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[racechick]

"In the first fifteen races of 2007, the team's trust in Lewis was more than confirmed," Ramirez insists.

That's the key phrase here. Ramirez doesn't just look at this season's races, but includes in his analysis the last two races of 2007. And out of the last 5 races, LH had one good one with a win, the rest was rather mediocre. 16 pts for LH vs. 39 for KR in those 5 races

Ok so now look at the beginning of last season (apart from the race when the Ferrari was illegal)- Kimi rather disapointing and talk of him being replaced. Dont tell me you fall for the media crap talk DD

No. And I think the difference is that KR has been a known quantity, an experienced and proven winner for a number of years. KR is not for nothing known as the iceman, a cool customer. We don't have many data points for LH under pressure and I believe that Ramirez is worried about that more than anything else.

Kimmi is certainly cool, a proven winner and very experienced-even less excuse then i would have thought to be off the boil.
Lewis is practically a rookie-actually was fore some of the time period you are quoting. And for a rookie to be in the situation he has been in one would expect some inexperience in dealing with pressure.

Michael was a very experienced race winner and he succombed to pressure in some less than worthy ways-
parking to block alonso
In the wall at monaco (when Hill got ahead)
Taking out Hill
Trying to take out Villeneuve
Stalling on the grid (Cant remember which title decider that was)
So You could say Lewis is in good company

[Hanwombat]

He has so much pressure on him though, everyone in England wants him to be WC but this is just his second year in Formula One and last year he almosted managed it, if not for that one point. I suppose at times the pressure can mount and he wants to be his best, but sometimes it can go a little wrong.

[phren]

"In the first fifteen races of 2007, the team's trust in Lewis was more than confirmed," Ramirez insists.

That's the key phrase here. Ramirez doesn't just look at this season's races, but includes in his analysis the last two races of 2007. And out of the last 5 races, LH had one good one with a win, the rest was rather mediocre. 16 pts for LH vs. 39 for KR in those 5 races

What a laugh, Jo used to co ordinate the corporate team, handing out free T shirts and pushing Hugo Boss suits and now you take his opinion as insightful. Heres an idea give Tommy Hilfinger a call and ask him how Ferrari are doing. Jo retired in 2001, He would be the last man I know to push his own views as gospel, must have wanted a free pina colada the day he gave that interview.

[Martin]

I think that maybe LH is feeling the pressure now. Last year he was a rookie with no public expectation in the early races, he was also paired with the World Champ. so he had a good shield. However, he showed that he was more than a match for F.A. by the end of the season. At the start of this season there was (is) massive expectation on him, also, he is now the senior driver (because he's been there longer) so that in-itself must be massive pressure. Last year he had nothing to prove against F.A. (even though he did), this year, psychologically, he HAS to stay ahead of H.K. - massive pressure.
On top of all this, being a top F1 driver is not just about driving fast, its about team management, car setting (I'll bet L.H. learned a lot from F.A. last year, this year he is on his own), managing PR etc etc.
L.H. has much more pressure this year and is still limited in experience, both in F1 racing and the other issues above. He's a young man with still a lot to learn, but he will, and he will be an outstanding driver for years to come.

[McLaren Fan]

I think that maybe LH is feeling the pressure now. Last year he was a rookie with no public expectation in the early races, he was also paired with the World Champ. so he had a good shield. However, he showed that he was more than a match for F.A. by the end of the season. At the start of this season there was (is) massive expectation on him, also, he is now the senior driver (because he's been there longer) so that in-itself must be massive pressure. Last year he had nothing to prove against F.A. (even though he did), this year, psychologically, he HAS to stay ahead of H.K. - massive pressure.
On top of all this, being a top F1 driver is not just about driving fast, its about team management, car setting (I'll bet L.H. learned a lot from F.A. last year, this year he is on his own), managing PR etc etc.
L.H. has much more pressure this year and is still limited in experience, both in F1 racing and the other issues above. He's a young man with still a lot to learn, but he will, and he will be an outstanding driver for years to come.

I agree with that. Hamilton has shown he has the potential to become a great champion, but he's by no means the finished product, and I think we're seeing that now. He's the most experienced member of the McLaren driver line-up, Alonso isn't there to help set up the car, and Alonso is not there to test the car and get the best out if it. In 2007, he effectively dug his own grave and is now buried in expectations. What he needs to do is try and keep cool, start to dig himself out of the mess, and this will become easier with experience, and if the Great British public would leave the guy alone. By the way, I'm not sure what the arguing is about on this thread. Just because Hamilton is having a tough time now and that people saying it's because of his experience does not mean people are saying he's a bad driver. They are merely pointing that he's a raw diamond. My own view is that Hamilton (and Kovalainen) will be great drivers, but I think they need another year or two to mature, learn, and gain experience.

[Mikep99]

I think that maybe LH is feeling the pressure now. Last year he was a rookie with no public expectation in the early races, he was also paired with the World Champ. so he had a good shield. However, he showed that he was more than a match for F.A. by the end of the season. At the start of this season there was (is) massive expectation on him, also, he is now the senior driver (because he's been there longer) so that in-itself must be massive pressure. Last year he had nothing to prove against F.A. (even though he did), this year, psychologically, he HAS to stay ahead of H.K. - massive pressure.
On top of all this, being a top F1 driver is not just about driving fast, its about team management, car setting (I'll bet L.H. learned a lot from F.A. last year, this year he is on his own), managing PR etc etc.
L.H. has much more pressure this year and is still limited in experience, both in F1 racing and the other issues above. He's a young man with still a lot to learn, but he will, and he will be an outstanding driver for years to come.

I agree with that. Hamilton has shown he has the potential to become a great champion, but he's by no means the finished product, and I think we're seeing that now. He's the most experienced member of the McLaren driver line-up, Alonso isn't there to help set up the car, and Alonso is not there to test the car and get the best out if it. In 2007, he effectively dug his own grave and is now buried in expectations. What he needs to do is try and keep cool, start to dig himself out of the mess, and this will become easier with experience, and if the Great British public would leave the guy alone. By the way, I'm not sure what the arguing is about on this thread. Just because Hamilton is having a tough time now and that people saying it's because of his experience does not mean people are saying he's a bad driver. They are merely pointing that he's a raw diamond. My own view is that Hamilton (and Kovalainen) will be great drivers, but I think they need another year or two to mature, learn, and gain experience.

Both of those comments sound right to me.

[McLaren Fan]

Hamilton said his experience in Bahrain had taught him a lesson.

He said: "I realised that when things go wrong at the beginning of the race I need to use damage limitation.

"I fell back to 10th and then tried to regain my positions early on, and that was a big mistake.

"I will also make sure what happened at the beginning of the race [when he stalled on the grid] never happens again."

There are some of Hamilton's own comments over the last day or two. He's aware that he's still learning. Hamilton's devotees should be aware of that as well.

[bud]

"In the first fifteen races of 2007, the team's trust in Lewis was more than confirmed," Ramirez insists.

That's the key phrase here. Ramirez doesn't just look at this season's races, but includes in his analysis the last two races of 2007. And out of the last 5 races, LH had one good one with a win, the rest was rather mediocre. 16 pts for LH vs. 39 for KR in those 5 races

What a laugh, Jo used to co ordinate the corporate team, handing out free T shirts and pushing Hugo Boss suits and now you take his opinion as insightful. Heres an idea give Tommy Hilfinger a call and ask him how Ferrari are doing. Jo retired in 2001, He would be the last man I know to push his own views as gospel, must have wanted a free pina colada the day he gave that interview.

[7UpJordan]

Lewis will bounce back, there has never been a "perfect career" for every driver. Senna, Prost and Schumacher have all had bad years. Senna's was 1992 whilst Williams were dominating, Prost's bad year was 1991 when the Ferrari handled like a "truck", Schumacher had a pretty poor 1996 and 2005. Hamilton's only in his second year and will no doubt have a poor year at some point, maybe this year (I hope not), maybe next year, maybe in 5 years time. Just because he's had a not-so-good race and a terrible race doesn't mean he's going to end up becoming a perennial back-marker for the rest of the season.

[darwin dali]

I think that maybe LH is feeling the pressure now. Last year he was a rookie with no public expectation in the early races, he was also paired with the World Champ. so he had a good shield. However, he showed that he was more than a match for F.A. by the end of the season. At the start of this season there was (is) massive expectation on him, also, he is now the senior driver (because he's been there longer) so that in-itself must be massive pressure. Last year he had nothing to prove against F.A. (even though he did), this year, psychologically, he HAS to stay ahead of H.K. - massive pressure.
On top of all this, being a top F1 driver is not just about driving fast, its about team management, car setting (I'll bet L.H. learned a lot from F.A. last year, this year he is on his own), managing PR etc etc.
L.H. has much more pressure this year and is still limited in experience, both in F1 racing and the other issues above. He's a young man with still a lot to learn, but he will, and he will be an outstanding driver for years to come.

I agree with that. Hamilton has shown he has the potential to become a great champion, but he's by no means the finished product, and I think we're seeing that now. He's the most experienced member of the McLaren driver line-up, Alonso isn't there to help set up the car, and Alonso is not there to test the car and get the best out if it. In 2007, he effectively dug his own grave and is now buried in expectations. What he needs to do is try and keep cool, start to dig himself out of the mess, and this will become easier with experience, and if the Great British public would leave the guy alone. By the way, I'm not sure what the arguing is about on this thread. Just because Hamilton is having a tough time now and that people saying it's because of his experience does not mean people are saying he's a bad driver. They are merely pointing that he's a raw diamond. My own view is that Hamilton (and Kovalainen) will be great drivers, but I think they need another year or two to mature, learn, and gain experience.

Both of those comments sound right to me.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3165&p=38792&hilit=pressure#p38792

[Mikep99]

Here are some comments to Hammys defence.

Criticism and critique amid Hamilton slump
http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/080424101701.shtml
Former world champion and countryman Damon Hill has backed Lewis Hamilton to bounce back from his current performance dip.
Despite winning the Australian Grand Prix last month, Hamilton was the worst performer of the top five F1 drivers over the past five races.
In the last five races, including the final two events of 2007, Hamilton scored just 16 points, in comparison with Robert Kubica's 18, Nick Heidfeld's 21, Felipe Massa's 24, and Kimi Raikkonen's 39.
Hill defended Hamilton's collection of recent mistakes. "Sometimes with a driver who is extremely ambitious, they can overextend," he told The Times.
Hill also believes Hamilton is simply at the point in his career when he discovers that success is not easy in F1.
"It doesn't matter whether you are Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna or Nigel Mansell, it is always more difficult than you thought, and that's the tough bit," he said.
Former Grand Prix veteran and ITV commentator Martin Brundle believes that Hamilton's position as McLaren team leader this year has put him under immense pressure.
"He lost his composure on the first lap in Bahrain - he just thrust his car into difficult situations and was asking for trouble," he said.
Hamilton's McLaren colleague, test driver Pedro de la Rosa, defended his team-mate.
"He has made some mistakes," he told Spanish press on Wednesday, "but two or three in a season is normal."
To the newspaper Berliner Kurier, Mercedes boss Norbert Haug also backed the team's 23-year-old British driver.
"Even stars make mistakes," the German is quoted as saying, "and Hamilton has owned up to them. Forget it."
E.A. © CAPSIS International
Source: GMM

[deMuRe]

After seeing Hamilton do so well in his Rookie season I wondered if it were going to be the same as Button's first year.

There must be a lot of forces at play in your first season of F1, adrenaline, media, watching you team-mate commit political murder, all sorts of things the public don't see as well.

Last season Alonso started out as the spiritual leader, he was soaking up all the pressure. This season it's all on Hamilton. The dynamics are very different and it could take some time getting used to.

I'm sure after what happened last season Ron Dennis craved for 2 young drivers he could mould to the McLaren way, they both need a bit of time to settle into their roles...

Funny how Lewis' form dips and Button scores some points, I'd like to see Button make a resurgence. The press wont know what to do with themselves with 2 British stars in F1 ;p

[f1ea]

Having been a rookie in the best car on the grid, where small Q mistakes placed him still in the top 4 was a far easier job. Certain mistakes in this year's scenario place Lewis in the tightly contested midfield battles, where anything can happen. This is where the other drivers ussually find themselves in in their rookie years, and it is not a nice place to make mistakes. Hell, its not even a nice place for the guy in front of you to make mistakes...

Massa is also lucky to be in the best car... a couple of DNFs in a midfield car make it basically impossible to climb back to WDC contention. But in the car he's in solid performances like the ones he is able to deliver reward a lot more points than solid performances from Jarno, Button or the likes.

[bud]

he still out qualified your man f1ea but that was just in a good car and all

[f1ea]

he still out qualified your man f1ea but that was just in a good car and all

begginer's luck