Hamilton versus the media

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Lewis Hamilton is such a high-profile figure that anything he does invites questions about what true motive lies behind it.

In the case of his latest tiff with the F1 media there probably isn’t one. Is he trying to deflect attention away from his failure to beat Nico Rosberg in qualifying today or perhaps his poorly-phrased reference to ‘someone or something’ not wanting him to win the championship a few days earlier? No, he just seems to be fed up with press conferences.

After all much the same story played out seven months ago. At a pre-season Mercedes press conference a bored Hamilton took to Snapchat to take pot-shots at the assembled media to complain about them asking him the ‘same questions for the last ten years’.

The theme was the same during the FIA’s press conference on Thursday. “We’ve been doing this a long, long time and it’s the same each time so got to keep adding new things to it,” Hamilton answered when asked about what he was doing with his phone. He answered his other questions very briefly.

Today Hamilton took things a step further. He greeted the journalists at Mercedes’ post-qualifying press conference by telling them “you’re not going to be smiling in a minute”. He would not answer their questions, he explained, and then walked out.

“If you felt I was disrespectful, it was honestly not the intention,” he said of his actions on Thursday. “It was just a little bit of fun. But what was more disrespectful was what was then written worldwide.”

So what was written which caused Hamilton such great offence? Reading the coverage from yesterday it’s hard to find anything the most thin-skinned person might term “disrespectful”.

Paul Weaver in The Guardian reckoned Hamilton had “made a mockery” of proceedings. The Telegraph’s Daniel Johnson called it an example of “Hamilton’s increasingly odd style”. Joe Downes in the Daily Mail referred to his “bizarre antics” and The Sun’s Jonny Fordham described him as “cleary [sic] uninterested in answering questions”.

This is not exactly character assassination. The articles are critical but even those who don’t agree with the slant can’t dispute the facts. Hamilton is not claiming someone has invaded his privacy, invented a quote or even – that old standard – taken his words out of context. His point of view has not been ignored: most of the coverage includes references to Hamilton’s explanation for his behaviour on Twitter.

So what exactly is Hamilton objecting to? The fact they disagreed with him? On Twitter he mocked others for ‘taking themselves too seriously’; the same applies to his inability to tolerate criticism.

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To the hardcore element of Hamilton’s fan base, primed to heap abuse on anyone who gives him less then adulatory coverage, he doesn’t need to have a point. Siding with ‘the fans’ against ‘the media’ is an easier win than any of his battles on the track have been.

Perhaps he forgot the media is not required to be an extension of that fan base. “There are many of you here who are super-supportive of me and they hopefully know I know who they are,” Hamilton added to the assembled media. “Unfortunately the decision I will take unfortunately affects those who have been super-supportive, so that is why I am saying it with the utmost respect.”

Hamilton’s occasionally strained relationship with the media dates back to his first season in the sport when he refuted claims he had moved from Britain to Switzerland to reduce his tax bill. Now in his tenth year of Formula One he clearly doesn’t need to think very long about which aspect of his job he enjoys least.

The same is probably true for all the other drivers. Some of which have demonstrated very well that however boring a question is it doesn’t need to have a boring answer. But the other drivers don’t get asked better questions than Hamilton and few if any of them probably get paid more than he does.

Mercedes haven’t hired Hamilton just for his ability to drive a racing car faster than anyone. They’ve also hired Hamilton the brand. So while he may prefer to conduct his press obligations solely through fawning questions from his fans on social media, those who sign his cheques want him in the newspapers too.

No doubt someone will be reminding him of that fact in the near future. In the meantime Hamilton should heed the words of Charles Brownson: “Never quarrel with a man who buys ink by the barrel”.

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

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161 comments on “Hamilton versus the media”

  1. Funny isn’t it that all of the F1 diehards coo and purr at the legends of the past like James Hunt And Ayrton but do their best to slap down anyone in today’s F1 who want to have a bit of fun.
    It is a miracle that genuine human beings like Lewis and Kimi have been able to get as far as they have. I have no doubt they are the last of a breed. Future generations of the sport will be as dull, colorless and humorless as the rest of the corporate world around us.

    1. Mercedes do allow Hamilton to have fun, they’ve never made him rein in his partying or flashy lifestyle. Likewise, the media love Hamilton’s lifestyle simply because it allows them to write more about F1/Hamilton than they’d otherwise be able to (compare the reports about Hamilton’s Mardi Gras celebrations, his dogs in the paddock, etc., to non-existent reports about others – the only media signs of life for people like Kimi and Bottas was when they were married, Vettel appears alive only for the 4 days of a race weekend, etc).

      However, as his paymaster, Mercedes do have an expectation from him to the media (and quite likely a contractual obligation too), something that he’s not doing now. I’m sure they’re not going to force the issue in the next 18 hours, but after the race it is likely that he’ll have someone senior have a friendly chat with him.

      In the meantime, I await Niki Lauda’s irrepressible comments about this situation.

      1. To clarify – I respect the choices that drivers like Vettel, Bottas, Kimi, etc. make to keep their private life private. I’m just pointing out how such a decision means the media can’t write about them; and how Hamilton’s choice makes it easy to write about him.

      2. Very well said.

        I find *some* of Hamilton’s behavior during a race weekend (I could care less about what he does on his free time) completely erratic. From secondhand reports of people in the know, it seems Hamilton is a lovely person. Genuinely nice who’s approachable by fans, unlike other drivers who seem to put on a face for the cameras but a less than welcoming attitute at other times.

        As a professional – and as a young man leaving the dream- however, he lacks the stature and maturity expected of a tripleworld champion with tens of millions in the bank.

      3. Never imagined Kimi and Bottas were gay, much less that they were a couple. ;)

    2. Please don’t compare kimi and Lewis.

      One isn’t trying at all…

      The other is trying as hard as he can…

      Big difference.

      1. @The duke What does this even mean?

        1. I’m a huge Hamilton fan but he is a big baby & has over the years changed to what it seems to me, be somebody he’s not. When he came into f1 he wanted to be the golden boy, uppercrust Brit with McLaren. Now he purposely does things to be a “rebel” or a “bad boy” like Kimi. The difference is Kimi is Kimi & is naturally just the way he is. All in my opinion of course

          1. Kimi is nothing like Lewis. Kimi is not that paranoid he is a professional How long have you been watching and following F1? I am following for 20 years.

          2. I think you read into Kimi things that just aren’t there. If truth be told we’re looking at a monosyllabic introvert. Gauche is the correct word.

      2. One is a baby, the other one has a baby.

      3. ine is a man, the other one just a spoiled kid that never grew up.

      4. True that!

    3. Well… Being rude is not the same as having personality: I feel this misconception is starting to be a big problem in many circles.

      FIA’s press conferences are part of a driver’s job: making them a joke IS unprofessional and IS disrespectful, to the fans and to the professionals doing their job there, including drivers, the racing team that pays his check, the sport and the journalists.

      So Hamilton feels it’s ok to be disrespectful with everyone but throws a tantrum if he smells someone in the mediawas disrespectful to him?

      I don’t get it. Nice driver but… Sad shallow personality.

      1. You do realize this all came off the back of a weekend where the media went nuts about his claim of sabotage, that he actually never made? The only people who made claims of sabotage, are those who stood to gain financially from the situation. Everybody else knew exactly what he meant with his wording. We all do it. Just today in work i talking to a girl who was having ‘one of those days’ where everything was going wrong, and my collegue said “you must have done something to someone :)” We all know its a figure of speech.

        It was only after this story that Hamilton came to Japan non too keen to talk.

        Now media outlets are treatening “you better talk to us, we can make or break you with stories”, and i am fully supportive of Hamiltons position to shun them.

    4. Ayrton was genuine, Kimi is genuine, Hamilton is a drama queen, dont compare them.

      1. Haha, awesome!

  2. “There are many of you here who are super-supportive of me and they hopefully know I know who they are,” Hamilton added to the assembled media. “Unfortunately the decision I will take unfortunately affects those who have been super-supportive, so that is why I am saying it with the utmost respect.”

    Might he need a primer as to what those journalists are supposed to be doing. Cause expecting these bad, awful, really mean journalists to cheer him on while he makes a mockery of their job might just be taking it to far, even for what I would largely describe as docile press.

  3. Mercedes honchos will be wishing Hamilton had taken this stance a week ago.

  4. Lynda.R.J.Green
    8th October 2016, 16:16

    The media are there to do a job & if Lewis wants to act like a spoiled child & not allow them to properly do there job then it just goes to show what sort of ‘champion’ he really is.

    1. Their job is to judge people on their lifestyle, and what they do in their personal life?

      I can’t honestly say I blame Lewis for saying what he said, and I imagine it stems from more than just the ‘snapchat’ saga. This guy (like many other people of status) are followed day and night by the media waiting to pounce on anything they do that can be seen.. sorry, twisted to be unacceptable or anything less.

      1. He is already a celebrity by virtue of his own action. When he chooses to be a celebrity, he has to deal with media every time, every where. And whom does the press write for? It’s the masses…which includes hardcore fans as well as critics who gobble up every bit of information as and when it comes out. A celebrity needs the press just like the press need its celebrity. I am sure there is hardly a single Lewis Hamilton article here which has gone without one single comment. Everyone has their right of opinion…including the press.

      2. He can’t buy his privacy back. He put it out there for the world to see. I could quote Daniel Craig on the Kardashians but there’s too many curse words.

      3. Lewis brought “snapchat” to an FIA event.

        You’re pretty desperate to say the F1 media doesnt have a right to report on something like that.

        Almost as desperate as Lewis’s excuse today….. almost. but nothing is that desperate.

    2. geoffgroom44 (@)
      8th October 2016, 19:21

      If acting like a spoiled child is your criteria for judgement, then you should at least have the balance to also apply it to certain areas of the press corps.A press card does not entitle it’s carrier to publicly humiliate and/or embarrass a driver – and I am NOT including Lewis Hamilton in that comment. You only have to watch Seb’s funny moments clips to see some of that, or Alonso being acutely embarrassed by a question about choosing a future teammate.
      Some areas of the media have really been doing a foot stomping spoiled child routine over this – like Lewis is the only driver out there,yeah,sure?

    3. Oh righteous media, so self important, you have a job to do, whereas LH is just a spoilt kid having fun ?
      If your head ever deflates sufficiently to allow you to use your brain to think logically, you should think 1st. which is more important, making news or reporting news ? If you get the answer to that one wrong you’re off to join the dinosaurs.

      PS. Column inches are what counts and LH and MB-AMG are making lots of them.

  5. I had no issue with what Lewis did on Thursday. I’m not sure about the fans asking questions though! But I get why the press are cheesed off, its one of the few times the written media get access to the drivers so surely he must have known the negative reaction was coming. But the format is stale and its been like that for a while. TBF I dont think he wanted to be there, and I get why after the week he had. But surely its just storm in a teacup. Be forgotten soon.

    1. Agreed. And I can think of someone else who took this attitude to the media stateside.

      My NFL team had a player called Marshawn Lynch until he retired in February. He regularly missed press conferences since he simply did not want to do them and got tired of the questions and was fined a few times by the league. He eventually turned up but only for the 5 minute minimum and answered every question with the same answer (which changed from once press conference to the next). My favourites were “I’m here so I won’t get fined,” followed the day after by “You know why I’m here.” Some called his actions disrespectful – I thought it was a genius way of making the point that the media, sometimes annoy our favourite sports stars.

      This situation with Hamilton appears to be along those lines – tbh I really don’t care that he goes to a press conference that is usually full of platitudes and nothing controversial or interesting, I’d actually take fan questions over the press asking the same question over and over or asking things that are personal. I’m far more interested in what he does on the track than hearing his answers to questions that are usually pretty rubbish.

  6. Worst article I’ve read in a long time. Hamilton might not be everyone’s cup of tea but he is our best hope of a British champion and let’s his driving do the talking. He may not be as clever with the media like Nico but I for one would rather see the championship won by the best driver and not by the best person at manipulating his team and media.
    Ignore them Lewis and do what your best at – win.

    1. “let’s his driving do the talking”
      Well, he hasn’t won a race since the summer break…

      I didn’t care much about his Snapchat antics, it was the media who wanted to inflate it to the point of it being ridiculous.
      But refusing to answer questions instead of being the bigger man of the whole drama, makes him look pretty stupid.

    2. but he is our best hope of a British champion

      I don’t care about that and I don’t see why I should.

      1. geoffgroom44 (@)
        8th October 2016, 22:44

        absolutely KC

      2. Cotd. This isnt the British Mail

      3. So you delete posts that disagree with your article? Classy.

      4. I suppose you don’t have to care, Keith, and even if you did you would probably rather not say because you would rather be seen as impartial (if such a word exists). However, I also have to agree with Rick above and say I found this article more of a personal rant than your usual well thought out and informative pieces.

  7. “written worldwide”… Possibly a clue or reference to the fact it wasn’t British based journalists who Hamilton feels aggrieved by?

    I can’t decide whether I find his actions unprofessional or applaudable.

    On the one hand for the money he earns and position he is in, he should be able to at least pretend to like the mundane parts of the sport, and respect those who make those parts their job.

    But, on the other hand he’s taken somewhat of a stand against what I think is a boring and dated part of each race weekend (the driver press conference this all stemmed from) and isn’t shying away from venting his feelings for the sake of friendly PR.

    I think I tend to sway towards applaudable. F1 needs characters and Hamilton may as well be the anti-hero.

    1. The reason for that is because the written press are poison. Sportsmen all over the world in all sports have very little to gain by bring themselves. So they play the game, be boring, no stress. Its exactly what Lewis did in his early Mclaren days when he was constantly fawned over.

  8. Luigi just living his life the way he wants. I’m few years older and I’ll always support him and choices he makes.

  9. The whole discussion about this issue seems a bit odd for me. First, it doesn’t appear that Lewis said anything to directly disparage the media, and he clearly understands that they are an integral part of F1. He certainly doesn’t need this event to display how the media has been unfair in the past. In social media every one is a victim, and that seems to sell so well. But the media can’t have it both ways because you really don’t need ink anymore to get your point across, just a cell phone. The media was questioning someone else during that event, so it wasn’t important that the other drivers sit there acting interested. The media is imbelished, but it is questionable that the fans even take the event seriously. Their jobs are not at risk for a humorous play by Lewis, they are at risk because fans will eventually tire of the drama associated with what they do.

  10. The problem is his attitude to others compared to his own self regard.

    He can be disrespectful to others, which is merely a bit of fun, but any criticism of him is a sin.

    Grow up, Lewis.

  11. Oh, so you don’t think having high profile journalist tweeting calling him an idiot was disrespectful?

  12. tgu (@thegrapeunwashed)
    8th October 2016, 17:04

    The Paul Weaver article has some garbage about the drivers parade, some journalists just write rubbish about Hamilton. The snapchat stuff was a bit embarrassing, but why shouldn’t he be peed off with journalists spinning stories? F1 has too many drivers who drone on with the most formulaic answers, Hamilton doesn’t do that: so they bite the hand that feeds them, only to moan when he clams up. Talk about trying to have your cake and eat it.

    1. Not to mention one of the rags having a bash at Hamiltons ‘disrespect’ was The Sun. The sheer utterance of their name makes me shiver.

  13. @keithcollantinetine quoted Charles Brownson: “Never quarrel with a man who buys ink by the barrel”. If the connotation of this quote has any ounce of truth in it then Lewis Hamilton is playing a dangerous game. Question. Is this the prequel to Hamilton’s A-List celebrity lifestyle having a noticeable effect on his race performances? Or is this the sort of controversy he thrives off that only goes to galvanise his motivation and desire to win? I for one am really looking forward to tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix.

    1. playing with his phone is hardly controversial now is it? It’s not like he has been recorded making weird comments about women like donald trump was.

      Everybody has a boredom threshold, he reached his.

      1. t’s not about having an opinion on what he did it’s about how the main stream media respond to all of this and then in turn how that will affect Hamilton. I’m looking forward to seeing how he responds on track.

  14. I wonder if the pressure is getting to Hamilton a little bit this year. It’s the first time he’s had a shout of a championship and he’s been this far behind with five races to go since 2012 (but even then that was a very long shot). This seems to echo 2011 in a way, but back then there wasn’t a title on the line. This season has not been what I would call vintage Hamilton.

    Compare that to Rosberg, who unlike two years ago, isn’t making the errors under pressure which we saw back then. It’s interesting to compare the two then and now.

    1. Rosberg looks stronger very much at this moment. But all can change in first 10 seconds of the race.

  15. It’s not about having an opinion on what he did it’s about how the main stream media respond to all of this and then in turn how that will affect Hamilton. I’m looking forward to seeing how he responds on track.

  16. It’s a tricky issue and to a degree, like @sparkyamg, I too am swaying both ways on this issue however one point that I’d like to make here,

    Lewis has always been quite volatile with his behavior but for the last two years, I’ve found him a bit too volatile. I appreciate the kind of freedom Mercedes’ management has given him to live his lifestyle which creates stories and indirectly helps Mercedes as a brand however, a part of me thinks (and I could be wrong on this) that the success has gone to Lewis’ head a bit too much. He joined the team in 2013 and even in 2014, I found him his usual self and so did I in his previous McLaren years, the Lewis that we’ve known.

    Think about it, Lewis is having all the attention since Mercedes are dominating and he has won both the titles so he has emerged as a superstar and his stock has risen while Vettel, Alonso, Button, Ricciardo and others have fallen and hence he has been very unreserved about his feelings.

    1. It’s your opinion but I’ll like you to know that when someone has been successful throughout their career from a young age, success doesn’t get to their head. Success is all he knows and to the contrary, has kept his feet on the ground. I find the media very boring in their questions and indeed the fans should be more a part of the media conferences. The same journalists will be thanking him when the shift in the press conferences format comes.

  17. A race driver much prefers to get on with driving, than talk about driving to the same people all the time?
    People don’t like it when someone’s messing around on their phone, rather than giving their attention?
    Well I’m shocked!

    Why does this look like its becoming such a farce, when in the end it will mean absolutely nothing(?)

    To be honest, I think the press feel like they’re in the same boat as the drivers.
    (Does the press enjoy asking, the same drivers, the same questions, to get the same answers?)
    So maybe that makes them feel a bit more let down when a driver does something like this.

    But then again, now something has actually happened, and they’re free to write all about it.
    Swings and roundabouts, I guess.

  18. Why do some people suspend reality when it comes to their fan worship of Lewis or any other driver. The conspiracy theorists, emerge just as in his McLaren days of engine tampering, teams against him, etc , these things happen and unfortunately both the driver and the team suffer. In moving to Mercedes, Lewis has been given much more personal freedom than in the rigid regime run by Dennis and has suffered from distractions in terms of personal relationships and ambitions outside of F1 and so it would not be unusual at times for people including the media to question his actions. Let’s not forget Lewis like other F1 drivers gets paid an enormous amount of money not just to drive but to represent a brand and that is Mercedes not Hamilton. He is no doubt a unique talent but to earn respect you first have to show it and allow other people to do their jobs to.

    How would Lewis or Mercedes feel if after each of his race wins or podiums the media refused to speak to him.

  19. Firstly, media is obviously not always professional and fair. However, that does not seem to be the case here. If Hamilton is mad at some particular journalists, he should be more specific.

    Secondly, it is true that F1 press conferences are often boring but that is not solely the responsibility of the media or the FIA as drivers often give boring answers to perfectly sensible questions. The official press releases of the teams are even more tedious so perhaps Hamilton should turn to his own team at first.

    The media has to be harsh and critical. It cannot be replaced by fans’ questions just like press conferences cannot be replaced by Snapchat pictures. Who will select those fans that can ask the questions? And how will fans get any smarter by looking at Carlos Sainz with bunny ears?

    While some of Hamilton’s frustration might be understandable, he clearly has chosen the wrong way to solve issues that should be addressed with a more sensible approach.

    1. He’s always wrong, remember when he left McLaren for Mercedes?

  20. I don’t get why people are saying we should praise Hamilton for trying to be different. To me things like this feel like refusing to pay your taxes out of principle: there’s a reason you have to pay taxes, and in the long run it will end up costing you more than if you just simply paid them in time.

    There’s a reason all major sport events have press conferences with the exact same format: it’s because it works. Journalists know very well what their audience (the majority of which are not die-hard F1 fans) wants to read, so they tailor their questions for what their audience wants. And yes, those questions are dull and repetitive but to be fair that’s not the journalists’ fault.

    If we follow Hamilton’s suggestion and let the fans ask the questions we will learn a lot about the drivers’ music taste and what their favourite holiday destination is, but the Guardian, the Daily Mail, the Telegraph etc. won’t have anything of substance to print. In my opinion, Hamilton should just swallow his pride and answer the questions that are asked by people who get paid to ask them.

    1. @andae23, I think that most people would wonder when the Daily Mail will have something of substance to print…

      1. OK fair point :P

    2. If the media were as supremely disinterested as Hamilton wants them to be, he’d be earning £100 a week, rather than £1,000,000.

      So shut up and get on with it, or go live in a caravan in Torquay.

      1. So you think it’s the media that’s responsible for why he’s worth so much?

        And here I was thinking it was his talent as a racing driver.

  21. The way I see it hamilton is getting paid big bucks to sit there and answer those question. It is his job. Just because you find it boring doesn’t mean you can throw a tantrum. Grow up.

  22. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
    8th October 2016, 17:48

    Typically, the media is not a good adversary to square up to. Those that fall afoul of it often have only themselves to blame (see one reprehensible scarecrow dressed up as a presidential candidate), whilst others intuitively have a feel for the media’s demands and can so even use it against other drivers. The media naturally warms to good-humoured, self-deprecating characters like Vettel or Ricciardo, and in this regard Hamilton’s shades of brooding intensity or childlike indifference can often clash with the media agenda.

    But also the media is not just a generic rabble of grasping journalists. There is the specialist media, that tends to pack out the press conferences, and there is the mainstream media, invariably looking for the human interest behind what looks to be such an imposing, faceted sport from the outside. When Hamilton walks out of a press conference he fuels the Fleet Street venom, who will waste no characters on the 0.013 second pole margin or the double Q3 showing from Haas, and penalizes those that are actually interested in producing quality sporting pieces. Perhaps a little more maturity from the outset, and an acknowledgement, as all other drivers acknowledge, that media management is a part of the price of being an F1 driver, and Hamilton could have mitigated this entire situation. A lesson in general demeanour from Ricciardo wouldn’t go a miss either…

  23. The Media needs Hamilton, that’s why they will write about him even when he doesn’t give them an interview. He on the other hand doesn’t need the Journos. He will win tomorrow and hush haters.

  24. Funny that Hamilton complains about the press being disrespectful while Rosberg has to deal with questions like these on a weekly basis: https://youtu.be/24yOX0CIZNw?t=29

    1. @paeschli – First time I’ve seen that interview – wow, very mature responses from Rosberg.

    2. Lovely intereview there. A really nice show of a great way to react to questions (especially when fully expecting them to be mostly about your teammate, and probalby from a flawed view, as Ted has lately tended to be on that bandwagon) from Rosberg @paeschli, @phylyp.

      1. It actually makes Rosberg seem like a fun guy to be with – the humor he uses in there is nice to hear.

    3. @paeschli that’s how you put youself ABOVE the questions. That’s masterclass by Rosberg! I’d not seen that interview…

    4. Ted is the biggest berk in F1. He would never dare speak to dear Lewis that way.

    5. I always had a feeling that Ted can be a horrible journalist at times.

  25. To be honest, journalists are just bunch of selfish guys and gals, and in modern era they think that they are “kingmakers” alone, just because they can share their humble opinions through pieces of print papers…

  26. In the end, They need Lewis more than He needs them. This will not end well.
    Let the fireworks begin. This is better than the on track action for sure.

  27. but again, journalists are asking same questions for 10-20 years, failing to come up with new ones and now they are demanding full attention?

  28. I certainly agree they ask the same dumb questions over and over, questions that weren’t even worth asking the first time. For example, there’s: “(insert driver name), you’re starting from (insert starting position other than 1st or 2nd), what can you do from there?”. And then there’s: “(insert driver name), what’s your strategy in the race?”

  29. Two fold issue. The media thinks it’s entitled to answers rather than just asking questions, and Lewis is a specialist in the car but pretty entitled/naive/thin skin outside of it. Hoping he learns his lesson, even if the media never will.

  30. I get his feelings towards the press. The questions are all the same and there are plenty of media outlets which are going to write events in a way that sells papers or online clicks, who have no problem bending the truth, but in the end he has a job to do and this is a part of it. Plenty of other people in sport feel the same, but they accept it. So should lewis.

  31. Thanks for the Seb tweet. It’s a nice refresh. Wish Vettel is less grumpy in 2017.

  32. If you really want to understand the reason Keith, just read you own article again. Objectively.
    Why should he not object to unfair criticism? Why should he simply roll over and take the nonsense written about him, and misrepresentation spun at every opportunity regarding anything he says? I think journalists like yourselves believe they can write what they feel, but people should not respond how they like.

    Regarding his comments last week, no mater how people like yourself believe it was “poorly-phrased”, the truth is that it wasn’t. He meant exactly what he said. He has not retracted it, but merely clarified it for people like you who seem to think that Lewis should take YOUR lack of belief in a Supreme Being into account when apportioning blame to whatever happens to him.

    More so, Mercedes may have hired Lewis for his brand and ability to drive a racing car faster than anyone, BUT what they haven’t hired him for, is for reporters to write unfairly critical articles about him, and for him to accept them.

    It has been well proven through the reams of articles written about Lewis, that no matter what he does, someone somewhere will find something wrong with it. If this was Kimi, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. And indeed, Lewis has quarreled with the man who “buys ink by the barrel” before; and he came out on top. If this were a fight, i will pick him out as the winner again.

    The truth is, Lewis does not owe anybody anything; except his employers. And he only owes them what is stipulated in his contract. And last i heard, fawning to journalists looking to skew anything he says for a cheap headline is not one of them. You guys simply need to get over yourselves, Keith.

    1. What a perfect response.

    2. Drops mic and walks off stage!

      COTD but I doubt you’ll get it, but all the same, bravo!

    3. @kbdavies This is a cheap shot at Keith. You’re seriously attributing his bias down to his lack of belief?

    4. He’s human first and that’s how we respond when we do and don’t feel like.
      Keep on driving and enjoying your life big brother.
      Keep on being Lewis Hamilton

    5. @kbdavies

      believe they can write what they feel

      No that isn’t what I wrote.

      but people should not respond how they like

      There are appropriate responses and inappropriate responses. I don’t think this one was appropriate for the reasons outlined above.

    6. Hear Hear.

  33. Here’s a challenge Keith: go cold turkey. No Hamilton stories from now on. You’re not a journalist, you’ve got no access to lose anyway, just drop him. I’m sure your Skybet contract won’t be affected, and that way you can’t be accused of being another media parasite making money off Hamilton’s celebrity. Or maybe I’m wrong?

  34. I’m not sure it really is Lewis versus the Media. Yes Lewis is acting like a diva but he’s also doing what’s best for everyone when he’s doing it.

    The media want content to drive interest, clicks and paper sales. What that looks like and which journalists feel a bit put out by not having their questions answered doesn’t really matter if it’s providing content and driving interest. Journalist’s opinions really are worth less and less in the age of social media and sooner enough if they’ve not already F1 will rebalance their commitments to this in line with how other sports have in the past 5 years.

    Mercedes want their brand and associates to be all over that content, Lewis is guaranteeing that by differing from the norm. It’s also important for Merc to align with brands that are outside their typical markets and demographics, especially younger people who they want to grow up valuing their brand, Lewis brings this like no other in the paddock.

    Brand Hamilton is benefiting by getting added exposure and being true to his brand values. This is an important point as his brand revolves around his personality, what he does and how he interacts with others. Providing stock PR answers to generic press conference questions doesn’t sit within those values.

    The true value for Merc/Lewis by just answering the questions is that they’re fulfilling obligations, that’s not to say there’s no value in it but when you’ve got someone who’s as close to box office as this sport allows it pays to give that talent the freedom to go off script where they see fit. I see this as part of that and I really don’t imagine that any problems will come of it as everyone’s getting what they want.

  35. geoffgroom44 (@)
    8th October 2016, 19:01

    We live in an age where ‘playing the media’ is actually a great skill. Donald Trump has funded a campaign on this.
    I am of the opinion that LH played a blinder with his snapchat thingy: the Japanese love mascots and such stuff and I am sure the race viewer ratings will have risen as a result of the little episode. I’m puzzled why none of the media that I have seen picked up on this.
    So I guess now we will not be seeing any reportage/interviews about Lewis Hamilton,huh? If you believe that you also believe the world is flat.
    My take is that his outburst is a 3 pronged attack:
    1. a bit of psy ops games with Nico. Nico is on pole, all in the media should be about that! But what is it about…it’s about LH stealing the show! :-)
    2. a ‘keep off the grass’ game with some aspects of the media
    3. a pointed appeal to consider a different format for these press conferences.

    Anyone who has watched a selection of press conferences on youtube would have to admit that some of the questions being asked by ‘professional reporters’ are somewhat asinine and not exactly respectful to the drivers (and I don’t just mean Lewis).

    In these ‘anti establishment’ days and times when the media (thanks to the USA) has disgraced itself, my bet is that the ‘Hamilton brand’ has just substantially increased in value. He sure as hell keeps pushing F1 into the forefront on the world media stage, whether you like his methodology or not.

    1. @geoffgroom44 – very nice points.

    2. Not sure about your first point: the driver press conference was on thursday, the qualy on saturday.
      And I’m sure Lewis wanted to be on pole!

      1. geoffgroom44 (@)
        8th October 2016, 22:52

        Is my chronology wrong? Is it the driver press conference (where he caught the attention of the internet gimmick loving Japanese public..and the world…by snapchatting) he walked out of or the Mercedes post-qual press conference? If the latter, don’t you think he stole some of the rightful Nico fanfares that the press should have been trumpeting?

  36. The press is trying to paint a wrong picture of Lewis or they have a wrong picture of him. That’s what he is reacting at.

    He said: the fans should ask the questions. That means: the kind of questions the press is asking me shows that they have wrong idea’s about me or want to create wrong idea’s about me.
    Or they do not respect me by asking inappropriate questions.

  37. I’m not saying Hamilton should be like Vettel or Ricciardo, because he has to be himself. But, man, there are other ways to show disagreement with how press conferences are held, what questions are asked and so on.

    I find it very annoying when people use their phones in meetings and stuff, so I clearly don’t agree with Hamilton’s actions. And I also think that had he won at Sepang, he’d be incredibly happy, and he’d answer those “same old” questions once more, even if it’s annoying. Because the guy works in moods, if things don’t go his way, he starts with all this…

    1. geoffgroom44 (@)
      8th October 2016, 19:56

      I cannot think of any other highly talented professional that works in moods, as you put it. I am sure that’s what makes Lewis totally unique, he is the first ever to do this. Really? Are you serious? You are joking aren’t you?

      1. @geoffgroom44 None as much as him. But, obviously, you’re a LH fan, so I expected nothing less

        1. geoffgroom44 (@)
          8th October 2016, 21:26

          My fan choice has nothing to do with being objective. I can remember some thorny Alonso interviews,to name just one. Or another,Seb refusing to do any more C4 interviews. The simple fact is that the media think it has a god given right to ask anything and if they don’t get answers they castigate the interviewee. Why are we even discussing this when we should be discussing Nico’s performance beating Lewis? Why? Because Lewis has stolen Nico’s moment and the press has taken the bait.

      2. @geoffgroom44 we all got different opinions. I don’t like the way Lewis handles himself with the press, and I prefer the way other drivers take. Just like you, but the opposite.

        1. geoffgroom44 (@)
          8th October 2016, 22:57

          sounds like we should be friends, :-). I can always respect another intelligent viewpoint. There is much that Lewis – and the press – can do to improve the scenario, on that I believe we would be in agreement.

  38. “poorly-phrased reference to ‘someone or something’ not wanting him to win the championship a few days earlier?”

    This is exactly the problem. I can’t believe you are even still peddling that line Keith. There was nothing poorly phrased about it and any objective person with half a brain could see that straight away. But on Monday I saw headlines online “Angry Hamilton Slams Mercedes”. Nothing Hamilton said post Malaysia was either angry or slamming Mercedes the media just make stuff up. Now wonder he has no time for them.

    1. geoffgroom44 (@)
      8th October 2016, 20:04

      I’m with you Martin. Plus the mystery about the oil and the loss of oil pressure prior to the bearing failure has still not been resolved. How short the memories of the media: they forget about Lewis’s first year (2007) in F1 at McLaren and the ‘spygate/stepneygate’ espionage scandal of that year. It’s not so extreme for a driver to hint at ‘someone or something’ nobbling their car, is it? https://www.racefans.net/2007/09/13/mclaren-ferrari-espionage-hearing-latest/

      1. geoffgroom44 (@)
        8th October 2016, 23:31

        errata: it was not my intention to suggest that the team mechanics could be responsible. I think my earlier wording was not sufficiently precise. Switching mechanics around could simply be an attempt to place fresh eyes on an annoying and persistent problem.

    2. Assuming Hamilton meant all along that a God was against him – and I’m not too cynical to believe that – then it definitely was poorly phrased. Because from the original quote (before he cleared it up some time later) I honestly had no idea he was referring to a God and it’s clear an awful lot of other people didn’t either. I went into this in some details with someone else at the time:

      https://www.racefans.net/2016/10/03/f1-fanatic-round-up-0310-4/#comment-3288490

      1. geoffgroom44 (@)
        8th October 2016, 23:01

        Maybe. However I would like to ask if it is merely coincidence that mechanics have been changed around recently? I am not a ‘conspiracy theory’ type of guy, but something is definitely not right here. ‘Its a fault with the big end bearing,’ but caused by a loss of oil pressure and the next thing we get is a ‘more conservative oil prescription’ for the rest of the season.Was HAM hinting at something else that maybe should not have become public knowledge yet?

      2. “then it definitely was poorly phrased”

        Except it wasn’t. You can plead ignorance all you want (and I’m not too cynical to believe you’re unfamiliar with the phrase) but that doesn’t make Hamilton’s wording a poor choice. “Someone/something doesn’t want me to x” is a well used phrase, as multiple people have pointed out in these comments and elsewhere on the internet.

        I really wish he had said “well that’s the way the cookie crumbles” so we could have all enjoyed the press losing there minds with headlines like

        “Seething Hamilton accuses Mercedes of deliberately breaking up his biscuits”

        1. +100000000000000000000000000000

  39. I can’t help vaguely recalling @keithcollantine mentioning that Lewis once ignored a question from him. Perhaps that explains the wounded-belligerent tone of this article?

    No doubt someone will be reminding him of that fact in the near future. In the meantime Hamilton should heed the words of Charles Brownson: “Never quarrel with a man who buys ink by the barrel”

    is all ego and power isn’t it.

    those who sign his cheques want him in the newspapers too.

    ignores the fact that today, as per usual, Hamilton is all over the newspapers, as well as, er, F1 websites :)

    And btw his uneasy relationship with the media started when the Mail (iirc) used a photo of him walking with a girl to claim he was cheating on his girlfriend, having carefully cropped the girl’s real boyfriend, who was a friend of Lewis and on her other side, out of the picture.

    1. geoffgroom44 (@)
      8th October 2016, 20:08

      and I recall that one of his reasons for going all Swiss was that people (reporters?) were attempting to take pics of him in a urinal in the UK.
      Unfortunately, advertising minded media has little time for balance nowadays, which is why social media is taking over. If you must have other peeps bias in your face, why pay for it?

      1. Social media have very little to do with anything close to balance @geoffgroom44. Depending on whether you block all who do not like you or not (I would guess most sensible people, especially famous people would, and probably should, do so) it is about getting to hear only positive messages or a mix of super positive and pretty dire unpleasant messages.

        Journalism is about looking into things, looking at facts and trying to get a clearer picture of things by having a good look at the subject. And then building a view from there. It has nothing to do with “liking” someone or not, that is called “getting too close to your subject” and generally leads to a skewed view.

        1. geoffgroom44 (@)
          8th October 2016, 23:07

          Rarely,in my lifetime, has the majority of journalism fit your idyllic description. In the early 60’s, as I travelled to work on the train, I would always buy a different newspaper everyday to try and get ‘balance’. It hasn’t changed, except many ‘stories’ are simply advertising fodder to keep the revenue coming in, revenue that is threatened by internet sources. Skewed views are the hallmark of (most but not quite all) modern ‘journalism’.

    2. @lockup Not that I can remember!

      The Daily Mail thing I remember but I thought it was after the tax haven business.

      1. Oh maybe, it was all quite early on @keithcollantine. Anyway I think Metro has it about right: http://metro.co.uk/2016/10/06/lewis-hamilton-was-simply-having-a-blast-as-he-turned-himself-into-a-bunny-on-snapchat-during-press-conference-6175802/ tho I wish they’d publish the vote numbers.

  40. Well done Lewis. Most the time since 2007 I only want to see his amazing driving not what he has to say so this is an early Christmas present. Great weekend, bask in the silence of Lewis and we can watch what he does best….drive and we are no longer burdoned with what he does worse….open his mouth.

  41. To be honest I can see both sides on this.

    The press conferences on Thursday may be dull but its the only chance some of the media get to ask questions of the drivers & while the drivers & many fans may find it a bit dull with some uninteresting questions etc… It is something which the media people involved actually take very seriously.
    So Lewis doing what he was doing with snapchat & acting uninterested, Treating it less seriously, Suggesting it be done away with etc.. was always going to irk that section of the media & the criticism regarding the way he treated it should have been totally expected (It’s also come from some of his supporters within the media so its not just the haters).

    Him refusing to answer questions & walking out of the post qualifying media briefing is going to do nothing but infuriate the media more & generate more criticism.
    It’s also technically something which could warrant an official reprimand (Although I doubt the FIA would go that far) because the drivers are all required to attend these press conferences & media briefings & are expected to answer questions under the terms of there super license & drivers have been given warnings & fined for not attending or walking out of them in the past.

    The media are paying for there passes, The FIA & FOM setup these things & expect professionalism & thats why they tend to be setup the way they are & all parties expect drivers to attend, answer questions & take things seriously because that is what these events are supposed to be about.

  42. I love how all Lewis has to say is nothing and the ‘media’ go nuts! The situation also says alot about the sport when more people watched this press conference because Lewis was on his phone than a usual conference. In my opinion he has every right not to answer questions from those that criticised him heavily for taking pictures and actually doing something different for a change. Criticism like he should respect the japanese fans more, as if the media really care about the respect shown to the local fans, and how it was disrespectful is anyone’s guess.

    I’m in agreement with alot of the people here that usually this site just provides great information and leaves the opinions to the fans yet when I read this article I got the sense that the editor is utterly dismayed by the fact that Lewis told the press where to go!

    1. If he wants to budge out of a MErcedes press event, I feel he should send a chunk of his outragreously large salary back to the team to compensate.

      Off course he won’t do the same thing with the FIA press conference, because he can’t really do with a Reprimand can he.

      I can fully understand that Hamilton is not happy with the press conferences (but the canned answers are more because of the teams not wanting the drivers to say much to perfectly sensible questions asked by the media), and it would be good had he just mentioned the part about not having meant anything bad with his behavour and said sorry, or just asked only to get asked interesting and sensible questions or something.

      But this “I like you guys when you cheer me on” (yes, paraphrased by me) comes over as stupid and sulking because he dislikes being critisized.

      1. Why is HIS salary outrageously large @bascb?

        1. geoffgroom44 (@)
          8th October 2016, 21:30

          what bascb means is Lewis gets paid more than him.Like Mercedes are so stupid they pay that salary without good reason!

          1. Haha, sure, right @geoffgroom44, very funny. Why on earth would Mercedes pay ME as a racing driver and champion? As if I am the subject of the article (and behaviour) that is being discussed here.

        2. I think I need a bit more context to narrow down a suitable answer @lockup, but let he give it a go anyway.

          The obvious answer to your question would be: the very simple reason I mention his salary here is because of Hamilton being the subject of this discussion. But I doubt that is the one you are fishing around about?

          When we look at a wider picture off course Hamilton is one of the 3 highest paid F1 drivers right now (does Vettel still get more, or did he even that out at the last round of negotiations?) and the money he gets is an outrageous amount of money compared most other people in the world (yes, much like other excellent sporters do, for largely the same reasons).

          1. geoffgroom44 (@)
            8th October 2016, 23:10

            glad I could make you laugh, I wasn’t intending to be derisory :-)

          2. Well I tuned into it @bascb because its hugeness is not really relevant to whether he ought to issue a rebate. I wouldn’t say it’s outrageous relative to other stars either. Anyway it’s brought more exposure than ever, it turns out, so perhaps he should have a bonus? :)

            I don’t know. It’s like fans want drivers to be ordinary and never upset anyone, but still interesting. People forget Hunt could be a bit of an ass hole. Much more so than Hamilton.

          3. I think it matters a lot. When you pay someone minimal wages, you are not going to be talking about many obligations for the employee, and are not really in a position to expect them to either fulfill that or return part of their salary. For F1 we even have the situation of pay drivers (negative salary of sorts) where a team might not be in a position to even say something. Neither applies here @lockup.

            That second part is completely amiss. It doesn’t have anything to do with the discussion really. I think it is great that Hamilton is who he is mostly, he cerainly attrackts a lot of fans who would possibly not have even have heard of F1 and off course he is the great driver he is at the same time. But that still does not give him any more right to be throwing tantrums without any good reason than it gives any other person.

            And Hamilton was super talkative only a few races back when he was winning. I think he is venting his frustration on the journalists there. He just shouldn’t let a few tweets get to him that way, and he wouldn’t if he were winning.

  43. Mehh.

    Go Rosberg!

  44. One thing I think most should be able to agree on is the current format of driver press conferences, whether they be pre or post-race. They ARE formulaic and dull, and we only see the English version – spare a thought for the drivers who have to go through the same thing in the native language version once Sky / Channel 4 move on. As a fan I never seek them out because there’s rarely anything interesting out of them. Driver engagement really needs improving – let’s hope Liberty Media have a few ideas.

    That said, I don’t agree with Hamilton’s behaviour nor his approach. I felt the live Snapchatting was immature – akin to a British MP playing Candy Crush during a parliamentary meeting. More so in fact, as he was directly inferring that he was bored with the whole affair. I also feel that his approach is immature and inconsistent – it was only last week at Malaysia that he was only too happy to use the same media and journalists to voice his unhappiness and suggest that there was a conspiracy from the team / a higher being preventing him from winning.

    I’d much rather see Hamilton engage with the new owners of F1 about how things could be improved, if he has ideas to keep things new and fresh, or voice his ideas eloquently during these existing media events. At present he risks being seen as building a case for being this season’s victim or ‘moral champion’. He should be, and is, capable of better.

    1. Perfectly summed up 👍 @gregkingston

  45. The guy behaves like a 13 years old girl.

    1. That’s harsh…

      …on 13-year old girls.

  46. Lol, this is funny… Our local media, that usually only mentions F1 in two sentances.. As in:”Riciardo won, Verstspen second, Rosberg third. Hamilton retired.”

    Now had entire article, like 500 words about media disrespect by Lewis Hamilton, the recognised F1 star. (translated words)

    He is the Kardashians of F1.

    But it does make me worried, he should focus on winning the title, not pranking media. His media talk should be all about verbally slapping Rosberg and infusing public oppinion with claims of his dominance.

    But by all means prank the media. When he looses title it will be because of things like this.

    1. Also, he reaches more people via News, Social media, than F1 will on sunday.

  47. What a horrible article and testimony of the media clearly overestimating their importance. Boohoo pour journalists. Just accept that you are a not important for an athlete, especially with all alternatives nowadays to reach audiences

  48. Oh no, don’t mess with the almitghy journalists, the guardians of the truth.
    I really can’t believe i am reading an article about this subject here.

  49. I think Lewis knows deep down he’s lost this year’s title, so he’s having a laugh and trying to change things up as an alternative achievement from this season.

  50. geoffgroom44 (@)
    8th October 2016, 23:14

    and where,pray, in all of this media piranha frenzy, is the balanced reporter who has taken the trouble to bypass the bunny frenzy and mention Lewis’s appeal for help for the peoples of Haiti? Pleeeez, show me this much vaunted ‘balance of the media’. https://www.facebook.com/LewisHamilton/photos/a.132708020143868.34685.132609463487057/1349596131788378/?type=3&theater

    1. @geoffgroom44, Well that’s a crusher for the detractors and their much more important work of misrepresenting anything a little vague said by a “personality”.

      1. geoffgroom44 (@)
        9th October 2016, 0:43

        precisely

    2. See, had Hamilton instead of doing his snapchat thing and then taking potshots and walking out on a presser talked up this thing, we would have a lot more coverage.

  51. if you go to a job interview, you’re not gonna sit around and use your phone, are you? you’re there to make a good impression of yourself, listen and answer questions properly. if you do use your phone to make funny snapchats during that interview you’ve made a bad impression and you’re not going to get the job. but then you also must realise you can’t show up on the next monday and expect to be given work because you felt it was disrespectful of the employer to not give you a job.

    this is just childish, hamilton acts like a spoiled brat, simple as that. he just needs to grow up and stop pretending like he’s bigger than the sport itself. every other driver doesn’t have a problem with press conferences, so why does hamilton think he’s right in behaving like that?

    1. @rigi, Lewis already has a job, I think the interview went quite well for him.

      1. geoffgroom44 (@)
        9th October 2016, 0:44

        right on HoHum

  52. To my mind doing the media circus stuff is part of the job as an F1 driver. I’m sure it’s the most boring part of being an F1 driver, but it’s part of it nonetheless. Being a figure in the public eye tends to draw yourself attention – lots of positive and unfortunately some negative but again that seems to come with the territory. If you’re going to shove yourself out there you can’t really complain when people write things you don’t like. In short you can’t please everyone.

    I do think F1 drivers should be allowed to let their personalities shine through but there’s a time and a place. Playing with your phone when people are trying to talk to you or people around you in a professional environment is rather disrespectful, both to the person asking the questions and the other people receiving them around you. I’m not surprised he got moaned at about it and am confused why he thinks it would be appropriate.

  53. Lewis is clearly demonstrating a lack of skill and/or consideration in dealing with the media but it doesn’t matter in the long run because ultimately, fans pay for this sport and if they want to access Lewis, then social media gives a direct avenue to Lewis as opposed to journalism.

    I’ve been told that everything we do stems from an insecurity. I can kind of see that Lewis feels undermined and so this is his way of dealing with the media passive-aggressively. The only way to negate these blow-ups is to not take an emotionally charged statement made just after retiring from a race and write about it after interpreting it without clarifying intent first!!

    In my view Lewis has all the power in this situation.

  54. F1 is about drivers, not journalists and media! Go ahead, Lewis!

    1. geoffgroom44 (@)
      9th October 2016, 0:46

      this is probably the most accurate summary of all comments (including mine) here.

    2. I must disagree Sir. F1 is about teams, and a driver is but one part of the team. There would be no teams and hence no drivers without the media or journalists.

      1. geoffgroom44 (@)
        9th October 2016, 4:42

        Interesting point.I am not sure, however, that history has ever been dependent upon journalists though, to be sure, journalists have been dependent upon history.

  55. Holy cow, it’s 2016. I mean, times have changed. Cell phones, social media, computers, hell even my toaster looks like a space ship and I won’t even tell you about my coffee maker. My point being Snap Chat is a part of our times as is hybrid engines. The media making a big deal out of Lewis having fun is a total joke and I wouldn’t have read a story like that anyways. Liberty Media will drive this ship in the direction the world is going and it will have more social media and will gain more fans because of it. Look how many followers Lewis has compared to the other drivers.

    F1 NEEDS more guys like Lewis who are rock stars outside of the cockpit. If Vettel was a social media guy like Lewis maybe you d see more fans filling the stands in Germany. Just saying…..

  56. Nico must be loving this situation. Thought article was relevant. Lewis is out there but can’t take any feedback or criticism. First corner should be interesting. Bathurst about to start on magic day at track. Go Red Bulls here and in Japan.

  57. I never liked Hamilton much in his first years in F1. I thought he was reckless and cocky. Then when Red Bull started dominating and Hamilton had an uncompetitive car, I thought he had humbled and matured. Now that he’s got a competitive car and two more championships, I really don’t like him again. He strikes me as immature, vain, and a celebrity whore. Not a gentleman racer to be admired. Then again, I might be wrong and/or biased against him. He’s just very much not the kind of person I’d want to hang out with. Button or Raikkonen on the other hand, I’d love to share a pint with..

  58. “Never quarrel with a man who buys ink by the barrel”. That quote made my day. :)

  59. So it’s ok for some members of the so called “media” to take and report on a comment or action by a driver and then either misinterpret, misquote or simply twist the truth just to sell their stories, but it’s not ok for a driver to turn round and refuse to give these same journalist the ammunition to shoot them with.

    When I was growing up the media was something you could believe in and trust, unfortunately those days are gone and too many journalist’s have no respect or professionalism …. the story is all that matters regardless of the real truth behind the story.

    Well done Lewis

  60. Another of those anti-Hamilton dog-whistle articles, attracting indignant comments from and appealing to those with a certain attitude towards hamilton.
    Meanwhile, to those accusing him of crossing some imaginary line – it happens. Sir Alex Ferguson refused to talk to the BBC for 7 years after they misrepresented his son’s agent business. Sometimes you ignore the yapping media and give them the cold shoulder.

    1. I agree,if Vettel did what Hamilton did it wouldn’t be on every F1 headline. I truly believe that. I’m not even a Hamilton fan.

  61. I find it hard to defend Hamilton on this one. He’s behaving in a dejected, self destructive manner which puts me in mind of him in 2011.

    He complains the press have been asking the same thing for 10 years, well that’s their job. He’s been doing the same thing for 10 years racing an F1 car, how varied does he expect the questions to be?

    This lashing out at the press to me suggests a deeper frustration that he’s directing towards the wrong target

    1. Are you his shrink? He said quite clearly that some media outlets had it for him and were blowing things out of proportion. Any objective person knows that the media has hot pants for him, he sneezes they write something nasty about it. The media do need to find a new target – thank heavens mercedes have decided to gift Nico the WDC, so hopefully next year the media can now write about nico for a change.

    2. Ham does not need defending, he has done nothing wrong. He is only responding to the stories written by some of the gutter press.

      It is time someone stood up to them instead of letting some of them get away with the trash they write.

      1. And he could easily troll the gutter press in the press conference while still working with those he respects instead of lashing out in dramatic fashion cutting off all ties.

  62. I’m just saying, if he was winning, this wouldn’t be happening.

  63. Hamilton’s «Prima Donna» behaving is diminuishing him.

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