?

[speedzak]

Who is Stephan what?

Getting a 2nd place (in championship points) in the first year of F1 is something. Ain't it?
But why does everybody think Hamilton is so haughty? What is the reason for everybody to say that? What exactly did he do?
No! I really don't know guys! :

[Dine]

Originally Posted by speedzak

Who is Stephan what?

Getting a 2nd place (in championship points) in the first year of F1 is something. Ain't it?
But why does everybody think Hamilton is so haughty? What is the reason for everybody to say that? What exactly did he do?
No! I really don't know guys! :

Speedzak, Hamilton was home grown by McLaren, not out of woods. While others started from a small team and moved up. Lets wait and watch for one more year, then we can comment. Last year the McLaren cars were too good (it was never their cup of tea).
When Kimi was in Mclaren, he had to quit the race due to problems with the car.
Everyone has his high and lows, you can watch Alonso, couldn't make it this year due to low performing car

[jraj]

Zak,seems you are smitten by the Hamilton bug :-)
I hate him because of his big mouth.Thanks to the British press,he thinks he is already a legend.Dont you think its too early.
And pls no comparisons with Schumi.Joining an outfit that had forgot how to win and then making them THE BEST by building a team is a lot different than what LM has done till now.I am eagerly waiting for the Mclaren of 2004-2005 to return(when they had so many reliability issues-I do remember Kimi's gearbox giving away in one such race when he was just 1-2 laps away from victory)and then see how Hamilton copes.Even now,he has done better only when he starts from front row.
"Lewis Hamilton has vowed that Felipe Massa won't overtake him again after the Ferrari driver made him eat his words by forcing his way past his startled McLaren rival at the start of the Hungarian GP".
More here Hamilton: It won't happen again - Planet-F1 News - from planet-f1.com
Schumi,might have made some dubious acts on the field,but off the field I never ever remember him making such statements.Its a different story altogether that,even if he did,my memory is short when it comes to Schumi especially.

[akrish01]

Originally Posted by speedzak

Who is Stephan what?

Getting a 2nd place (in championship points) in the first year of F1 is something. Ain't it?
But why does everybody think Hamilton is so haughty? What is the reason for everybody to say that? What exactly did he do?
No! I really don't know guys! :

Speedzak,

Rewind to Bahrain '08. Hamilton had a problem & had to work his way from the back of the field. In the process, he had to overtake a lot of the backmarkers but there was one difference. He was now racing for position with drivers like fisichella, button etc., who were all much senior to him, in terms of experience. Now, everytime Hamilton overtook one of them, he gestured to them with one had, thumb pointed to the back, as if to say, "You belong there". That was extremely disrespectful & showed how heavy headed he was, in just his 2nd year in F1.

He also ran into the back of Kimi's car in the Montreal pit lane but there was no apology. He just brushed it aside as a "Racing incident".

Then recently, there was this brush with his own countryman, Button in a press conference where he was boasting that he was the fittest man in F1. Button asked him to compete against him in an endurance race which Hamilton first agreed but then backed off citing season commitments.

He's got everything - typical British attitude but all this is extremely irritating when he's yet to win a championship. The Brits (they're all over 1) are celebrating him as the greatest F1 driver of all time already. Let's wait & see if he lives up to the billing or just crumbles under their immense expectations.

Krishnan

[Aditya]

Originally Posted by akrish01

Rewind to Bahrain '08. Hamilton had a problem & had to work his way from the back of the field. In the process, he had to overtake a lot of the backmarkers but there was one difference. He was now racing for position with drivers like fisichella, button etc., who were all much senior to him, in terms of experience. Now, everytime Hamilton overtook one of them, he gestured to them with one had, thumb pointed to the back, as if to say, "You belong there". That was extremely disrespectful & showed how heavy headed he was, in just his 2nd year in F1.

Typical winner's attitude if you ask me. The guy has a hunger for winning and dosen't care who is in his way. I like that.

He also ran into the back of Kimi's car in the Montreal pit lane but there was no apology. He just brushed it aside as a "Racing incident".

Like, "Oh sorry. It was not my fault."
We've seen worse accidents without any apologies tendered.

[dkhatau]

In formula one there is no such thing as luck, then every other driver would have won a race once in there life time. Its purely about performance and the best man on the day wins. So Heiki won and he deserved to win. And the guy who is consistent through out wins the championship. This year my bet is still on kimi winning at the end of the year.

[speedzak]

All this hue and cry only when it's committed by Hamilton?
What about others?

Come on! I see all the incidents above with truckloads of salt and part of the great circus called F1. Not that I cannot live without a Hamilton win.