Hamilton says personal life is key to improved form

F1 Fanatic round-up

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In the round-up: Lewis Hamilton says improvements in his personal life has helped his performances this year.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Hamilton: Reducing ‘baggage’ helped me (Autosport)

“I’ve strengthened bridges and relationships with people, not only in my personal life but also in my team. I’ve been working with the engineers better this year and all of that stuff has just helped.”

Aussie Grit Helmet Promo – We have a winner! (Mark Webber)

Mark Webber will sport a special helmet designed by a fan at the Singapore Grand Prix.

From Monaco to Hungary (ESPN)

“Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull stopped on the track on the Sunday and they didn’t quite manage to get it back to the pits. It got halfway between the first corner and the pits so I was able to get a few shots of it by itself and I was able to go a little bit closer than normal.”

Classic Belgium (Sky)

Pictures from past Belgian Grands Prix.

Drivers get behind the lens for charity auction (F1)

“Leading names from the world of Formula One racing have put their photography skills to the test thanks to Zoom, an innovative new project in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.”

Olympic ideals (GrandPrix)

“Bernie Ecclestone continues to hold the belief that gold, silver and bronze medals should be presented to the first three at the end of each Grand Prix, the championship being decided by the driver with the greatest number of gold gongs. Apart from devaluing the medal concept by dishing out them out once a fortnight, the title decision process would be subject to distortion to suit personal ends. The 2012 Olympics proved that.”

Tweets

http://twitter.com/redbullf1spy/statuses/235732675460210688

Comment of the day

Alex Brown (@Splittimes) on Elio de Angelis’s victory for Lotus in the 1982 Austraian Grand Prix which featured in yesterday’s On This Day:

Just read about that 1982 win for Lotus in the Jabby Crombac biography of Colin Chapman.

Apparently it made a huge difference to his spirits after the torrid time they had trying to prove the legality of the twin chassis car, on-going losses for Lotus Cars, protracted financial problems from a 5m loan from American Express. The FOCA/FISA war had taken its toll too, with Chapman nearly ousting Ecclestone as leader of FOCA (after a meeting with Jean-Marie Balestre at the Le Mans 24hrs), but later deciding he’d rather concentrate on his own work. He was also closing up his boat businesses (after pioneering new vacuum-moulding techniques) and beginning to look at building microlights.

Of course, at this time he was developing his next technical advancement: active suspension. What a busy little pioneer.
Alex Brown (@Splittimes)

From the forum

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Feline-Fan!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Nigel Mansell kept his championship hopes alive with victory in the Austrian Grand Prix 25 years ago today.

But team mate Nelson Piquet limited the damage by taking second, albeit the best part of a minute behind the other Williams after making a pit stop.

It took three attempts to get the race started after a series of crashes. Here’s the first of them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T14HLURCLW8

Image © McLaren/Hoch Zwei

Author information

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

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71 comments on “Hamilton says personal life is key to improved form”

  1. LEWIS, just remember, “Hell hath no fury like a baggage tossed in the dumpster”.

    MARK, great helmet design but I have always used your goldtop to recognise if it’s you or Seb during the race, please ask Seb to wear something totally different.

    1. I feel the same about that helmet desing @hohum, with Vettel constant changing his, the best way to keep them apart was looking out for Webber’s yellow top. But its a really nice design.

      1. I too feel exactly like that @bascb and @hohum :)

        I first thought the design quite busy on the side, but looking at it again I like the way the required Red Bull pushes his yellow orb into the lines, symbol of how game changing it was for Mark :-p

    2. I think it’s almost certain Seb will have something totally different.

      1. Just had a great idea:
        Seb could have his face painted on the outside of his helmet, so we can definitely tell it’s him, and for the Red Bull logos, his helmet could pretend he has them tattooed on.

  2. This is not the first time that Lewis has made such a comment. It seems to be a frequent “issue” for him. I think more and more, Hamilton just doesn’t have the right stuff in him to be a multi-champion. Look at his career:
    2nd, than Champ, 5th, 4th, 5th, 4th and he has had a solid car for the better part of those last four.

    I think Hamilton needs to take a good hard look a whether or not he is fully committed to F1. Maybe he could ask for some tips from Fernando?

    1. I think it’s just the pressure mounting, he knows that by now he could have won multiple championships and i think that’s the weight he should get rid off, he keeps finding excuses elsewhere when i believe it is his mindset that should change, i don’t know Lewis but i believe alot of F1 fans have the same impression, Lewis feels fake, he doesn’t feel natural, he looks like a man under pressure from everyone and himself, he keeps choosing his words too carefully i think he needs to be himself, he is an F1 driver and he wants to win above all and no one should be ashamed of showing that, that’s simply human nature, look at Webber, he is not impolite but no one hates him for showing what he feels. He feels like joining Ferrari (just joking)

      Sincerely i don’t think there is anyone quicker than him, (if there was a poll to prove it) he just needs to stop with that attitude, he should balance his act and show his true colours. This season has been a tricky one and judging by his words and what we know of him, the car is pretty good for the next few rounds. I’ll be surely making some changes for my next predictions champ round.

      By the way @colinf why is Alonso an example as far as i’m concerned Vettel is the reigning double WCH, just sayin’.

      1. @xeroxpt I used Alonso as an example because he has clearly pushed hard every single year and gotten very respectable results even when the car was simply not there. He has also CLEARLY committed his entire life to the sport, up to divorcing his very beautiful wife just to be able to carry on. That is commitment.

        I think Hamilton views himself as an entertainer. He signed with Simon Fuller, is always talking about maybe doing music or acting, hangs out with other “entertainers” and seems overly focused on his feelings.

        There was a great episode on Shakedown where Leo Parente went off about “feelings” in racing. I recommend watching it, but the headline was that feelings have no place in sport. When you’re driving, you’re driving. You shut all that other crap out and that is what makes a professional a professional. Lewis seems to struggle with that, clearly.

        I don’t think he’s “reformed” either, it is just that things have gone his way for a few races. This is what the pattern has been for the past 4 seasons, or, really, for his entire f1 career barring the first one: Lewis hits a rough patch, says he’s “making changes” in his personal life then he gets some better results only to hit another slide and the cycle starts all over again. I’m sorry but that doesn’t make you a top sportsman.

        1. Hamilton not a top sports man . On what planet are you all living on?
          How are you in the position zo judge about his personal life. How do you know about it, to come to such conclusions?
          How many years is Alonso without a title now?
          What is most important to have successs in F1?
          Bingo the car!!!!!

          Such a nonsense, Lewis is one of the few drivers who shows / showed his true emotions to us. All he got was heavy critism.

          You should have watched the last 4 F! season, and not only read tabloid press.
          2008 Lewis was WDC!!!!!
          2009 the car was a complete dog at the start “Lewis put it to places where it did not belong” ( Quote from J.Neale MD McLaren)
          He scored most points in the 2nd half of the season!
          2010 Lewis in the WDC fight until the very last race!
          2011 he had several personal problem, like the death of close friend, seroius problems with his das , his GF, and sveral other things we did not know. D. Hill said Lewis was going to a huge idendity crises last year, becaus he was raised as a product, not a person. Even McLaren had admitted, they used him as their experiment, and forgot sometimes he was human.
          2012 absolute faultless performance so far, not a single error from his side!
          And you say he is not a top sportsman and not comtitted

          1. agreed! go hamilton go..

    2. @colinf You make a good point, but your comment is poorly timed. To me, it seems as though he’s turned a corner in his personal life and is back to his 07/08 driving prowess. One must note he’s probably been the second best driver this season. No need to hate on him

    3. I think its rather that Hamilton is still maturing as a person, after having spent much of his teenage years on track being honed by his own will to race fast and his fathers support/pressure @colinf.

      1. @bscb, quite right, many sports, and entertainment “stars” who have controlled their life from puberty or before struggle to maintain the discipline once they have reached their initial goal. It could be worse, eg. Britney Spears.

        1. Yeah, luckily Hamilton stayed well clear of sinking as deep @hohum!

    4. Did you read the article, or just went by the headline? Hamilton isn’t whining about any “issue” here. On the contrary, he says that he found the right balance and is mentally stronger than he was last year. Also, while he was 2nd, 1st, 5th, 4th and 5th his teammates were 3rd, 7th, 12th, 5th and 2nd. In reality only 2011 was a wasted championship opportunity due to his own mistakes and he acknowledges that. There’s nothing indicating that “he doesn’t have the right stuff”, as you put it.

    5. I have struggled to see Lewis’s commitment to F1 when compared to his peers. He doesn’t seem to live and breathe it like Alonso.

      Even Button who has in the past endured a reputation as a gamour puss/playboy pursues a life outside F1 that whilst enjoyable is geared towards improving his performance at the office and when he has a bad weekend he decamps to Woking to find out why in the simulator.

      Hamilton has been known to cancel his simulator sessions in favour of recording what I imagine to be primarily bad hip hop songs with his mates in Hollywood, leaving Paffet to cover for him whilst he bangs bling laded knuckles with his homies to the sound of “whaddup G”.

      Neither Mclaren driver “saw the point” in testing at Mugello this year. A unique perspective it would appear amongst the F1 drivers and smacks of laziness or eyes on other prizes.

      However, despite all that, this season I am beginning to feel Hamilton may have turned a corner in that respect. His performances have been better and he does seem to have rediscovered why he loves racing. He seems a happier person generallly (though god knows what he needed to make him happy if being Lewis Hamilton wasn’t enough) and his performances have been solid all year.

      He still has his entourage so maybe he has just made the mental strides necessary to compartmentalise the different aspects of his life in order to be able to perform adequately at in all.

      However, it is my beleif that to win these days you must live and breathe it like Alonso so whilst Hamilton may be able to perform well as things are I feel he will always be leaving something on the table until his focus is 110% on his racing.

      We may never see him dominate as we all expected to.

      1. I think the key to understanding it is probably what you say about Button @coefficient. Its something a person/driver develops over time when being as talented as these guys are.
        At first he feels his incredible talent should be enough, and often it is enough to impress. Only over time comes the understanding that talent alone won’t keep him ahead of roughly equally talented drivers.

        I agree with you, that so far this year Hamilton has shown that he learnt something from last year to perform better.

        As for what you say about Mugello, McLaren were hardly the only ones who found it less than worth the effort. Petrov was outspoken, but Webber said it clearly as well. And the fact this test was dropped for next season shows, it was probably a widely shared view of the usefullness of this test (Ferrari seemed to be happy, but then its their track.)

        1. Regardless, it was still an opportunity to run new parts on the cars which most teams did. Also, I would wager that Button would’ve got over his tyre temp issues that arose with the new nose (that was introduced at the mugello test) hadhe been at said test to begin understanding the new setup requirements of the car. Also, the test was signalled an improvement in form for a few teams so it wasn’t that uselss after all.

          1. But wasn’t it Button who thought the test was meaningless and Hamilton who wanted to be present for the test?
            Mclaren decided what their priority was, developing their simulator.

      2. Jenson was actually doing PR in Hungary at the time of Mugello.Lewis however went on holiday, who is the most dedicated

      3. who's better who's best
        16th August 2012, 22:16

        What a load of …er…well you get the point

        You should try keeping up with the new

        Lewis wanted to do mugello and was told he couldn’t as the team were going to be concentrating on simulator corollation and so want the test drivers to get some miles under their belt

        If your going to comment atleast get the basic fact straight

        1. u r right bro..

      4. @coefficient Lewis Hamilton WANTED to test in Mugello. He said he does not want to do another driver his work. He wants to test new parts, and learn about the tyres.
        It (the Mugello schedule) might change,” British newspapers report Hamilton as saying. “I need to get back in the car. We need to figure out why the tyres are going off.”
        “If there are other things to test or ways to figure it out, I will be the one to do it, not let someone else do it,” said the 2008 world champion.

        It was Button who saw no sense in going there.
        ‘I don’t really think we will be a benefit because there aren’t any massive updates to try.
        ‘For the test drivers to put some miles on parts and try some very extreme things, then I think it’s good, but it’s not necessary for us to be there
        Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaone/article-2135680/Jenson-Button-dismisses-Mugello-testing.html#ixzz23l2HKHeO

        BTW, how do you know Hamilton reported “bad” hip hop songs with his friends. It was said he only mixed some music, for his personal fun.
        About Alonso partying with several giirls in several clubs ( in season) is living & breathing F1?

        To you information
        Lewis Hamilton was 1 week at the studios at the WINTER BREAK, One week before christmas, where all the other drivers where already on holidays.
        Lewis Hamilton did still PR for McLaren, as the others have been already on holidays in winter.

        1. Bull! He could have insisted on testing, that’s what his beloved Senna who he is so keen to compare himself to would have done.

          Bottom line, both drivers should’ve been there. The proof of the pudding is in the eating as they say and its no coincidence that Mclaren fell back after the test and their immediate opponents siezed the upper hand for a time.

          The Sim Calibration stuff is a load of guff too. What good is calibrating your sim to reflect the characteristics of 2 drivers that are at best a couple of seconds per lap slower than the race drivers?

          Also, I don’t think anyone would begrudge Alonso one night off after the Rabbit from a Hat Trick he’s pulled off so far this season. Also, his dedication to Ferrari and constant presence at Maranello was instrumental in the collapse of his marriage but when all that was in the balance he chose F1. Some would say that is morally reprehensible but whatever your opinion it shows unthinkable commitment!

          For the record, I’m a British Mclaren Fan and I think the world of Lewis and Jenson and can’t stand Alonso.

          This is called dispassionate objectivity and is far more useful than partisan fanboyism when analysing the causes of poor performance. Try it some time!

          If I was an F1 driver for any team you would not get me out of the factory. I’d move in (you know, like Alonso has at Maranello) and leave no stone unturned in order to make sure my car was absolutely on the button week in week out.

          Schumacher proved that to dominate requires 110% focus and attention to every detail of the game and Fernando has almost certainly detected that echo’s of that philosphy in the hallowed halls of the great red team and it has resonated perfectly with him.

          Alonso is steeping himself like tea in his racing and as a result the sun is shining for him so he’s making hey.

          Its similar to the rise of Schumacher albeit not as extreme but remember how he caught them all napping?

    6. That isn’t necessarily representative though- in 2010 he was arguably the best driver despite being 4th, and this year is arguably the second best driver, which would be better reflected had his team been as solid as he’s been. Last year was the wobble, as was lie-gate in 2009, but that year he came back strong when the car was on form. If you were using yearly results as an indication, you’d imagine Alonso was just as uncommitted to F1.

      1. Alonso has grown up since joining Ferrari. His work ethic and commitment is undeniable nowadays.

        If memory serves Hamilton had 17 crashes between 2010 and 2011. Not that great.

        1. How is that indicative of commitment to F1?

  3. The winner design for Mark Webber’s helmet really worked for it. It’s simply awesome! Can’t wait to see the real one.

    1. @fer-no65 It’s certainly a welcome departure from his usual design, that’s sooooo dull.

      1. “So dull” but easily recognised in the car.

  4. After watching that video, I have a quick question:

    When and why did the “session stopped” flag change from a black flag to a red one?

    Answers on a postcard…

    1. @mattb I think the red flag has always been used to indicate a race stoppage but sometimes the black flag was used with it as well. I’ve seen a couple of videos of that happening during the eighties, it seems the practice stopped at some point in the early nineties.

    2. After watching that video, I have a sad feeling that both the camera angles used and the quality of directing was better 25 years ago than now.

  5. Forget about being closer to your girlfriend or your friends, is much more important to get closer to your engineers! they are the ones who can actually help you go faster, I’ve always had the impression that Lewis relies a lot on his talent and perhaps he lets his engineers do all the hard work, if what he says is true and he’s working better with them than he did last year, then I think that is the main reason for his improvement.

    1. In the article that is exacly what Hamilton says he is now doing. Spending more time with his engineers.

  6. Dimitris 1395 (@)
    16th August 2012, 7:26

    The commentator said something about a Jim Clark Trophy. What about it?

    1. @dimitris-1395 In 1987 the field was split between those who had turbocharged engines and those with normally-aspirated engines. Such was the performance difference between the two a separate championship was introduced for non-turbo runners (they also scored points in the main championship as usual, but generally only when the turbo runners retired).

      They had their own drivers’ championship – The Jim Clark Trophy – and constructors’ championship – The Colin Chapman Cup. These were won by Jonathan Palmer and Tyrrell respectively, but the category was scrapped at the end of the season. Turbos of course were banned at the end of the following season (1988).

      1. @keithcollantine, sounds like a brilliant solution for the teams that want to continue with the V8 in 14 .

  7. I hope that Hamilton wins the championship this year. He openly admits and analyses his past mistakes and shortcomings, sometimes maybe even a bit too much. You don’t see that kind of thing very often in F1. Some think that the reason why Button and Hamilton are the most popular drivers among F1F users are their own nationality and their team’s ‘nationality’ but I think that their characters are what make people like them.

    1. It would sure make for an exiting championship battle! And I think McLaren do deserve it after really turning around their abysmal efforts in the pits as well.

      Not to mention how it could be a bit of satisfaction from beating Alonso to it, because despite saying they are over it now, I think both McLaren and Hamilton would love to beat his old team mate in a Ferrari to that!
      I do expect Red Bull to have a strong say in it, but while Vettel does not seem completely on it this year and Webber looks good, they seem not to be the all conquering team anymore. I guess its hard to keep something like their run of success going for more than 2-2,5 years (Its something only Ferrari managed recently with Schumacher).

      1. @BasCB I agree with you regarding the maximum length of a run of success. Actually even Ferrari were not very far from losing the 2003 title to Raikkonen, they were really dominant only in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

        I also think that RBR will be in contention until the end but it looks like they haven’t been able to build a dominant car, even despite pushing it beyond the limits of the technical rules and Vettel obviously isn’t too happy with the new situation. And AUTOSPORT recently suggested that Lotus could be the car to beat after the summer break. Who knows, anything could happen in this crazy season, I think there’ll be a lot of facepalming during the review of our March predictions in December :)

    2. He openly admits and analyses his past mistakes and shortcomings, sometimes maybe even a bit too much. You don’t see that kind of thing very often in F1

      You don’t see that kind of thing in every day life as well. It takes a long time to recognize one’s mistakes and eventually correct it afterwards. Apparently Hamilton is much better driver this year, to me at least. If he keeps it this way, I am sure he will be champion again.

  8. Nice pictures from the greatest race track on the calendar.
    Special mentions :
    1. Mika Hakkinen, Michael Schumacher and Jean Alesi going wheel-to-wheel.
    2. Eddie Irvine almost getting burned to death.
    3. The ’98 crash.
    4. Michael ‘simply the best’ Schumacher winning his 7th WDC.
    5. All pictures of Eau Rouge, taken by world-class photographers, are blurred.
    Vive la Spa!!!!

    1. Yeah, some great stuff there – my favourite’s the first one, with Senna at the bottom of Eau Rouge.

      Looking forward to seeing more galleries like this around the place (and videos of classic races) as the build-up to the race gets under way. Hopefully there’ll be some good shots of the old Spa track in there too.

    2. I may be committing an act of heresy here, but I honestly think that Spa is a little over-rated. Don’t get me wrong – Spa is certainly worthy of being rated, and it is always a highlight of the season … but I just don’t think it’s leaps and bounds ahead of every other circuit on the calendar. It’s probably about fourth on my list of favourite circuits, behind (in order) Interlagos, Suzuka and Silverstone and just ahead of Sepang and Istanbul (and, I’m hoping, the Circuit of the Americas).

      1. @prisoner-monkeys I have been there and the place certainly feels special. Then again, I haven’t been at Silverstone or Suzuka, so I cannot really compare.

        It’s obviously one of the oldest venues that are still on the calendar (if I remember correctly, only Monza was built even earlier) and, the more F1 moves to new circuits, the more fans honour the few old ones that are still left. It’s probably more about nostalgia than rational reasons.

        I think that Tilkedromes aren’t always as bad as often perceived. After all, the last two Chinese GPs were very highly rated in F1F polls. All things inevitably change and F1 cannot stay stuck in its history forever. And it’s certainly disputable whether Spa should be 1st, 4th or 7th on the list of the best F1 circuits. However, I would be really sad to see it leave the calendar.

      2. People have their own personal opinions and obviously I would not like to put anyone down just because their taste does not match mine.
        It is just that “eerie” feeling I get whenever the F1 circus arrives at Spa. Interlagos comes close, but it is possibly due to where it is positioned(i.e season finale).
        Monza too is one of my top favourites, but although there are other circuits like Silverstone and Suzuka, I don’t have that same excitement I have when I see the Spa race. Of course, last year’s Spa race was a debacle, and I hope(possibly in vain) that this year’s race at the Ardennes gives us more to remember than people taking Eau rouge slower than the car in front, and then using DRS to be almost half-a-second clear at Les Combes.
        Let’s hope for the best.

      3. OmarR-Pepper (@)
        16th August 2012, 23:34

        As I’ve just read, it’s your opinions and you can vary from the others… my dad loves watching Monaco and I hate it. I love the Spa race for the thrill it usually gives (Hakkinen vs Schum is considered by many the best overtake in history, Alonso spinning twice and then Kimi winning, the 2008 race… Webber overtaking Alonso in Eau Rouge).. well PM you see how my opinion is different from yours this time

        1. In my opinion Suzuka thumps Spa in every single way. :)

          1. I like the Suzuka tracks, but the races there are generally boring due to lack of overtaking opportunites. Last year’s race was good though, and we were treated to brilliant battles, both on the track as well as the pitlane.

  9. Hamilton does seem to have put a lid on it this year and it shows on the track. He seems more relaxed yet knows when to turn on the agression. He made a few silly comments last year when arguably his performance was the issue, yet this year when it’s mainly been his team he has kept his mouth shut.

  10. I love the old Porsche 928 they used for the med or safety car back then. There’s one for sale at a gas station near me, I might just have to find out how much they want for it…

    1. Without even playing the video I posed that question to myself…isn’t that a 928? One of my all time favourite cars, so my advice…get yourself to that gas station and at least ask a few questions. I’ve been tempted a few times myself.

    2. The 928 is without doubt a classic beauty. I have a 997 twin turbo (techart gt street body kit, carbon ceramic brakes, tubi exhaust) that I absolutely adore, but I would love to have have one of those in the garage. Grab it if U can.

  11. Very nice selection of Spa pix on the the Sky site.
    But one of them has me foxed. Pic number 15 is captioned “Rubens Barrichello leads the field through the Eau Rouge chicane in 1994” And it shows Rubens in his multi-coloured Jordan leading the pack through what looks like a fairly tight left-right chicane.
    But I can’t recall a chicane at Eau Rouge. Is the pic actually a shot of the old Bus Stop, or is it up at Les Coombes? Or is it really Eau Rouge and I’m losing my marbles?

    1. @timothykatz Yep there was a chicane at Eau Rouge in 1994. It was a one-off in reaction to the crashes earlier in the year. See these articles:

      F1 circuits history part 12: 1994
      10 worst… chicanes

      1. Good grief, that’s horrid! About as attractive as finding a Portaloo in St. Peter’s.
        I must have been AWOL that year, and as a result I will gladly forfeit a few marbles. Thanks, Keith.

  12. Don’t get me wrong with the comments I’m about to make about LH. I don’t mind him at all, but I can’t say I’m a fan either ie. if he wins a hard fought race I’m fine with that and I say good for him…if he doesn’t I’m fine with that too…I’m just as happy seeing JB outdo him whenever that happens, which was obviously particularly last year.

    When it comes to his issues of last year, I’ll repeat what I said at the time…I thought that was a terrible thing for the team and the sponsors to hear. He implied that he was distracted and that he partied, which affected him for training days which affected his performance on the track. And I thought the sponsors and the team deserved way better than that from a pro toward whom they are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to field a car. They must have felt robbed somewhat.

    So I know he is a human being, subject to imperfections like all of us, but this was so in his control, and he’s supposed to be a pro, and there’s millions on the line. He should have at a minimum had a team psychologist at least clearing his mind for race weekends if not more. He is supposed to be trained, as most pro athletes are in all pro sports, to never get too high on the highs nor too low on the lows. Keep a steady even keel.

    So while I can appreciate that he is trying not to repeat what happened last year, I don’t think last year should have even happened and I think that rather than him making it sound like he has recognized what happened last year and is rectifying it and ‘bully for me’, I think the reality really is that he put unnecesary pressure on himself by allowing distractions that have nothing to do with F1 squander millions in effort toward him and get beaten by his teammate such that I think he simply wouldn’t dare once again a) squander all those resources and disappoint the whole team and sponsors with things that he himself should have controlled and b) get beaten by JB…especially with a potential contract extension/renegotiation in the offing.

    I hope he has grown past the inability to handle things like what happened last year, and has learned from it…that’s very possible…people usually learn more from going through tough times than from going through things with flying colours. But for me, he’s back to square one in terms of proving he truly has what it takes between the ears. He lost a few WDC’s that were his to lose, he won one just by a squeak without stamping his authority on it in that final race of his WDC year, and I think that he has to prove yet that he can rise to adversity. He says it is all better now…assuming he’ll be thrown a few more curveballs yet this season I have to actually to see him prove it. And I think so does the team and it’s sponsors. Maybe they’ve already seen enough if in fact there is a contract about to be signed as the headlines seem to imply. Lucky him because last year he had many opining that Mac needed to move on from him, and he needed to move on from Mac. And there aren’t exactly a lot of places for him to go that would be better.

    1. When we come to the issue of commitment, Hamilton’s race performance in 2011 was quite good.
      His main problem was team strategy.
      Mclaren was trying to chase down Vettel and mimicking the Redbull qualifying strategy.
      What they forgot was that, the Redbull could generate more downforce with less drag, and also they had that front wing that could flex.
      The result was, chasing pole as Monza to the detriment of top speed, meaning Button had almost 15mph better top speed than Hamilton. They also did the same at Spa, resulting in him overtaking a Sauber yet not able to pull away.
      Race strategy also meant he was often stopped at inappropriate times resulting in him dropping back and having to work himself forward(crash).
      Then several qualifying mistakes by the team forcing him to start much further back than he really should have.

      When we come to sponsors and their attention to detail, I very much doubt that any sponsor of Mclaren will be overjoyed by the numerous and ridiculous mistakes they were making in the first 7 races of the season. If consumers were so easily swayed by visuals, they would have responded immediately by avoiding Mobil service stations and lubricants, Vodafone’s communication services Santander’s Banking services. For a well groomed racing team, they were just too painful to watch. They even made HRT look professional.

    2. Partying was not the big issue. It was a cause but not the issue It have been serious personal problems.
      McLaren has not deliverd a car able to win the WDC. Wich was also a part of his troubles. Therfore McLaren has let him down, too. It was also reported that LH had so much PR to do that he was not able to train between some GPs.
      McLaren has cut down the PR work for their drivers notably this year
      About Proving something, LH is the one who has proved in difficult situations with an difficult car this year, he can stay calm and maximise the performance on track, while his teammate was lost at sea at the same situations.
      Stayed calm after slow pit stops at 3 races wich cost several points .Barcelona was the best example, what could have been more of a test?
      Disqualified from pole after an outstanding performance , forced to start at the last pos, due the mistake of his team?
      He drove a superb race there, kmowing he lost the chance to win, by an stupid error from someone else there. Hamilton stayed calm as Maldonado took him out, and had no single bad word about him, even as Pastor tried to lay all the blame on him.
      He stayed calm and focused after an disaterrous race at Germany, where he was robbed of all chances by an early puncture, caused ba a mistake from others ( collission & debris) and came back with an outstanding performance & win the next race

      IMO, everybody who claims personal problems should not have an affect at the work, maybe have not experienced some really serious problems. It has an effect, on everyone. Admitting it or not.

      BTW LH has won the WDC 2008 with not the best car on the grid, so much about stamping his authority.

      BTW McLaren has said Neale & Whitmarsh, Lewis has absolutely nothing to prove
      “He’s only got something to prove to himself. He’s his own biggest critic.”
      “He puts extremely high demands on himself, we at the team are here to support him. It’s a tough business, you’ve got to get the job done.”
      One of the motivating factors behind Hamilton’s difficult 2011 was his disappointment that McLaren had not produced a car that could challenge Red Bull on a consistent basis.
      Neale acknowledged that McLaren needed to up their game in 2012 – not just in terms of performance, but on an operational level as well after strong finishes in several races slipped through their fingers because of errors.( Source BBC)
      Whitmarsh: http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/news/12479/7460123/Whitmarsh-defends-Hamilton

      “One of the things we measure is our did-not-score rate,” he said. “If we had a good car that was capable of scoring good points in that race and we didn’t, we go back and ask ourselves why.

      1. A quote from my original comment which your empassioned stance has prevented you from reading properly.

        “However, despite all that, this season I am beginning to feel Hamilton may have turned a corner in that respect. His performances have been better and he does seem to have rediscovered why he loves racing. He seems a happier person generallly (though god knows what he needed to make him happy if being Lewis Hamilton wasn’t enough) and his performances have been solid all year. “

  13. Lewis is media starved, so he has to say somn said already at the start of the season. and still ur way down in points with the calm in ur personal life. just face it, ur not destined to win another WDC..

    1. ” and still ur way down in points with the calm in ur personal life. just face it, ur not destined to win another WDC” – And how come Hamilton is not leading the charts ?, his team has been messing up 8 of his 10 races, mark my words! Alonso will not be champion!

      1. Even he definetly don’t need it anymore, is so far best candidate.
        Ferrari will eventually give him the car too most likely and then Alonso will make it more than a single WDC !

        1. Wait, what?

        2. OmarR-Pepper (@)
          16th August 2012, 23:40

          …I didn’t know there was another spygate in progress (that’s what you mean with him making more than a WDC?)… Mmmm Teflonso

  14. If Bernie Ecclestone’s Olympic-style “medal tally” had determined the WDC since, say, 1980, these would have been the results:
    1980: Alan Jones
    1981: Alain Prost
    1982: Didier Pironi
    1983: Alain Prost
    1984: Alain Prost
    1985: Alain Prost
    1986: Nigel Mansell
    1987: Nigel Mansell
    1988: Ayrton Senna
    1989: Ayrton Senna
    1990: Ayrton Senna
    1991: Ayrton Senna
    1992: Nigel Mansell
    1993: Alain Prost
    1994: Michael Schumacher
    1995: Michael Schumacher
    1996: Damon Hill
    1997: Jacques Villeneuve
    1998: Mika Hakkinen
    1999: Mika Hakkinen
    2000: Michael Schumacher
    2001: Michael Schumacher
    2002: Michael Schumacher
    2003: Michael Schumacher
    2004: Michael Schumacher
    2005: Kimi Raikkonen
    2006: Fernando Alonso
    2007: Kimi Raikkonen
    2008: Felipe Massa
    2009: Jensen Button
    2010: Sebastian Vettel (on a count-back of fourth places, over Alonso)
    2011: Sebastian Vettel
    Note: no WDC’s for Nelson Piquet; 3 for Mansell instead of 1; 5 for Prost instead of 4; 4 for Senna instead of 3; 2 for Raikkonen instead of 1; 1 for Alonso instead of 2; none for Keke Rosberg or Lewis Hamilton; no comeback title for Niki Lauda; Didier Pironi wins a crown, even after missing the last 5 races after his qualifying crash at the 1982 German GP. No 1990-2004 outcomes would have changed.

    1. Interesting.
      Is that based on the annual winner being the bloke with most golds and not counting silver’s and bronze’s?

      1. Not quite. It’s using the Oplympics method of ranking nations on the medal tally. Order is by number of golds, but drivers with the same number of golds are then ranked by number of silvers, and so on. For example, in 1981, both Nelson Piquet & Alain Prost won 3 races, but Prost got more seconds than Piquet. In 1982, a number of drivers won two races (Keke Rosberg not among them), but Didier Pironi got the most seconds – amazing, given he was absent from the last 5 rounds because of injuries he sustained during qualifying in the German GP. In 2010, Vettel & Alonso got the same number of wins, seconds AND thirds, but Vettel got one more fourth. Under this hypothetical system, that would have made the 2010 season the closest over the past 3 decades.

  15. Not quite. It’s based on the Olypmics system of ranking nations on the overall medal tally. Rank is by number of golds, with tiebreaks among drivers with the same number determined by number of silvers, then if necessary tiebreaks for gold AND silver resolved by number of bronze, and so on.

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