Lewis Hamilton
Discussion
FartKong said:
AlleyCat said:
I would say his results on track suggest he is quite invested in being a driver.
He has an amazing talent, one of the best drivers for decades but if you look at what he says and does outside of F1 you'll see how much he yearns to be a celebrity.I always find it odd why people dislike Hamilton for his personal style outside of F1, as long as he is not harming anyone than why does it rile people so much? Im not into it myself, its not my thing, but im a massive fan for what I see on track.
I go through phases of liking him and then being fed up with some of his off-track antics. As I said I think he has one of the best talents in decades he just sometimes comes across as being a spoilt brat. I have watched F1 my whole life but have stopped the last two years so perhaps he has changed in that time.
cja said:
Probably being as honest as he can be, taking into account the cocoon that most F1 drivers live in.
The likes of Clark, Hill, Fangio, Moss etc. raced because they loved the challenge and the difference between classes. With odd exceptions (Räikkönen?) the F1 drivers of today can only seem to pedal one thing at a time, which is their loss, of course, but they are insular and blinkered.
For me, F1 is very much on the down slope (numerous reasons why.....) with endurance racing very much on the up & long may that continue!
I know you said "With odd exceptions", but a bit remiss to mention Raikkonen and not Hulkenberg. The likes of Clark, Hill, Fangio, Moss etc. raced because they loved the challenge and the difference between classes. With odd exceptions (Räikkönen?) the F1 drivers of today can only seem to pedal one thing at a time, which is their loss, of course, but they are insular and blinkered.
For me, F1 is very much on the down slope (numerous reasons why.....) with endurance racing very much on the up & long may that continue!
I've actually seen another explination for his non-plused reply - and the equally multed response from Rosburg.
More or less all the F1 drivers have been asked the "Would you be interested in driving at Le Mans" question over the last week and most have been broadly interested. In fact it's just the 2 drivers from the only team on the grid that's linked to a mass-market road car manufactuer (that isn't in endurance racing and is a direct competitor to Audi and Porsche) that have blown it off as not that important/impressive/interesting as F1...
More or less all the F1 drivers have been asked the "Would you be interested in driving at Le Mans" question over the last week and most have been broadly interested. In fact it's just the 2 drivers from the only team on the grid that's linked to a mass-market road car manufactuer (that isn't in endurance racing and is a direct competitor to Audi and Porsche) that have blown it off as not that important/impressive/interesting as F1...
FartKong said:
AlleyCat said:
I would say his results on track suggest he is quite invested in being a driver.
He has an amazing talent, one of the best drivers for decades but if you look at what he says and does outside of F1 you'll see how much he yearns to be a celebrity.F1 is driven by advertising revenues. Hamilton does more to bring eyeballs and wallets to advertisers than any other driver in F1 on their own merit.
So I would be thankful of the drivers who keep our sport on the pages of Hello or What Rapper etc as they are the one who do the most to keep the money coming in.
And let's be very honest about Le Mans, it is where F1 drivers go when either their F1 career is over or in the doldrums.
As a business, LH has no upside from Le Mans. Whereas, Hulkenburg has huge upside. Firstly he is not competing for anything in F1 so gets to actually do what he was born to do and that is compete and secondly, his PR agents get to promote him as the great driver that he is while his career totally stagnates in F1.
LH is the current world champion of F1 and working this year to defend his title. He has been singularly focusses on F1 all his life and immersed completely in the business. Let his thoughts wander to a different type of racing when he is older and his career in his current choice is winding down, like Button is and like Webber, Brundle and Herbert all did.
perhaps some of what you say is true, but looking at it from a car company point of view they are voting with their feet and moving resources into the WEC sphere rather than F1 for many reasons and as they do so the top drivers will follow for sure as factory drives for top teams will be a much bigger draw than the majority of F1 drives. As each of the factory teams needs at least 9 top drivers i think the opportunities available will make many talented drivers see F1 as a faint hope and WEC as their first choice in future
[quote=cja]Probably being as honest as he can be, taking into account the cocoon that most F1 drivers live in.
The likes of Clark, Hill, Fangio, Moss etc. raced because they loved the challenge and the difference between classes. With odd exceptions (Räikkönen?) the F1 drivers of today can only seem to pedal one thing at a time, which is their loss, of course, but they are insular and blinkered.
For me, F1 is very much on the down slope (numerous reasons why.....) with endurance racing very much on the up & long may that continue![/quote
Apart from Nico H who won last Sunday and was sixth today. Top man; I am still knackered from last weekend!
The likes of Clark, Hill, Fangio, Moss etc. raced because they loved the challenge and the difference between classes. With odd exceptions (Räikkönen?) the F1 drivers of today can only seem to pedal one thing at a time, which is their loss, of course, but they are insular and blinkered.
For me, F1 is very much on the down slope (numerous reasons why.....) with endurance racing very much on the up & long may that continue![/quote
Apart from Nico H who won last Sunday and was sixth today. Top man; I am still knackered from last weekend!
[quote=cja]Probably being as honest as he can be, taking into account the cocoon that most F1 drivers live in.
The likes of Clark, Hill, Fangio, Moss etc. raced because they loved the challenge and the difference between classes. With odd exceptions (Räikkönen?) the F1 drivers of today can only seem to pedal one thing at a time, which is their loss, of course, but they are insular and blinkered.
For me, F1 is very much on the down slope (numerous reasons why.....) with endurance racing very much on the up & long may that continue![/quote
Apart from Nico H who won last Sunday and was sixth today. Top man; I am still knackered from last weekend!
The likes of Clark, Hill, Fangio, Moss etc. raced because they loved the challenge and the difference between classes. With odd exceptions (Räikkönen?) the F1 drivers of today can only seem to pedal one thing at a time, which is their loss, of course, but they are insular and blinkered.
For me, F1 is very much on the down slope (numerous reasons why.....) with endurance racing very much on the up & long may that continue![/quote
Apart from Nico H who won last Sunday and was sixth today. Top man; I am still knackered from last weekend!
I don't think it's ultimately any our business what Hamiklton is or isn't interested in. Him being indifferent to Le Mans is nothing to be offended about.
But, personally. If I were a racing driver I'd want to compete in as many of prestige events as possible, sure F1 would be the focus initially but I'd definitely want to add the likes of Le Mans, Sebring, Daytona, Indy etc to my quiver.
But, personally. If I were a racing driver I'd want to compete in as many of prestige events as possible, sure F1 would be the focus initially but I'd definitely want to add the likes of Le Mans, Sebring, Daytona, Indy etc to my quiver.
Great Dane said:
says he is unmoved by Le Mans... says it all really about him. I have voted with my feet and wallet.... as has hundreds of thousands of others.... 263.000 was at Le Mans
Cant find a quote from Hamilton actually saying he is unmoved by it but he did say this...."I didn't watch it, I honestly don't think I've ever seen Le Mans, It's not something I've ever been particularly interested in. I naturally love cars but it's not been something I ever wanted to do so I don't plan to."
Fair play.
Well - his view mirrors a lot of people's views (take 5 mins to peruse the F1 forum) - many people think motorsport starts and ends with F1.
Maybe its because motor racing is a peripheral interest to them and the F1 marketing wagon has it pitched right, maybe sports-cars genuinely don't float their boat.
But, so what? Sports-car racing is in rude health, so them choosing to not pay attention to it is not a threat to survival.
I think its just people taking the fact that someone isn't interested by something they like as a personal sleight! Which is silly really.
Its not unusual though - you get people getting themselves in the most unbelievable tizzy defending F1/their football club/Lewis Hamilton/insert whatever here. Who as far as I am aware are big enough and ugly enough to look after themselves.
I have no interest in chunky jewellery. I am relatively sure Mr Hamilton would probably not get too fussed about converting me!
Maybe its because motor racing is a peripheral interest to them and the F1 marketing wagon has it pitched right, maybe sports-cars genuinely don't float their boat.
But, so what? Sports-car racing is in rude health, so them choosing to not pay attention to it is not a threat to survival.
I think its just people taking the fact that someone isn't interested by something they like as a personal sleight! Which is silly really.
Its not unusual though - you get people getting themselves in the most unbelievable tizzy defending F1/their football club/Lewis Hamilton/insert whatever here. Who as far as I am aware are big enough and ugly enough to look after themselves.
I have no interest in chunky jewellery. I am relatively sure Mr Hamilton would probably not get too fussed about converting me!
CtrlAltDelete said:
Purely out of curiosity, when did Button say he wouldn't race Le Mans?I always thought he fancied it?
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111989Button said:
Le Mans never really ticked the boxes for me, You are racing with cars that are so much slower, in different categories, and dodging cars throughout the whole race is not something that I have ever got that excited about.
DonkeyApple said:
FartKong said:
AlleyCat said:
I would say his results on track suggest he is quite invested in being a driver.
He has an amazing talent, one of the best drivers for decades but if you look at what he says and does outside of F1 you'll see how much he yearns to be a celebrity.F1 is driven by advertising revenues. Hamilton does more to bring eyeballs and wallets to advertisers than any other driver in F1 on their own merit.
So I would be thankful of the drivers who keep our sport on the pages of Hello or What Rapper etc as they are the one who do the most to keep the money coming in.
And let's be very honest about Le Mans, it is where F1 drivers go when either their F1 career is over or in the doldrums.
As a business, LH has no upside from Le Mans. Whereas, Hulkenburg has huge upside. Firstly he is not competing for anything in F1 so gets to actually do what he was born to do and that is compete and secondly, his PR agents get to promote him as the great driver that he is while his career totally stagnates in F1.
LH is the current world champion of F1 and working this year to defend his title. He has been singularly focusses on F1 all his life and immersed completely in the business. Let his thoughts wander to a different type of racing when he is older and his career in his current choice is winding down, like Button is and like Webber, Brundle and Herbert all did.
When you are young and earning 25 million p.a. or whatever LH is on, the idea of on one hand racing in something dangerous and high profile but on the other, earning peanuts in comparison to your F1 salary, must have an effect on what you think of competing unless it was a boyhood dream to drive at LM
When you are older and have achieved everything, or got as high as you are likely to get within F1, you may well judge the situation differently, especially if it's a chance to race competitively and win trophies when your F1 drive is no longer with a top team
jonby said:
I think that's true but amplified even more so when you think about the money side of things
When you are young and earning 25 million p.a. or whatever LH is on, the idea of on one hand racing in something dangerous and high profile but on the other, earning peanuts in comparison to your F1 salary, must have an effect on what you think of competing unless it was a boyhood dream to drive at LM
When you are older and have achieved everything, or got as high as you are likely to get within F1, you may well judge the situation differently, especially if it's a chance to race competitively and win trophies when your F1 drive is no longer with a top team
I think if I were his age and earning that money I would spending every free moment I had being young, having fun spending my money away from my day job. As a derivatives broker it has never crossed my mind to spend my free time doing some equity broking for fun!When you are young and earning 25 million p.a. or whatever LH is on, the idea of on one hand racing in something dangerous and high profile but on the other, earning peanuts in comparison to your F1 salary, must have an effect on what you think of competing unless it was a boyhood dream to drive at LM
When you are older and have achieved everything, or got as high as you are likely to get within F1, you may well judge the situation differently, especially if it's a chance to race competitively and win trophies when your F1 drive is no longer with a top team
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