Yeah, in a sport like Formula 1 the very concept that drivers should be 'likeable' I find quite amusing. Every driver on the grid (at least the truly decent ones) is typically petulant, over-confident, prone to whinging and not easy to warm to. And the ones that are 'easier to warm to' are probably just better at putting on the act in front of the cameras.
I don't want to 'like' any F1 driver's personality quite frankly. I want to see them relentlessly competing with each other and letting their performances do the talking. What any driver says when a mic is shoved in their face has never really been any interest to me in all my years of following the sport.
So the amount of hot air you see - especially on internet forums - with people endlessly picking away at Hamilton's perceived negative personality traits (which as far as I can see are no worse than most other drivers) I find all a bit embarrassing.
I agree, take Michael Schumacher, for example, he had an awful attitude towards many drivers on the grid, cheated his way to the top on more than one occasion and had a tendency towards violent outbursts. But he is revered, in many quarters, as the patron Saint of Formula One, as much as he is condemned as the Devil incarnate.
I remember, back in the 1970's, the drivers all used to give very unguarded interviews where they'd moan about stuff, criticise each other and complain about perceived injustices.
Then, towards the end of the 1980's, drivers started getting more "professional" and they'd spend their interviews thanking their team and sponsors and spouting inane shite about "maximising opportunities" etc.
Seems like Hamilton is the one driver who can be relied upon to give more "old-fashioned" style, personal, interviews and I think that surprises a lot of people who've grown up listening to more modern "Ron-speak" interviews.
I think many people have forgotten what it used to be like back in the day. Although there was a bit of bitching and eye-scratching from time to time, but ultimately, most of them were real gentlemen.
I was reminded, recently, of Stirling Moss's performance on and off the track in the fifties. He could have claimed the WDC in 1958, as Hawthorn would have been disqualified in Morocco, for a minor irregularity. Moss, the consummate gentleman, refused to accept the points, stating that he would only be comfortable claiming the title for his performance on the track, rather than because of a bent rule and so lost out on what would have been his greatest achievement, but his honour was intact.
What a total mess. What on earth does Hamilton have to do to get qualifying right? Yes, he's made mistakes but these last two qualifying sessions have been no fault of his own. Two winnable races gone.
It'll be tough for Lewis to get any major points given the way the track is like. This season is becoming more and more like Raikkonen's 2005 season - a car which is very fast but also seems very very fragile in Hamilton's hands.
In an interview, yesterday, he was saying that he just wanted a weekend without any bad luck and then his car catches fire on his installation lap!
Maybe Lewis needs to get rid of any Germans from his pit crew and replace them with Brit's?
It's just not working out at all is it? And it really is yet another gift for Rosberg. Pretty much a slamdunk pole, race win and a sizeable championship lead, unless anything odd happens.
A DNF in the race for Hamilton would really harm his championship, as if it hasn't been harmed enough.
Kimi looking more and more like somebody who's trying to get themselves sacked.
Agree about Kimi, yes the car this year has not been great but his race performances have hardly been good either. Add to that his interviews are just annoying (some may find them funny) but personally I find him immature now.
As for Hamilton, having no luck at all. His Championship hopes are sliding away with every race, if anything though, those double points in the final race are now looking like a good idea!
It was a fuel leak that was the cause. Faulty hose or something not tightened properly. Could happen to anybody I suppose, it just seems to be always happening to the one Merc
Course, when he gives interviews like that, some people will accuse him of not being forthright and then, when he is forthright, he's accused of being whiney and unlikeable.
It was a fuel leak that was the cause. Faulty hose or something not tightened properly. Could happen to anybody I suppose, it just seems to be always happening to the one Merc
Yes indeed, it does seem to be becoming more than strange the way things are panning out. The slower pit stops too, some people will be calling 'dirty tricks' if this carries on! He could be 30 points behind again by 3pm tomorrow, or 39 if he crashes (which is far from unlikely!).
Well, much as I struggle to believe that any driver is put at a deliberate disadvantage, I think the pundits on Sky are being a bit obtuse in the way they're dismissing claims of "conspiracies".
I mean, it's all very well saying "Mercedes want to win the constructors championship so they'd never sabotage Hamilton's car" or "Why would a team pay Hamilton millions and then damage his car so he couldn't win" and that's all probably very true.
It also completely ignores the possibility of a single individual who's a Rosberg supporter doing naughty things to Hamilton's car.
And also, dare I say it, there's always the possibility of somebody in the Merc' garage having the sort of political views which mean he finds the idea of a black guy beating a "pure aryan" unthinkable.
To be clear, I really can't believe that sort of stuff would happen, or I'd like to think that is the case, at least.
I just think it's a bit narrow-minded to dismiss the "conspiracies" based solely on whether it's likely that Merc', as a team, would indulge in such antics.
On that note, as well, although it's probably (hopefully) completely unfounded, I suspect that, as a black guy in a sport filled with white people, and in a German team, there probably are some rather dark thoughts in the back of Lewis' mind at times, which can't be helping things.
I think that the incident was just down to complacency; they did something routine to the fuel system and didn't check everything properly. The fact that it happens a week after the brake disc failure, which as it turns out, wasn't a material/component fault just makes it seem worse than it is.
Still...doesn't make it any easier to bare. Lewis in my view, has been the better driver all season with Nico not being in the lead on merit.
So Merc have no clue as to what's caused the fuel leak, and to make matters worse; the whole car is buggered. As a result, Hamilton now has to start from the pit-lane.
I'm hoping for rain tomorrow so at least Ham can have the appropriate changes made to his setup.
Has a driver ever had such a run of bad 'luck' in so few races? I don't think I've seen a similar catalogue of disaster for any driver in a whole season in the twenty years I've been watching.
I think anyone has got to be naïve, bordering on nuts not to smell a rat here.
In an interview, yesterday, he was saying that he just wanted a weekend without any bad luck and then his car catches fire on his installation lap!
Maybe Lewis needs to get rid of any Germans from his pit crew and replace them with Brit's?
Maybe Lewis' fan boys should wind their necks in. Why can't people like you accept that given the nature of the sport things happen to machinery that ruin your chances.
Well, much as I struggle to believe that any driver is put at a deliberate disadvantage, I think the pundits on Sky are being a bit obtuse in the way they're dismissing claims of "conspiracies".
I mean, it's all very well saying "Mercedes want to win the constructors championship so they'd never sabotage Hamilton's car" or "Why would a team pay Hamilton millions and then damage his car so he couldn't win" and that's all probably very true.
It also completely ignores the possibility of a single individual who's a Rosberg supporter doing naughty things to Hamilton's car.
And also, dare I say it, there's always the possibility of somebody in the Merc' garage having the sort of political views which mean he finds the idea of a black guy beating a "pure aryan" unthinkable.
To be clear, I really can't believe that sort of stuff would happen, or I'd like to think that is the case, at least.
I just think it's a bit narrow-minded to dismiss the "conspiracies" based solely on whether it's likely that Merc', as a team, would indulge in such antics.
On that note, as well, although it's probably (hopefully) completely unfounded, I suspect that, as a black guy in a sport filled with white people, and in a German team, there probably are some rather dark thoughts in the back of Lewis' mind at times, which can't be helping things.
Shameful post, utterly shameful. Implying racism exists and is the reason Hamilton's car has had issues is absolutely pathetic.
Maybe Lewis' fan boys should wind their necks in. Why can't people like you accept that given the nature of the sport things happen to machinery that ruin your chances.
Maybe those who aren't "Lewis' fan boys" should realise that there's nothing wrong with lamenting a driver's run of bad luck, and wind their own necks in?
Shameful post, utterly shameful. Implying racism exists and is the reason Hamilton's car has had issues is absolutely pathetic.
And maybe those people should also read posts fully, including the bit where I clearly said that I can't believe it's possible but that they're the sort of thoughts that are likely to be going through Hamilton's head.
Comments
I agree, take Michael Schumacher, for example, he had an awful attitude towards many drivers on the grid, cheated his way to the top on more than one occasion and had a tendency towards violent outbursts. But he is revered, in many quarters, as the patron Saint of Formula One, as much as he is condemned as the Devil incarnate.
I think many people have forgotten what it used to be like back in the day. Although there was a bit of bitching and eye-scratching from time to time, but ultimately, most of them were real gentlemen.
I was reminded, recently, of Stirling Moss's performance on and off the track in the fifties. He could have claimed the WDC in 1958, as Hawthorn would have been disqualified in Morocco, for a minor irregularity. Moss, the consummate gentleman, refused to accept the points, stating that he would only be comfortable claiming the title for his performance on the track, rather than because of a bent rule and so lost out on what would have been his greatest achievement, but his honour was intact.
Hamilton's car on fire in Q1 before he sets a time
“Mr Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: 'Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action'.”
It'll be tough for Lewis to get any major points given the way the track is like. This season is becoming more and more like Raikkonen's 2005 season - a car which is very fast but also seems very very fragile in Hamilton's hands.
In an interview, yesterday, he was saying that he just wanted a weekend without any bad luck and then his car catches fire on his installation lap!
Maybe Lewis needs to get rid of any Germans from his pit crew and replace them with Brit's?
It's just not working out at all is it? And it really is yet another gift for Rosberg. Pretty much a slamdunk pole, race win and a sizeable championship lead, unless anything odd happens.
A DNF in the race for Hamilton would really harm his championship, as if it hasn't been harmed enough.
Kimi looking more and more like somebody who's trying to get themselves sacked.
Agree about Kimi, yes the car this year has not been great but his race performances have hardly been good either. Add to that his interviews are just annoying (some may find them funny) but personally I find him immature now.
As for Hamilton, having no luck at all. His Championship hopes are sliding away with every race, if anything though, those double points in the final race are now looking like a good idea!
Course, when he gives interviews like that, some people will accuse him of not being forthright and then, when he is forthright, he's accused of being whiney and unlikeable.
Yes indeed, it does seem to be becoming more than strange the way things are panning out. The slower pit stops too, some people will be calling 'dirty tricks' if this carries on! He could be 30 points behind again by 3pm tomorrow, or 39 if he crashes (which is far from unlikely!).
Rosberg locking up and running wide and Magnussen crashing
Red Flag
The Mercedes home market sales benefit of letting Rosberg win must be massive.
I mean, it's all very well saying "Mercedes want to win the constructors championship so they'd never sabotage Hamilton's car" or "Why would a team pay Hamilton millions and then damage his car so he couldn't win" and that's all probably very true.
It also completely ignores the possibility of a single individual who's a Rosberg supporter doing naughty things to Hamilton's car.
And also, dare I say it, there's always the possibility of somebody in the Merc' garage having the sort of political views which mean he finds the idea of a black guy beating a "pure aryan" unthinkable.
To be clear, I really can't believe that sort of stuff would happen, or I'd like to think that is the case, at least.
I just think it's a bit narrow-minded to dismiss the "conspiracies" based solely on whether it's likely that Merc', as a team, would indulge in such antics.
On that note, as well, although it's probably (hopefully) completely unfounded, I suspect that, as a black guy in a sport filled with white people, and in a German team, there probably are some rather dark thoughts in the back of Lewis' mind at times, which can't be helping things.
Still...doesn't make it any easier to bare. Lewis in my view, has been the better driver all season with Nico not being in the lead on merit.
I'm hoping for rain tomorrow so at least Ham can have the appropriate changes made to his setup.
I think anyone has got to be naïve, bordering on nuts not to smell a rat here.
Maybe Lewis' fan boys should wind their necks in. Why can't people like you accept that given the nature of the sport things happen to machinery that ruin your chances.
Shameful post, utterly shameful. Implying racism exists and is the reason Hamilton's car has had issues is absolutely pathetic.
Maybe those who aren't "Lewis' fan boys" should realise that there's nothing wrong with lamenting a driver's run of bad luck, and wind their own necks in?
And maybe those people should also read posts fully, including the bit where I clearly said that I can't believe it's possible but that they're the sort of thoughts that are likely to be going through Hamilton's head.