Did Hamilton finally "prove" himself this weekend.
Discussion
For the last two years, people have been going on about how Hamilton has only acheived because he's been in a fantastic car. I have to admit, I've always thought he was just a talented driver as easily matched a double world champion in his first season then out perfomred HK when they were both in their second season (i.e. with matching experience).
Now on Sunday, he got into a car that has been lapping mid-field all throught testing/practice and started at the back of the grid, but still managed a third place. I know some people will say he was lucky and other fell off the road, but to finish first, first you have to finish.
So I was wondering, has his perfomance on Sunday persuaded anyone that previously doubted Hamilton that actually he is actaully an above average driver?
Now on Sunday, he got into a car that has been lapping mid-field all throught testing/practice and started at the back of the grid, but still managed a third place. I know some people will say he was lucky and other fell off the road, but to finish first, first you have to finish.
So I was wondering, has his perfomance on Sunday persuaded anyone that previously doubted Hamilton that actually he is actaully an above average driver?
Don't think he had to prove anything. He did that when he first entered F1, showing that he was on the pace and by the middle of his first season showing that he was as good and if not better than Alonso.
It was a great drive by him on Sunday. Comparing him to his team mate again, he is definitely a league ahead.
It was a great drive by him on Sunday. Comparing him to his team mate again, he is definitely a league ahead.
Well i was delighted to see his result, and gutted that we didn't see him on the podium, that would have been fantastic.
It may be early days yet, we need to see it more than once, but yes, that was a world championship performance, it displayed why drivers like him are top performers. We were seeing it from Fred throughout last season too, we used to see it from Schumacher and Senna regularly when they weren't in cars that were the best. I sincerely hope we get to see more of it from Hamilton though.
His first lap, wasn't that a surprise? There was a Hamilton i hadn't seen before, it was as though he was content to trundle round in last place and then start attacking after the first lap melees were over. And of course he/they chose a strategy which was opposite to vettels, and look how it ended up (although many are putting that choice down to luck, i see. Yeah, right).
I sincerely hope we see more of it.
It may be early days yet, we need to see it more than once, but yes, that was a world championship performance, it displayed why drivers like him are top performers. We were seeing it from Fred throughout last season too, we used to see it from Schumacher and Senna regularly when they weren't in cars that were the best. I sincerely hope we get to see more of it from Hamilton though.
His first lap, wasn't that a surprise? There was a Hamilton i hadn't seen before, it was as though he was content to trundle round in last place and then start attacking after the first lap melees were over. And of course he/they chose a strategy which was opposite to vettels, and look how it ended up (although many are putting that choice down to luck, i see. Yeah, right).
I sincerely hope we see more of it.
heebeegeetee said:
Well i was delighted to see his result, and gutted that we didn't see him on the podium, that would have been fantastic.
It may be early days yet, we need to see it more than once, but yes, that was a world championship performance, it displayed why drivers like him are top performers. We were seeing it from Fred throughout last season too, we used to see it from Schumacher and Senna regularly when they weren't in cars that were the best. I sincerely hope we get to see more of it from Hamilton though.
His first lap, wasn't that a surprise? There was a Hamilton i hadn't seen before, it was as though he was content to trundle round in last place and then start attacking after the first lap melees were over. And of course he/they chose a strategy which was opposite to vettels, and look how it ended up (although many are putting that choice down to luck, i see. Yeah, right).
I sincerely hope we see more of it.
Agree with most of that...It may be early days yet, we need to see it more than once, but yes, that was a world championship performance, it displayed why drivers like him are top performers. We were seeing it from Fred throughout last season too, we used to see it from Schumacher and Senna regularly when they weren't in cars that were the best. I sincerely hope we get to see more of it from Hamilton though.
His first lap, wasn't that a surprise? There was a Hamilton i hadn't seen before, it was as though he was content to trundle round in last place and then start attacking after the first lap melees were over. And of course he/they chose a strategy which was opposite to vettels, and look how it ended up (although many are putting that choice down to luck, i see. Yeah, right).
I sincerely hope we see more of it.
the biggest change IMHO was his patience at the start, if this had been last year, I think he would have tried from the off, this year he is picking his battles more intelegently.
To be honest I didn't notice that much of Hamilton on the coverage, probably because he was getting on with the job quietly. Very different to the first lap banzai of the last 2 years. On the other hand, he started 18th, 7 cars didn't finish the race, there were 2 safety cars to compress the field and Trulli got docked 25 seconds.
I think he did ok, the 3rd place was a bit of lucky gift really. Its a few what ifs but if Trulli, Kubica and Vettel had behaved themselves at the end he'd probably have finished 6th.
I think he did ok, the 3rd place was a bit of lucky gift really. Its a few what ifs but if Trulli, Kubica and Vettel had behaved themselves at the end he'd probably have finished 6th.
ajprice said:
I think he did ok, the 3rd place was a bit of lucky gift really. Its a few what ifs but if Trulli, Kubica and Vettel had behaved themselves at the end he'd probably have finished 6th.
It's all 'ifs' ain't it? If every driver had done their jobs, for which they're very handsomely rewarded, Hamilton should have finished no better than 8th. Or 13th, possibly.TonyToniTone said:
Hamilton is an excellent driver but his race was nothing special, does it make Glock championship winning material as he went from the very back of the grid 4th?
Missing the point i think - Glocks car was lapping a clear 1 second quicker than Hamiltons. Hamilton would have finished even higher if he was in a car that quick. But Yes, all the diffuser cars "Are" Championship Winning Material so Toyota has a chance this year. 14th April is a very important date to were this seasons champinship is going.
People keep going on about Hamilton being "lucky", hello this is motorsport!! A huge element of it sometimes is "luck", someone mentioned above, to finish first, first you must finish. Hamilton made the best of a bad car in a race where people were falling off left right and centre, simple as that!
Maty said:
People keep going on about Hamilton being "lucky", hello this is motorsport!! A huge element of it sometimes is "luck", someone mentioned above, to finish first, first you must finish. Hamilton made the best of a bad car in a race where people were falling off left right and centre, simple as that!
Well said. Thank god i'm not the only one who doesn't put faith in lucky rabbits feet. 
It's Kimi I feel sorry for, god, he's sooo unlucky.
I don't think so.
I think his final race position flattered the Mclaren. Kimi took himself off (this is becoming a bit of a habit), Vettel and Kubica tangled, Massa had troubles and a few others. The Trulli penalty etc.
I think his final result is more down to the failures of others, I don't think he did anything special in the race at all.
That Mclaren is still very slow, and assuming we don't have the same shenanigans in the next race and everyone has settled down then I reckon he will struggle big time. He can't rely on luck on all season and hope people in front of himself take each other off. Only the fan boys would stand up and say he earned his final position on Sunday.
I would rather put it down to Mclaren race reliability.
I think his final race position flattered the Mclaren. Kimi took himself off (this is becoming a bit of a habit), Vettel and Kubica tangled, Massa had troubles and a few others. The Trulli penalty etc.
I think his final result is more down to the failures of others, I don't think he did anything special in the race at all.
That Mclaren is still very slow, and assuming we don't have the same shenanigans in the next race and everyone has settled down then I reckon he will struggle big time. He can't rely on luck on all season and hope people in front of himself take each other off. Only the fan boys would stand up and say he earned his final position on Sunday.
I would rather put it down to Mclaren race reliability.
heebeegeetee said:
Maty said:
People keep going on about Hamilton being "lucky", hello this is motorsport!! A huge element of it sometimes is "luck", someone mentioned above, to finish first, first you must finish. Hamilton made the best of a bad car in a race where people were falling off left right and centre, simple as that!
Well said. Thank god i'm not the only one who doesn't put faith in lucky rabbits feet. It's Kimi I feel sorry for, god, he's sooo unlucky.
him_over_there said:
I don't think so.
I think his final race position flattered the Mclaren. Kimi took himself off (this is becoming a bit of a habit), Vettel and Kubica tangled, Massa had troubles and a few others. The Trulli penalty etc.
I think his final result is more down to the failures of others, I don't think he did anything special in the race at all.
That Mclaren is still very slow, and assuming we don't have the same shenanigans in the next race and everyone has settled down then I reckon he will struggle big time. He can't rely on luck on all season and hope people in front of himself take each other off. Only the fan boys would stand up and say he earned his final position on Sunday.
I would rather put it down to Mclaren race reliability.
Yeah, he didn't have to actually do any racing, did he?I think his final race position flattered the Mclaren. Kimi took himself off (this is becoming a bit of a habit), Vettel and Kubica tangled, Massa had troubles and a few others. The Trulli penalty etc.
I think his final result is more down to the failures of others, I don't think he did anything special in the race at all.
That Mclaren is still very slow, and assuming we don't have the same shenanigans in the next race and everyone has settled down then I reckon he will struggle big time. He can't rely on luck on all season and hope people in front of himself take each other off. Only the fan boys would stand up and say he earned his final position on Sunday.
I would rather put it down to Mclaren race reliability.
him_over_there said:
I don't think so.
I think his final race position flattered the Mclaren. Kimi took himself off (this is becoming a bit of a habit), Vettel and Kubica tangled, Massa had troubles and a few others. The Trulli penalty etc.
I think his final result is more down to the failures of others, I don't think he did anything special in the race at all.
That Mclaren is still very slow, and assuming we don't have the same shenanigans in the next race and everyone has settled down then I reckon he will struggle big time. He can't rely on luck on all season and hope people in front of himself take each other off. Only the fan boys would stand up and say he earned his final position on Sunday.
I would rather put it down to Mclaren race reliability.
Yes alot of it was down to the failures of others and McLarens reliability (well apart from the dodgy gearbox!!). However, what about the overtaking he did during the race, there wasn't that much of it from everyone else was there. So what if everyone else takes themselves out of contention, again this is MOTORSPORT!I think his final race position flattered the Mclaren. Kimi took himself off (this is becoming a bit of a habit), Vettel and Kubica tangled, Massa had troubles and a few others. The Trulli penalty etc.
I think his final result is more down to the failures of others, I don't think he did anything special in the race at all.
That Mclaren is still very slow, and assuming we don't have the same shenanigans in the next race and everyone has settled down then I reckon he will struggle big time. He can't rely on luck on all season and hope people in front of himself take each other off. Only the fan boys would stand up and say he earned his final position on Sunday.
I would rather put it down to Mclaren race reliability.
You don't "rely" on people in front taking themselves off, but if it does happen then great. When I was racing if someone took themselves off then it was their fault, not mine so I would happily pick up the extra points!
Scuffers said:
heebeegeetee said:
Well i was delighted to see his result, and gutted that we didn't see him on the podium, that would have been fantastic.
It may be early days yet, we need to see it more than once, but yes, that was a world championship performance, it displayed why drivers like him are top performers. We were seeing it from Fred throughout last season too, we used to see it from Schumacher and Senna regularly when they weren't in cars that were the best. I sincerely hope we get to see more of it from Hamilton though.
His first lap, wasn't that a surprise? There was a Hamilton i hadn't seen before, it was as though he was content to trundle round in last place and then start attacking after the first lap melees were over. And of course he/they chose a strategy which was opposite to vettels, and look how it ended up (although many are putting that choice down to luck, i see. Yeah, right).
I sincerely hope we see more of it.
Agree with most of that...It may be early days yet, we need to see it more than once, but yes, that was a world championship performance, it displayed why drivers like him are top performers. We were seeing it from Fred throughout last season too, we used to see it from Schumacher and Senna regularly when they weren't in cars that were the best. I sincerely hope we get to see more of it from Hamilton though.
His first lap, wasn't that a surprise? There was a Hamilton i hadn't seen before, it was as though he was content to trundle round in last place and then start attacking after the first lap melees were over. And of course he/they chose a strategy which was opposite to vettels, and look how it ended up (although many are putting that choice down to luck, i see. Yeah, right).
I sincerely hope we see more of it.
the biggest change IMHO was his patience at the start, if this had been last year, I think he would have tried from the off, this year he is picking his battles more intelegently.
Yesterday Barrichello outbraked himself into the first corner on the first lap and crashed into another car, causing a multi-car pile-up. One competitor was immediately eliminated from the race, the race of another was ruined. For this, Barrichello's penalty: none.
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