Lewis Hamilton (Vol. 2)

[usn90]

I will say this.

Lewis for me, is the greatest driver to have graced the f1 grid, he does have his moments of outbursts over the radio when things aren’t going his way, but other than that there really isn’t a bad thing you can say about the driver or person.

But today the way he conducted himself post race really was outstanding, No idea how he managed it, Max certainly would have gone about it in a completely different way, infact had the
Safety car never happened and Lewis won, I still doubt max would have been as gracious to Lewis and Lewis was to him under that outrageous debacle, same goes for Anthony aswell, brought his son up the right way it seems

[paulguitar]

usn90 said:

I will say this.

Lewis for me, is the greatest driver to have graced the f1 grid, he does have his moments of outbursts over the radio when things aren’t going his way, but other than that there really isn’t a bad thing you can say about the driver or person.

But today the way he conducted himself post race really was outstanding, No idea how he managed it, Max certainly would have gone about it in a completely different way, infact had the
Safety car never happened and Lewis won, I still doubt max would have been as gracious to Lewis and Lewis was to him under that outrageous debacle, same goes for Anthony aswell, brought his son up the right way it seems

Absolutely. Totally a class act today. I suspect he won't really be appreciated by many until some time after he's retired from the sport.

[Little Pete]

paulguitar said:

Absolutely. Totally a class act today. I suspect he won't really be appreciated by many until some time after he's retired from the sport.

This.

[NRS]

usn90 said:

I will say this.

Lewis for me, is the greatest driver to have graced the f1 grid, he does have his moments of outbursts over the radio when things aren’t going his way, but other than that there really isn’t a bad thing you can say about the driver or person.

But today the way he conducted himself post race really was outstanding, No idea how he managed it, Max certainly would have gone about it in a completely different way, infact had the
Safety car never happened and Lewis won, I still doubt max would have been as gracious to Lewis and Lewis was to him under that outrageous debacle, same goes for Anthony aswell, brought his son up the right way it seems

Max and Lewis respect each other, and I think Max would have been gracious today if he had not won being stuck behind the safety car. He's more pissed at the officials for the penalties. For all the words before both were respectful after the end of the race. I'm not sure I could have done what Hamilton did though - not about Max, but about the joke the "sport" has become, and how he did everything right apart from a dodgy rushed call with the knowledge Lewis could never defend a lap like that. I'd have likely just disappeared personally, or said well done to Max but called out the Masi BS in public.

[MarkwG]

NRS said:

usn90 said:

I will say this.

Lewis for me, is the greatest driver to have graced the f1 grid, he does have his moments of outbursts over the radio when things aren’t going his way, but other than that there really isn’t a bad thing you can say about the driver or person.

But today the way he conducted himself post race really was outstanding, No idea how he managed it, Max certainly would have gone about it in a completely different way, infact had the
Safety car never happened and Lewis won, I still doubt max would have been as gracious to Lewis and Lewis was to him under that outrageous debacle, same goes for Anthony aswell, brought his son up the right way it seems

Max and Lewis respect each other, and I think Max would have been gracious today if he had not won being stuck behind the safety car. He's more pissed at the officials for the penalties. For all the words before both were respectful after the end of the race. I'm not sure I could have done what Hamilton did though - not about Max, but about the joke the "sport" has become, and how he did everything right apart from a dodgy rushed call with the knowledge Lewis could never defend a lap like that. I'd have likely just disappeared personally, or said well done to Max but called out the Masi BS in public.

I think so too: because, in spite of all the panto villain stuff, he's no fool, but also because up until Latifi over parked the Williams, he was a beaten man. He knew he couldn't catch Hamilton. & he'd resigned himself to it.

[MadMullah]

MrBogSmith said:

It'd be foolish to write off lewis next season.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him and Merc smash it next season from the first race.

I really hope so. I hope this lights a real high fire under the whole team to absolutely dominate next year. Lewis was doing amazing stuff in the last few races compared to the start of the season

[Nardies]

MrBogSmith said:

It'd be foolish to write off lewis next season.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him and Merc smash it next season from the first race.

I thought the likelihood of this happening was ultimately meant to be reduced due to the regs next year? I mean ultimately now it doesn't matter anyway, now that we know it's more about who Liberty, through the RD wants to win. I think Lewis will probably see out his contract and act in a more ambassadorial role if he's not smashing it.

[Teddy Lop]

MrBogSmith said:

It'd be foolish to write off lewis next season.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him and Merc smash it next season from the first race.

For sure. Be it the weird happenings of '07 or the machinations of rosberg in 16, he picked himself up and came back stronger.

Trying to look forwards with some optimism, perhaps now max has the championship that for whatever reason certain wide reaching powers wanted for him - can we look forwards to a little more of level playing field do you think?

Maybe sky's team of pundits could stop sounding like they've been briefed to apologise for max before every broadcast and rediscover their objectivity and honesty etc. Watching and hearing Damon hill, of all people, defend it was something I thought I'd never witness. Never more have Murray and Hunt been missed than this year, I think.

[playamonte]

He will come back stronger next year & will this time have a teammate worth having and take his next title.
The following year will be Russell’s and he will cover his back as Russel had and once done will call it a day.

[NRS]

playamonte said:

He will come back stronger next year & will this time have a teammate worth having and take his next title.
The following year will be Russell’s and he will cover his back as Russel had and once done will call it a day.

I'm really not sure. He'll drop a lot more points to Russell than Bottas, and Max will continue being Max and wiping them out/forcing him off the track (with Russell around to pick up the pieces from the two of them, if he's not ahead).

The main thing is if the car is so good they are ahead of everyone again, or if it's all a lot closer. Reg changes almost always result in one team finding a loophole and doing really well compared to the rest.

[molineux1980]

I'm not paticularly a Max fan, some of his antics leave a sour taste in the mouth.

But, I think over the season Max has *just deserved it and is a worthy champion. Huge kudos to Lewis for taking it to last race of the season.

Absolute class act in his interview, even though he must have been hurting terribly.

Next year, with new regs and a potential very fast George in the sister Merc will be intriguing.

I'd like Lewis to take the 8th title and be a champion in 3 different eras of car. Looking forward to it.

[MarkwG]

molineux1980 said:

I'm not paticularly a Max fan, some of his antics leave a sour taste in the mouth.

But, I think over the season Max has *just deserved it and is a worthy champion. Huge kudos to Lewis for taking it to last race of the season.

Absolute class act in his interview, even though he must have been hurting terribly.

Next year, with new regs and a potential very fast George in the sister Merc will be intriguing.

I'd like Lewis to take the 8th title and be a champion in 3 different eras of car. Looking forward to it.

I take your points, but my contra view is that Max made far more mistakes than Lewis this season; his driving which had developed a little more finesse, returned to it's previous barge & hope style; Red Bull made some ridiculous accusations about the Mercedes wing which they were never called on, & Horner came within an inch of being charged with brining the sport into disrepute; &, ultimately, Max needed the intervention of the Race Director at Spa & Abu Dhabi to get the few points he needed to overtake Lewis, whereas Lewis drove some incredible comeback races to get points from nothing.

As ever, Mercedes & Lewis weren't spotless, every team & driver have their moments to forget - but Max didn't "win" this season, he wasn't the "better" driver: he was gifted it, & whenever I walk past the supermarket fish counter, the smell will remind me of yesterday...

However, it's not going to change: Mercedes need to take it as far as they can, but the FIA won't flinch. Next season is set up to be the F1 grudge match of the century, hopefully.

[Hazmat1]

Max being gracious?

Couldn’t even say anything about Lewis in any post race interview, that’s not being gracious..

I hope that Merc have put everything into next year and take a very hard one driver approach next year to right the events of this year, George fully inline for the team game from the start and utterly destroy all comers.

Not likely the most popular approach for them to take but the gloves came off months ago so it wouldn’t be unwarranted

[Chamon_Lee]

General Price said:

swisstoni said:

No. But if he had won today, quite possibly.

I think he want's a shot under the new regs,this years car was just last years with a ribbon on.
Merc have tipped all of their money into next years so it could be 2014 all over again.

Agree with this, as far as I know merc have spent considerable time and effort for the new era of F1 car. RB have practically done nothing focusing on this year so much.

[Muzzer79]

Chamon_Lee said:

Agree with this, as far as I know merc have spent considerable time and effort for the new era of F1 car. RB have practically done nothing focusing on this year so much.

What's your source for this?

Because it's just patently not true.

[JayK12]

Hazmat1 said:

Max being gracious?

Couldn’t even say anything about Lewis in any post race interview, that’s not being gracious..

I hope that Merc have put everything into next year and take a very hard one driver approach next year to right the events of this year, George fully inline for the team game from the start and utterly destroy all comers.

Not likely the most popular approach for them to take but the gloves came off months ago so it wouldn’t be unwarranted

Regardless of Max, I do hope Merc destroy the field next year with LH and GR, every qualifying session, every race. I'd love to see what Liberty and Massi do to stop them for the sake of entertainment. Anyhow its just a hope lol.

[C70R]

Hazmat1 said:

I hope that Merc have put everything into next year and take a very hard one driver approach next year to right the events of this year, George fully inline for the team game from the start and utterly destroy all comers.

I suspect they will also have the benefit of having a better second driver again too.

All too easy to forget, despite the criticism that he gets on social media, that Bottas finished comfortably clear of Perez this season. Mercedes had the WCC sewn up before Abu Dhabi, barring a double DNF.

[sly fox]

Not a massive Hamilton fan at all here - so for some balance i'll put down what i don't like about him rather than all this gushing.

1 Clearly great at PR. There are many angles to this and a few current drivers/ ex drivers have made this comment in the past year or so- he's great at using PR to his advantage.

2. Fake radio messages/ psychology used against other drivers. It's pathetic.

3. Whinging. Oh the whinging. The amount of times he tells us the tyres are shot/gone/dead and then puts in a fastest lap 2 minutes later. Could be related to point (2).

4. All this BLM/ Race for change/ LBGT bullst. How many more POC are we seeing in teams, pits or on the grid after a year or so of this campaign? I'd argue Zero. It's an Instagram /Social media content filler and nothing more. I know it's not going to be an overnight change but it's been 2 full seasons now. Wearing LGBT coloured helmets changes nothing.

5. Like many periods in F1 history, we have had drivers who win championships where a technical dominance has been significant. Like Ferrari/Schumacher, Lewis and Mercedes have won several championships with no real competition. Yes he has won 7 WC's, but i don't feel like they were great seasons or real challenges. But boy does he mention this fact at the drop of a (manufacturer sponsored) hat.

It's a real shame that to me (and possibly other F1 fans) that these things detract from Lewis as a true great F1 driver. He's definitely not the greatest.

In my view, he's got the speed, talent and drive to rival (and arguably surpass) any driver in F1 history yet these personal characteristics for me stop him being a class act.

Edited by sly fox on Monday 13th December 11:43

[usn90]

I’m not so sure about next year, unless we have a 2014 on our hands with Mercedes dominance, which I find hard to believe given the objectives of the rule changes

The key thing for me is that Russel will be in that second seat, and whilst it would have helped Lewis this year had bottas played his part better, sticking a young Russel next to a twilight Lewis is only going to hinder Lewis IMO, I see Lewis getting the better of Russel over the season, but there will be a good few points lost in the process, and you can bet RB will be throwing the kitchen sink Max’s way from the word go

But my feeling still haven’t changed, I don’t think I could come back from this if I were Lewis,

[paulguitar]

sly fox said:

yet these personal characteristics for me stop him being a class act.

His behaviour yesterday, having been robbed of the race and title, was exemplary. He pretty much defines a 'class act'.