Hamilton struggling

[superkartracer]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula...

Build em up, hack um down.... F***king media..

[red_zed]

love the comment from that numpty- "Last year Hamilton had a jolly while Alonso took all the pressure - this year he's finding out what the meaning of pressure really is "

rubbish- there was not as much pressure on hamilton, granted, but i hardly think he had a jolly!

anyway, so hamilton is admitting to being human- nowt wrong with that at all. tiger woods has a duff knee but he still won the uspga at the weekend- and he didnt hid the fact he was in pain!

might be easy to say cos im not, but if i was famous enough to be in the papers i wouldnt care diddly squat what they said - i like hamilton for having the balls to speak the truth about things and i also happen to think he's a damn fine driver too

[Plug550]

Within that article, there is more Silverstone bashing by Bernie. I didn't realise that the British Grand Prix was protected under the old Concorde agreement. It's already 'au revoir' to the French GP next year, doesn't look good for Silverstone does it. Sorry, off topic.

[BoRED S2upid]

Hes only in his second year FFS! I think after last year a lot of people thought he would win it easily this year. They don't realise hes not only competing with the best drivers in the world, all of which are far more experienced in F1 than he is hes also competing with the might of Ferrari!.

His error in the last race just shows how much hes got to learn and it will all come with experience. I for one wouldn't be betting on him to win it any time soon.

[clonmult]

He's probably one of the fastest drivers on the grid, but he's got to learn the ins and outs of the sport. Its early days, but there's little doubt that he'll be in with a shot at the title this year.

[waynepixel]

For me Lewis is doing a fantastic job, and it's only his second season in F1, yes he has made mistakes but his young, and it going to happen, If you what to look at pressure, just look at what PK junior is going through?

[philis]

i cant be arsed to read it.
If hamilton had seen the red light in the pit lane at canada he would have walked the race, and he would be cruizing the world championship having walked monaco and canada on the bounce.
Simple fact his, he didnt see the red light. Its got feck all to do with feeling too much pressure.

[dxb335d]

Lewis after being at the top of his game in his first year will always be under pressure now. 2nd is just not good enough. He cracked last year and he will crack this year.

Kubica's career has developed more traditionally and has made him a stronger character i believe.

[MrKipling43]

What a great interview. I think he's a really nice guy - great plug/thanks for the Marshals too.

Loved the "Motor sport is wicked" quote. He really seems like a fan of the sport - he reminds me of Dimebag Darrel and Martyn Ashton attitude to metal and trials in that respect.

As an amusing aside, I paused the vid to answer the phone and this was the image staring back at me when I came back to the craptop...

HAMILTON ON CRACK SHOCKER!

Edited by MrKipling43 on Wednesday 18th June 17:43

[chris_w]

MrKipling43 said:

What a great interview. I think he's a really nice guy - great plug/thanks for the Marshals too.

I was at Silverstone last year and during the drivers parade he seemed to making a very conscious effort to wave at, and give a thumbs up to the marshals who were lining the circuit. Nice touch.

[LocoBlade]

dxb335d said:

Lewis after being at the top of his game in his first year will always be under pressure now. 2nd is just not good enough. He cracked last year and he will crack this year.

Kubica's career has developed more traditionally and has made him a stronger character i believe.

Nobody knows about Kubica though yet do they, one Swallow and all that. Who's to say when he gets in a genuinely championship winning car with the immense added pressure that brings, that he wouldn't do the same or worse? At the moment its all new and he's punching above his weight with the confidence that brings (as Lewis was doing last year), but when it's expected of you week in week out, its entirely different.

As for the others, Massa has plenty of experience yet he's still far from error-free. Raikkonen too has his off-days, probably just as many as Hamilton has had this season. Likewise Alonso, he's been blindingly quick and impressive at times but has also made quite a few errors this year to add to the ones he made last season, so if its all doom and gloom for someone as inexperienced as Hamilton having only won 2 races and being right in the title fight half way through the season, what does it say about the others given their experience?

I think we have to accept that its quite likely none of the top 5 drivers will ever be as consistent as a Schumacher in his prime, maybe because they aren't as talented/focussed but more likely because they aren't in the same situation that Schumacher was with respect to having clear No.2 team-mates and often clearly dominating cars, so perhaps we're asking too much to ever expect them not to make mistakes or have off-days every few races given the high level of competition and expectation.

Edited by LocoBlade on Wednesday 18th June 21:03

[DangerousMike]

There is a greater number of top level drivers in F1 now than there were when Schumacher was in his prime, and the cars are also more evenly matched.

[skinny]

kubi had a difficult year last year, and is doing much better this time, but i don't think not without pressure, at least not now - he's the only one of the top drivers not to have made any mistakes (or at least significant ones like lewis, kimi or massa have) and that's kind of the reputation he's got at the moment - even bernie reckons he's better than lewis - and now he's leading the championship, i'd say there's a fair amount of pressure on him too. ok tho, maybe not as much as hamilton with britian and half of the world watching him!

it will be an interesting battle between them, and one that will go on (i hope) for a good while to come. especially as in some ways they are quite similar, in how aggressive they are on track, and having come through together from karting and also their obvious passion for the sport, but also they are quite different i guess (if what is read is to be believed) with how they are living their lives now they've both made it to F1...

to quote one article (of several saying the same thing)

"While Hamilton's recent exploits involved attending movie premieres, holidaying with pop stars and attending the MTV music awards, former grand prix driver Martin Brundle observes that Kubica only wants "a roof over his head, food and a fast racing car".

[Jungles]

LocoBlade said:

Nobody knows about Kubica though yet do they, one Swallow and all that. Who's to say when he gets in a genuinely championship winning car with the immense added pressure that brings, that he wouldn't do the same or worse? At the moment its all new and he's punching above his weight with the confidence that brings (as Lewis was doing last year), but when it's expected of you week in week out, its entirely different.

He's treated like a national hero in Poland. If that's not pressure and temptation, I don't know what is.

In the UK, F1 drivers are relatively common.

Kubica had it tough last year. He outshone Heidfeld in 2006, and then went down the drain in 2007, possibly with his job and future prospects in question.

LocoBlade said:

As for the others, Massa has plenty of experience yet he's still far from error-free. Raikkonen too has his off-days, probably just as many as Hamilton has had this season. Likewise Alonso, he's been blindingly quick and impressive at times but has also made quite a few errors this year to add to the ones he made last season, so if its all doom and gloom for someone as inexperienced as Hamilton having only won 2 races and being right in the title fight half way through the season, what does it say about the others given their experience?

Massa = Not as naturally talented as the others. He is only fast because of his car and extensive coaching.
Raikkonen = Has a problem with concentration. He seems to be strongly affected by emotions and pressure.
Alono = Similar to Raikkonen but more focused. He's outdriving his car, which will result in mistakes.

LocoBlade said:

I think we have to accept that its quite likely none of the top 5 drivers will ever be as consistent as a Schumacher in his prime, maybe because they aren't as talented/focussed but more likely because they aren't in the same situation that Schumacher was with respect to having clear No.2 team-mates and often clearly dominating cars, so perhaps we're asking too much to ever expect them not to make mistakes or have off-days every few races given the high level of competition and expectation.

Yeah, agreed.

The level of competition at the front-end of the grid is very close now, so that doesn't help with the pressure.

skinny said:

it will be an interesting battle between them, and one that will go on (i hope) for a good while to come. especially as in some ways they are quite similar, in how aggressive they are on track, and having come through together from karting and also their obvious passion for the sport, but also they are quite different i guess (if what is read is to be believed) with how they are living their lives now they've both made it to F1...

I was quite surprised to find how many of the drivers know each other from junior categories.

Hamilton and Rosberg were karting team mates.
Hamilton, Rosberg, and Kubica were in F3 Euroseries in 2004; Hamilton, Sutil, and Vettel were together in 2005; Nakajima and Vettel in 2006.
Rosberg, Kovi, and Piquet were all in GP2 in 2005; same with Hamilton, Glock, and Piquet in 2006; and Glock and Nakajima in 2007.

Edited by Jungles on Thursday 19th June 00:11

[dxb335d]

Having seen them all progress through karting, i would say Kubica is more naturally talented then lewis.