how to solve the problem of lewis hamilton?
Discussion
i'm a fan, i watch nearly all the races & i've got a signed picture up on the office wall, but just recently i'm not really liking what i'm seeing. the build up to this weekends canadian grand prix was great on the red button, dijon '79 with arnoux v's villeneuve, donnington 93, & brazil 08 with hamilton winning on the last lap-was it really 3 years ago? i remember that race so clearly, screaming at the tv & the feeling that here, finally, a real british world champion had arrived.
the only problem with lewis back then was the slight feeling that we maybe had another corperate robot, a tiger woods for f1. managed by his father & toeing the ultra-conservative mclaren line, it looked to be easy for any personality to be sucked out of the young man.
what a difference a few years make.
when lewis got rid of hamilton snr, there were signs of the person he appears to be becoming today. donuts in australia? hardly the crime of the century but we were whatching a young man grow up in the media spotlight, & who else at that age wouldn't have done the same? the superstar girlfreind, the celebrity hangers on, a young man growing indeed but as long as the racing was good & he was doing well you can overlook a lot of things.
fast forward to this weekend & i'd be interested to know what ron dennis thought of the goings on in that side of the garage. all weekend there seemed to be a few people there that didn't have much to do with racing, & the serious job of driving one of the worlds fastest, most complicated cars with over 20 others on a tight circuit in changing conditions, & not just at the end of the day in a hospitality environment either. the misses' duly informed me of who some of the rap stars were but quite what input they gave towrds lewis' qualifying lap i don't know. or why they were in the garage at that time?
which as i said is all forgivable if the man himself is performing, but he clearly isn't. lets get one thing straight, for team lewis, this weekend was an utter shambles. he's had the pace in the last few grand prix to have taken the fight to sebastian & acheived the some total of nowt in the process. his driving has been utterly in contempt of other drivers & a f1 fan in general may say he's had his just desserts.
it seems a little unclear as to where his mind is at present, others have said it was good to see him chearing on button at the end but that must have been the falsest impression of enthusiasm i've ever seen. quite why i'm not sure? any points off sebastian means less for lewis to chase but if that's how hamilton expresses gratitude, remind me never to buy him a pint!
i'm not sure what's next for team lewis at mclaren, it won't have been easy looking to the other side of the garage that's for sure. & what a contrast it makes, father john, always merrily watching on with a chilled glass of white & smile that pretty much speaks of a man thats very happy with life, jensons partner usually in attendance, though somehow not quite as look at me as some of the people on the other side of the garage.
all of which seeems to have come a long way since lewis & anthony parted company, it it hasn't exactly all gone swimmingly since then. simon fuller's management style seems to be pretty clear, pile in the celebs, get more gossip column inches & reap in the sponsorship contracts. i think all of us will notice a lack of concentration on the main point of his occupation-winning races!
will hamilton remain at mclaren through all this? you'd have to wonder. with so many yes men arround it won't be long until hamilton asks himself the question "what's going wrong?" & the answers will be sure to come back "nothing you're doing".
it might just take someone with enough gravity & influence to sit the man down & give him a good talking to, & i can only see two men capable of doing that. the only problem being one has a car company to run these days & the other was sacked by lewis a couple of years ago.
neither is simon fuller.
the only problem with lewis back then was the slight feeling that we maybe had another corperate robot, a tiger woods for f1. managed by his father & toeing the ultra-conservative mclaren line, it looked to be easy for any personality to be sucked out of the young man.
what a difference a few years make.
when lewis got rid of hamilton snr, there were signs of the person he appears to be becoming today. donuts in australia? hardly the crime of the century but we were whatching a young man grow up in the media spotlight, & who else at that age wouldn't have done the same? the superstar girlfreind, the celebrity hangers on, a young man growing indeed but as long as the racing was good & he was doing well you can overlook a lot of things.
fast forward to this weekend & i'd be interested to know what ron dennis thought of the goings on in that side of the garage. all weekend there seemed to be a few people there that didn't have much to do with racing, & the serious job of driving one of the worlds fastest, most complicated cars with over 20 others on a tight circuit in changing conditions, & not just at the end of the day in a hospitality environment either. the misses' duly informed me of who some of the rap stars were but quite what input they gave towrds lewis' qualifying lap i don't know. or why they were in the garage at that time?
which as i said is all forgivable if the man himself is performing, but he clearly isn't. lets get one thing straight, for team lewis, this weekend was an utter shambles. he's had the pace in the last few grand prix to have taken the fight to sebastian & acheived the some total of nowt in the process. his driving has been utterly in contempt of other drivers & a f1 fan in general may say he's had his just desserts.
it seems a little unclear as to where his mind is at present, others have said it was good to see him chearing on button at the end but that must have been the falsest impression of enthusiasm i've ever seen. quite why i'm not sure? any points off sebastian means less for lewis to chase but if that's how hamilton expresses gratitude, remind me never to buy him a pint!
i'm not sure what's next for team lewis at mclaren, it won't have been easy looking to the other side of the garage that's for sure. & what a contrast it makes, father john, always merrily watching on with a chilled glass of white & smile that pretty much speaks of a man thats very happy with life, jensons partner usually in attendance, though somehow not quite as look at me as some of the people on the other side of the garage.
all of which seeems to have come a long way since lewis & anthony parted company, it it hasn't exactly all gone swimmingly since then. simon fuller's management style seems to be pretty clear, pile in the celebs, get more gossip column inches & reap in the sponsorship contracts. i think all of us will notice a lack of concentration on the main point of his occupation-winning races!
will hamilton remain at mclaren through all this? you'd have to wonder. with so many yes men arround it won't be long until hamilton asks himself the question "what's going wrong?" & the answers will be sure to come back "nothing you're doing".
it might just take someone with enough gravity & influence to sit the man down & give him a good talking to, & i can only see two men capable of doing that. the only problem being one has a car company to run these days & the other was sacked by lewis a couple of years ago.
neither is simon fuller.
Well said! Agree with your points, his new management does not seem to be helping and he does need someone he respects to spell out a few simple facts of life to him.
At the moment I think it is a shame the FIA haven't slapped him with a suspension for a few races as Jean Todt hinted at after Monaco, Lewis needs to cool his heels and think very carefully about what he is doing.
It's a difficult balance, he mustn't lose his ultimate passion and ability to go for overtakes, but he does need to show a bit more respect for his fellow drivers.
At the moment I think it is a shame the FIA haven't slapped him with a suspension for a few races as Jean Todt hinted at after Monaco, Lewis needs to cool his heels and think very carefully about what he is doing.
It's a difficult balance, he mustn't lose his ultimate passion and ability to go for overtakes, but he does need to show a bit more respect for his fellow drivers.
I think a lot of the problem lately is he is having to drive the car 110% to make up for terrible mistakes Mclaren have been making of late. He is allways on the backfoot.
He relies to much on the team to make the strategy and should follow Jenson and do his own thing but even he had the team lose him the Monaco gp
Lewis was the dogs Bxxs when he won the other week and how soon people forget.
If Jenson had not won ,He would have got a penalty if not for putting Hamilton in the wall, for sure his move on Alonso.
The stewards cleared Hamilton of all blame and said he was justified going for the pass as he had a much better run out of the corner and gave JB the benefit of the doubt that he had not see lewis alongside.
Regarding the Alonso move again they did the same,Claiming that he had taken to the kerb to avoid Alonso??.
If i remember Lewis did the same with Massa at Monaco and got a penalty.
What i will agree on his rapper hanger ons mates he has in the garage egging him on which i find distastefull and i agree about his choice of managment company.
He relies to much on the team to make the strategy and should follow Jenson and do his own thing but even he had the team lose him the Monaco gp
Lewis was the dogs Bxxs when he won the other week and how soon people forget.
If Jenson had not won ,He would have got a penalty if not for putting Hamilton in the wall, for sure his move on Alonso.
The stewards cleared Hamilton of all blame and said he was justified going for the pass as he had a much better run out of the corner and gave JB the benefit of the doubt that he had not see lewis alongside.
Regarding the Alonso move again they did the same,Claiming that he had taken to the kerb to avoid Alonso??.
If i remember Lewis did the same with Massa at Monaco and got a penalty.
What i will agree on his rapper hanger ons mates he has in the garage egging him on which i find distastefull and i agree about his choice of managment company.
FeatherZ said:
Other racers doing a good job of 'racing' Lewis sometimes is too impatient.
I agree with this, but I think it's because he wants to be hunting down Vettel, not tackling the rest of the field, he just wants to get past them as quickly as possible and this is what's proving to be his downfall.Perhaps he'll be a better driver now the pressure is off a bit. The gap to Vettel in the championship is almost unclosable, so hopefully he'll just enjoy racing now and we'll see him back to his best....like when he was racing Alonso at a wet Silverstone a few years ago for a non-points finish!
Too big for his own celebrity boots, believing his new management co's hype instead of focusing on being the best driver he can be? Why did the team allow him to fill the garage up with his celebrity posse?
The team should just say ok matey, no more guests in the garage till you stop crashing, then you can have one pass back per win you score for your popstar/hanger on/celebrity mates.
The team should just say ok matey, no more guests in the garage till you stop crashing, then you can have one pass back per win you score for your popstar/hanger on/celebrity mates.
cragswinter said:
i'm a fan, i watch nearly all the races & i've got a signed picture up on the office wall, but just recently i'm not really liking what i'm seeing. the build up to this weekends canadian grand prix was great on the red button, dijon '79 with arnoux v's villeneuve, donnington 93, & brazil 08 with hamilton winning on the last lap-was it really 3 years ago? i remember that race so clearly, screaming at the tv & the feeling that here, finally, a real british world champion had arrived.
the only problem with lewis back then was the slight feeling that we maybe had another corperate robot, a tiger woods for f1. managed by his father & toeing the ultra-conservative mclaren line, it looked to be easy for any personality to be sucked out of the young man.
what a difference a few years make.
when lewis got rid of hamilton snr, there were signs of the person he appears to be becoming today. donuts in australia? hardly the crime of the century but we were whatching a young man grow up in the media spotlight, & who else at that age wouldn't have done the same? the superstar girlfreind, the celebrity hangers on, a young man growing indeed but as long as the racing was good & he was doing well you can overlook a lot of things.
fast forward to this weekend & i'd be interested to know what ron dennis thought of the goings on in that side of the garage. all weekend there seemed to be a few people there that didn't have much to do with racing, & the serious job of driving one of the worlds fastest, most complicated cars with over 20 others on a tight circuit in changing conditions, & not just at the end of the day in a hospitality environment either. the misses' duly informed me of who some of the rap stars were but quite what input they gave towrds lewis' qualifying lap i don't know. or why they were in the garage at that time?
which as i said is all forgivable if the man himself is performing, but he clearly isn't. lets get one thing straight, for team lewis, this weekend was an utter shambles. he's had the pace in the last few grand prix to have taken the fight to sebastian & acheived the some total of nowt in the process. his driving has been utterly in contempt of other drivers & a f1 fan in general may say he's had his just desserts.
it seems a little unclear as to where his mind is at present, others have said it was good to see him chearing on button at the end but that must have been the falsest impression of enthusiasm i've ever seen. quite why i'm not sure? any points off sebastian means less for lewis to chase but if that's how hamilton expresses gratitude, remind me never to buy him a pint!
i'm not sure what's next for team lewis at mclaren, it won't have been easy looking to the other side of the garage that's for sure. & what a contrast it makes, father john, always merrily watching on with a chilled glass of white & smile that pretty much speaks of a man thats very happy with life, jensons partner usually in attendance, though somehow not quite as look at me as some of the people on the other side of the garage.
all of which seeems to have come a long way since lewis & anthony parted company, it it hasn't exactly all gone swimmingly since then. simon fuller's management style seems to be pretty clear, pile in the celebs, get more gossip column inches & reap in the sponsorship contracts. i think all of us will notice a lack of concentration on the main point of his occupation-winning races!
will hamilton remain at mclaren through all this? you'd have to wonder. with so many yes men arround it won't be long until hamilton asks himself the question "what's going wrong?" & the answers will be sure to come back "nothing you're doing".
it might just take someone with enough gravity & influence to sit the man down & give him a good talking to, & i can only see two men capable of doing that. the only problem being one has a car company to run these days & the other was sacked by lewis a couple of years ago.
neither is simon fuller.
What a load of Bull - the only problem with lewis back then was the slight feeling that we maybe had another corperate robot, a tiger woods for f1. managed by his father & toeing the ultra-conservative mclaren line, it looked to be easy for any personality to be sucked out of the young man.
what a difference a few years make.
when lewis got rid of hamilton snr, there were signs of the person he appears to be becoming today. donuts in australia? hardly the crime of the century but we were whatching a young man grow up in the media spotlight, & who else at that age wouldn't have done the same? the superstar girlfreind, the celebrity hangers on, a young man growing indeed but as long as the racing was good & he was doing well you can overlook a lot of things.
fast forward to this weekend & i'd be interested to know what ron dennis thought of the goings on in that side of the garage. all weekend there seemed to be a few people there that didn't have much to do with racing, & the serious job of driving one of the worlds fastest, most complicated cars with over 20 others on a tight circuit in changing conditions, & not just at the end of the day in a hospitality environment either. the misses' duly informed me of who some of the rap stars were but quite what input they gave towrds lewis' qualifying lap i don't know. or why they were in the garage at that time?
which as i said is all forgivable if the man himself is performing, but he clearly isn't. lets get one thing straight, for team lewis, this weekend was an utter shambles. he's had the pace in the last few grand prix to have taken the fight to sebastian & acheived the some total of nowt in the process. his driving has been utterly in contempt of other drivers & a f1 fan in general may say he's had his just desserts.
it seems a little unclear as to where his mind is at present, others have said it was good to see him chearing on button at the end but that must have been the falsest impression of enthusiasm i've ever seen. quite why i'm not sure? any points off sebastian means less for lewis to chase but if that's how hamilton expresses gratitude, remind me never to buy him a pint!
i'm not sure what's next for team lewis at mclaren, it won't have been easy looking to the other side of the garage that's for sure. & what a contrast it makes, father john, always merrily watching on with a chilled glass of white & smile that pretty much speaks of a man thats very happy with life, jensons partner usually in attendance, though somehow not quite as look at me as some of the people on the other side of the garage.
all of which seeems to have come a long way since lewis & anthony parted company, it it hasn't exactly all gone swimmingly since then. simon fuller's management style seems to be pretty clear, pile in the celebs, get more gossip column inches & reap in the sponsorship contracts. i think all of us will notice a lack of concentration on the main point of his occupation-winning races!
will hamilton remain at mclaren through all this? you'd have to wonder. with so many yes men arround it won't be long until hamilton asks himself the question "what's going wrong?" & the answers will be sure to come back "nothing you're doing".
it might just take someone with enough gravity & influence to sit the man down & give him a good talking to, & i can only see two men capable of doing that. the only problem being one has a car company to run these days & the other was sacked by lewis a couple of years ago.
neither is simon fuller.
Bit dramatic when you consider the teams decscisions in Monaco with 1 run in QA along with the Perez incident had allot to do with were Lewis started the race. Both incidents with Massa and Maldanodo could be viewed in the exact same light as Jensons with Alonso this weekend. Bare in mind he was second in the WDC after Monaco so i hate to think how you view the other drivers????
He and many other WDC's have had Celebrity Hangers on as you put it??? Rhianna and Drake were surely invited by Mclaren just as George Lucas(Williams) and Colin Farrel(Renault) were invited by those teams. Who really gives a toss if he cheered or smiled at Jenson winning? How do you know that in Lewis's eyes he views Jenson as the man who wiped him out of the race???? Also interesting that Jenson apologised over the incident????
I think yourself and many others are over analyzing and jumping on the bandwagon. Commenting on his new management team is where your argument collapses as under his Dads stewardship, he had even more Celebs at each of his races and Nicole was also his girlfriend at the time and probably had more visits to the stewards with regards to his racing - Nothing has changed.
He has had 2 bad races and still leads Alonso who is apparently the "Complete Driver". You will find that he is still 2nd to win the WDC by the Bookies.
In my eyes? The only change from when he arrived is the beard is the earrings and the criticism he got then by the usual suspects was how corporate he was. Now that he may speak his mind more, he is getting criticised for that?? Its laughable and a tad silly.
Lewis is Box Office and F1 needs him.
lewis hamilton has had a few difficult races and made a few on track errors, largely as a result of trying so hard to match the red bulls. I'm sure Lewis feels to has to "pass and pass now" because with the advantage the red bulls have, you can't let them (vettel) build a lead. Add in the slightly harsh stewards decisions that he's been subject to and it makes it look like he is having a disastrous year. Button didn't do anything much different from what LH did in monaco, and he got away with it... (as he should have done)
LH is still a quick driver, he's still been faster than JB at pretty much every track so far this year, he just needs things to start falling for him a bit better in the races.
An interesting discussion is whether he has gone too 'showbiz' - does anyone else remember similar criticisms of JB for a couple of years? I guess this a product of still growing up after you've had a good deal of professional and financial success.
The red bull thing is interesting. Whilst I'd like to see Lewis stay at McLaren I do think it is very healthy, in any career, to move around every so often. If he does leave McLaren, let's hope he can do so on good terms and leave the door open for a return if he wants to make one!
LH is still a quick driver, he's still been faster than JB at pretty much every track so far this year, he just needs things to start falling for him a bit better in the races.
An interesting discussion is whether he has gone too 'showbiz' - does anyone else remember similar criticisms of JB for a couple of years? I guess this a product of still growing up after you've had a good deal of professional and financial success.
The red bull thing is interesting. Whilst I'd like to see Lewis stay at McLaren I do think it is very healthy, in any career, to move around every so often. If he does leave McLaren, let's hope he can do so on good terms and leave the door open for a return if he wants to make one!
RedBull/Lewis Autosport story - http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/92327
Wurls said:
Given the World that LH wants to live in, that would be the best move for all. RB is a "lifestyle" product and suits LH better from a marketing and personal brand perspective than a high tech engineering company like Mclaren. They are poles apart. The current situation is alienating the traditional motorsport audience, which is arrogant and dangerous. He needs to move and I wouldnt be surprised if Mclaren resistance is minimal. It was telling how matter of fact Whitmarsh's support of Lewis was when he was asked about Lewis leaving during the rainy bit yesterday.
eh? whitemarsh said that Lewis was a team player and would probably hang around support the team (or perhaps it was Lewis that said this). We saw Lewis enjoying (geniunely imo) the race between vettel and JB with a look of shock and then a wry smile about it. it looked totally genuine to me. Edited by Wurls on Monday 13th June 10:59
Wanta996Gotta said:
RedBull/Lewis Autosport story - http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/92327
interesting read, especially as it mentions moving to red bull in 2012.imo that is stupid, with such a large change in regulations, best to stay where you are for a season and see who is looking good at the end of 2012.
freedman said:
Nothing to do with his driving, but his management is now effectively a showbiz agency, not a racing agaent (Nineteeen?)
I think this is very valid point.Simon Fuller is very good at extracting money from commercial opportunities but the one thing missing - IMO - is 'sporting management' - a coach even.
Use Psychology said:
interesting read, especially as it mentions moving to red bull in 2012.
imo that is stupid, with such a large change in regulations, best to stay where you are for a season and see who is looking good at the end of 2012.
Could be his new Management's ploy in getting him that 10 year £150 Million Mclaren deal. Bit like Rooney wanting to leave Man Utd in the summer but then had a quick change of heart along with a £200k a week contract to stay. I really cant see it happening.imo that is stupid, with such a large change in regulations, best to stay where you are for a season and see who is looking good at the end of 2012.
even taking his current form into consideration, you'd have to say he's a considerable asset. he's in the top two of current drivers by some people's reckoning, certainly in the top three.
hamilton has had three team mates in F1, two of them were world champions... he's matched one of them (in his first season) and comprehensively beaten the other...
any F1 team would have him...
hamilton has had three team mates in F1, two of them were world champions... he's matched one of them (in his first season) and comprehensively beaten the other...
any F1 team would have him...
Use Psychology said:
even taking his current form into consideration, you'd have to say he's a considerable asset. he's in the top two of current drivers by some people's reckoning, certainly in the top three.
hamilton has had three team mates in F1, two of them were world champions... he's matched one of them (in his first season) and comprehensively beaten the other...
any F1 team would have him...
+1hamilton has had three team mates in F1, two of them were world champions... he's matched one of them (in his first season) and comprehensively beaten the other...
any F1 team would have him...
Lewis along with Alonso could walk into any team bringing millions in sponsorship. Only a fool would think otherwise.
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