F1 Fanatic

As a Massa fan I tend to think about it like this – Hamilton only has that single title he won in 2008.

Had Felipe won it, we would all be feeling sorry for Hamilton instead. Think of the former’s form in 2010 and 2011. Who’s to say that Lewis wouldn’t have performed even worse? Hell, he’d even have a perfectly valid reason for his drop in skill and confidence – I don’t think many people would take losing something as important as the F1 Championship two consecutive times, both times having led the championship until then, the first time losing by one point and the second time (assuming that Timo hadn’t spinned) by…wait for it…NONE? And you know that Lewis has a tendency of not taking things all that well – 2011 proved that, with its “happy bubble” shenanigans, that break-up and the many collisions he had with, ironically, Massa.

Regardless, the only thing that’s stopping me from classifying it as the greatest season of all time (coupled with 2007, as I feel they are both part of the same “story”) is the slightly uninteresting races.

A shame that 2011, an action-packed season filled with many exciting races (albeit most of that being through DRS), was utterly dominated by a single man all throughout. Had the Massa&Hamilton duel occured last year…goddamn.

I really want both of them to do well this year. As much as I adore Jense, I feel that McLaren has wronged Lewis on more than one occasion, especially after winning the title. Actually, if you’re to cut out that last part, it all sounds rather similar to the sad fate Massa’s been resigned to after crashing in Hungary and losing Kimi as a teammate at the end of that very same year, don’t you think?
(There are some big differences, of course, like McLaren not using a blatantly obvious #1-#2 system (although they do seem to be supporting Button more at the moment) or Lewis actually managing to do something in 2010 and 2011, but I owe them to Hamilton’s title, Hungary 2009 and Germany 2010.)

They both deserve better imo.

As for Brazilians and Senna fans around the world being saddened by this turn of events, at least Hamilton has honored Ayrton better than any other driver on the grid.

@pamphlet great post! That’s exactly how I view it as well!

Among the calls that the race was boring: “Is this how it will stay to the end? Surely, there’s at least one more twist coming?”

I’ll say. I couldn’t believe the number of people jumping to the conclusion that Glock let them through.

@younger-hamii Amusingly, I’m not a Macca fan (although I was back in the Hakkinen vs Schumacher era, I lost most of my respect for them after Spygate, which also made me love Alonso), but I more than understand where you’re coming from. (If it helps, I’m not really a ‘teams’ kind of guy – I generally support drivers regardless of the team they’re racing for.)

As for 2010, think about it. Had he not failed to finish in Spain, he would have won the championship. A single race, a single retirement on the penultimate lap cost him dearly. Then again, everyone had their fair share of misfortune that year. Think of how many people would’ve been upset had Alonso managed to pass Petrov and Kubica. 2008 all over again, only this time it would’ve been Vettel instead of Massa.

This is why I can’t support a single driver or a single team, and why I can’t especially hate a driver. I can dislike their driving style (Kobayashi, Hamilton) or their personality (Webber, di Resta), but we can’t just turn our backs on them like that. They’re all human beings, much like us. They all deserve our utmost respect and adoration for what they do. Their differences are what makes F1 what it is – a sport that we all love greatly.
Kinda helps that I went from utterly despising Hamilton (I BAWLED when Massa lost the championship. That moment to me was the equivalent of Senna’s death to everyone else.) to loving him in just a single race (Australia 2009) though…

Speaking of which – am I the only person on this planet who currently supports both Massa and Hamilton? (And I’m a Vettel fan too!)

(P.S. – it’s probably illegal, but since this is the Hamilton vs Massa thread, can I upload the post-Brazil team radio transmissions from both drivers? Really puts a lot of things into perspective and is an extremely powerful moment…)

@Pamphlet ‘As for Brazilians and Senna fans around the world being saddened by this turn of events, at least Hamilton has honored Ayrton better than any other driver on the grid.’

Really!?? Every time he mentions his name I cringe, it is just cheesy pandering to an easy fan base and indeed sport suffering from ‘Dead Rockstar’ syndrome.

I remember watching Brazil 2008. It was the only time I can remember that my family came to watch the last 10 laps. It was hugely gripping drama, even if you had never seen an F1 race before. I ended up a foot from the TV, screaming my lungs out for Vettel and Massa (I’m a Ferrari fan ;) ). I cried when Hamilton passed Glock. Such an amazing race, and even though I dislike Hamilton for a number of reasons, I remember it fondly.

As for Hamilton’s reverence towards Senna, unlike @Asanator I don’t think he’s pandering. I can see that he genuinely does have huge admiration and respect for Senna, but it’s very off putting the amount of times he brings him up, and seemingly has a desire to emulate Senna. I know the media have a part to play in this but the amount of times he is compared/compares himself to Senna is imo disrespectful in a way. Ayrton Senna was one of a kind, and is part of history, he should be left there. Attempts to compare Hamilton and Senna, not just in a mechanical way such as their innate speed or driving style but their characters as well seems crass and should stop or be avoided.
Vettel seems to adore Schumacher, but it’s kept in check, and Vettel has his own identity. Vettel constantly refutes even slight comparisons with Schumacher.Hamilton would in my view do well not to have himself so bound to Senna’s legacy.

@colossal-squid I too found myself just inches from the tv screaming as my whole family joined in to watch. The only time that has happened other than Kubica’s big crash in Canada the year before.

@pamphlet great post! I cannot say how much I agree with you!