[Official] Round 01: Australian GP

[ECW Dan Selby]

I wish he'd just go back to being a reckless son-of-a-gun.

Please can we have Lewis from 07-08 back?! I'm sick of this sick little puppy needing his bubble. Can you imagine Michael, Ayrton, or Mika sulking around needing a pop star by their side to function? It's a bit pathetic, really.

Selby

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by ECW Dan Selby

I wish he'd just go back to being a reckless son-of-a-gun.

Please can we have Lewis from 07-08 back?! I'm sick of this sick little puppy needing his bubble. Can you imagine Michael, Ayrton, or Mika sulking around needing a pop star by their side to function? It's a bit pathetic, really.

Selby

Is he still being mangaged by that pop promotion/management company?

[Ultimo]

Originally Posted by osrg

+1.

A mate and I remarked today whilst the race was on that outside of people who have him as their favorite driver, Jenson is everyone's 2nd favorite driver..... He's just a genuine, likeable bloke who happens to be a bloody fine F1 steerer....

Yeah, that is a very good point.

In a sport where you have so many jerks, its nice to see someone like Jenson do so well. I always like to see him at the top step of the podium.

[bella]

Originally Posted by mac

Mark being Mark though, and as fiercely competitive as he is, I can't see him subscribing to such a theory...

the clash of egos would be a thing to behold! it's an interesting idea, for one thing i think rob smedley deserves to work with someone he doesn't have to act as a therapist to.

[ECW Dan Selby]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Is he still being mangaged by that pop promotion/management company?

Yep, but now has Mika's former manager in, too.

I can't help but feel he could lose some of the other members of the posse now then... Regain some of that focus.

Or failing that, just get his dad by his side along with Mika's ex-manager. That's surely all you need. It worked well enough for him in 07-08/well enough for Mika.

The dog and pony show must make things difficult. Well, quite evidently it has.

Selby

[bella]

is lewis not just a good example of over management? you see examples of over mind management drivers all the time, but whilst he hasn't made any dodgy team decisions yet, his life ones have been seriously questionable. particularly the self-centred egomaniac girlfriend.

[ECW Dan Selby]

Yeh that's it, bella, it's over-management.

His dad clearly knew how to keep him in check, while Mika's ex-manager has the championship winning experience with a McLaren driver.

I understand (sort of) that he needs management for the Hamilton 'brand' if you will, but can that all not be kept away from the race weekends?!

Selby

[bjohnsonsmith]

I always thought of the Hamilton Brand as himself and his dad but I suppose pop promoters think otherwise. However pop music isn't motor racing.

[bella]

the irony is that the hamilton brand was at its strongest when it was just him, his brother and his old boy. he just isn't a natural born superstar in the way that the carlos fandango management want him to be.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by bella

the irony is that the hamilton brand was at its strongest when it was just him, his brother and his old boy. he just isn't a natural born superstar in the way that the carlos fandango management want him to be.

Yes that dopes appear to be the case doesn't it?

Lewis is all about driving a racing car fast, he doesn't have the other tools in his self, to be a show off, at the moment at least.

Jenson used to be a fairly quiet sort of bloke, but in the last 3 years, the championship has brought his media savvy and tv friendly persona out in a major way.

[stripedcat]

I don't think that Lewis' management team helps out. His Dad certainly knew how to manage him a lot better.

Lewis does seem quite fragile mentally. He is lucky he doesn't have someone like Nelson Piquet or Jacques Villenevue playing their 'mind games' on him. If things aren't going his way he tends to sulk and look glum. He really doesn't have that much to be glum about, he has a good car.

I do think that he also underestimated both Vettel(didn't see him as a championship contender) and Button(thought he wouldn't be too much of a problem).

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

He said in the post race interview on the BBC that he had wheel spin at the start. He also said he had wheel spin throughout the race.

Some tyre wear issues?

Originally Posted by stripedcat

I do think that he also underestimated both Vettel(didn't see him as a championship contender) and Button(thought he wouldn't be too much of a problem).

These days, Hamilton is losing more times than he is winning. That may be a difficult concept for him to understand. Particularly after that first season in the McLaren, when it may have looked to him like he would be almost invincible.

[Aysedasi]

One wonders what the psychological atmosphere is like within the team. Wasn't Lewis Ron's boy from the very start? In a way, it reminds me of Senna joining 'Prost's team' - it wasn't long before everyone could see that Alain had a battle royal on his hands and Ayrton's 'giving 100%' style clearly endeared him to the most important people around him - his engineers and the other people working their socks off to give him a great car. I don't suppose we'll find out until one or other of Lewis or Jenson leaves McLaren, but it would be interesting to know how these vital people view both drivers....

[barnettracing]

Originally Posted by Marbot

These days, Hamilton is losing more times than he is winning. That may be a difficult concept for him to understand. Particularly after that first season in the McLaren, when it may have looked to him like he would be almost invincible.

Motor racing is a sport where, even when you are the best, you will lose more often than you win. You would have thought that someone would have told Hamilton that when he started in karts, my dad certainly told me then.

He definitely needs a change in his mental/psychological outlook. The more you tell yourself something the more it can become 'reality' (to paraphrase Roland Barthes, you mythicise it). If he keeps getting grumpy every time he doesn't win then he will undoubtedly hinder his subsequent performances.

Lewis certainly has nothing to sulk about. No F1 driver does. They've made it to the 'pinnacle' of the sport, something that 99% of drivers never will.

[Aysedasi]

Heck, this season (!) Lewis has been beaten by Jenson once. We've had one race....... Too long a gap between seasons with little of consequence to discuss perhaps......

[Bononi]

Jenson tops, Lewis sucks, that's it.








Until the next race...

[garcon]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Heck, this season (!) Lewis has been beaten by Jenson once. We've had one race....... Too long a gap between seasons with little of consequence to discuss perhaps......

It's not just one race though. It's the inevitable continuation of the whole of last season.

[Super Hans]

Originally Posted by bella

the irony is that the hamilton brand was at its strongest when it was just him, his brother and his old boy. he just isn't a natural born superstar in the way that the carlos fandango management want him to be.

That's it in a nutshell. He is fantastically entertaining in a racing car, but out of it he seems a normal, quiet, fairly uncharismatic lad. Nothing wrong with that of course, but his advisors seem to want him to fill a superstar-shaped hole.

[TrapezeArtist]

Two years ago, everyone thought JB was mad to join a team built around Lewis. They thought he would be hammered.

At the time I thought the two drivers were both exceptionally talented, but different. Lewis was the gung-ho exciting driver with tremendous pace and raw talent. Jenson seemed to lack that last little bit of edge but he was better than anyone at judging his wet/dry tyre decisions and he could make marginal tyres last longer than anyone else.

In the first half of their first season together, I thought Lewis was learning from Jenson and becoming the more complete driver. Now though, it has become apparent that it's Jenson who has added Lewis's star qualities to his own to be the more complete driver. In the meantime too, the Pirelli tyres have emphasised one of Jenson's near-unique capabilities.

[barnettracing]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Heck, this season (!) Lewis has been beaten by Jenson once. We've had one race....... Too long a gap between seasons with little of consequence to discuss perhaps......

Even more reason for Lewis not to get grumpy and for us to discuss it. If he has got this sulky after just one race, then how is he going to be mentally if Jenson beats him in the next few races (especially if weather plays a part).

[CTD]

Originally Posted by barnettracing

Even more reason for Lewis not to get grumpy and for us to discuss it. If he has got this sulky after just one race, then how is he going to be mentally if Jenson beats him in the next few races (especially if weather plays a part).

Let's remember the second pit stop round, which wasn't exactly fair to Lewis.
It was too much sulking/grumping from him at the podium, but he did have a "bad-ish" race with some annoying troubles you would like to be without in a season start.

[Born Racer]

Hamilton didn't betray his emotions. He was respectful of others, congratulated Jenson when he got out the car, said all the "right things" in the press conference, but was bloody ****ed off, probably with himself (ruing the start) and maybe with the circumstances (the safety car). It's the classic thing of calling them robots (often calling Lewis one), and then showing any emotion, i.e. not smiling as much as Jenson (go figure) leading to people criticising him like we were picking faults in the Big Brother contestants.

[barnettracing]

Originally Posted by Born Racer

Hamilton didn't betray his emotions. He was respectful of others, congratulated Jenson when he got out the car, said all the "right things" in the press conference, but was bloody ****ed off, probably with himself (ruing the start) and maybe with the circumstances (the safety car). It's the classic thing of calling them robots (often calling Lewis one), and then showing any emotion, i.e. not smiling as much as Jenson (go figure) leading to people criticising him like we were picking faults in the Big Brother contestants.

I just find it strange that he should get so sulky after what was still a good race for him; he couldn't have done anything about the SC. And it was only the first race of the year.

Yes, he's not a robot but you'd think he'd be able to see the bigger picture that there are 19 more races for him to try and win and take the title.

[bella]

i agree with born racer. i don't have a problem with him sulking on the podium. there's no rules to say you have to smile up there, it's not the x factor.

he's a sportsman. we don't understand his expectations, motivations and what his mind goes through during a race, so how can we expect to understand his post-race adrenaline ridden reactions?

[JamesH]

Originally Posted by barnettracing

I just find it strange that he should get so sulky after what was still a good race for him; he couldn't have done anything about the SC. And it was only the first race of the year.

Yes, he's not a robot but you'd think he'd be able to see the bigger picture that there are 19 more races for him to try and win and take the title.

Good race? Started pole, came third. In one of the two the fastest cars on the track.