FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[Blinky McSquinty]

Lewis Hamilton, frustrated at driving an uncompetitive car for a third consecutive season

Huh? True, 2009 was the year of Brawn. But in 2010 Hamilton actually led the points mid-season. How can you call a car as being uncompetitive when it showed that it was capable of leading the WDC? And holy mother of all pearl divers, wasn't it a McLaren that won the last race, in Canada?

Uncompetitive? Blaming the car is a load of bullocks.

[Hammer278]

2009 - Brawn found a crazy loophole which made their car a spaceship against the rest - can't blame McLaren too much for not noticing this when only 1 team exploited an uncanny loophole.

Toyota, Williams...

Even without the double-diffuser, McLaren were significantly behind, as were all the other KERS teams. Red Bull, without the double-diffuser, were faster than those other teams.

My mistake...I wasn't taking backmarker teams into account.

[Ineluke]

Lewis Hamilton, frustrated at driving an uncompetitive car for a third consecutive season

Huh? True, 2009 was the year of Brawn. But in 2010 Hamilton actually led the points mid-season. How can you call a car as being uncompetitive when it showed that it was capable of leading the WDC? And holy mother of all pearl divers, wasn't it a McLaren that won the last race, in Canada?

Uncompetitive? Blaming the car is a load of bullocks.

EDIT Seriously are you saying because McLaren won in Canada their car is just as competitive as the RedBull's?

The McLaren is always going to win a couple of races against the RedBull over a season,that does not mean the car is competitive against the RedBull.

Don't let your dislike of Lewis blind you to the true facts that McLaren are not up to RedBulls standards and haven't been for the last two seasons.

Blaming Lewis is a load of bullocks.

[Robert12010]

heres what i think, lewis should stay with mclaren simple!

[Big Azza]

At Catalunya the McLaren was faster. McLaren have had a few more chances to win races. However - Red Bull is getting them in qualifying.

I think Newey is being given a lot more credit than he's due. Yes - he has significantly helped the Red Bull team - great - I love having him there. Red Bull will scout for good engineering talent similar to how they scout for good young drivers. To blame the tires for Webber's lack of pace is ridiculous in my opinion - how many years has he been racing for? That Button, Hamilton, and Webber are all level-ish in the championship shows that they are competitive with the Red Bull. But Vettel is in the zone. They have to try and topple Vettel's confidence.

Since the regulation changes, McLaren have been better than Ferrari. McLaren are actually going through a nice little streak of their own - if only it would translate into a WCC - they haven't won that for 13 years. I think they are going through a similar patch to Ferrari before their hey day in 2000. It's only a matter of time.

[racechick]

To blame the tires for Webber's lack of pace is ridiculous in my opinion - how many years has he been racing for? That Button, Hamilton, and Webber are all level-ish in the championship shows that they are competitive with the Red Bull. But Vettel is in the zone. They have to try and topple Vettel's confidence.

Vettel has certainly upped his game but the Mclaren is not level with the red bull.
Button, Hamilton and Webber's position in the championship doesnt really prove anything.

Webber hasnt adapted to the tyres as well as Vettel. Tyre changes will always play to certain driving styles and some find it harder to adapt.

Success breads success so yes Vettel's confidence will be sky high, and he now has the luxury of being able to make a mistake and retain the championship lead, so the task of catching him, especially if your car is slower, is a challenge indeed.

[spankyham]

I don't think you can put any other car in the RB7 category this year. Vettel is driving way superior machinery. Webber would be a lot further ahead of where he is now if it wasn't for some pretty bad luck such as China. I don't think there is an issue with Webber getting inferior parts to Seb, maybe Seb gets the first round of attention from the team. Some people have said that Seb manages the overrun better than others, I guess we will see in a few days time if that is true.

Interesting comparisons if you look at the same 8 races from last year to this year and compare the top 6 drivers and top 3 teams.

Seb is the standout performer +83. Second biggest improver is Fernando +16. Then you have Webber at +10, Jenson -6, Felipe -7 and Lewis -15.

In terms of teams, Red Bull are +93, Ferrari +9 and McLaren -21.

Still, the number don't really mean anything, it's obvious to everyone that the RB is just way faster than anything else out there. Is it due to overrun? Nobody really know, but we will find out soon enough

[What's Burning?]

Christian Horner has virtually written off any chance of Lewis Hamilton joining Red Bull.

Hamilton has been repeatedly linked with a switch this season, with the rumours gathering momentum after he was spotted meeting Horner at the Canadian Grand Prix. With McLaren unable to match the pace of Red Bull it appeared Hamilton may look to move in order to improve his chances of winning further world championships, but Horner said he was happy with the current driver pairing.

"On paper a Vettel-Hamilton line-up would be hugely attractive," Horner told reporters at the Red Bull factory. "But you have to look at the reality, at how these things work, and history dictates that two world-class drivers in the same team has not always been the best pairing. You only have to think of Senna-Prost, Piquet-Mansell, or even Alonso and Hamilton.

"We are hugely happy to have Sebastian committed to the team long term, and with Mark [Webber], we're very pleased with the job he is doing. Our focus at present is on those two drivers rather than looking to change anything."

Horner said that he didn't feel Vettel and Hamilton could work together as successfully as Vettel and Webber do at present.

"At the end of the day it's about winning. It's not solely down to Red Bull to provide the entertainment. We do enough of that. If you look at any great team, be it with a football team, hockey team, across the disciplines, it's about the unit working as such, and not about individuals. What we've managed to achieve here, and what's hugely important, is that no individual is bigger than the team.

"I think it would be difficult to envisage a driver of Sebastian's calibre and that of Lewis under the same roof. Lewis is a wonderful driver, and you can understand why he might want to drive a Red Bull. It's obvious. But would it be the best thing for us? We have severe reservations it would be."

Horner also said he feels he has the better driver of the two at present with Vettel boasting a record of 16 wins and 23 poles from his 70 grands prix, compared to Hamilton's 15 wins and 18 poles from 79 races.

"In a shorter career he has already won more races than Lewis, had more pole positions and won the same amount of championships. We are absolutely delighted to have Sebastian. There is no driver in the paddock I would rather have on a long-term contract than Sebastian Vettel."

There's quite a bit of verbal tap dancing going on in this (from ESPN) masterful attempt at saying... we like it that Webber is not a world class driver.

[racechick]

Webber must be pretty chuffed at reading that. How to piss off your number two driver in one easy lesson.

[vaptin]

Webber must be pretty chuffed at reading that. How to piss off your number two driver in one easy lesson.

He drivers better at those times though.

[Hammer278]

I just read that....what a SLAP in the face for the aussie.

[Big Azza]

And for Hamilton.

We could see some more excitement coming from Hamilton soon.

[Frontrunner]

I just read that....what a SLAP in the face for the aussie.

Just read that on ESPNf1, No doubt it is a slap on the face for Mark but it might just fire him up and find 3 or 4 tenths on track, wouldn't surprise me if he goes on winning the next couple races now after that.

Will we see if we get the "Not bad for a number 2 driver" comment again at Silverstone two year in a row.

[FRAFPDD]

And for Hamilton.

We could see some more excitement coming from Hamilton soon.

Why would Hamilton care what the drinks company have to say, when hes been offered drives for life with Mclaren, a drive with Ferrari, and is on the wishlist of Mercedes.

Not to mention Horner called him a wonderful driver.

[vaptin]

And for Hamilton.

We could see some more excitement coming from Hamilton soon.

Why would Hamilton care what the drinks company have to say, when hes been offered drives for life with Mclaren, a drive with Ferrari, and is on the wishlist of Mercedes.

Not to mention Horner called him a wonderful driver.

Because that drinks company are leading the championships, and won it last year.