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[What's Burning?]

There's no need to defend Lewis and that's the problem here, yeah his post race comments were boofoonish and you'd expect more from someone at that level of global exporsure, but he paid his penalties and he ran his race. It was a decision both he and the team made yesterday... a very poor decision and they paid a compounded price for it today. End of discussion, to go any further means you're at one of the Lewis extremes we all know exist. Maybe he needs a better PR/management firm. His driving is not his Achilles heel.

Case in point, our beloved Kobayashi... all he did was run a race of one pit stop, and let the folks in front of him drop like flies on worn tires trying to pass folks in front of them. Now here's the big difference... PERHAPS the same technique would have worked for Lewis, but that's not his style that's not the race he chose and subsequently he finished where he finished today, with the level of frustration he did. Where Kobayashi (another accredited passer) realized it was pointless to try and use his usual style today and was able to completely change his technique to adapt to the situation. I love that guy, and had Lewis done that, perhaps he wold have placed higher. There's a lesson here somewhere for those willing to grow and learn.

In contrast, here are Kobayashi's post race comments.

“I am very happy,” Kobayashi commented. “I was struggling a lot in qualifying, but the team did a great job with the pit stop strategy today. The call for the tyre change came at a perfect time. It was no problem to go for such a long stint with the Super Soft tyres and I think they would have lasted even longer.

“After the start I had problems with traffic, but then one after the other they stopped and it became better for me. After my one and only pit stop I was stuck behind Adrian Sutil, and at the same time I had to defend against Mark Webber. In this situation it was a bit difficult to manage the tyres.

“Without the restart I obviously could have finished fourth. But when Mark was so close behind me on the final laps there was nothing I could do to defend that place. However, I think fifth is a great achievement at the end of what was a difficult weekend.”

[Peng]

I just wish he were more 'get it now' and less 'wait and see'.

The 'get it now' approach gets you penalties :p

[Peng]

Case in point, our beloved Kobayashi... all he did was run a race of one pit stop, and let the folks in front of him drop like flies on worn tires trying to pass folks in front of them. Now here's the big difference... PERHAPS the same technique would have worked for Lewis, but that's not his style that's not the race he chose and subsequently he finished where he finished today, with the level of frustration he did. Where Kobayashi (another accredited passer) realized it was pointless to try and use his usual style today and was able to completely change his technique to adapt to the situation. I love that guy, and had Lewis done that, perhaps he wold have placed higher. There's a lesson here somewhere for those willing to grow and learn.

Kobayashi did amazingly well but you know Lewis would never have been able to 1 stop :p given how frustrated he probably was before the race even started due to qualifying he would have ruined his tyres way too fast and probably ended up in 14th or something.

He lost the race in qualifying and i doubt anything he did would have placed him higher than where he finished.

[LewEngBridewell]

Yes, great drive from Kobayashi, and I'm sure Perez would've put in a good showing (without the crash yesterday, he'd have lined up in front of Kamui).

Great to see Williams finally get off the mark with points. Shame about Maldonado, he was finally having a decent race.

[kerc]

Just saw the Hamilton-Massa incident. Lewis was a dork, I have to admit. I dunno what he was thinking. BUT--the tunnel issue was Massa's fault. No sense in blaming Hamilton for that.

I gotta watch the rest of the race.

[F1er]

To people that doubt how it's done look no further than..............
Shumi vs Lewis
Lewis vs Shumi

Massa would rather die than be passed. And true racing is dead,thus we have DRS and KERS so overtaking is a formality and people that actually know how are punished.

[billindenver]

To people that doubt how it's done look no further than..............
Shumi vs Lewis
Lewis vs Shumi

Massa would rather die than be passed. And true racing is dead,thus we have DRS and KERS so overtaking is a formality and people that actually know how are punished.

Knowing how means not colliding with those you are passing...as the damage may well be your car instead of theirs. Want to see how it's not done, watch Vettel on Webber last year or Lewis on Massa this morning.

[Flux]

In summary and I hope you all agree it was a great race and one we have not seen at Monaco in what 15-20yr's?

It was a very good race. Perhaps not the best in all that long... but it was a very good classic Monaco race. Had it not been for the strange ending, but then again, Monaco is classic for those kind of events.......

The battle for the lead was incredible. To have that big crash happen right in front of the leading 3 cars on the pool section... that was epic. I'm sorry it ruined the last 10 laps of the race... but man, that was amazing.

Other than that... i really can't see how anyone could possibly defend Hamilton after this race. He made mistakes all over, and got handed the regular and expected penalties for the mistakes he made; which not only were out of order, but also had race-ending consequences for the other drivers. Then he goes on complaining about the stewards and the drivers defending when he is one of the dirtiest defenders on the grid. Shut up and take it like men, stop acting like there's some grand conspiracy scheme and that the 'stewards' are ruining racing own up!!

Hamilton is the perpetual rookie.

Lol..i expect nothing less from the billthebender,some things are just ingrained.

So, you changed it from yanks to a slur of my name. Coward

Lol, your forum name is billthebender isn't it? oh wait it's billindenver,my apologies.

Typical of your camp I suppose. When you can't argue the facts, you resort to 12 year old entertainment such as this. Your boy blew it today. He blew it in a huge way and then he stuck both feet in his mouth during the interview. Now you are upset. I would be too. If my hero, who I spend all of my time praising as a god made SUCH a c*ck of it as this....I would be upset too. I wouldn't be in here making myself look as bad as you are, but I'd be upset none the less.

As for the Ali G joke, ITS A JOKE admittedly a bad one but a joke non the less and it is used in context in the uk for someone being singled out not as an accusation of racism.

So, lets say during an interview with Massa he was asked why Hamilton pulled that Bonzai move and is crying so loudly to reporters.....lets just say Massa responded with something like "well he's black...(laughs), so I guess he's rather excitable" Are you going to tell me that joke would be appropriate in your mind? Its never appropriate to accuse an entire group of racism. When you accuse someone of racism, even if you laugh nervously after you say it....it's not funny. It's not appropriate. It's not right....and when people defend it, it just makes them look as stupid as the guy that said it.

sorry for late reply, had work.

But the whole point of that part of my post was that it was a joke, if you are not aware of its connotations then yes it comes across as something else. But is very clearly not an accusation of racism to an entire group of people. it was not appropriate or funny i will give you that


i think people just need to step back and stop caring about it, its not on the race track so lets not discuss it until it becomes a something "GATE"

[Bear]

I hate Lewis Hamilton with a passion and this race is icing on the cake.

In summary he has retired 2 cars, caused a safety car incident, ruined his team-mates winning chance and then has the balls to say 'Its because I'm black'. He might be a good driver but he is an absolute joke.

The Hamilton-Massa incident was a bit 50/50, but you can't tell me there was no correlation between Massas crash and their incident a few corners before.

The incident with Maldonado is just insane, he is going for a gap that isn't there and wipes him out into the wall, what the hell? He was only following the racing line and Lewis should have backed off, he doesn't have to give him space.

He is a whinger and infuriates me. He made his own luck today and deserved all the penalties.

[Hammer278]

To people that doubt how it's done look no further than..............
Shumi vs Lewis
Lewis vs Shumi

Massa would rather die than be passed. And true racing is dead,thus we have DRS and KERS so overtaking is a formality and people that actually know how are punished.

Really..why is this post so hard to understand. Its ridiculous how so many are blaming Lewis for the Massa incident. There's a perfect case study as to how its done when Michael took Lewis on the FIRST LAP. Go back and see how its done between overtaker and the 'overtaken'.

Admit it, the interview has got people riled up and they aren't looking at on track incidents objectively anymore. The car being overtaken should also have some responsibility to, lets see, NOT cause a collision. Massa was a noob, and got his just rewards in the tunnel.

[Best of Di Resta]

Well, I think this was a good spectator race for the casuals anyway. Most I've talked to seem to have enjoyed it. But, from a deeper view it eems to have been met with criticism from all angles, well from what I can gather. Wasn't such a hot race for Di Resta either , crazy penalty for him to pick up, that's for sure. Congratulations to Vettel regardless, even if he was a bit lucky.

[Hammer278]

Martin's view:
______________________________________________


McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh says the Monaco GP stewards "accepted" Lewis Hamilton's explanation of his "poor joke" following the Monaco GP.

The angry British driver slated the stewards after being penalised during and after the race.

When asked by the BBC why he thought the stewards had been paying attention to his driving, he said jokingly: "Maybe it's because I'm black. That's what Ali G says. I don't know."

Whitmarsh said after the race that Hamilton had returned to talk to the stewards and that they had accepted the explanation.

"Immediately after the race he was very down, and during a post-race TV interview he made a poor joke about his penalties that referenced Ali G," he said.

"However, I'm pleased to say that he chose to return to the track a little while later to speak to the stewards about the joke. They accepted his explanation."

The team boss conceded his driver had endured a very difficult day.

"Lewis had a frustrating afternoon," said Whitmarsh. "I guess the reality is that, if you start anywhere other than at the front of the grid here in Monte Carlo, you're always going to run the risk of getting involved in incidents - especially if, like Lewis, you're a forceful driver who never, ever, gives up.

"But that's Lewis. That's why he's such a fantastic driver – and that's why watching him race is so thrilling. So, yes, he's disappointed, because he's been seriously quick all weekend here, but that's Monte Carlo; that's racing; that's life."

_____________________________________________________________

In a nutshell. Add in a few nutty stewards and things can get a bit heated up...well the officials at Canada can't be worse than these dullards so happy to move on.

[The Ram]

Wonderful viewing by Hamilton He was kicking but all over the track! Sure it was ugly but hey sixth place and still 2nd in the WDC!

I think he is the star of the race - great overtakes, nice running people off the road (which I love), tense moments in the pits and putting the car back together... F1 just doesn't get any better than that. Great TV watching.

And oh the interview was GOLDEN! lovely

Guys who are not Hamilton fans, you just don't know what you are missing!

[formula1man11]

Just wondering whether anyone else noticed this. During the interview for the 2008 British GP Hamilton was talking like a douche and then Barrichello started talking in the same weird voice and like copied hamilton's every word. it was like he was taking the piss out of him. haha,

[CarBore]

Wonderful viewing by Hamilton He was kicking but all over the track! Sure it was ugly but hey sixth place and still 2nd in the WDC!

I think he is the star of the race - great overtakes, nice running people off the road (which I love), tense moments in the pits and putting the car back together... F1 just doesn't get any better than that. Great TV watching.

And oh the interview was GOLDEN! lovely

Guys who are not Hamilton fans, you just don't know what you are missing!

Really praising someone for running others of the track?

Lewis has made some fine overtaking moves in the past but Monaco certainly wasn't his finest hour