Originally Posted by Smiley433:
“He's only sixth on the starting grid. It's not as if he's been punted to the back of the grid so I've no idea why he's in such a mood. He should choose this as an opportunity to show what he can do.
Looks like his biggest battle this year wont be with Rosberg but with himself.”
That's absolutely spot on. If he loses this championship (and I'm not saying he will), a lot of the problem will be down to him. He hasn't mentally recovered since the drama of Monaco. His issue is that when things go well, he's very much on a knife edge, and it takes something very small for him to just blow up.
I dunno...there's so much going on in his head and with himself. He's been handed the biggest opportunity of his life so far to win a second world championship and he's failing to hold it together. Someone like Alonso would have put Rosberg to the sword by winning in Monaco and maintaining momentum. Schumacher in his heyday would have given his teammates no mercy. Hamilton has given Rosberg an open goal with his mistakes and add to that Rosberg's consistency, and it's clear to see who's the likeliest championship winner based on current form.
This is Hamilton's biggest chance of a second title, but as I've earlier, under pressure he is starting to show signs of weakness...whether it be that he's just overdoing things, or misjudging things, or trying too hard, or just plainly overthinking things. And as I said earlier, he needs a no-nonsense manager, someone who will push him. Hamilton responds best when he had someone to push him, but don't we all? Without people to push us out of our comfort zone, we'd never improve. All this Lewis-being-his-own-man stuff hasn't worked really. See Andy Murray as an example of what a no-nonsense manager/trainer (Ivan Lendl) can help a player achieve.
The championship is not over by a long stretch but Hamilton must start clawing back the deficit now. He only needs a 14 point deficit then win the double-points race at the end of the season and be world champion (hopefully on countback). I just question whether he's smart enough, efficient enough and mentally tough enough to do it. He has the pace, but so many drivers have had just pace alone and been nearly-men (e.g. Montoya). He has to show he has more than that in the tank.
But he's not the only one to have cocked up qualifying. Ferrari are well in a mire, and I know they've misjudged the conditions, but their car looks a shambles frankly. Ferrari have regressed into the shambles they were in, in the early 90s and both Alonso and Raikkonen deserve much better. Ferrari need a strong leader...I'm not sure a man with no F1 experience like Mattiacci is that man. Alonso just cocked up on his own by spinning but at least he dealt with it like a man, unlike some. And Williams baffle me...they have an excellent car, but like in 2012, they aren't making the best use of it. An Alonso would have probably won in Austria in a Williams. Williams could have probably the double the number of points they already have in the championship, with smarter strategy and a bit more luck. That, and a better rear end, and they could easily be the new challengers to Mercedes in place of Red Bull.