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[racechick]

I have huge respect for what the retired champions/ racers did on the track...but sadly a lot of them seem to have ulterior motives when passing comment on the current drivers . I think they'd be better keeping a dignified silence, like Kiki Rosberg. I have a lot of respect for him as an ex driver as well as for what he did on the track when he was competing.

[sagi58]

Lewis has grown tremendously as a driver...

And THAT is exactly where I believe the problems started in his first season!!

Putting aside the fact that, on the track, he gave Alonso a run for his money, Hamilton did
NOT have his maturity or his experience of the mind games in F1!

And, that's where I believe Ron Dennis really messed things up! Instead of strutting around
like a peacock that his "project" was successful and crowing about his own genius, he should
have looked for ways to continue developing Hamilton's skills as an all-around driver. Worst
of all, he had the chance of having Alonso mentor Hamilton, which might have done them
both a world of good, as they could have gelled into a strong pairing!

On top of Dennis, Hamilton must have had to deal with his Dad's "fear" that he was losing any
semblance of control over his son's career! Is it any wonder Hamilton seemed to be drowning
in his own emotions, when he was interviewed after any of the controversies that have been
part of his tenure in F1, to date?

Hamilton has made some tough decisions, since that first season, some good, some not so good;
but, that's part of the learning process in Life!!

[zurich_allan]

We may not all see eye to eye on everything, but at least there are some things we can agree on!!

[What's Burning?]

We may not all see eye to eye on everything, but at least there are some things we can agree on!!

You mean you think Lewis is "kind of hot" too? Part of the popularity with the ladies doesn't hurt the sponsorship revenue.

[racechick]

His driving skills are why I support him. Driver 'hotness' is why I like some of the others. But that's nothing compared to the support Lewis has for his driving.

Disagree about Dennis mismanaging Lewis. Lewis is emotional and will always be so, would have been so however Dennis handled him.

[What's Burning?]

His driving skills are why I support him. Driver 'hotness' is why I like some of the others. But that's nothing compared to the support Lewis has for his driving.

Disagree about Dennis mismanaging Lewis. Lewis is emotional and will always be so, would have been so however Dennis handled him.

...mmm he's a hard pounding driver.

[CookinFlat6]

His driving skills are why I support him. Driver 'hotness' is why I like some of the others. But that's nothing compared to the support Lewis has for his driving.

Disagree about Dennis mismanaging Lewis. Lewis is emotional and will always be so, would have been so however Dennis handled him.

...mmm he's a hard pounding driver.

He might have pounded too vigorously at Mclaren where they prefer disturbingly good looking chaps who dont cause any pain

[1Lemon]

His driving skills are why I support him. Driver 'hotness' is why I like some of the others. But that's nothing compared to the support Lewis has for his driving.

Disagree about Dennis mismanaging Lewis. Lewis is emotional and will always be so, would have been so however Dennis handled him.

...mmm he's a hard pounding driver.

He might have pounded too vigorously at Mclaren where they prefer disturbingly good looking chaps who dont cause any pain

I think Whitmarsh made a few fundamental errors at McLaren when it comes to Lewis, firstly don't get attached to drivers; look at Sir Williams, always kept his distance from drivers, so he had no qualms about selling them off and look how good that helped them in their hayday.

Edit: For some reason I've never really seen the amazing driving from Hamilton that you guys keep mentioning, yes I can see his results and yes he has had some great manoeuvres; but for some odd reason on track he just seems a bit too.....Clinical? Maybe I'm just not a fan of his driving style, it's effective and I'd rather see him winning that several of the drivers on the grid and I'm sure he's a nice bloke but I just feel fairly agnostic towards him. Don't get me wrong I do want to see him winning more and making races more exciting though; I just don't put him in this god like state you guys do.

[Hammer278]

His driving skills are why I support him. Driver 'hotness' is why I like some of the others. But that's nothing compared to the support Lewis has for his driving.

Disagree about Dennis mismanaging Lewis. Lewis is emotional and will always be so, would have been so however Dennis handled him.

...mmm he's a hard pounding driver.

He might have pounded too vigorously at Mclaren where they prefer disturbingly good looking chaps who dont cause any pain

Jesus christ let it go already.

This IS the Lewis thread where Lewis fans can say whatever they think happened in his past, present, and future..

You on the other hand, have the choice to stay out of the thread if you don't like the discussion in here. Plenty of other threads out there.

[sagi58]

...Disagree about Dennis mismanaging Lewis. Lewis is emotional and will always be so, would have been so however Dennis handled him.

Granted... Hadn't thought of it that way; but, maybe that's why he and Alonso butted heads from the beginning?
As di Montezemolo says " I don't want to have two roosters in the same henhouse "

[1Lemon]

His driving skills are why I support him. Driver 'hotness' is why I like some of the others. But that's nothing compared to the support Lewis has for his driving.

Disagree about Dennis mismanaging Lewis. Lewis is emotional and will always be so, would have been so however Dennis handled him.

...mmm he's a hard pounding driver.

He might have pounded too vigorously at Mclaren where they prefer disturbingly good looking chaps who dont cause any pain

Jesus christ let it go already.

This IS the Lewis thread where Lewis fans can say whatever they think happened in his past, present, and future..

You on the other hand, have the choice to stay out of the thread if you don't like the discussion in here. Plenty of other threads out there.

I edited my post, it was a bit of a knee jerk reaction, sorry about that.

[Hammer278]

Come on Niki-haters...listen to this and tell me you can't forgive him at least a little bit for his past comments.

[youtube]-mk6sAVY3A8[/youtube]

[CookinFlat6]

His driving skills are why I support him. Driver 'hotness' is why I like some of the others. But that's nothing compared to the support Lewis has for his driving.

Disagree about Dennis mismanaging Lewis. Lewis is emotional and will always be so, would have been so however Dennis handled him.

...mmm he's a hard pounding driver.

He might have pounded too vigorously at Mclaren where they prefer disturbingly good looking chaps who dont cause any pain

I think Whitmarsh made a few fundamental errors at McLaren when it comes to Lewis, firstly don't get attached to drivers; look at Sir Williams, always kept his distance from drivers, so he had no qualms about selling them off and look how good that helped them in their hayday.

Edit: For some reason I've never really seen the amazing driving from Hamilton that you guys keep mentioning, yes I can see his results and yes he has had some great manoeuvres; but for some odd reason on track he just seems a bit too.....Clinical? Maybe I'm just not a fan of his driving style, it's effective and I'd rather see him winning that several of the drivers on the grid and I'm sure he's a nice bloke but I just feel fairly agnostic towards him. Don't get me wrong I do want to see him winning more and making races more exciting though; I just don't put him in this god like state you guys do.

When guys like Lauda, who are strong with their opinions, have seen all the recent champions start to say things like this, it starts to become obvious and noticeable to most people.
We have just been saying it longer, thats all

"He was the best I've ever seen in my life - the way he passed people and the way he really got going.

"Generally we were not as quick as the Red Bull, but Lewis really made it all up especially the way he passed people."

The Austrian added: "He was outstanding."

[What's Burning?]

His driving skills are why I support him. Driver 'hotness' is why I like some of the others. But that's nothing compared to the support Lewis has for his driving.

Disagree about Dennis mismanaging Lewis. Lewis is emotional and will always be so, would have been so however Dennis handled him.

...mmm he's a hard pounding driver.

He might have pounded too vigorously at Mclaren where they prefer disturbingly good looking chaps who dont cause any pain

I think Whitmarsh made a few fundamental errors at McLaren when it comes to Lewis, firstly don't get attached to drivers; look at Sir Williams, always kept his distance from drivers, so he had no qualms about selling them off and look how good that helped them in their hayday.

Edit: For some reason I've never really seen the amazing driving from Hamilton that you guys keep mentioning, yes I can see his results and yes he has had some great manoeuvres; but for some odd reason on track he just seems a bit too.....Clinical? Maybe I'm just not a fan of his driving style, it's effective and I'd rather see him winning that several of the drivers on the grid and I'm sure he's a nice bloke but I just feel fairly agnostic towards him. Don't get me wrong I do want to see him winning more and making races more exciting though; I just don't put him in this god like state you guys do.

You just described both of Fin drivers on the grid and a few of the German ones.

I've never seen Lewis as a "god" otherwise he'd have at least two, perhaps three more championships to his name. In 2007 as a kid to come up with Arguably the best driver on the grid and square off toe to toe was something magical. If that was "clinical" to you then we' surely have a difference of opinion on the word. In 2010 Lewis could have and should have been able to get a title, but his reckless aggression for overtaking and for not giving up a position cost him that year. Far from clinical. In 2011, no one was touching Vettel, yet Lewis tried a win at all cost tactic that further fed the wolves, and it led to him losing out on points to a team mate for the first time in his career, because he wanted to fight for first, not settle for second. Last year he was a transformed driver and perhaps the most fitting of "clinical" as a description, and again this time it wasn't Lewis costing himself a championship, it was his team making it very difficult for him. Even our buddy mnmracer's statistical analysis pointed to Lewis losing out on the most points, so another potential championship eludes him.

You like Bottas, and so do I, but I can't call him exciting to watch race in the way Kobayashi was, so what is it in your opinion that Bottas does that makes him not "clinical"?

Ultimately losing teaches more than wining, and Lewis has learned a lot since 2008 IMO.

[stonemonkey]

Lewis has grown tremendously as a driver...

And THAT is exactly where I believe the problems started in his first season!!

Putting aside the fact that, on the track, he gave Alonso a run for his money, Hamilton did
NOT have his maturity or his experience of the mind games in F1!

And, that's where I believe Ron Dennis really messed things up! Instead of strutting around
like a peacock that his "project" was successful and crowing about his own genius, he should
have looked for ways to continue developing Hamilton's skills as an all-around driver. Worst
of all, he had the chance of having Alonso mentor Hamilton, which might have done them
both a world of good, as they could have gelled into a strong pairing!

On top of Dennis, Hamilton must have had to deal with his Dad's "fear" that he was losing any
semblance of control over his son's career! Is it any wonder Hamilton seemed to be drowning
in his own emotions, when he was interviewed after any of the controversies that have been
part of his tenure in F1, to date?

Hamilton has made some tough decisions, since that first season, some good, some not so good;
but, that's part of the learning process in Life!!

Yep, there's been some questionable driver management at McLaren.

This bit gave me a chuckle though

Worst of all, he had the chance of having Alonso mentor Hamilton, which might have done them
both a world of good, as they could have gelled into a strong pairing!