A bad weekend gets worse for Hamilton

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Lewis Hamilton starts 11th in tomorrow's Australian Grand Prix

So far it’s shaping up to be another weekend to forget in Australia for Lewis Hamilton. He became the first driver from one of the ‘big four’ teams to fail to make the cut for Q3 in qualifying this year.

The timing couldn’t be worse – he’s already in the headlines for all the wrong reasons after he was pulled over by the Melbourne police yesterday.

He lines up a disappointing 11th on the grid for tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix despite McLaren believing they’d improved their car’s pace over a flying lap.

It’s not unusual for any driver to have a poor result in qualifying now and then. When the gap between reaching Q3 and missing it is measured in hundredths of a second it’s bound to happen sooner or later.

But given distractions outside the cockpit yesterday you have to wonder if his mind was elsewhere. And whether he would have had that problem in the first place if he still had the guiding hands of father Anthony managing his career.

Of course the reasons for his difficulties today could be more straightforward. All the drivers had to cope with traffic on the circuit and lower track temperatures, and some did rather better than others.

Hamilton wasn’t the only driver who was some way off his team mate’s pace. Felipe Massa was seven-tenths slower than Fernando Alonso in Q2 and Q3.

Hamilton faces a struggle to make an impression from 11th on the grid tomorrow. He at least has a free choice of which tyre he will start the race on, knowing that all the drivers in front of him will be on the soft compound.

Was just a one-off blip or are problems that run deeper? Have your say in the comments and have a look at the earlier qualifying coverage for more from other readers.

2010 Australian Grand Prix

    Author information

    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    143 comments on “A bad weekend gets worse for Hamilton”

    1. Hmmmm me thinks the lack of Anthony Hamilton’s ‘rod of steel rule’ is already having an effect on Hamilton – He jetted into Melbourne late from LA (wonder who is was seeing there – he’s probably still a bit Jet lagged) then starts thinking he’s Tiff Needell ! – the shackles are off and he’s gonna go through a bit of a”Playboy” process like Button did when he first got into F1 – not the McLaren way but hey the boys gotta live ! Perhaps Button maybe should have a little word in his shell-like and with his experience tell him the two do not mix.

      1. are you crazy. He is so happy lewis is running after nicole’s skirt. Now jenson has got a chance. And slowly but surely vettel and alonso are getting the job done.

    2. I am hoping to seeing hamilton battle his way forward from 11th!

      1. Well said iceshiel, If there is a driver on the grid that can fulfill such hope its Lewis Hamilton. Fingers crossed for rain :)

        1. if rain happens than dont forget shumacher.

          1. cabbagesVScarrots
            27th March 2010, 12:01

            very true iceman and i’m looking forward to a good fight between hamilton and schumacher in the rain

            1. bring it on than ………lets see who is rain master…and no excuses aftermath

            2. being a Rain Konig is as much about the car as the driver, if the rain hits its cars like the RB6 that would stomp the field.

      2. Dont forget last year, he finished 4th after a bad quali session…
        I suspect definitely points for hamilton, possibly even a podium if he gets a good race. Im guessing he will start on the harder tires, whereas all those in front of him will be on soft.
        Hammy for WDC 2010!!!

        1. Sorry to rain on your parade but it’s as good as Alonso’s, since he won the opening race :P

    3. This is a good thing, he might actually fight for positions and make the cameras show us some more mid field battles :)

      1. Absolutely. Even if the race at the front turns out to be really boring (which I doubt), it’s always good to know that there’s a guy out the back with his aggressive shoes always on and nothing to lose.

        Lewis is always good to watch, and if last year’s Aussie GP is anything to go by we can expect him to finish in the top 6 at least.

    4. Upside for Lewis is that he can choose his tyres for the race, but that’s not much consolation if the cars setup is not good. He didn’t seem to have any confidence in the car.

      1. Considering his performance in the last race, I don’t think confidence is the case whatsoever.

        1. not confidence, but distractions.

    5. Weird that post i was relying too has disappeared … makes my reply look out of place now :(

    6. We all know what a difference a day can make between quali and the race. It would be a shame if he went for hard tyres and jumped everyone when they put first, but otherwise this should be good for the show. Even better if it rains.

    7. I would love it if he told the murdoch trash to swivel one of these days.

      The headlines “you donut lewis” are just plain innacurate and make me be ashamed to be British.

      1. I’m guessing the “you donut lewis” headline is more referring to his antics in the Road Car doing burn outs doughnuts and power-slides on the streets of Melbourne rather than any on-track performance :)

        1. There were no ” doughnuts and power-slides on the streets of Melbourne” pat. He just lit up his rear tyers coming away from the circuit exit to give the fans a bit of show. Someone deceptively posted old footage of Hamilton doing doughnuts at a promo event and the gutter press ran it as news

      2. Ashamed to be British? Surely not………..

        1. Only when I think about the press. At all other times, I’m as proud as punch $:)

        2. ah what u saying ….lol

      3. John H- hah that would be funny. I hate British papers too, I hate the spin they put on all their news

      4. Here in Australia the headlines were: “F1 ace hoon shame”…

        At least they got the “ace” in there…

        By the way, does anyone know what the problem was with his pace? Would it be tyre temperature related like Massa?

    8. In previous years i would have been excited at the prospect of Hamilton carving his way up through the field. But with these new regulations, and the fact that Lewis just doesn’t seem to be “on it”, i wouldn’t be surprised if his race ended either in a first lap collision, or in the middle of a procession.

      1. the race would finish with him running back to nicole, whethever she is. She is part of the problem, his father i am sure told him, but he is a world champ, and a grown up now, so he wouldn’t listen.
        Get married lewis, and forget to enter in the all times great list.

    9. You never know. Maybe this will give him a good kick up the **** for the race tomorrow. A good nights sleep can make all the difference…

      Anyway, if theres one driver capable of punching his way through the field its him.

    10. Keith I think you’ve done a marvellous job. The piece isn’t partisan and it doesn’t sensationalise what’s happened either. It’s tackled in a very level and fair way which is something I’ve come to love about this site as many places just want to build up a story with a lot of drama to sell while seemingly forgetting what actually happened.
      There have been some comments on this site and a couple of others which has brought up the issue of race. I think this is unfair and not relevant; it doesn’t do justice to the media or the fans and is used as some kind of excuse which isn’t fair on Hamilton either who has taken full responsibility and admitted his mistake.
      I’m not a Hamilton fan by any means as some here will know so maybe I’m not the best to comment.
      Now I have no problem with drivers or anyone for that matter having a little bit of fun and I’ll be honest there is an expectation and (for me anyway) some excitement if there is a ‘rock and roll image’. However, Hamilton broke the rules so it’s only fair that he gets punished. He must have known a ‘media storm’ would happen -maybe it wouldn’t 20 years ago-but there’s a certain image he is expected to uphold and frankly with the ‘make roads safe’ campaign the timing couldn’t be worse.
      For whatever reason, he messed up in quali or maybe the team did if there was some issue with the tyre pressures. Hopefully, he’ll climb through the field to provide some entertainment but anything could happen tomorrow and Hamilton was pretty vocal saying he couldn’t overtake Rosberg at Bahrain but I hope things are better at this track. He can at least choose his tyres but it’s probably not the same advantage as it was last year when fuel loads could be chosen also.

    11. I believe Lewis’ 11th place was well planned. Interesting to see what happens tomorrow. If it works, everyone will try for 11th place from next race.

      1. I’d be interested to hear why. I can’t think of any advantage of being 11th. The only thing he can change is tyres and if he really wanted to start on hard tyres he could have got into Q3 and seen how far up the grid he could get on them.

        1. I agree with Keith on this being a very interesting theory!
          @ Andrew – how about the combination of free tyre choice + good position on the grid? i mean, if he takes 11th he gets whichever tyre he wants plus the better side on the grid, which may result in a better grip?
          it is kind of a safer way rather than using the hard tyres in Q3 and ending up on the “worse” side..

          1. Hamilton’s times in Q1 and Q2 should have been enough in Q3 to land him 8th (assumuning he only used hard tyres in Q1).

        2. his race is bust.

      2. Well that’s an interesting theory! Can’t say I agree with it though…

      3. You are not being serious are you?

    12. I have a feeling HAM will be one of the first to retire. I would never be behind Sutil who never checks his rear mirrors.

      1. haha you got that right !

    13. one off blip me thinks!

    14. Looks like Hamilton’s finally being found out.

    15. I believe he will be at a advantage being 11th. He will get a new set of tyres which the front runners will not have. His average speed over the weekend has been 1:24.000/1:25.000 where as the three cars infront of him… Kubica, Sutil and Barrichello have been running at about 1:25.000/1.26.000 or just under throughout the weekend showing that he has the speed to get around them. I think that he may also be able to use the new tyres to his advantage and keep them for a long period of time, compared to the front runners, and I think he could possibly get a jump on Schumacher and Massa who haven’t had the pase either

      1. only in the wet he’s got any chance.

    16. Hamilton will do more passes than everyone else put together.

      1. Sorry Keith, but I had to.

    17. I don’t think his road violation and getting caught by the police has anything to do with Hamilton’s qualifying, though of course you have to consider the possibility. But these guys have and need incredible focus to do what they do. Hamilton is the youngest ever world champion who almost won in his first year and when things were going bad last year, he learned to become a more mature driver over the course of the year. He’s in the car to do the job, and for that reason I don’t think the run-in with the police had anything to do with it.

      Hopefully there’s no safety cars, because a top contender trying to come through the field is exactly what F1 needs after the negativity around Bahrain.

    18. I’m going to be on Sky News around half past one talking about Hamilton so if you’ve got it keep an eye out for me!

      1. are you going to talk about nicole too? She is part of the problem i think.

        1. No, I don’t really care about his private life.

        2. What the hell? You’re like a stuck record on this. Are you jealous of him or something?

      2. Can you mention that he didnt do any powerslides or doughnuts please?

        Until I read this site that was the impression i got and Sky can be rather sensationalist so it would probably be good for you to clear that up.

      3. well done Keith, good interview and well though about Lewis.

        1. Thank you. I’m shattered from being up so early and I didn’t think I did terribly well – there was a horrendous pause that lasted about three days!

          1. Do you have a possible link or are you ale to post a video of it?

    19. This is a blessing disguise really. Hamilton can fight form here and put in some strong moves to get higher up the grid. If Button can park the car on 4th spot, then I’m sure Hamilton will get every inch of performance he can from the car!

    20. Magnificent Geoffrey
      27th March 2010, 12:21

      I worry about Lewis. You just know that he’s extremely embarrassed by what happened on Friday night. I get the impression that he’s the type of guy who really cares about his reputation, and really takes others’ opinions of him to heart. It’s not that he wants to be loved by everyone and be the world’s most popular driver (although I’m sure he’d like that prospect), I do, however, think that he really does want to be universally respected and that he wants to be a good role model to all the younger fans who look up to him.

      In his three seasons to date, he’s already highly experienced in the political workings of the sport:
      2007: Spy Scandal / fallout with Fernando
      2008: Bus-Stop Scandal
      2009: Aus GP Lying Scandal
      Lewis is a very different character from someone like a Fernando or a Kimi and I imagine he really, really hates all the drama that surrounds situations like those – whereas I imagine it really wouldn’t bother someone like Kimi who we all know honestly wouldn’t give a stuff about things like that if he was involved in them. I’m not saying that that character trait is necessarily a weakness – or that Kimi’s nonchalant attitude is a strength – but that that’s just how Lewis is and I imagine that something like what just happened could truly have a mental knock-on effect.

      After reading reports about Hamilton that suggested that he may have considered quitting the sport after the damage his reputation suffered from the lying incident last year (assuming there was a significant level of truth in those reports), and now hearing about remarks that DC apparently made about concerns he has over Lewis, I just worry that all this constant drama genuinely does bother him. I’m sure all he wants to do is just get out there and drive and not get all this attention for the wrong reasons, but he always seems to find himself in the spotlight for all these controversial reasons far too often.

      So Lewis, you shouldn’t have been driving like you were, you got caught and you’ll probably get a small slap on the wrist for it. But apart from that, no-one cares. We don’t judge you – we all think it’s pretty funny, if anything. Just put it behind you and get your head back in the game, so I can stop hearing these rumours about you wanting to pack it all in.

      1. You are completely misrepresenting events:

        “In his three seasons to date, he’s already highly experienced in the political workings of the sport:
        2007: Spy Scandal / fallout with Fernando
        2008: Bus-Stop Scandal
        2009: Aus GP Lying Scandal”

        2007: The “spy scandal” had nothing to do with Lewis Hamilton (McLaren fined £50,000,000! by FIA) All the teams spy on each other, its part of the game.

        2008; ” Bus-Stop Scandal”!? what scandal, Lewis was robbed of a race win after driving exceptionally well in the rain and the win handed to the bumbling Felipe Massa!

        2009: His team, Dave Rayn, orders Lewis to say that he wasn’t ordered to slow down when he was. He was unfairly put in a position, where if he spoke out he would go against his team, be punished by the FIA and loose his 3rd position. His only option was to keep quiet, he was covering his boss’s mistake. The FIA found Dave Rayn responsible and he resigned.

        People, for their own reasons, keep mudslinging at Hamilton in the hope that something will stick; to discredit him. Its called prejudice, People form a simplified often wrong opinion about a person then set about going to extraordinary lengths to prove themselves right

        1. To be fair in 07 he had nothing to do with the spy scandal but was part of the Alonso fall out.
          08 he made a mistake and gained an advantage but the main problem was the stewards again. Massa won because the other two infront made a mistake, he wasn’t the best driver but that’s F1 it’s about whoever survives.
          09 tricky position but he could have and should have just said no.

          1. Hamilton made a mistake? He was pushed off track by Raikkonen! After the race they changed the rules on him (even when McLaren was told durin gthe race that “giving the position back” was indeed the right thing)

            How people can still blame Lewis for that is beyond me.

            1. Pushed off? Don’t make me laugh.

              Why don’t you just face the fact that Lewis – inadvertently or not – gained an unfair advantage by slipstreaming?

              I agree with the criticism towards the stewards’ way of dealing with it, and no one likes to see inherited wins. But he broke the rules and got penalised, end of story.

            2. Jraybay-HamiltonMclarenfan
              28th March 2010, 5:27

              He cut the chicane yeah but what advantage are you talking about? He was in the draft for like 0.3 millsconds.

          2. Jraybay-HamiltonMclarenfan
            28th March 2010, 5:19

            Yes he smoked alonso one too many times x^D

            1. Watch the race and count the seconds (not milliseconds). Either way, more than enough to have an unfair run at the end of the straight.

        2. I think Magnificant Geoffrey just meant the controverse surrounding those ‘issues’ can have an influence on someone like Lewis, regardless of ‘blame’ and ‘guilt’

        3. Mudslinging? Which post were you reading?

          If I can paraphrase, the post you responded to basically says that Hamilton has been involved in several controversies during his brief time in F1 but he should put it behind him and get on with the job.

          Where’s your problem with that? Whether you like it or not, Hamilton was a McLaren driver at the time of Spygate (even if he had nothing to do with it), he did have a falling out with Alonso (regardless of whether it was his fault), he was controversially penalised in Belgium in 2008 (whether it was justified or not) and he did mislead the stewards in Australia last year (apparently on the instructions of a senior McLaren employee).

          There’s about as much prejudice in stating that Hamilton has been involved in some controversies in his F1 career as saying that Vettel is on pole for tomorrow’s Grand Prix driving a Red Bull.

          1. With all due respect, the Spa win that was taken away from Hamilton in 2008 and given to Massa was the one of the most disgraceful episodes in modern sporting history.

            In Australia 2009, no one on earth would have done anything different to what Lewis did after Dave Rayn and McLaren put him in an impossible situation.

            His team failed him and he stood by his team as any other driver would have done faced with this situation.

            Throughout the years, how many F1 drivers have been told over the radio to let their team mates pass and how many of those later stand in front cameras and deny that any such communication ever took place! I wonder.

            Yet Hamilton is constantly being hounded by this ridiculous accusation. The truth guys is Hamilton’s genuine and superb talent is something that many ‘fans’ and F1 people just can’t accept and will never accept and they’ll will keep hounding Hamilton and pushing him to destroy his confidence and reputation. Its an old story and it is sad to see it being played out in what should be world’s most intelligent sport

            1. Re: your final paragraph

              This is what happens to many top drivers, though. You get people hating on Alonso, trying to blame the whole spygate saga on him and believe that he practically masterminded crashgate. Even to this day people bring up Suzuka 1990, with what Senna did. I won’t even start with the number of things people start criticising Schumacher for. My point is, almost all top drivers have to cope with tons of bad press, trying to knock their confidence and reputation. Hopefully, Hamilton will be strong enough to deal with it (I’m not even a fan of his, I support Ferrari).

            2. Taking your points in turn.

              Spa 2008 – yes, I agree, the Spa decision was disgraceful. A scandal in fact. A scandal involving Hamilton.

              Melbourne 2009 – while it’s debatable whether every other driver would’ve done what Hamilton did (some would, others perhaps not) but that aside it was, again, a scandal. One where the main driver involved was Hamilton.

              However, just having the words “scandal” and “Hamilton” in the same sentence does not automatically suggest that the author is blaming Hamilton for the controversy or is prejudiced against him for whatever reason. This is what you seem to be having difficulty with. The amount of blame that can be apportioned to Lewis in these incidents is always up for debate, the fact that he was involved in all of the incidents is undeniable.

              I agree completely that Hamilton is a superb talent – but your trying to deny that he has been involved in various controversies is plain daft.

            3. No, I think the most disgraceful event in F1 history (that I can remember) was Briatore’s criminal stunt last year with Renault. And it’s a pretty safe bet it wasn’t the first disgraceful thing he did. Suddenly the allegations against Benetton in 94 seem really well founded. The guy should be in jail.

              Spa 2008 happened because Lewis did not comply with the rules. It was a harsh punishment and not the best way to end a GP weekend. But it was fair and, let’s not forget, all drivers in the paddock that cared to comment agreed with the decision.

            4. You know I can’t remember what lewis said about it. Obviously it was disapointing. An the new rule is better, an it was the right thing, he did gain an unfair advantage. If he took him along the back straight it would have been better.

              Whateve,r what’s annoying about spa 2008 was blinding utter inconsistancy from the stewards. You just knew that if the roles where reversed it would have been different. Which is why everyone got so angry.

            5. @Tim

              A good attempt but we both know that you are trying to dodge the essence of what is being said here, so let me simplify things a little:

              The F1 world is a pretty self contained one, the amount of people who wield actual power and influence can almost be counted on the one hand. On the whloe they come from similar backgrounds and share similar outlooks and vision of what they want the sport to stand for

              Since mid season 2007, It is clear that a few people up there have had it in for Mclaren, Ron Dennis and his protege Lewis Hamilton. Hence Dennis’ early exit from F1, an attempt at taking the heat off his team. If the people mentioned above start sending out signals that certain entities are persona non grata, the marketing creeps, the pundits and certain commentators and ‘journalists’ immediately start propagating these idea, because these people are usually careerists who sing for their money and have a highly developed sense as to which side their bread is buttered. Before you know it an atmosphere, an unspoken understanding prevails and most people buy into it. Decision makers start to tailor their judgments according to what they percieve/understand is expected of them and most people around the sport start resonating to same tune and a hate campaign becomes self propagating because most people are like sheep, they just want to belong to a group a class or club and accordingly believe that the worst thing that could happen to them is to become outcasts and in turn use the later against those that they believe do not share their outlook, hence the drivers attitude to Hamilton.

              This is an almost primitive marketing ‘tool’ known as FUD: Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt and it is broadly speaking what is happening to Hamilton and Mclaren at the moment. It is why Bernie has become more a liability to F1 than ever. He has too much influence and power in this sport and ultimately this is not good for F1, especially when you take into account that would consider a ruthless cheats like Briatore friends. Of course all this may not be down to Bernie and his club, although recent contrived interviews along side Hamilton on F1 site, obviously designed to dispel any thought of bias on behalf of Bernie suggest it.

              On the other hand, such an atmosphere could be down the to growth and pervasive influence of information technology, and the nasty geek networks that inhabit the web, thus bringing into the sport political and ideological influence that it was insulated from before. Whatever the case, what happening to Hamilton is not justified and we need to keep the sport away from politics and ugly tribal attitudes although i suspect I’m waisting my breath here. Whatever the case, the point is that whether knowingly or not you’re propagating misinformation that is part of a wider campaign against Hamilton. It is unprecedented in F1 and we should collectively reject it instead of passing on hateful tabloid nonsense that has no place in F1..savy ;)

            6. Alright, cabbagesVScarrots in many ways your right about the pirahna club but your missing a key points.

              It was Mosley who had it in for Dennis not Bernie. Bernie genrally gets on with McLaren, has fought for them often in the pass an likes the hell out of Hamilton for being the sports Tiger Woods, Williams sisters, whatever. He’s the talented black guy outdoing the white guys in a white mans sport. Brilliant for the sport, brilliant for attracting veiwers, brilliant for Bernie, he’d have to be stupid to move against Hamilton, an underestimaiting Bernie is so stupid its not really funny.

              It’s the FIA that doesn’t like McLaren but that’s changed to. If the F-duct had been invented for 2009 it would have been banned. An the DDD still wouldn’t have gone. It’s Jean Todts nuetralising influence, while I don’t know how he feels about McLaren, I feel like the FIA an the resectable media have handled this ridiculously. It well be the Mosley hounds are follwing his orders after he’s been removed. An that was what it was, a full on FOTA coup, but to suggest it’s Bernie is a bit odd.

    21. I hope this isn’t a repeat of Raikkonen’s problems in 2008… It will ruin his reputation to an overrated driver just like it did with Kimi.

      1. nah Hamilton is still very very hungry. Not to worry.

    22. If the car was bad to drive in qualifying, then it’s not going to suddenly transform itself in the race. Lewis, at best, could find himself staring at the gearbox of a Mercedes for quite a number of laps.

      1. When you add 150kg of fuel it might change things a lot though.

        Besides, I would assume his problems originated from the tyres. There was some talk of them changing the tyre pressures. Maybe for the worse?

        Besides, the drivers in P11 and down should be allowed to change their setup right? Q2 is done with low fuel and does not have to take into account that 150kg of fuel gets added. They will have to make changes for the car to even be able to run

        1. “Besides, the drivers in P11 and down should be allowed to change their setup right? Q2 is done with low fuel and does not have to take into account that 150kg of fuel gets added. They will have to make changes for the car to even be able to run”

          At the beginning of Q1 the cars are in parc ferme conditions, which means that the cars setup is ‘locked off’ barring changes to front wing angle and tyre pressures. All qualifying is now done with low fuel, and the teams should know what suspension settings to use for a full fuel load in order to compete in qualifying and the race without need for adjustment.

    23. I really am disapppointed by this result. I can only hope Lewis can carve his way through the field or something, but…

    24. I’m actually a little disappointed, Not in Hamilton, he’s young, successful, it’s the kind of stupid things people do at that age (being 19 I can testify to doing stupid things…. groan…) ,
      And I’m not disappointed in the press, because, they always sensationalise things, nothing surprising there.

      But I’m deeply disappointed in the managing body of the sport, considering how F1 is always promoting safety both on and off the track (make roads safe for instance)
      I feel, that if he does not have repercussions from within the sport, (as other sportsmen and women do from other sports) It will be a hypocrisy on a level that I have not seen for a long time, As a role model, surely he should be punished for this, and a slap on the wrist isn’t good enough.

      It is worse than a local footy player doing the same thing, or a local hoon, as he is a professional car driver, he knows the rules, and it isn’t the first time he has done something like this (didn’t he get in trouble in France a while ago?)

      That being said I hope he does well tomorrow, not too well, because I decided not to put him up top on my predictions, thinking the Mclaren’s where of the pass….

      1. are kidding me, repercussions for lighting up your tires. The car being impounded seems appropriate. Whatever happened to justice for all, he should be treated the same as if I got caught lighting up my tires. Not made some spectacle of.

        1. repercussions FOR BREAKING THE LAW.

          Yes, there should be. He broke the local road rules. Full stop. Doesn’t matter what he did or didn’t do, he broke the local road rules. Hoon driving is severaly frowned upon here, and Hamilton is a d*ckbrain for doing what he did, especially on the weekend where the FIA were pusing their “Make Roads Safe” campaign.

    25. K. Chandra Shekhar
      27th March 2010, 12:59

      Remember Bahrain? Train! Lewis 11 is excellent, at least we will see some racing.

    26. If anyone can charge from the back of the grid, its Lewis. Don’t forget, he did it last year.

    27. Hamilton’s carreer is very unstable with lots of ups and downs, so it is not very surprising and, I think he will recover from this. And his dad is really like a talisman:)

    28. wong chin kong
      27th March 2010, 13:07

      Hamilton is in 11th position in the starting grid. Good! He will risk everything to get himself into the point scoring position, that will enliven the expected boring processional race. Hamilton is a professional racer, all these distractions are actually non-issues on race day.

    29. darren felton
      27th March 2010, 13:42

      lots off different opinions,we all know how good the boy is so lets wait and see?

    30. There seem to be a lot of Lewis fans that think he’ll do great things from this position. I’m a Lewis fan, but I can’t see too much happening from him this weekend, not sure picking his tyres will really make a difference. Hopefully he’ll get up to around 8th, maybe 7th if we’re lucky. If he gets a few points, I’ll be happy with that.

      But like others have said, if there’s a driver that can cut their way through the field it’s Lewis. SO let’s see what he can do :-D

      I just hope he can keep it out the wall this weekend!

      1. “I just hope he can keep it out the wall this weekend!”

        That, I fear, is just as likely to happen as anything else. Could be another weekend in Oz to forget for Lewis.

      2. Normally I’d agree, but Albert Park is one of those tracks where crazy things tend to happen. If a few drivers in front crash and the safety car comes out at the right time expect him to score some decent points.

        And if it rains, I could see him getting on the podium

    31. excuses excuses, hamilton just isn’t fast enough simple.

      slowly jenson is getting his foot through the mclaren door which will make lewis’ job alot harder.

      1. As good as Button is (and he is very under-rated), Hamilton didn’t suddenly become a slow driver overnight.

        1. pardon miss-type (just wasn’t fast enough simple.)

    32. No one was saying the playboy lifestyle was cramping his style at the last race, funny that…

      The car is not working the way he wants, I wouldn’t imagine he would have been driving around thinking of all this background bulls***.

      The McLaren is a bit crap, I think they are surprised how far off Red bull and Ferrari they are, Button did a good job today, he achieved the best result he could get and 4th tomorrow would be a good result for him I think.

      It might make a better race with Hamilton in 11th as he is the one driver who can overtake…If he can’t pass tomorrow the regs really do need changing quickly.

      1. “It might make a better race with Hamilton in 11th as he is the one driver who can overtake…If he can’t pass tomorrow the regs really do need changing quickly.”

        To be fair, there are quite a few drivers in front of him that can also overtake just as well as he can. Maybe not so many that are willing to take unnecessary risks.

        1. Rosberg will give him a hard time overtaking, so will Schumacher, rubens Kubica and Massa, quite a strong field up front so 7th-9th is a realistic position for him IMO just because the car is not that great.

        2. I personally dont expect Hamilton to finish the race on sunday.He has been put in an awkward situation by this police problem/case which will land him in court.
          THE POLICE should have given him a warning and let him know the limitations of his actions.IN any case there was no life threatened and he was not speeding.Hmilton needs to be told that we already know his driving ability and hence there was/no need to do stunts on normal streets/roads.I THINK HE MAY HAVE been DEMONSTATING SOMETHING TO WHOEVER was the Passenger with him in the car.
          COMING back to the race mclaren seem to be making mistakes at the last hour .it makes nio sense to shine in practises one two and three and only to loose out when it matters during qualification.
          Having known the limitations of their car and the capabillities of the opposition , they should have HAMILTON early onto the tract in Q2 WITH ENOUGH fuel for fice laps..instead they sent him out late with only fuel for two flying laps which plus a busy track made him not able to challange the rest.
          the ONLY hope for HAMILTON is to have CLEAN START on sunday and pray that there is a safety car and rain.MOST of us are surelly missing the Hmilton who drove skillfully in the wet at silverstone in 2008.

          1. anyone knows who this mysterious male passenger is?

            I wouldn’t put it past Schumacher to sit next to Hamilton in that car shouting in his ear: ‘And now a burn out!’… and calling the cops the next moment ;-)

      2. Are you saying schumacher, alonso and button can’t overtake ?? I know that hamilton is realy good but comone he is not a magician.

    33. Lewis is going to liven up the race tomorrow! The guy can carve his way up the track unlike, *cough, cough* Vettel

      1. “cough, cough” brazil 09, 16th to 4th

        “cough, cough” didn’t need KERS assisting him in the straights to overtake all last season “cough cough”

        1. cough cough, did it all through following buttons coatails an pit strategy. Has never won a race he needed to pass to win. Has always done it through grabbing the pole with a magnifcent lap then controlling from the front. Absolute classic example of a qualifiying specialist. It’s why Hamilton Alonso and Button refer to the Redbulls an don’t really talk about Vettle. They know if he comes up behind them it’s alright. He couldn’t pass Button in Turkey with the opportunity handed to him on a platter it was mad. Vettle must learn to overtake, an to improve his position against competative cars otherwise he’ll only ever be half the driver that deserves a championship. If you can’t win without being on pole it’s the car thats winning races. 80% Car 20% driver. That 20% can be just as important in a competative field.

          1. yes scribe! thankyou for saying it how it is. the thing that annoys me about vettel (and massa, not as bad as vettel in this respect though) is that if they dont qualify on the front row its pretty much race over

    34. Nothing to do with Hamilton, but did anyone who went back to bed after qualifying wake up thinking it was Sunday and expecting the race to be on? I did, qualifying seems like yesterday already!

      1. Sheesh, Ned! Shut it! I woke up to watch at 02:00. Welcome to my world!
        Shall do it all again tonight (tomorrow morn.).

        ;)

    35. The only thing that needs to happen is Mclaren making sure Hamilton has the support he needs via proper management.

      Yes, the management split from his father has brought the issue into focus, but I don’t think there’s reason to draw any further conclusions from this weekend’s events.

    36. Just read this on Adam Cooper’s blog, which puts the burnout incident in a new perspective:

      “Local police may have been a little jumpy because this morning a famous Melbourne restaurant owner was killed in a motorcycle accident just yards away from where Lewis was stopped.”

    37. theviewingfoot
      27th March 2010, 16:25

      You know pre-season a lot of people said that Hamilton would make mincemeat out of Button. I think what we’re seeing is that LH isn’t as Mentally tough as we all thought. If he was he would’nt have cared about the evening before and concentrated on Quali… JB has one thing over LH, life experience. This may count for a lot if LH is going through any difficult growing pains.

    38. Glad too see that its not only in the UK that Police sit in there cars waiting for the cash cow that is the motorist too arrest, while murderers, muggers and drug dealers roam the streets.

      1. You forget that the vast amount of “murderers, muggers and drug dealers” tend to “roam the streets” in cars these days.

        We should all realise that motor vehicles are deadly weapons and not even drivers with Hamilton’s abilities are able to predict what could happen in certain situations. He certainly didn’t have the observational skills to spot the lurking policeman!

        1. Lol, `Roam in Cars`, Dont know about you, but a BMX suffices around my way.

    39. McLaren cars have slowed down half a second a lap because they have switched to ugly black wheels instead of retaining the beautiful silver ones shown in the new car presentation.

      1. That statement makes a helluva lot more sense than the ones suggesting McLaren should write off this season!

      2. I think it’s this kind of logic that makes a great f1 fan.

    40. I really don’t get the story. Heaving in bits about his change of management and whatever is non sequitur. The whole post here is a bit tabloidy and rather unexpected on this site.

      Anyway the theory here has no foundation and is not fresh. Hamilton has picked up fines for egregious behavior on the road before, for example, in France, with his dad in control. The same dad who put a borrowed Carrera GT in a hedgerow, if I recall. And F1 drivers taking liberties on public roads in general is a not man-bites-dog anymore.

      I have my own theory about why he didn’t make Q3: poor set up, poor timing with traffic, and inability to heat the tires.

      1. I have my own theory about why he didn’t make Q3: poor set up, poor timing with traffic, and inability to heat the tires.

        It’s not as if I ignored that anything other than his run-in with the police might be the cause of his problems in qualifying. Quite the opposite.

        F1 drivers taking liberties on public roads in general is a not man-bites-dog anymore.

        Any more? Was it ever?

        1. You only have to read Perry McCarthy’s autobiography to see that F1 drivers have always been “reckless” on the roads. He describes firstly, being pulled over by Belgian police for speeding after the 1992 Belgian GP farce and also a private road race between him and Ayrton Senna (who had just lost a race to Mansell I think and wanted revenge).

          1. Just because it’s happened in the past doesn’t justify drivers speeding today.

            You could then say people could get away with being racist 20 or 30 years ago- in which case it’s understandable that some people are still racist today. Which isn’t true

            1. Didn’t say anywhere that it was justified, merely that it has happened before and probably will happen again.

        2. LOL! Just read Gerry Donaldson’s biography of a chap named Gilles Villeneuve. ;)

    41. theRoswellite
      27th March 2010, 19:41

      Keith, great stand on the “I don’t really care about his private life”.

      For me, this is…much ado about nothing. Poor qualifying, Webber had a bit of a problem last race, most of the other top drivers will experience a similar problem this year.

      Too bad Lewis, just get after it in the race. End of drama.

    42. Police in AUS have a reputation for a no tolerance policy. They are very strict and therefore like in the US traffic tends to be very slow.
      I don’t think LH lets that incident affect his Q2. Several drivers had problems because the temperature was lower than yesterday. And despite being LH, off course he can’t carve his way up through the field. Overtaking is difficult, maybe more this season than normally.

      1. There were 21 overtakes in Bahrain. We just didn’t see them on TV because they only showed the “battle” for the lead, the “battle” for third and the “battle” for fifth.

        Hamilton will surely at least try something. Maybe he will mess it up like when he started 10 positions back in France after his penalty for the Canada crash in 2008. Or maybe he will get (almost) back to the podium like last year.

        Or remember Monza 2008 where Vettel gets all the praise? Hamilton was on a one stop race from P16. He almost won that race, but got unlucky with the weather change and had to stop again.

        I guess when Hamilton isn’t able to overtake anybody (with nothing to lose) it’s a good sign that things really are wrong.

        1. Patrick!, Your comment reminded me that the TV coverage off the race at Bahrain was dreadful, statiscally the race was average if not above average, but that dont sell papers…….Hmm how to improve the show… The only one rubbing He`s hands is Bernie.

        2. Hmm that’s the thing. If Hamilton can’t overtake then it’s two hard. The best overtakers on the feild are Alonso, Hamilton, Button and Webber, imo, or most exciting. Point is none of these drivers could overtake in Bahrain. Now while there where other circumstances McLaren definatley has the 3rd fastest car at the mo. So Hamilton should, really be able to collect Kubica Barrichello and Suitl. If he can’t then ban wings.

    43. Very disappointing result form Hamilton but i am hoping for rain and him fighting back. I still think he will finish above Button.

      Rain + Fightback from Hamilton = More excitement than many future races combined this year would provide.

    44. Where are the traffic police when your getting undertaken at 100mph while your checking your mirrors in a 70 zone. Where are they when you think` Am I the only one who knows the rules`. `Too busy eating donuts at the intersection too give a toss`.

    45. The Middle Lane Is For Overtaking…….

      Either be overtaken or overtake

      Its not Rocket science….?

      1. there`s Lies, Tham lies, and f**king lies…I think there will be a 33$ percent chance that what I Spill will be true

    46. Hmm Donuts, Hmm Victoris Police, Hmm they take their, They greatest releaise……..Oh the Law,,,,it knows?

    47. Hay hay what more can you say knowing that you live in the milky way.

    48. It must be true, I read on the Internet that you can cut glass under water with scissors.

    49. So is it Overtaking, Donuts, or Glass that is maliable at room temperature.

    50. Dum dum tick tick dumph

    51. Unless you said a toridal magnetic swirling that incorparates a fusion reaction in the `bottle` you get less points than Ive got in my prediction for Aus.

    52. You say fusion, I say fission………………lets call the whole thing off

    53. Doh It`s `Doughnut`

      The Universe is shaped like one, a 10 dimensional toroid that behaves in a 4D Universe.

    54. the other 6 dimensions are shadows that projwect into our 4 D

    55. The 4 dims we know interact with the 6 we dont, they create the interference nodes that make a multiverse work.

    56. Live Update From Ge Neva hello have measured a electron in the tube, about the same as a angry mosquito givin it large lol

      Notify me of followup comments

    57. We aint goin know were, Obahma has pospoined the return to the Moon, we dont have the commitment or the money, Good luck Shenzou.. When you mine the moon, we will be your minimum wages….many a true word spoken in jest.

    58. halifaxf1fan
      28th March 2010, 4:53

      Sadly this incident like so many others is indicative of Hamilton’s up and lately mostly down career. He has been on a long steady fall to mediocrity since the end of 2007. It seems is heart is no longer in it, he just shows up at the race and puts in a half assed performance, apoligizes, says it make him stronger or is a stepping stone to somewhere and then heads back to party in LA. Someone needs to step in and focus this talent before it is all wasted. The iron fist of his father is gone and without another influence to reign Lewis in he is doomed to repeat this type of behaviour.

      What a stupid thing to do, lighting up your tires in front of a marked police van. Come on Lewis get your act together.

    59. In the UK theres people who would walk after parking a stolen car in the food hall of selfridges, but they have nothing to comprehend, the police would see this as a negative money earner an therefore let them go. Stange but true.

    60. Jraybay-HamiltonMclarenfan
      28th March 2010, 5:35

      I think Hamilton sometimes is emotionally driven. I heard some radio transmissions and you could hear he just didn’t have it during qually. Uhh Maybe something off track but his voice was low and not very exciting I know he wasn’t getting on very well but his nature is to be the best and if things arent going so well he wants to make them better with the help of vodafone mclaren of course ;D .I think was just a bad day everyone has them. But If anyone can make a race out of p11 it’s Hammy :D

    61. Looks like Webbers ‘friends’ on the Force can be quite intimidating.

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