Hamilton ‘should be at the front with Alonso’

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: Lewis Hamilton says he and Fernando Alonso shouldn’t be scrapping for fifth place as they were in the Korean Grand Prix.

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Alonso and I deserve better – Lewis (ESPN)

“Me and Fernando in fifth and sixth at the end having our own little race, yet we are of a higher calibre than that. We should be further ahead fighting with the world champions at the front and with Sebastian [Vettel].”

Sebastian Vettel’s success is getting boring for fans, says Lewis Hamilton (Daily Mirror)

“I feel for the fans because I remember watching when Michael Schumacher was winning. I remember watching the start, going to sleep, then waking up when it ended because I already knew what would happen. I am pretty sure a lot of people were doing that today. At least in my family there were!”

Webber in furious attack on Pirelli

“That is how it is. The drivers aren’t super important – it is what other people want. The tyres are wearing a lot and they also explode a bit. But that is for Pirelli to sort out.”

Pirelli apologise to Alonso over row (BBC)

“It’s weird Pirelli spoke out given the season they’re having but he apologised and it’s all good.”

FIA admits it made fire truck call (Autosport)

“Although it is likely that procedures will need tightening for the future, the fact that marshals did wave white flags to warn drivers of the vehicle’s presence on track – as is demanded by the International Sporting Code – means the FIA sees no reason for sanctions.”

2013 Korean Grand Prix (FIA)

Sebastian Vettel: “I saw… I think it was a BMW or… no sorry, it looked like a BMW. I think it was a Hyundai or Kia SUV. You want the number plate? It was not Bernd Maylander’s, so it was not the safety car. I saw that.”

Kimiya Sato to be Sauber reserve in Japan (Reuters)

“The 24-year-old will also carry out a straight line aerodynamic test for them on October 18th at the Vairano track in Italy.”

‘Bitter’ day for Mercedes (Sky)

Hamilton: “We couldn’t have done 35 laps on the tyres. In hindsight, we could have stopped because the Safety Car came out, but we never knew that would have happened.”

Williams FW35 – revised front wing (F1)

“Rather than three arches next to the endplate, it featured just a single arch (lower red arrow) in line with the other cars on the grid.”

Old masters McLaren pay price for taking a turn for the worse (The Guardian)

Martin Whitmarsh: “You can’t have a strong year every year, unfortunately. But people do expect it, don’t they? We have no right to be there. The fact is there are 11 teams here who have every right and the ambition to be on the podium and winning races.”

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Comment of the day

Jeff Weinerslav gives his thoughts from South Korea:

Firstly, my wife and I are massive F1 fans and we”ve had the opportunity to travel to Grands Prix in Suzuka and Shanghai and this year in Mokpo since we live in Korea due to work.

It is frustrating living in a city which hosts an F1 race and next to no locals share any interest whatsoever. My colleagues, care next to nothing about the race even though we work just next to the track. I completely understand that F1 is new to Korea and motorsport in general is foreign, however, when your country is hosting an international sporting event, one expects to see the media promoting it as much as possible over a period of time – we’ve been living here for two years now and we can say that no coverage is given.

The locals only know that something called an F1 race is held at Mokpo, beyond that, nobody has a clue what that entails. This is unfortunate because there is a large market of people here who might be interested in the sport if the correct spotlight would be given to it.

Today we attended second practice. There is clear, for lack of a better word, absence of effort by the organizers. There was a lack of signage resulting in several different people directing us to the main grandstand in completely opposite directions. There is virtually no team merchandise on offer, despite a plethora of track merchandise. This is because locals still do not know who the drivers and teams are after four years. For example, when asking for a Kimi Raikkonen T-shirt, we were met with blank stares.

The level of enthusiasm from attendees of this grand prix and even the stall holders, when compared to Suzuka last year and Shanghai in March this year, is like comparing chalk and cheese. The staff/volunteers here are clearly trying to make an effort (you can’t say that Koreans are not friendly), but there is so little for them to work with that the results appear lukewarm at best.

The other major issue I’d like to highlight is that Korea is a very insular country. Please bear in mind that I’ve lived and worked here for wo years so I’d like to think that I have some experience in what I’m about to say. I don’t intend this to be an insult but, most South Koreans don’t know what’s happening outside of Korea. As a result they are unaware that Yeongam is one of many F1 races in a championship year – they see this as a once-off Korean event.

Therefore, given everything that I’ve experienced today at the track, coming here as a non-Korean tourist would be a hellish experience – there’s no acceptable accommodation, signage is poor at best (and largely in Korean) even outside the track and there is a complete sense of apathy about the event.

Even in its fourth year, the Korean Grand Prix has not inspired any locals to even purchase teamwear to even get into the spirit of the thing. I was lucky enough to attend the Shanghai Grand Prix in its fourth year and the atmosphere was completely electric. The locals seemed to adopt that event as their own in that relatively short time and the excitement there was (and still was this year) palpable.

Personally I believe that this venue is an expensive mistake. Clearly Bernie thought that the seemingly large expat community living in South Korea would be able to coax enough interest in the local population to make this venue a success but quite frankly, nobody seems to care about motorsport in South Korea.
Jeff Weinerslav (@Bittthhhcuit)

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On this day in F1

Ronnie Peterson won a subdued United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen following the death of Francois Cevert the day before. The withdrawal of the Tyrrell following the death of their driver assured Lotus of the constructors’ championship.

James Hunt chased Peterson across the line, the pair covered by six-tenths of a second, with Carlos Ruetemann third.

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187 comments on “Hamilton ‘should be at the front with Alonso’”

  1. No one deserve anything at F1……

    i don’t understand where did that come from Lewis.

    And he seems eager to drag Alonso down with him often maybe because Alonso is regarded as the best and he matched him in 2007??

    But jeez, that’s long time ago, and i don’t think Lewis is on parr with Alonso anymore.

    1. From the article:

      I think we deserved more as a team but things just didn’t go our way today

      ESPN’s headline is inflammatory – this isn’t the first time I’ve seen this sort of shoddy wordmanship from them.

      1. “Me and Fernando in fifth and sixth at the end having our own little race, yet we are of a higher calibre than that. We should be further ahead fighting with the world champions at the front and with Sebastian [Vettel].”

        Yet he couldn’t overtook a slower struggling Sauber. I understood what he said all right…..

        1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
          7th October 2013, 6:00

          The Sauber was unpassable although to his credit Hamilton did pass it once and then the Sauber literally leapt in front. Alonso couldn’t touch the Sauber earlier in the same situation. It was a great race, you should watch it.

        2. That is because I wouldn’t hesitate to state that the driver in the Sauber was of the same class this race and was perfectly using the strongs of his car to stay ahead.

          As mentioned above, Its normal that Hamilton did not like it, and its clear that Alonso would also want to be at the front. But reality is that there are other teams who have done their job better and drivers who are of comparable quality when given decent cars. Thats what makes it a top level competition!

        3. A fair point, but I don’t think that reflects on his arrogance, more his frustrations at not being able to challenge.

        4. @Candice +1 Just as I thought.

      2. It’s on the BBC SPORT website too so don’t knock ESPN for the comment.

        1. You mean this article that doesn’t make a single mention of deserving positions, and also quotes Hamilton saying Vettel’s done ‘the perfect job’?
          Yes, I will criticise ESPN for stoking the fires without reason.

          1. nope this one http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/24419864 , misleading headlines are not new to this site as well. But same was reported by BBC too.

          2. @f1007 – Should have known it was a Benson article – he really does like to stir the pot.

          3. @raceprouk true he does, you might find other links too, but you clearly chose not to believe them, so no point.

          4. @f1007 – Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure it’s an accurate quote. He just commits the same mistake ESPN did, that is a deliberately inflammatory headline.

    2. Hamilton is the one with the biggest natural talent, but doesn’t seem to what’s necessary to get the job done. That’s why Vettel and Alonso are usually ahead of him in the WDC standings – not because they are entitled to it but they make it happen.

      1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        7th October 2013, 6:44

        Their teams would never leave them out there with a 3 second deficit! Only McLaren and Mercedes shoot themselves in the foot like that. Varsha was joking that they [Merc’s pit team] were eating ice cream. I think that’s worth investigating:-)

        1. Yeah, Ferrari never make botched strategy calls. They would never for instance send their driver around another lap with his frontwing hanging off!

        2. @freelittlebirds it was a little bit of joke watching the front wind broken Mercedes of Nico Rosberg fighting and denying position to Lewis. They should have asked Rosberg to let Hamilton through. The pit crew was already ready to service him. He would have come in and had the car serviced by the time Nico arrives with the broken wing at pits. That way they could have changed Nico’s Nose without compromising Lewis’s race.

          But I must also admit this. Ross Brawn is a way intelligent man who has seen the maximum WDCs and WCCs in this grid today. So he must have a lot of reasons to make the decision that he made today.

          1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
            7th October 2013, 22:09

            @tmax you are right but I can’t see the point of letting a Mercedes’ performance degrade to sub-Marussia levels (he was slower than both Marussias) on lap 27. Seeing Rosberg pass him must not have made Hamilton happy at all. Until the front wing collapsed – it was almost divine punishment for Merc:-)

            I have no idea why Merc didn’t tell Rosberg to pull aside, he would have lost 1 second waiting for Hamilton to clear the pits…

            Hamilton was 6.5 seconds slower than Giedo and Chilton on the lap they brought Rosberg in and 9 seconds slower per lap than Vettel!

            I have no clue what Mercedes and Ross were thinking and that’s assuming that any thinking was being done at all:-)

          2. @freelittlebirds i agree those were exactly my thoughts too.

            I found no explanation to this other than the fact that Ross might know something better that we do not. Otherwise it just defies any reason what happened there with Lewis.

    3. Honestly, this guy’s arrogance know’s no bounds!

      His sense of entitlement sickens me!

      1. @nick101 As opposed to Vettel, a model of humbleness who never attempts to insult other teams and drivers in any way…

        1. There is a difference to do that in rage during the races or shortly afterwards mostly compared to Hamilton who’s saying it when he should be completely content. Or it’s Nicole that makes his heart ache again..

      2. I agree. Him and Vettel

    4. It shows respect Lewis has for Alonso and vice versa. He isnt dragging it. They are simply the best two.

  2. Hamilton being destroyed by Vettel fans in 3…2…1…

    1. There is no need, anyone can see Hamilton is frustrated and wish it eas him the one dominating the sport…

      1. I would say there is no need, Hamilton seems perfectly capable of doing the job (destroying himself / his image etc.) himself @celeste!

        I agree that it must be unfun for him to see RBR is running away with the title and not much he can do about it, and on top of that Lotus gets in the way as well and now even Sauber had a car that gave Hulkenberg the opportunity to compete on even level.
        But honestly, I think Mercedes dug their own grave this race with their strategy and letting Hamilton lose almost 20 seconds in 4-5 laps instead of listening to their driver about the tyres giving up (Rosbergs FW giving up is just bad luck)

        1. @bascb I don’t understand why they kept lewis behind Rosberg … they should have asked rosberg to pull aside and double pit, Lewis for tyre first then Rosberg. That should have worked without either of them loosing to much time. Lewis would have certainly got ahead of Hulk with that.

          1. Why should Rosberg have pulled over for Hamilton exactly??? He was in the process of OVERTAKING Hamilton when the front wing failed! Even then, with Rosberg’s wing on the ground Hamilton couldn’t pass him!

            If Hamilton wanted new tires, he should have come in and waited behind Rosberg!

          2. Not a Hamilton fan, especially after statements like these, but it just didn’t make sense to keep Hamilton behind Rosberg. It was a loose-loose situation.

        2. @bascb Yes, it was weird strategy and they made mistake with Nico too. I don´t like this kind of comments from Hamilton, or any driver, but I get his frustration, specially when back in 2007 it was him the one called to break all the records.

    2. Actually Hamilton’s doing a pretty good job on his own.

      His constant attempts to belittle Vettel only reflect on his own weaknesses. I also see the first thing he had to say about Hulkenberg yesterday was how the Sauber had incredible traction when asked about their battle for fourth. No doubt that was a factor in the Hulk staying ahead, but would it be so hard to say it was a great drive by the man in front?

      It’s like Hamilton can’t bring himself to admit that there are other great drivers on the track, other than Alonso (who he beat in their year together).

      He wants respect but every time he opens his mouth he achieves the opposite.

      1. respect earn on track, not with his mouth. He’s lucky to have winning car every year, same thing couldn’t be said about others.

        1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
          7th October 2013, 0:52

          Well, noone is “lucky” to have a winning car. He has forged a reputation on the track and that’s why he gets contracts with race winning teams. And we know Hamilton fights for the win. I dislike him as a person, but in track it deserves more respect than to say he is “lucky” to have a winning car. As I can defend Seb for the same kind of comments, I can defend his rivals if the comments are not funded (IMHO).

          1. He’s left McLaren, which made a terrible car, to Mercedes, which made their best car so far. Button, Fernando and Kimi have reputations too, but that doesnt help when the teams get it wrong.

          2. @austus So that’s a good decision from him to leave McLaren and go to Mercedes. Not a ‘lucky’ one.

          3. So that’s a good decision from him to leave McLaren and go to Mercedes. Not a ‘lucky’ one.

            Actually @neelv27, it was lucky.

            It was a common perception in the sport that the Merc would not be as good as the McLaren this year. Even Hamilton admitted that he would not be fighting at the front this year.

            It was lucky for him that the Merc was good and the McLaren bad.

          4. @nick101: I doubt mate considering the fact that Mercedes was pumping up it’s technical muscle as well as the 2014 rules where Mercedes builds it’s own engines.

          5. @neelv27

            In hindsight it was a good decision.

            However, at the time, I think it’s fair to say that it was widely accepted that the choice to go to Mercedes may be a bad one, given their fair to middling results on the 3 years before it.

      2. I really don’t see why saying the Sauber had amazing traction shouldn’t be the first thing he had to say- that was categorically the deciding factor in that battle.

        1. Thats cause it did have amazing traction, even Martin said it in commentary. Coming out of Turn 1 it was just so much quicker. Merc made a mistake with the setup, they went for a slower Sector 1 and a faster sector 2, if you see in the times they were 10th or sometimes 13th in sector 1, so they were always going to be in trouble in those long straights.

        2. Another thing to remember is that both Vettel and Webber did a sector 1 time 2 tenths slower than Hulk and Lewis’ was 3 tenths slower

          1. Hulk was 0.022s faster than vettel in S1, don’t know where you got 2 tenths?

        3. Mercedes was pretty back at sticking to track out of T1 and T2. Alonso had the same issue, Lotus didn’t.

          1. back=bad

      3. @tdog
        There’s no need for Lewis to belittle Vettel we’re all smart enough to see for ourselves that him and Alonso are better drivers than Vettel.

        You’d have to be in denial to not see that.

        1. Oh no. I must be in denial then because I don’t think this is obvious at all.

        2. So if smart people say Hamilton and Alonso are better drivers, how stupid are the team bosses that have voted Vettel and Alonso best or 2nd best for the last 4 years? I would appreciate if you have the honesty to answer @jason12 .

        3. I don´t agree with what you said. @jason12 Lewis (and Alonso) are good drivers but I don´t think they are better than Vettel

    3. Seems a lot of people are happy to edit Hamiltons comments to show him in the worst possible light, a technical observation about another cars strengths become “an excuse”, “we should be challenging Vettel” becomes an “attack” on Vettel. Give him a break, we need candid comments.

      1. I’m always happy to cut drivers slack for things they say, especially after a disappointing race, and this is no exception. However, it’s hard for me to imagine how this:

        Me and Fernando in fifth and sixth at the end having our own little race, yet we are of a higher calibre than that. We should be further ahead fighting with the world champions at the front and with Sebastian [Vettel].

        …could be put into some sort of proper context that would make it not sound…well, frankly, *bad*.

        1. Well they are former world champions and it does need to be in context of his entire statement, which is not unreasonable but no doubt would have been better stated had it been edited by a PR person and released as a press release or as an article under Lewis’ byline.

          1. Sorry HoHum, but that’s crap!

            What he said was pure arrogance! What he deserves is what he gets and what he makes happen on the track.

            His sense of entitlement is sickening especially considering at least 3 other drivers have finished in front of him in the WDC for the last 4 years in a row – one of which was his team mate driving the same car!

            What an arrogant T W A T!!!

          2. @nick101 – You’re entitled to your opinion, but there’s no excuse for foul language.
            It’s also clear you (like many others) didn’t bother to read the article, where Hamilton quite clearly states the team deserves better results.

          3. @nick101 Er, yes, I did read the article. So…

            Me and Fernando in fifth and sixth at the end having our own little race, yet we are of a higher calibre than that.

            I see him mentioning himself and Fernando — presumably as opposed to all those other, lesser schmucks who belong in fifth or sixth place?

            If you can take that sentence and cast it in a way that makes it not cringeworthy, then please do!

          4. aka_robyn – That’s easy. As former champions, he feels they both should be fighting at the front. There is absolutely no implication that other drivers are not worthy of being at the front.
            You (among others) are twisting his words to fit your view, rather than taking his words in the spirit intended.

          5. @raceprouk No, I have no interest whatsoever in twisting his words. I have nothing against Hamilton that would provide a motive for that. I’m reacting in pretty much the same way I’d react if anyone, even a friend of mine, referred to themselves as being of a “higher calibre” than others. If someone I knew said that to me, I’d have to give them a lot of **** for it. ;-)

          6. aka_robyn – Fair enough, but I still don’t think he’s saying he’s higher calibre compared to other drivers, only that he’s good enough to be fighting for wins and championships (same goes for Alonso).

          7. @raceprouk, there are other drivers on the grid (apart from the champions) that are good enough to be fighting for wins and the word “higher” is used in comparisons. Also the part of his statement “fighting with the world champions at the front and with Sebastian.” sounds a bit dogy to me. Maybe I’m over reading it but does he think that Sebastian is not a champion?

          8. @debeluhi – Yes, you are over-reading it :-P

        2. (Sorry, @nick101, that comment should have been directed at @raceprouk!)

      2. Seems a lot of people are happy to edit Hamiltons comments to show him in the worst possible light

        @hohum, not the case at all.

        Hamilton November 2012:-

        “I think lots of people in the paddock wish they could have Adrian [Newey’s] car so they could show that they’re just as competitive as Sebastian. Fernando, for me, is more accurate. He hits all the apexes. Sebastian misses four apexes on a single lap and still goes quickest. He goes off and he still goes quickest. And I think ‘Holy crap, I couldn’t do that lap even if I was on the limit’. His car is just that far ahead of everyone else’s

        Hamilton after the Singapore GP:

        If you look at the onboards, [Vettel] is on the power at least 20 metres before everyone else, which is a huge advantage. There’s nothing we can really do. We’re always asking for more rear downforce and we always want to get on the power sooner. But the last time I was able to put the pedal down that quickly was in 2007 [at McLaren] when we had traction control.

        Also last month:-

        I look at his laps on the on-board camera and it doesn’t appear as though he is on the limit like some other drivers. When you have that much in hand it makes it that much easier to do so. At the end of the day he does the job he needs to do.

        What you have is a pattern of Hamilton constantly disparaging Vettel’s ability while talking up the speed of the Red Bull. It’s churlish, unsporting and becoming very, very tedious.

        1. Like @hohum said, it’s about looking at it in a certain light. Posting those quotes is all well and good. The fact is, most pro athletes don’t go out of their way to promote their rivals, and he’d sound silly saying SV is an incredible driver burdened with a dog of a car, and the simple truth is that almost always, the WDC needed the WCC winning car to achieve the ultimate goal. I don’t see what LH is saying wrong or unexpected here, and I too wish we had 3 drivers in close-knit cars duking it out until the end. LH is not the first and won’t be the last driver to tout ‘the car’ as the reason for a rival’s speed and success…just as LH himself will be ‘blamed’ for having a good car the next time he wins a WDC…which will be the next time he has the WCC winning car.

          1. @robbie While i agree to certain parts of your point that Lewis’s job is not to market Vettel and others drivers, I have a different opinion regarding the winning cars.

            Winning cars don’t fall from the heaven. Winning car gets developed by the drivers providing feedback to the brilliant engineers and designers. I admit Lewis is very good at providing good feedbacks but it does’nt mean that when others develop the car it is all to do with the car and nothing to do with the driver. In the interview with James Allen last Week Newey said that Seb and Mark both contributed to the car. Seb on the suspension and other details on the car while mark on the aerodynamics. Together it became an explosive trio Newey, Vettel and Webber building the car. So he should give due respect for that. Maybe next year when mark is not there we could see the difference on the aero front on RBR.

            For a fact when Lewis left Mclaren it just ended up as a Midfield team. He came into Mercedes move it to the front of the field. Lewis know this very well. The very same Newey developed cars that did not win anything from 2001 to 2009. Remember in 2007 Alonso used to say he bought 1 second to McLaren !!!!

            So bottom line Drivers help in the development of the cars, that is how winning cars are made.

            Well the Movie Rush says it all when Nikki asks Clay to ride the car that he has customized and get that 2 seconds difference.

            Sometimes I feel that Vettel is the Lauda and Lewis is the James Hunt of Today.

        2. Maybe some posters have missed his point. Ever since the very public assertions of traction control-esque performance, I wouldn’t doubt that there are several F1 folks (obviously LH included), that are P.O.’d that nothing has been done about it.

          1. @tmax I agree with what you are saying, and I do think LH likely gives due respect to SV and MW for helping get the car to where it is at. It is absolutely a team effort. That’s why I said that I don’t see what LH has said wrong here. I certainly didn’t mean to imply that I personally think good cars just fall from heaven, or that LH thinks that and is therefore just implying that SV is lucky to have it. I think LH (as do I) appreciates that SV and MW had something significant to do with getting that car to where it is.

          2. @robbie I take your point.Alos it seems like LH is getting increasingly frustrated with the SV winning away to glory. this is not the first time he has commented something on SV. Last year he mentioned that SV is winning away and he is stagnant.

            I believe it goes to the fact that when LH arrived at the scene in 2007 and was bettering FA right out of the Box , the media and the F1 Fans started pushing his stakes up that he is the next face of F1 and that the new era of F1 belongs to him. Probably i too was in that crowd as I believe he is a great talent.

            But then all of a sudden this kid named SV comes along dominates the sport surpassing LH in terms of stats and wins and makes it the “Sebastian Vettel Era” I am getting a feeling that he is finding it really hard to swallow that. FA has accepted that much better than LH.

            I think LH needs to separate from the public face and probably have a PR person managing his stuff on those behalf.

          3. Fair comment. But it seems to me you think LH is coming off as bitter here, and I’m not sure he is. I think that since he won his WDC he has also admitted times of distraction that affected him on the track, so I think he himself would own some of the reason why he has not been able to do anything about SV’s run. And I think he also has the perspective that he had to leave Mac, this is only his first year at Merc and he and NR have both done fairly well considering where NR and MS were last year, and therefore I think LH is just poised for he and NR and the team to try to tackle SV and RBR next year. I also think LH has it in perspective that he is not the only driver out there that wishes he had SV’s equipment.

          4. @robbie I agree, I think LH is a little bit bitter about how the SV era is unfolding. But not quite much.

            While LH had very strong team mates paired with him every year barring the Heikki year of 2008 ( the very year he won WDC ) , he has done fairly well every year always bettering his teammates. But yeah it matters how desperate you are to win.

            I was watching this interview with Murray Walker ( MY Fav) where he compares Senna with his team mate Prost and speaks about Senna’s competitive spirit which he compares to MS and SV. It was a quite interesting perspective from him.

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuMzF76DEOc

        3. David not Coulthard (@)
          7th October 2013, 5:20

          If you look at the onboards, [Vettel] is on the power at least 20 metres before everyone else, which is a huge advantage. There’s nothing we can really do. We’re always asking for more rear downforce and we always want to get on the power sooner. But the last time I was able to put the pedal down that quickly was in 2007 [at McLaren] when we had traction control.

          That’s not what he said, I think. This is what he said from what I remember. It doesn’t ruin your point, but for the sake of being right:

          If you look at the onboards, [Vettel] is on the power at least 20 metres before everyone else, which is a huge advantage. There’s nothing we can really do. We’re always asking for more rear downforce and we always want to get on the power sooner. But the last time I was able to put the pedal down that quickly was, what, 2007? 2008? 2007 when we had traction control.

        4. @tdog, I put those comments down as explaining how much better the redBull is than the Maca/Merc/Fer, do you dispute these ? Do you think Vettel would be as dominant if he swapped cars with Lewis and Fernando, I don’t, he might win a few but I am pretty sure he would not dominate like he does in the RBR, and it’s a fair point for Lewis to make.

          1. exactly that @hohum. Its not “talking down Vettels skill” but saying that he has an easier job because the team have nailed the car for him and it makes one feel desperate to know how tough it is to get level with that disadvantage (from Lewis point of view)

          2. I put those comments down as explaining how much better the redBull is than the Maca/Merc/Fer, do you dispute these ?

            Do I think the Red Bull has been the quickest car, on average over the last 3 or 4 years? Sure.

            Do I think that Vettel misses four apexes on a single lap, or goes off track, and still goes quickest? No, I think that’s absolute BS, but hey, if you think that’s a fair summation of the car disparity and Vettel’s driving over the last few years then I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree.

        5. No what you have is fact. Vettel is about to win his 4th world title with little or no true competition. 2010 was close but only because of the car failures experienced by Red Bull. Watch the on-boards of Vettel – less so 2013 but definitely 2010-12. Of the Big 4 racing drivers he’s definitely the least accurate. Hamilton (and Alonso) is obviously unhappy as he has no chance of competing for the World Championship. Simple as.

          1. @davidwhite – Vettel is not the “least accurate” of the big drivers. That’s just nonsense. And yes, there was competition in all four years. It was just blown away in 2 of them. 2010 and 2012 were two of the most competitive seasons of recent times.

      3. @hohum

        I really don’t get many comments here. Lewis says he and Alonso are good enough to be up there fighting with Seb and people say is attacking Vettel? Where did that come from? Did he say anything wrong?

        When tv commentators praised how good Sauber was on traction, they too were saying something wrong about Hulkenberg? Wow.

    4. Has anybody read the whole article? This is no attempt to belittle seb, lewis clearly says something along the lines of ‘seb has done the best job this year and he deserves it’

  3. Martin Whitmarsh: “You can’t have a strong year every year, unfortunately. But people do expect it, don’t they? We have no right to be there. The fact is there are 11 teams here who have every right and the ambition to be on the podium and winning races.”

    You would never have heard Bruce McLaren, teddy meyer, alistair Caldwell or Ron Dennis say something like that. Lack of ambition guarantees poor results.

    1. Better to be a realist than delusional.

      1. A realist would say that with some of the best facilities, staff, and budget, they shouldn’t be anywhere other than on the podium fighting for wins. And a team boss shouldn’t be so sanguine about such an appalling performance, even if you can’t be #1 every year.

        1. @hairs, I think it comes down as to how you read it. I read it ; We have no “right “ to be there.
          I suspect you read it; We have no right to be there.

          I hope the difference is clear.

          1. That first case is exactly how I read it too. Its realism, that they have just not done good enough a job this year.

          2. @hohum no, I understand the difference perfectly.

            The problem is that a team boss for team like mclaren shouldn’t make either statement. Both are complacency of different sorts.

            The attitude should be “we’re the best and we don’t belong anywhere else”.

          3. Realism doesn’t make legends. Legends don’t take the view that the rest of us do – that’s what helps make them legends.

            Look at someone topical at the moment – Nikki Lauda. After his accident, it was not realistic for him to be racing again six weeks later. And yet he did not care about being realistic. He just knew what he had to do – a feat so remarkable they made a film about it.

            When Honda pulled out of F1, it wasn’t realistic for Ross Brawn to think that his team would be anything other than spectators the following year, and we all know what happened there.

            Martin Whitmarsh doesn’t seem to have that passion at the moment. While it might be realistic to accept that even great teams have a bad year, that’s not what the greats do. They fight tooth and nail, they throw everything they have at it.

            One of the reasons people love Senna isn’t because he was fastest. That’s never been the measure. It’s because he always gave everything. In Brazil ’91, he refused to be realistic about the drivability of his car, achieved the “impossible”, and won the race. His physical state at the end showed everyone how far he was willing to go.

            I’m fully aware that you can’t turn around a slow car overnight. That there is no magic pill to take that will solve everything. We all know that. But the true greats still believe. And they find a way that no-one else has either considered, or considered possible.

            I like Martin, he’s clearly competent, but he’s not going to go down as one of the great team bosses, like Chapman, Williams, Dennis or Horner.

            He’s right to be realistic, but I can’t help feeling that it’s a bit of a shame, and maybe a symptom of why McLaren have underperformed for a few years.

            On a related topic, I think this is what Lewis is trying to do with his statements about what his team deserve, about where he and Alonso should be racing. In order to do the impossible, you have to first believe it. At the moment, watching Seb and RBR, believing that you can beat them is pretty difficult. So you need to keep telling yourself that you can. And keep telling others, so that they believe it, and remind you when you in a low place. I think Lewis understands how powerful that belief is, and is trying to tap into it after 4 years of reasons why he can’t do it. In an era of clinical precision, of hi-tech aerodynamics and sub-3s pitstops, he’s trying to put the fire back again.

            Maybe next year, with the increased importance of mechanical grip, lower reliability and 22-race season, drivers who believe they can achieve the impossible can make a difference. Lewis is trying to ensure he’s in that group.

    2. @hairs yeah, imagine Chapman saying “Guys, take it easy this time round, because we already had fun last year”.

    3. Agree 100%. I am not a person that has soft spot for Mclaren, due to my utter disdain for Ron Dennis. Although he isnt around as much, I still cant see past it. But, you have to agree that, Ron would have never said such a thing.
      This is the problem with Mclaren, as a whole. You have a team principle that appears to be too nice, he seems to have accepted an “it is what it is” scenario. Same goes to Jenson. The whole team just seems to lack drive. A team like Mclaren should clearly be frustrated at their performance this season.

      Ferrari would be in the same boat if it wasnt for Alonso. His presence in the team pushes them harder, and there is no surprise that Whitmarsh wants to re-sign him. Mclaren are seriously lacking a figurehead just now.

      Whitmarsh is certainly not Ron Dennis, although I loathe the man, credit where it is due.

    4. I’m yet to undestand why McLaren decided to build a brand new car for 2013 after a year they managed to build a car on par with Red Bull despite its reliability issues. They should just fix their reliability problems and improve the car with some tweaks like Red Bull did and build a brand new breed for 2014.

      1. It was a fast car in the hands of Hamilton. Button kept complaining about it all through 2012.

        1. Button had a dull part in the season in wich he could not get the tyres working, that’s when he was complaining. He did win Brazil, Melbourne and Spa and he had beaten Hamilton on a few other occasions, so the car wasn’t just quick “in Hamilton’s hands”. The car was quick.

    5. maarten.f1 (@)
      7th October 2013, 15:27

      @hairs I don’t think Whitemarsh should have to say anything different. He doesn’t need to raise hell back at Woking, because if he does have to do that, something is wrong with the mentality of the team members. Nobody likes losing, definitely not at a top team where winning is more a requirement than anything else. But does it help their case if he publicly chastises everyone? Probably not (I mean, does it help at Ferrari?). Fact of the matter is, they’re far off the pace. Whitemarsh knows it, and everyone at the team knows it. Better luck next year, I’d say.

  4. Daniel (@collettdumbletonhall)
    7th October 2013, 0:17

    You don’t deserve to be at the front Lewis, no-one does. He has a sense of entitlement that harks back to 2007, he’s going full circle now.

    1. meanwhile the others WDC keep on improving humbly.

      If anyone deserve a better car, its Alonso.

      1. Daniel (@collettdumbletonhall)
        7th October 2013, 1:20

        I don’t think he deserves it more than Hamilton. I think that Hamilton needs to lose his arrogance (again) and his sense of entitlement and realise that perhaps he is not so special.

        1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
          7th October 2013, 10:11

          Find me one racing driver that isn’t arrogant.
          They’re all arrogant. It’s just their breed.

          1. Agreed…it’s what makes you a winner!

          2. Agreed…it’s what makes you a winner!

            Total crap!

          3. Arrogant and insecurity are different things.

          4. Daniel (@collettdumbletonhall)
            7th October 2013, 17:50

            You don’t have to be arrogant to be at the front, you have to be confident in your own abilities.

    2. @collettdumbletonhall Funny thing, alot of people are spewing serious vehemence about this comment, but Hamilton didn’t say he deserved to be at front, that was the ESPN editor’s words. Hamilton said he should be fighting at front and the team deserved more than a 5th given all the things that happened.
      His comments suggest underperforming and bad luck had a part to play, not that he doesn’t understand why he and Alonso aren’t winning every race.

      1. So I’m not the only one who actually reads the articles :)

      2. Daniel (@collettdumbletonhall)
        7th October 2013, 17:52

        @hyakuyagami “Me and Fernando in fifth and sixth at the end having our own little race, yet we are of a higher calibre than that. We should be further ahead fighting with the world champions at the front and with Sebastian.”
        That’s the arrogant part. If it was just about the team then he would have never mentioned Fernando.

        1. @collettdumbletonhall If you choose to interpret that as arrogance, so be it. It still reads a lot to me like he felt he didn’t capitalize as much on the initial pace shown by the car, maybe he feels Fernando (finished 2nd in the last couple races) should have been further forward as well. I won’t debate that, I’m not Hamilton.

          What I will debate is that the man said naught of deserving to be higher than 5th. Though I suppose those in the limelight really can do or say no right and anything they say will be cast in the light that best suits the editor of the publication.

          1. Daniel (@collettdumbletonhall)
            7th October 2013, 18:37

            To me it reads like it did the last few years where he has felt he deserved to be at the front. What he is trying to imply is that Fernando and himself are as good if not better than Vettel and should be racing him for first rather than each othre for 5th.
            It’s hard for the editor to take what he said then completely out of context.

  5. The only good thing you can say on Pirellis behalf is that they are the lead victim of another of Bernies halfassed ideas, thankfully it should all be over next year when the excuse of unknowable torque will give Bernie and Pirelli a face saving excuse to go back to decent tyres.
    If we have more of these farcical tyre problems maybe we can also get the top ten starting on new tyres and also get rid of the 2 compound rule.

    1. I´m not a Pirelli fan, about some months ago I promised that I will buy a set of Pirelli tyres if they left the sport at the end of the year. But 2011 and 2012 weren´t that bad (last year 6 different winners were of the public liking), their mistake was this year to take a very agressive approach and they weren´t helped by the lack of testing.

      Then the Mercedes “secret” test was a scandal and bad decision and proceding for all involve (Mercedes, Pirelli and FIA), and in Silverstone it was the last drop.

      I have always said that Paul Hempbery shouldn´t be the spoken person for Pirelli and sometimes IMHO he is to emotional and too full of himself.

      And about the tyres rules I wouldn´t change the two components.

  6. Great insight Jeff @Bittthhhcuit

    It’s like an extreme case of when Turkey built a really nice circuit, but on the ‘wrong’ side of the Bosphorus, away from the hotels, and with poor transport links from the city which I’m led to believe generally made it a nightmare for people to get to.

    Many seem to suggest it should have been in the North, near Seoul as opposed to way down South at Yeongham? How much of a difference would this have made I wonder, with better transport links nearer the capital city, better choice of hotels to stay in, being close to an international airport, basing the circuit close to an region with high and densely populated area. Just a small part of the list of many social reasons which suggest being near Seoul would have made for a better fan experience.

    1. @calum It’s just that you can’t expect to put up a racetrack and people just show up.

      There must be interest, or a commercial value to it. But this is just the organizers losing money, the teams going to a ghost town trying to make it in and out as fast as possible and no winners at all. Bar Bernie, perhaps.

      I don’t understand how they deal with all this when they decide to put up an F1 race at this sort of place. Are they obligated to sign Tilke? do they really feel the idea of building a race track and expect a city to raise up from nowhere (like it was planned originally) is realistic?

      It’s just a bad deal all round. Bad engineering. The track might be good, but if it’s in the middle of nowhere, there’s no use on it. Why did they build 2 pitlanes for instance? was it really necessary?

      Every year I ask myself the same questions.

      1. @fer-no65 – The original deal for the race was signed in 2006, with 2010 given as the first start date. Most events get turned around in two years, so it’s very unusual for Korea to be given four years. Given that the first running of the race was timed to coincide with the expansion of the grid, I suspect that this was done to try and lure Hyundai into the championship. Mokpo is an industrial centre and has close ties to Hyundai. And most of the Korean population is concentrated on Seoul, so the government has been trying to encourage growth in other cities for years. However, the global financial crisis hit in 2008, and the Korean car industry took a beating. They came off better than the Japanese and American manufacturers, but they still would have felt it. It would have killed any plans for Hyundai to enter, and economic growth stagnated. The Koreans probably only built the circuit to keep the local economy going, since infrastructure and construction projects are one of the few sure things in a turbulent economy.

        As for Tilke, they are not obligated to take him, but Tilke GmbH is one of the few design firms that make motorsport venues, and of those few, they are the most experienced (and they don’t just design circuits; they oversee construction as well). But even Tilke isn’t the authority on circuit design. There have been plenty of occasions where he has had to design to a brief (Korea and Abu Dhabi wanted a waterfront section), had his design changed without consultation (the Abu Dhabi pit exit was not his idea, whilst the final Singapore design only vaguely resembles his plan) or been given a less-than-ideal piece of land to work with (in Shanghai, he got some reclaimed marshlands; when he redesigned Hockenheim, he was forced to fit his design into the existing infield). I suspect that the hairpin-chicanes at Turns 4-6 in Korea are not his doing, since his original vision used what is now the escape road.

        As for the second pit building, it is a support paddock, though the Grand Prix has never hosted a support race (that I’m aware of). It also serves as the pits for the shorter top half of the circuit, which is a nifty little design that goes from Turn 3 to Turn 11 and then links back up with itself by way of a quick sweeper that feeds into a sudden, sharp change in direction.

    2. @calum – I believe Bernie tried to get a Korean Grand Prix up and running in the late 1990s, with the circuit to be in or near Seoul. However, although an agreement wad signed, it was abandoned by the promoters shortly thereafter, and I seem to recall reading that Bernie successfully sued them for breach of contract, which was quickly settled out of court. In that case, I imagine Bernie would have been in no hurry to go back to Seoul a decade later when the current contract was first signed.

    3. @calum when you said “Many seem to suggest it should have been built in the North” – for a second I thought you were referring to the North of the country, as in….. North Korea….on the plus side ….if it was held there…I’m sure there would have been 100% attendance!

      1. @mach1 Ha ha! But Kim Jong Un would have won so would have at least stopped Vettel!

    4. @calum thanks. Perhaps more people may attend if it was located in a better place such as Seoul. However, the original intention of this venue was to create a Singapore/Monaco type location i.e. near a waterfront within a cityscape. Construction of these items have never been done (or attempted to have been done) since its inauguration.

      Firstly, this is due to costs. The Korean public widely think this GP is a waste of money. Furthermore and most importantly, there is a complete lack of a motorsport culture. There aren’t any race events held at Mokpo after the GP. The karting leagues are practically non-existent and those who do go for karting are actively encouraged not to drive “recklessly” thus every kart track I’ve been to is pretty much people going around very cautiously barely up to any respectable speed. Children don’t participate in kart because it is seen as dangerous. The local car manufacturers Hyundai, Kia and Daewoo do nothing to alleviate this even though one would expect the suppliers of nearly 99% or all cars in the country to promote motorsport and F1 in general.

      Finally, whilst Mokpo is remotely located. It is not isolated. Either by train, bus or car, it is 3-4 hours from Seoul and Busan, two of the largest cities in the country. Furthermore, it is less than 1 hour from Gwangju, another massive metropolitan area. Also, there is an international airport (Muan) about 30-40 minutes away. Therefore, it can be argued that this location is not entirely unrealistic and definitely within the realm of people making an effort. I’ve had non-Korean colleagues drive 5 hours with the family to get to the race, book hotels in Gwangju and attend for Saturday and Sunday at least.

      I know for a fact that nearly 80% of all those who attended, are shipyard employees and their families who received more than 75-85% discounted tickets just to fill up the stands.

      1. Thanks for the insight!

        Who knows, maybe one of the kids out of the shipyard employees once grows up to become an enthusiastic and skilled racer one day (positive thinking?)!

    5. If motorspors is new for Koreans they need better marketing and eventually transports to get people there.

      I went to Spa this year, I stayed in Brussels for two days and I did not see any ads at the airport and I can only remember an outdoor in a very remote place some 5 km away from one of the most important transportation hubs of the city (Nordstation). I understand that the popularity of the event (Belgian GP) doesn’t require a big campaign but places like Korea cannot afford such approach.

  7. COTD, no doubt spot on, but I still like the track, it provides some excellent racing once you get everybody on equal rubber/tactics as we saw after the 2nd. safety car/firetruck period.

  8. I love Alonso and Hamilton battling at the front, but if you’re 5th and 6th, then you deserve 5th and 6th. You ended there, there was no unfair deals, nothing. The race just went that way…

    I really don’t understand what Hamilton is saying. You might be higher calibre, but others were better… keep it up, carry on, try harder next time.

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      7th October 2013, 6:09

      Results have nothing to do with skill. Otherwise, Hulkenberg who has just 31 points is 12% the driver that Vettel is. That means he should be driving school buses, not driving in F1.

      Maldonado is 1/272th the driver that Vettel is – even the staunchest critics of Maldonado might take offense with that and point to the fact that the car might have to do something with it.

    2. You should avoid the over simplistic course my friend. But I too think Lewis should get away from this kind of speech because using the word “deserve” in sports sometimes sounds arrogant. I do want to see both Lewis and Alonso fiighting Seb on a regular basis just as much as I want to see Hulk in a better car giving those folks a fight because he’s capable of. IMHO, Hulkenberg is of a higher calibre as well.

    3. You might be higher calibre, but others were better… keep it up, carry on, try harder next time.

      What a load of rubbish.

      Was Massa better than Hulkenberg throughout the last 2 seasons?
      Was Webber better than Rosberg and Button this season?

      Some drivers have the privilege of being in better machinery.. and thats what puts them ahead. I’m not saying they didn’t work hard to get there, but they certainly aren’t doing a better job than every other driver in a slower car.

      I think Hamilton is saying that it would be good to have a car to battle at the front with Vettel and Alonso, instead of battling for P5 and P6.

      I don’t see why everyone gets so critical of his statements. Every driver on the grid must be frustrated with how quick that Red Bull has been over the past 4 seasons. Its only natural to say that you want a car that could help you battle the best at the front of the grid

      1. Every driver on the grid must be frustrated with how quick that Red Bull has been over the past 4 seasons

        Not Sebastian Vettel @todfod ;)

        I don’t know why you’ve said past 4 seasons though, surely you mean 2010 (when it wasn’t breaking down, which was quite a lot – and only in qualifying), 2011, after Italy 2012 and after Monaco 2013? It hasn’t really been emphatic apart from then, and still – Webber hadn’t been getting anything like what Vettel has since around Brazil 2010…

  9. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    7th October 2013, 0:48

    And probably Hulkenberg deserves a shot at Mercedes. Or in Ferrari. Because in a car that is obviously a midfield car, he pulled ahead of them. The truth is that if someone deserves something for 2014, is Hulkenberg in a good car. And only Lotus looks to me as a decent car to prove himself against the big ones.

    1. It didn’t look like a midfield car yesterday, high top speed and great traction, these are the holy grail of F1, he might be better off staying at Sauber.

      1. Yes, because the rules are remaining stable for 2014. Oh wait…
        Next allegation: Sauber has traction control.

      2. Sauber was 1s off the pace in quali. It was a midfield car in 2nd and 3rd sector.

    2. Hulkenberg might deserve a seat at Mercedes, but that means that either Hamilton or Rosberg has to go. And the team is clearly happy with both of them. So Hulkenberg might deserve a shot with them, but both Hamilton and Rosberg are having their shot with Mercedes and are making the most of it. What guarantee is there that Hulkenberg could do a better job than either of them?

      This is the problem with people calling for Hulkenberg to get a front-running drive: all the front-running teams already have strong line-ups. At this rate, Hulkenberg’s only real hope is for Alonso to leave Ferrari (since McLaren apparently still want him), thereby freeing up a seat.

    3. Interesting enough instead of saying the guys in front of him shouldn’t have been there, Alonso praises Hulkenberg for his excellent drive this weekend

  10. build tyres that last 5 races, any teams that use new tyres during the 5 races will incur grid penalty

    1. or if they really want more pit stops then make them mandatory at every 10 laps. then the drivers can push and not care about the tyres, they will be changed anyway…

      1. So you would have EVERYONE coming in the pit lane at lap 10, 20 etc. ?! Maybe every 10-15 laps so there is a window?

        I think they should just make tyres where the drivers can push push every single lap so the race is not determined by tyres but by which car/driver is fastest.

  11. On one hand, I agree with Hamilton. It’s a shame they don’t have the car to fight with Vettel at the front. There’s no denying Vettel has a better car, so it’s obvious that at least some of Hamilton and Alonso’s lack of pace is down to the car. We can’t argue with this. How much of it is simply irrelevant, because that is just very much arguable.

    On the other hand though, my personal code dictates that I should have a healthily-measured self-recognition, self-image and self-confidence in my abilities and for that to be high I want myself to work hard. And, to put simply, that is all. If I know I’m working as hard as I want myself to, I will have a healthy amount of self-confidence. And I will not be dependent, not the slightest bit, on what others think, i. e. Vettel is winning, therefore he’s the best – because this is the notion all the attacks on him indirectly put forward; a fear that people might think – wrongly – that Vettel is the best, simply because they see him winning.

    I remember an F1 Racing interview with Alonso in the aftermath of 2007 in mid-2008, answering a question in the simplest way possible: “Do you still think you’re the best driver in F1?” “Yes,” he said firmly. “Yes, absolutely.” I think that’s all it takes. A belief in ourselves. It doesn’t matter what people think. Where is that attitude, Lewis?

    1. Very well put! COTD.

    2. Agreed COTD.

      Too much is lost where people don’t believe in their ability.

    3. a fear that people might think – wrongly – that Vettel is the best, simply because they see him winning.

      As opposed to people constantly telling us that Hamilton is the best – just because!

      1. @nick101 What’s with the constant anti-Hamilton comments? I can guess.

        1. What’s with all the anti-Hamilton comments.

          Well, let’s just say I’m sick to death of all of his fans constantly telling us he’s the best in F1 ever – despite the considerable evidence to the contrary!

          I’m also a Button fan, and am sick to death of the constant flack he has received from Hamilton fans since the day he announced joining McLaren until now.

          I can admit that Hamilton is a great driver, but far from the best. It’s not so much that Hamilton annoys me (although he does a good job of that) but his fans drive me up the wall!

          1. Well said. Lewis ****** off cos he was supposed to be the guy doing what Vettel is now doing.

          2. @nick101, I agree with your comment about the fans, unfortunately that kind of fan is not exclusive to Hamilton.

  12. But lewis to deserve better All you have to do is Overtake the car ahead and get more Points. Its simple as that.

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      7th October 2013, 6:42

      Well, if Lewis couldn’t do it then the Mercedes was incapable of passing the Sauber. To quote you, it’s simple as that. But Hamilton did pass it once, right? If it’s impossible that would mean Hamilton did the impossible, right? Nothing simple about doing the impossible;-)

      1. Sorry, If you say we have to fight hard with others then its accepts. But when you add the word “Deserve” Then it doesn’t matter who ahead of you. You have to go ahead. I like Lewis on track but he seems to lose his Mind off track recent times

  13. Pirelli apologise to Alonso over row (BBC)
    “It’s weird Pirelli spoke out given the season they’re having but he apologised and it’s all good.”

    That somewhat brightens up my dismal day so far.

    1. @kingshark Yes, good on them to come out and apologise. The Hembery critic to Alonso sounded very weird to say the least, but it is all over now.

  14. Hamilton’s sense of entitlement is absurd. Is his ego that big, or is he just that out of touch with reality? He is a very good driver, but his comments drive me nuts.

    1. I understand his comments, and to a certain extent, I agree with him. Hamilton and Alonso should be fighting for victories, not 5th places.
      What amazes me is that he went to Mercedes expecting a hard year, with a few podiums at best. Now, after Mercedes surpassed his expectations and delivered a car far better than any of us expected, he is, in a certain way, bashing it. In my opinion, that is worse than the “sense of entitlement”.

      1. Why, why SHOULD he and Alonso be fighting for victories??

        You know who SHOULD be fighting for victories? The guys who have actually done the best job and ARE fighting for the victories!!

        1. Because he and Alonso are one of the best 3 drivers in the world. You want the best drivers to be competing for victories not 5th place.

        2. I’ll give a ‘reversed example’ that will perhaps convince you of the “should” factor. If Red Bull had Pastor and Narain as drivers 1 and 2, and they delivered horrible performances (crashing it every race), it would be fair to say “Red Bull should be fighting for victories instead of bringing in Safety Cars every race”. Because they would have one of the best cars in the field, being wasted on drivers who are not able to win. The same can be said of Hamilton’s and Alonso’s talent. Give them that Red Bull and you’ll see fireworks on track.

          1. How about if you give that car to Hulkenberg and Grosjean. Hamilton and Alonso would have still been fighting for fifth.

  15. Although I am a big fan of Lewis from a racing perspective , I feel he sometimes gets carried away by making these kinds of comments . We all know that the Sauber had better traction , but a word of praise for Nico could have been given along with that statement . It’s not as if people will throw you off your achievements . Yes , Lewis seems a bit haughty at times . Plus he has to look at his starts first instead of focusing on the despair of the WDC situation. Every time , Vettel starts better and also Lewis gets mugged at the start . He has to look back at this race to see what he could have done better . One thing he could learn from Vettel is not to speak so high of oneself . Vettel could go on and on with his stats achievement , but he doesn’t . Meanwhile Hulkenberg is on track to be another great . Give him credit or you won’t even know when he passed your level .

    1. +1, I don’t Like Hamilton off track for this only, On Track he is a Very good driver and one of Top 4. Unfortunately He was loosing his mind off track with this kind of statements. I really feel He doesn’t talk more than any thing absolutely required will only help him. And i don’t think its naughty but it seems he was out of Reality.

      1. @harsha I meant haughty not naughty ;-). I hope he gets better in Suzuka .

        1. Hope so But last suzuka Podium for Lewis is Way back in 2009 which was P3 and his best at that track so lets see how he goes there.

    2. He has a self belief in his ability, you can’t knock that. The British do find it hard to accept that in any sportsman as it’s not a traditionally British trait. Look at Christiano Ronaldo, massively arrogant about how good he is and his performances bear that out, but the British press disliked it and him.

      1. Self belief is mandatory for any successful person. But when someone feels a need to tell others how good he/she is that can be a sign of lost self confidence or just arrogance.
        Ronaldo is one of the best but I think he has more female fans while Messi as much as good, if not better, and I haven’t heard someone to say something bad about him.

    3. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      7th October 2013, 22:14

      I don’t know if Nico will be great – he needs a good car to do that and the 7 championship factors that I’d identified… It’s not easy to race in F1. All you need to is not get along with 1 party and your F1 championship is history…

  16. “but we are only doing what we were asked to do, which is to create two to three stops per race. If they want tyres to last all race we can do that, too”

    Two to three stops per race while the drivers are pushing flat out is what “they” / we wanted. Not two to three stops only being achievable by nursing the cars and pace management..

    I do hope we see some improvement next year as this excessive pace management coupled with the drs has cuased my interest in this season to dwindle.

    M

    1. Any tyre built will have a flexible life based on how it is used.

      Two to three stops per race while the drivers are pushing flat out is what “they” / we wanted

      If a tyre is made such that it makes a three-stopper possible with the driver pushing flat out, then the strategists will discover that is better it to conserve this tyre a little bit and convert the three-stopper into a two-stopper as that will be faster over a race distance. And once again, we will have tyre saving. As long as each set of tyres lasts less than the race length, racing flat out will never be the fastest way to reach the end of the race.

      The only way to not have tyre-saving is by having the bridgestone tyres of 2010. Which lasted about 1.5 race-distances.

      1. Of course the tyres life is dependant on how its used / abused.
        It still doesnt change the fact that for me, this season I feel that there has been “excessive” pace management.

    2. but we are only doing what we were asked to do, which is to create two to three stops per race.

      according to bernie they asked pirelli to make tyres which lasted half a race which seems to contradict this 2-3 stop nonsense pirelli constantly spout.
      http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/12475/8712379/bernie-ecclestone-suggests-pirelli-not-hitting-remit-with-controversial-2013-tyres

  17. Excellent COTD, great to read such a well-written report from someone who has been to the Korean Grand Prix. There is no doubt in my mind that either the race should be promoted more, or the GP should be stopped altogether.

  18. Vettel is lonely upfront whilst Lewis and Alonso have to waste time struggling with Saubers.

  19. This whole question mark about who’s the best between Lewis, Alonso and Vettel will certainly be answered at some point.

    Vettel can’t avoid teaming up with these two forever.

    Unfortunately Lewis wanted to go to RBR and they chicken-out, otherwise part of that ‘mystery’ would have cleared out by now.

    In the meantime let’s allow Vettel to collect the victories.

    1. Vettel is the best because he is always fast. Alonso is fast during the race, Hamilton is a fast qualifier, but vettel is fast in qualitying and race, – and amazingly consistent race to race with his qualifying and race speed.
      also Vettel and Alonso seem to mature as drivers as the years go on, while to me it seems that Hamilton was at his peak race speed wise in his first 2 seasons – since then he hasn’t been much better then Button and Rosberg, the fact Button outscored Hamilton during their time as teammates speaks volumes. Hamilton reminds me of Juan Montoya, quick – quickest on his day, flashy, but not consistent enough – that’s why Ralf Schumacher often beat him, as do Rosberg and Button to Hamilton.

      I think Vettel would thrash Hamilton if they were teammates, Hamilton would be a close match in qualifying, but would get trounced in the races. If Alonso teamed Vettel, I thing it would be close in championship points.
      Next year,with the new formula, the running order could change, but I still think vettel will porve to be the best driver, I mean look at the competition he has, and even when Mercedes or McLaren or Ferrari have at moments a faster car then Redbull, Vettel still somehow gets it all together and stays dominant.

      1. Oh yeah ? Hamilton would get trounced is it ? let us see when that happens .I know Vettel is a great driver but so is Hamilton . And Button did not ‘trounce’ Lewis during their time . He had a bad year in 2011 . But 2012 , even when his car decided to retire , even when he had a group of dreamers for a pit crew , even when he had people banging into him in both valencia and brazil , ruining his chances , even then he outscored button . Fact .

        He just needs a fast car and tyres that don’t vaporize . Then we can see who is the best !

        1. i agree with the last line BUT people moan Vettel needs a balanced rear end to succeed. So can we say Hamilton needing durable tyres to win is that same sort of argument.
          In 2013, I think Vettel would’ve beaten anyone at Red Bull and probably anyone if he was in their team, the only exception being possibly Alonso at Ferrari
          I’m sure deep down Vettel really fancies his chances against anyone anywhere and would love the opportunity to smash them to pieces (though that level of win would probably not happen)

  20. I can see the reasons for Hamilton’s frustration. I also agree that the second half of this season has been quite anticlimactic (I enjoyed yesterday’s race though).

    That said, F1 has always been a competition between cars, it has never been a single-spec series and I don’t think it would necessarily be good if there was no competition between multiple constructors. More importantly, there is no reason to say that Hulkenberg and Grosjean didn’t deserve to finish ahead of Hamilton and Alonso yesterday. No driver is entitled to success.

  21. I’m not going to dissect every phrase and word that Hamilton said. Sometimes he speaks well, sometimes he doesn’t. But I agree, he and Alonso should be racing at the front. Someone should be racing at the front. Anyone should be racing at the front!

  22. It’s strange how people are living in dreams. Hamilton for example is living in a dream of Senna vs Prost (Him vs Alonso). Maybe Vettel is also living in a Schumacher’s dream but he make’s it happen in a real life as well. And while I consider that in a good day Hamilton is the fastest driver out there, when he opens his mouth everything falls down. I watched Hulkenberg while driving in lower categories and of course in F1 as well so I’m pretty sure that he also deserves to fight at front.

    1. Grosjean’s away with the fairies, too, if he thinks Raikkonen should move over for him!
      I agree with Lewis that it was strange watching him and Alonso scrapping over 6th with this year’s McLaren (even if it was an artificial race closed up by safety cars) – but it’s a good for F1 how competitive it is between 2nd and 10th places…

      1. Yeah I agree. I just don’t believe that next year we will see one second a gap between the 1st and the 17th in Q1. Such a shame!

    2. LOL about “schumacher dreams” analogy .

  23. Irritated by Hamilton’s latest comments, so he finds F! boring because Vettel keeps winning… bet if it was him that was winning all the races he would have a different attitude… it’s time he stopped with these comments and to my opinion lack of respect for other drivers… w

  24. Starts to be hard to tell which of Lewis’s comments is the worse… I, for one, watch (and go to, when I can) F1 races because I like to see the different ways of driving, I like to see drivers attacking and defending, hear the sound, see the cars, the mechanics etc.
    If one watches just to see who wins, then maybe the following could be an advice: save the time of watching, do something else instead and then read some news. The life will become about 2 hours longer every other week…

  25. Lewis’ comment:

    “I feel for the fans because I remember watching when Michael Schumacher was winning. I remember watching the start, going to sleep, then waking up when it ended because I already knew what would happen. I am pretty sure a lot of people were doing that today. At least in my family there were!”

    Is spot on, I am a massive fan, but struggled to stay awake watching it live for the first 40 laps.

    Sounds nasty, as Schumacher had huge tallent, but I enjoyed the season that he was out with a broken leg

    1. maarten.f1 (@)
      7th October 2013, 16:01

      I completely disagree with his comments. Yes, it’s boring if you only care about the winner and only watch to see who wins. But there was a lot more going on during the race, while maybe for the win it wasn’t all that exciting, what happened with the rest of the field was exciting.

      Now, if they only showed a lot of Vettel during the race I might agree. But they hardly put him on camera, and if you found the rest boring, that’s not Vettel’s fault of course.

  26. I know that I’m about to get slaughtered here, as I’m reasong a ton of anti -Hamilton sentiment on this site. But I think what Hamilton, (and Alonso in previous statements are saying), is that the the way that the Pirelli tires are dropping off throughout the races, he can’t consistently run up front and challenge Seb. That being said, it seems as if Mercedes is constantly getting the set up totally wrong. He was getting smashed on the straights in Korea, as we’ll as Spa, when Seb just flew by him at the start. If they keep this up, it won’t matter that next year the cars will totally different if Mercedes will continue to blow it on strategy and set up. They will still loose out to red bull, lotus, and others.

  27. Reasong=reading

  28. I am big fan of Lewis, but these comments were a bit out of Line. I mean he cannot think that he is entitled to race in front. Does that mean Nico Hulkenberg is a nobody ? The whole point of racing is that if you are good you should be able to overtake people. He would have been in the front if he had overtaken Nico which he could not do. Lewis was driving a Mercedes and Nico a Sauber . Lewis was on a superior machinery and as he quoted since he and Alonso are Superstars they should be in front given their better machinery !!! What stopped him from being there ????

    1. Michael Brown (@)
      7th October 2013, 21:48

      The Incredible Hulk

  29. COTD picked up by Jalopnik!

  30. zak misiuda (@)
    7th October 2013, 22:16

    I am going to start this by saying I am NOT a Vettel fan. However I must admire his achievements over the past 4 years, and to be quite honest I am getting bored of hearing Lewis Hamilton complaining that the racing is boring for fans. True fans of the sport watch it for more than who wins and are just getting annoyed with sore losers! At the end of the day Mr Hamilton its up to you and your team to beat him, it’s not seb’s problem that you and Mercedes have failed.

  31. Just as others here, I enjoy watching every session live on TV or go to a race from time to time.
    Is Vettels dominance getting old? A little! But every era will eventually end. And then someone else will take over. Last year was great when we had a different winner each race for a while and the season went down to the last race.
    But in the end everybody knew the rules for the next season early enough. they knew the tires would be difficult to manage and still we hear cry babies. When you look at how everybody struggled with their tires a few years back and Button was able to manage his tires better than anyone else. Same as Saubers cars were good on the tires.
    This time around Vettel does it best.

  32. I’m going to quote @jonsan, who put it masterfully:

    I can’t fault Hamilton for believing that. As a top F1 driver, he has to believe that he’s at least as good as (and hopefully better than) any other driver.

    I can fault him for not shutting up about it though. (And I mean “not shutting up” – he seems simply incapable of giving an interview without moaning about Vettels car and how great he thinks it is) He comes across as petty, mean-spirited and jealous.

    I think Hamilton is an amazing driver, but by God has he let his mouth run wild this last couple of months.

  33. If Lewis wasn’t sleeping while Schumacher was winning, he might have learned something today.

  34. I find it terribly funny that the tyre explosion came from Perez… Wasn´t he the one that displayed great “nurturing” of his tyres several times before. Wasn´t he called the tyre whisperer? And now, he has them blow up on him!
    I agree with Mark, Pirelli really needs to get their act together. And I also agree with Hamilton. Battleing for 5th? Those tyres are CRAP!

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