Hamilton: Failing to win another title “not scary”

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: Lewis Hamilton says he has considered he might not win the championship again.

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Lewis Hamilton column: the pursuit of F1 greatness (BBC)

“Maybe circumstances mean that I never win the world championship again. It could happen in our sport, who knows? A while ago, that would have been a scary thought, but it isn’t so much any more.”

‘Hamilton needs to change’

“On the other side, there is a guy like Lewis who is more of a pure racing driver. But I think he [Hamilton] should change a little bit and look into other things because he could be surprised.”

2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Friday Press Conference (FIA)

Franz Tost: “We will have a test with [Daniil Kvyat] next week to get the Super Licence. Afterwards, he will go out on Friday in American and in Sao Paulo and of course we will have winter time.”

Force India return for Hulk? (Sky)

“Having been overlooked by McLaren as a potential replacement for Sergio Perez due to concerns about his height and weight proving a critical handicap next year, when the sport will be governed by a dramatic change in the regulations, it is believed Hulkenberg has fallen behind Maldonado in their head-to-head contest to replace the Ferrari-bound Kimi Raikkonen at Lotus.”

Boullier can’t influence Raikkonen (Autosport)

“There is discussion between Gerard and Kimi and it obviously involves our shareholders and parent companies.”

Shouldering the weight (Toro Rosso)

Jean-Eric Vergne: “There have been some people who had suggested that [Sebastian Vettel’s success is] all down to the car he has but I think that’s unfair. It’s too easy to say that everyone could do what he has done if they had the same car. One other guy had the same car and didn’t achieve what he did. Of course, Mark has had a lot of bad luck and that has hurt his chances, but the fact remains that Sebastian put together an incredible sequence of results.”

Roebuck’s legends: Mansell in the media (MotorSport)

“Once back at Williams, in 1991 and particularly in 1992, Mansell had the fastest car, and as victory followed victory his self-esteem – always well-padded – became bloated. And the more he pushed his achievements in your face, the more your inclination was to remind the world that maybe Frank Williams and Patrick Head and Adrian Newey and Renault were playing a part in this, too. There was also, let it be said, the compulsion to offer some antidote to the sycophancy heaped on Mansell by the tabloids.”

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Comment of the day

Who will make the next move in the stand-off between Lotus and Raikkonen?

I doubt Lotus will (be able to) pay Raikkonen the ?óÔÇÜ?¼10-20m that they owe him just so that he drives the last two races for them. If they were willing and capable of doing that, they would have paid him already.

It’ll be interesting to see whether Raikkonen carries out the threat he made.
@Hotbottoms

From the forum

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On this day in F1

Five years ago today Lewis Hamilton won the world championship in a tense race in Brazil which had two stunning twists in the final laps.

Image © Daimler/Hoch Zwei

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48 comments on “Hamilton: Failing to win another title “not scary””

  1. Having been overlooked by McLaren as a potential replacement for Sergio Perez due to concerns about his height and weight proving a critical handicap next year

    Right I’m sorry but how much would a non-ideal CoG cost you in terms of outright laptime such that a driver like Hülkenberg would cause? 1, maybe 2 tenths? And how much better is Hülkenberg than most other drivers currently floating on the market?

    I’m sure the teams have their reasons with the data but come on, please don’t tell me that weight really can outweigh talent.

    1. I agree, but at the sharp end of the field, 1 or 2 tenths can equal the difference between pole and a 2nd or 3rd row start. And at so many circuits, the starting position is so critical. If you can’t be close at the start then unless you get lucky or make an unorthodox strategy work, your chances of winning are lower.

    2. @vettel1 not just on performance. Teams are overlooking that a driver isn’t just a guy that goes over a single lap, of which a 1, 2, 3 tenth deficit might be because of weight.

      If Alonso was a little bit overweight, I’d put him in my car right away. It’s constant results, talent, the ability to say: “it’s not over till it’s over”, that fighter attitude across ALL SEASON that matters.

      And I believe Hulk is all that. And very very fast. Yet he’s being put in the shadows because he’s 3 kilos heavier… what a load of…

    3. Yes (@come-on-kubica)
      2nd November 2013, 1:05

      It’ll be an absolute shame is Nico isn’t in a top seat next season. It’s becoming more worrying that he may not have a seat at all at this rate. Especially if he misses out due to Maldonado again, it’ll be a sad state of affairs.

      1. Maldonado is only considered over Hulk because of money – not necessarily his weight. Lotus already went on record to say his weight was not going to be an issue – they are just in big trouble.

        Wherever he ends up – I will cheer for him more than anyone else. McLaren and Ferrari were silly to pass him up. Just give him a decent Force India and a damp track and he’ll do the rest!

      2. I have a feeling that Nico will indeed go back to Force India (providing they don’t retain Di Resta). If Lotus are in such bad shape right now, how do we know their 2014 car won’t be a dog considering that? Out of Sauber/Lotus/Force India – I bet Force India is his safest bet, though I would prefer for him to be at McLaren.

    4. @vettel1 Am I the only one thinking that Button is 3 races away from retirement. I see very little chance of Button staying, correct me if I’m wrong. Currently I have no idea if weight is that tight, they could be possibly just finding reasons not to disclose more information. I believe the whole matter hasn’t been resolved because of Maldonado, if Maldonado is on Lotus that means Perez is with McLaren, that leaves Button and Hulk fighting for McLarens last seat. Force India aren’t going to steal drivers from anyone. Sauber may drop Guttierez if they don’t get more backing but there’s no doubt they want to keep him but with Sirotkin they may not need him leaving him for Williams who may get Gutierrez and perhaps Hulk, who knows what may happen to the impressive Bottas?

      1. I heard Button is talking about a contract to stay at McLaren until 2017 …

        1. maarten.f1 (@)
          2nd November 2013, 9:04

          @paeschli Is it signed and confirmed yet, though? I know Button has mentioned it in the press before, but I don’t believe McLaren has yet. And as long as they haven’t, it’s not official.

          I agree with @peartree that Lotus will get the ball rolling, everyone else is waiting to see what happens there and who ends up without a seat. McLaren is keeping their options open, no matter what people say. As long as nobody is confirmed, both those seats are still available.

          1. Yeah McLaren keeps an option open, but I think the Perez seat is in danger, not the Button one …

        2. @paeschli If Mclaren wasn’t considering getting rid of Button they would have signed him earlier.

          1. What makes you think the hold up on Button being signed isn’t coming from Button or his management holding out for a better deal from McLaren? You don’t know that it isn’t Button doing so, it’s not like Alonso where Santander pay for him.

      2. I thought Button wanted only a one year deal but they wanted him to sign for two? He has expressed his desire to race for Ferrari, though that’s something I find hard to see coming to fruition.

    5. I think McLaren are being a bit cock sure about this. Talking about tenths is all good and well if you are at the pointy end, but if they produce anothet dog of a car, it’ll be more than just tenths they’ll be worrying about.
      Hulk would be the man to drag that dog into a respectable position.

  2. Doesn’t time fly? Five years ago we witnessed that truly amazing climax. I really thought then that Hamilton would’ve added to that by this stage, but he still has many years to achieve another.

    1. Yeah I can’t see how Hamilton can go the next ten or so years without adding another title. However I thought Alonso was going to have five or six titles by now when he started 2007 at McLaren, and instead he’s still on two.

      Time isn’t running out too quickly for either driver but they’re “worth” a lot more success than they’ve achieved so far in my view.

  3. When there are are only 4 teams left will we still hail Bernie as a genius or will we blame the teams, the drivers and the promoters for being unwilling to bankrupt themselves so the show can go on ?

    1. @hohum – Maybe they can field 5 cars each! For extra fees, of course…

      1. @bullmello, great idea , A team, B team, and celebrity driver in 5th. car

        1. Patrick Dempsey racing F1;-)

  4. I just have to believe that Lewis Hamilton has not won his only championship, this guys a total winner. There is no doubt about it

  5. I like Hamilton as a racer, I enjoy it when he wins, however I find him very self-obsessed. I made a short post a while back with my view that he seems to be very distracted with ensuring he has a “legacy” within the sport. His ultimate aim is to ensure is he “remembered as a ledged” rather than focusing on the here and now, and whatever comes…comes. This seems to frustrate or distract him in some way. I do not know if it is because he felt he was “destined” to be a multi world champ already, but it is just an impression I get.

    In contrast with Vettel; I was very impressed by how he approaches things in this regard (even though I am less of a Vettel fan), he is focused and in contrast to Hamilton, in my view, not distracted by his “possible” legacy, not wondering how he will be viewed in years to come, not concerned if he will be remembered in the same way as Senna. His interview where he mentioned this really did impress me. He seems to have an emotional security and confidence that Hamilton lacks (and I don’t just mean after winning four world titles…the focus has been there from the beginning). Hamilton can sometimes come across as quite insecure in my opinion.

    If this article by Hamilton means he has turned a corner in this regard, then I hope it positively affects him. He is a great driver and I would like to see him win more titles.

    1. @mach1 I’d not go that far in comparing him against Vettel. I think he lacks a lot of “Alonso” in him. That of, say what you say, but I’m still doing this and I consider myself the best.

      That attitude pays off, you’re prepared for the loses as much as the wins. But sometimes, specially during his last two years at McLaren, Lewis seemed to hit a bump, and struggle to get out of it.

      It’s just observation, of course. But it’s a notable “weakness” for me. Maybe it was because he got up front as soon as he stepped into F1 and didn’t spend time struggling in the middle of the pack. He experienced that after being a champion, which probably isn’t the same knowing that you’ve already made history as far as titles is concerned…

      Who knows…

    2. I do agree with you. He feels he can achieve more. And now it seems he is taking a step back from it, realising it’s not that easy in f1.

      Vettel is more of a race by race guy who is very relaxed about his legacy..

      Of course all this is much easier when you have the best car and everything is going your way (also for a part down to his own, so kudos to him).

      I do hope Hamilton and Alonso add some championships, they are worth it!

    3. @mach1, Vettel may not be distracted by his legacy but for a guy that professes not to care he sure makes a point of ticking all the boxes for the records, most poles, most fastest laps, most laps led, most consecutive races won etc. and no doubt he will be planning on most consecutive WDCs.

      1. This is true, I was considering that as I typed. I did not say that he did not want to set records, or be a great, those thoughts must cross his mind. However Vettel seems to go about it in a very differant way, a very controlled focused way. Yes, I am sure he is aware of the big picture, the legacy etc, but he seems to be able to put that to one side and focus race by race. He does not distract himself with it. Maybe it is easier to do when you are winning.
        With Hamilton, I get a sense that he had already planned his own legacy in his head. However the lecacy he had imagined was not working out, and he was beginning to panick and become distracted.
        Maybe if he has accepted this now, and just gets on with racing, things will change.

    4. I agree with you completely. I think one of the reasons why Lewis moved from McLaren to Mercedes is because he thinks that winning championships in 2 different teams is important for his ‘legacy’

    5. mach1, that is a very good assessment of the 2 drivers and I agree completely. I am not a Hamilton fan and never will be, but I acknowledge that he is a very good driver. The problem with him is that he is always too self-centred, too concerned about the image in the sport and wanting to leave a legacy. He is always judging others, comparing drivers to one another and thinking about the championship…..the proverbial “big picture”.

      Vettel on the other hand, really does not think beyond the next race. Like he said just at the press conference before the vital 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, his approach to racing is very simple: If one tries to give his best at any particular race, it follows that he will achieve the best possible result for himself barring mechanical problems or third party incidents that cannot be predicted. And if one uses that approach throughout the season, it follows that he will get the maximum points possible and leave himself with the best possible chance of championship.

      People have misinterpreted Vettel’s habit of pursuit of records like pole position, fastest lap etc. All that is part of his attempt to get the best performance out of the race weekend that he is involved with at the time. When that is over, he moves on to the next race weekend and so on.

  6. Hamilton has time to spare. It took MSC 5 years to return to a championship, building a team around him step by step.

    Maybe it’ll get to him. The same way it almost got to Alonso back in 2010 and 2012. And with drivers now lasting a lot more than in the old days, we can hope for more. Specially if Mercedes start off well with next year’s rules.

    1. drivers lasting a lot more than in the old days

      Fangio !? Brabham!?
      Look em up.

      1. I think he meant lasting longer as in competing for more years, not driving at an older age. It makes sense because they start so young these days, and the top ones can last till late 30s early 40s, so I see his point

      2. @hohum missing the point, huh?

        Fangio and Brabham were old, but they started old. These days, drivers pull off much more seasons in their careers, generally. JB started off in 2000, and he has time to spare too.

        Just as @fangio85 says.

  7. COTD – “…It’ll be interesting to see whether Räikkönen carries out the threat he made.”

    That is the crux of the matter right there. Essentially, Lotus have 2 weeks to respond in some way. Maybe Lotus will do something to show good faith.

    I think he will drive, paid or not. A) He already has driven without pay. B) He said he “may” not drive, not that he would for sure not drive. I think he will honor his side of the contract as he has done already.

    What would Senna do? (An interesting thought from the comments in one of the Räikkönen articles.) A fair question too. I have my opinion on what Senna would do, but quite impossible to know for sure.

    Too bad it came to this.

    1. I’m tempted to think he’ll race regardless on advice from his management, as it will put him in a stronger position come the enevitable court case.

  8. Kid A and kid B are playing a game.

    Kid A wins: “YAY!”

    Kid B: “I don’t really care anyways”

    =P

    1. @silence i see what u did there

  9. Fikri Harish (@)
    2nd November 2013, 4:58

    Your tweet nearly brought me to tears @keithcollantine.

    It is such a sad state of affairs isn’t it? I think that people should take a long, hard look into Kimi’s unpaid salary seeing as it’s quite an accurate representation of the state this once-heralded pinnacle of motorsport has gotten itself into.

  10. So:
    * KERS, DRS, high degradation tires and fuel economy tend to produce high team strategy dependance. Less emotional drivers, with the ability to manage a lot of information and capable of following team orders closely may become more and more successful. In this scenario, a driver like Lewis Hamilton will probably not have many chances to win a WDC again.
    * Teams financial crisis and major teams dominance favour pay drivers. Some talented drivers may lose or just don’t get a nice seat in the near future, being Nico Hülkenberg the most notorious case.
    * Car weight and fuel issues can seriously limit the chances of tall drivers and/or not skinny ones. Once again, Hülkenberg career may be at risk because of that.

    I constantly try to be optimistic about the future of F1 and I always try to get the best of any race. But, more and more often I’m feeling distracted during a race. It has nothing to do with the Vettel factor, I like to see any battle for a position, it doesn’t matter if the leading driver is 30s ahead of the rest. I don’t mind about Tilkedroms, any circuit can provide an unexpected race.
    I just don’t want to watch teams driving the cars. I’m just bored to hear/read “careful with the rears”, “you are not racing X”, etc. I want the kids to have fun, I want Hamilton to break hard and Vettel to set any fastest lap he wants. At his rate, by year 2020 cars will be controlled by a team owned computer mainframe. Best programmer group will clinch the podium. Safety promoters of course will be pleased. (Yes, it is a joke.)

    I’m slowly losing interest, and to be honest, I’m getting a little sad. I’m trying to understand FIA methods and weird innovations advantages, but I’m getting bored of that too…

    1. @Andrei I agree completely

  11. I wonder whether Lotus’ financial troubles can be put down solely to the current financial climate, or whether it’s also due to an F1 team’s inability to budget sensibly.

    Two years ago at this Grand Prix, Lotus had barely scored any points in months, and were busy firing Vitaly Petrov for complaining about team mistakes. Since then, they have scored podiums and wins, have finished fourth in the constructors’, and are currently fighting for second. Surely they could not have expected any better, so their financial troubles are not down to a lack of results.

    Did they hire Raikkonen in the hope that sponsors would subsequently approach them, or was the option of not paying him on their minds all along?

  12. Prost feels that Hamilton’s particular skill set – great natural pace, raw aggression and innate overtaking ability – might have been better suited to a less complicated era of racing.

    I think the Professor is right, sadly …

    1. Reading that article left me quite despondent about the way F1 is heading (from a racing point of view, rather than financial). If it turns out to be true that raw pace and wheel to wheel action will be further side-lined by the needs of consistency (at a relatively slow pace) and resource management, then that’s quite a sad state of affairs IMO.

      I equate Hamilton’s natural driving style to someone like Marquez in MotoGP – with the rear of the car / bike sliding, allowing every last ounce of performance to be extracted. It’s exciting to watch and it’s a shame that style is no longer really effective in F1.

      Whilst I’m not entirely sure what “the pinnacle of motorsport” should actually be (since you have the competing interests of engineering supremacy and close racing to consider), I’m fairly sure it shouldn’t be what Prost describes for next year.

    2. The Prof .. can stick it.

      Seriously. It reads (to me) as though he wants a cold calculating strategy based F1, which is how he used to drive. Trouble is that’s boring as hell and if F1 really fully goes that route it’ll lose me as a viewer. I’m not that interested in strategy, I want to see racing and we don’t have that thanks to a combination of bubblegum tyres and clever aerodynamics.

      1. It reads (to me) as though he wants a cold calculating strategy based F1

        I did not read it this way. Prost said (rightfully IMHO) that it will be that way, without indicating his preference for this sad state of affairs.
        I see one important difference: In Prost’s times the strategy element was not artificially forced and it was on a different level, the driver had to make many decisions that today a team of computer analysts makes for a driver. Prost was very good at this, but Senna’s case has shown that in those days a great racing driver could compete with a computing driver. I think Prost is right thinking that Hamilton might have done better back then.

    3. @paeschli Maybe that is why Lewis trying out his hand at DTM

  13. Daniel (@collettdumbletonhall)
    2nd November 2013, 13:58

    Cognitive Dissonance from Lewis.
    Unfortunately he’s too obsessed with his legacy, it’s too much about painting an image of himself which Senna seemed to have as opposed to trying to break the most records as Vettel sees it. Maybe that’s because he’s come to realise he cannot achieve that level of objective success.

    1. @collettedumbletonhall I find it amazing how people can profess to know someone’s intent or mindset so well that theyve never even spent five minutes with. It defies logic and belies an arrogance on the part of the one speculating. How do know what Lewis Hamilton is really concerned with? You don’t.

  14. Having been overlooked by McLaren as a potential replacement for Sergio Perez due to concerns about his height and weight proving a critical handicap next year

    How do we know that this is in fact true? I am not trying to deny it, but so far I have seen only Hulk’s fans bringing this issue up. Are there actually any reliable indications (Hulk, McLaren, insiders) confirming this story, or is it just another urban myth?

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