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[zurich_allan]

Okay, to continue then (although I don't agree with the decision to lock the Hungary GP thread - it hadn't descended into chaos and the debate hadn't spilled over, and was directly related to comments from the race itself).

Lauda is not being two faced, that is an extremely shallow way to look at the situation, and not a valid way.

These were incidents 8 / 9 years apart in a very different F1 with different rules and regulations, different circuits and developments, different people in charge, different drivers and all in all entirely different circumstances.

To illustrate in a very simple way that everybody should be able to understand:

On the surface, 6 years ago I worked in the same job I do now, in the same University, doing broadly the same things. If I was asked 6 years ago if I enjoyed my job I would have instantly said 'yes, I love it'. Yet if I was asked now if I loved my job my answer would be very different and multi-faceted. Does this make me two faced?

No.

Because the surface persepctive does not hold water when you look deeper. In those 6 years there have been sector wide changes in the funding bodies, changes at Government level relating to education policies, changes in the economy that affect prosepcts for students beyond graduation. At a closer personal level there have been changes in whole University regulations. At an even closer level there have been changes in personnel at faculty level. At an even closer level there have been changes in school priorties and strategy, changes in departmental level, changes within the programmes we offer with some courses being removed and others added. There have been changes in the research environment and in personnel around me.

So my opinion changes, even though on the face of it I'm in the same job at the same place.

Again - does this make me two faced for having a different answer to the same question? well no - to imply or expressly state that would be patently ridiculous.

Should Lauda be immune from being allowed to make different comments on (surface) similar areas at different times? No - again this is ridiculous to suggest for exactly the same reason. It's really not that difficult to understand.

[CookinFlat6]

You dont need to be an expert at reading between the lines of the gfutter press to spot biasied and unfair critiscism

Has Lauda ever said of a recent driver that he should be banned and is liable to kill someone?

Did he say this of Coulthard? MS? Sato? Karthekeyan? Grosjean?

This pattern of excessive criticism of a particular person is all too familiar

It tends to be aimed t those who are somehow different from the other candidates, and the reasoning seems to be that this person is an easy target as not many will mind if he gets slated excessively

Its like when a real fury and indignation is aimed at certain people who appear not to be as 'at home' as others and therefore have less protection from those in power

you normally hear things like 'how dare he, what a jumped up so and so, he should know his place' etc etc

[racechick]

Zurich Allen, the thread is open again. I only locked it while I moved the posts. I didn't lock it because of anything that was written in it, just to make my job easier..

[What's Burning?]

"Hey man, I'm trying to focus here. I'm happy with the way the car is." Lewis Hamilton, Hungarian GP 2013.

No one makes a tee-shirt out of it.

[Hammer278]

No matter what was said.....I think everyone's forgetting that Lewis moved to Mercedes due to Lauda's sales pitch. If Lewis had a serious problem with Lauda, I don't think he'd be willing to listen....

Just think...if not for Lauda, Lewis will be rotting in that corpse called MP4-28 and wasting another year of his life, instead of already being part of the best team in Formula 1 and winning races.

[CookinFlat6]

I used to be a Lauda detractor, but having listened more to him recently, I dont mind the chap

[zurich_allan]

You dont need to be an expert at reading between the lines of the gfutter press to spot biasied and unfair critiscism

Has Lauda ever said of a recent driver that he should be banned and is liable to kill someone?

Did he say this of Coulthard? MS? Sato? Karthekeyan? Grosjean?

This pattern of excessive criticism of a particular person is all too familiar

It tends to be aimed t those who are somehow different from the other candidates, and the reasoning seems to be that this person is an easy target as not many will mind if he gets slated excessively

Its like when a real fury and indignation is aimed at certain people who appear not to be as 'at home' as others and therefore have less protection from those in power

you normally hear things like 'how dare he, what a jumped up so and so, he should know his place' etc etc

Yes - he did. Off the top of my head from recent years he said that Schumacher could have killed Barichello after nearly pushing him into the wall in 2010, and was heavily critical of him.

[CookinFlat6]

Just think...if not for Lauda, Lewis will be rotting in that corpse called MP4-28 and wasting another year of his life,

Lewis apparently said he would rather take a year out than remain at the cess pit

[zurich_allan]

Zurich Allen, the thread is open again. I only locked it while I moved the posts. I didn't lock it because of anything that was written in it, just to make my job easier..

No probs.

[CookinFlat6]

Yes - he did. Off the top of my head from recent years he said that Schumacher could have killed Barichello after nearly pushing him into the wall in 2010, and was heavily critical of him.

I am sorry, but he did not call for a ban, say that he was mentally unhinged and demand that things be done about him before someone got killed

If you could provide a link like that about another driver, I can provide the Lewis one and we can compare

[zurich_allan]

No matter what was said.....I think everyone's forgetting that Lewis moved to Mercedes due to Lauda's sales pitch. If Lewis had a serious problem with Lauda, I don't think he'd be willing to listen....

Just think...if not for Lauda, Lewis will be rotting in that corpse called MP4-28 and wasting another year of his life, instead of already being part of the best team in Formula 1 and winning races.

Exactly, and it goes both ways. Lauda is intelligent enough to recognise (and has ALWAYS stated) that Hamilton is one of the best racers on the grid, and Hamilton is intelligent enough not to believe the way that the gutter press have previously portrayed Lauda's comments given the amount of times that he himself has been taken out of context or tricked into making a comment that is then blown out of all proportion.

[What's Burning?]

Lewis has grown tremendously as a driver. The transition to Mercedes has galvanized him to accept things on track he would have not accepted before. In some ways I think he's moved closer to Alonso's thought process behind the wheel. Yesterday we saw an aggressive Hamilton, but a controlled Hamilton.

If he's going to create a legacy at Mercedes and for himself, he needs to do just that.

[zurich_allan]

Yes - he did. Off the top of my head from recent years he said that Schumacher could have killed Barichello after nearly pushing him into the wall in 2010, and was heavily critical of him.

I am sorry, but he did not call for a ban, say that he was mentally unhinged and demand that things be done about him before someone got killed

If you could provide a link like that about another driver, I can provide the Lewis one and we can compare

I think to be fair this was around the time that Hamilton was involved in (although at the time I remember arguing strongly that he wasn't solely responsible for) a number of incidents at various races in a short space of time. I can't recall another high profile driver apart from Grosjean / Maldonado last year being involved in so many in such a short time period.

But no, I wouldn't try to perform such a comparison for the reasons of context and circumstances I noted a couple of posts ago. It's far too difficult to try to make such a comparison and state that the comparison is valid.

As a three time world champion, one that has driven for both sides of the great divide (Ferarri and McLaren), one of the few drivers to beat Alain Prost fair and square, someone who was gravely injured in an era where death was too common, and one who by working tirelessly to improve safety, likely being indirectly partly responsible for saving lives - Lauda has earned the right to state his opinion and not be torn apart for it. He is a figure that I have enormous respect for.

[zurich_allan]

Lewis has grown tremendously as a driver. The transition to Mercedes has galvanized him to accept things on track he would have not accepted before. In some ways I think he's moved closer to Alonso's thought process behind the wheel. Yesterday we saw an aggressive Hamilton, but a controlled Hamilton.

If he's going to create a legacy at Mercedes and for himself, he needs to do just that.

I agree with this 100%. A lot of what seems to be lost in amongst a lot of the debates on Lewis is that he is not the same driver he was even two or three years ago. I think that this season in particular he has demonstrated that he has changed, adapted and grown into a more all round and complete driver. Very similar to Alonso indeed.

[CookinFlat6]

As a three time world champion, one that has driven for both sides of the great divide (Ferarri and McLaren), one of the few drivers to beat Alain Prost fair and square, someone who was gravely injured in an era where death was too common, and one who by working tirelessly to improve safety, likely being indirectly partly responsible for saving lives - Lauda has earned the right to state his opinion and not be torn apart for it. He is a figure that I have enormous respect for.

I agree. And his skills and history as a driver do not give him licence to be unfair in his criticism to a driver who was at the center of a witch hunt (or a lynch mob if we were in America).

However he is a great sportsman and obviously recognises sporting ability and is man enough to judge another sportsman on merit.

And he is not the worst of the ex driver detractors Lewis collected earlier in his career. A certain Scotsman probably holds that title