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[darwin dali]

he managed to stop Hector and Achilles fighting didnt he?

So he must be super fit!

[McLaren Fan]

From Planet F1:

It's a working holiday for Hamilton
Tuesday 5th August 2008

Lewis Hamilton will push himself physically through Formula One's summer break to ensure he has the stamina for the title fight.

After 11 races of the season, the sport now enjoys a short sojourn before the F1 circus pitches up in Valencia for the European Grand Prix in three weeks' time.

For the drivers, it is a chance to rest up, clear their minds and recharge the batteries as they are free from testing or sponsorship commitments.

Hamilton will initially take a couple of days off, but then it will be a case of focusing on his training regime as he is determined to remain the self-styled fittest driver in F1.

"I'll have some time to recover from this race and the first half of the season," said the McLaren star who currently holds a five-point lead after Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.

"We've no commitments outside of the racing world, so we can just focus on our training, our fitness to make sure we are ready for the second half of the season.

"There's still a long way to go, so I'm going to make sure I work very hard and that physically I am well prepared.

"I want to make sure we keep up with the performance we have."

It was a point emphasised by team boss Ron Dennis who said: "Lewis is very fit anyway.

"But he has definitely set himself up for a more intense training programme for the next three weeks."

Dennis acknowledges Hamilton would perhaps prefer no break at all, which will be the case for next year's calendar.

He added: "When a driver is doing well all he wants to do is get in the car and race.

"That's understandable, but he'd be the first to recognise this break is absolutely essential for the team, mechanics and all the people who travel.

"They don't get the right amount of time with their families, and this gives them an opportunity to have at least one week where they are not at the office or workshops.

"It's a key ingredient of keeping people motivated and happy when you are addressing the calendar, which makes next year's difficult for them.

"We will have to accommodate that by rotating people. They will not be expected to go right through the season.

"Lewis will have his wish next year - he'll be racing every other week at least."

Hamilton was denied at least second place, and potentially a third successive race victory given Felipe Massa's engine blow out on his Ferrari three laps from home, by a puncture on lap 41.

The 23-year-old eventually finished fifth, but with Massa's demise he managed to marginally extend his title lead, with Kimi Raikkonen now his closest challenger.

The chequered flag was instead taken for the first time by Heikki Kovalainen, the Finn becoming F1's 100th winner.

Although fortuitous as Kovalainen was clearly third best behind Hamilton and Massa, it capped a superb week after confirmation on Thursday he is to remain with the team for next season.

"Heikki is going to benefit from knowing he has a secure position next year," added Dennis.

"It was the right time to tell him, to show him we have belief in his abilities because clearly he is super quick, no question about that."

Kovalainen has undoubtedly had his fair share of rotten luck this year, however Dennis feels he could arguably do with catching up with Hamilton in the fitness stakes.

"He is still not quite where we want him to be," said Dennis.

"But we knew it would take time because that was the assessment Aki Hintsa (Head of Human Performance) made at the start of the season.

"But when he gets into full physical condition then he's going to be an outstanding driver."

Dennis certainly believes in Kovalainen, whose win came in his 28th career race, compared to McLaren's former double World Champion Mika Hakkinen who had to wait until his 95th to break his duck.

"Heikki has a long way to go in his career," added Dennis.

"We believe he's only going to improve, whilst like Lewis he is a tremendous team player, and that gets the absolute best out of our team."

Senna / Schumacher esque, you might say.

[TechniqueFreak]

Perhaps he means Hakkinen. Well, McLaren tried giving Mika another go at Barca a while back and it became apparent pretty quickly that he'd lost it. Unlike Schumacher, who jumped in after retirement and was immediately fastest - a piece of driving as impressive as some of the best in his championship career.

Hakkinen was out of Formula 1 for six years. What did you expect given that the sport develops so fast and that he completely changed his driving style to suit DTM cars!

And I suppose you think Mika drove that McLaren like he thought it was a DTM car?

What did I expect when Hakkinen came back? Pretty much what I saw. Which illustrates what I'm saying - that he'd lost it, "excuse" or no. Tell you what I didn't expect, I didn't expect Michael to come in after retirement and immediately be fastest. Whatever, the point remains that Lewis suggested that McLaren had an option to do the same thing when there is none.

“I think Michael’s presence at Ferrari is a compliment to us,” said Hamilton. “We are not doing that and we are still winning races."

It is a compliment to McLaren, or himself, or both, but Hamilton's actually complimenting Schumacher as well, saying that Schumacher motivates him etc. Further, what did Schumacher do at Ferrari? He worked incredibly hard to keep himself in top condition and did a lot of testing of his cars to get the maximum from them. Hamilton believes he can do that as well: Hamilton does keep extremely fit and does a lot of work for McLaren and himself in and out of the cockpit.

Michael consulting for Ferrari is not a compliment to McLaren or Lewis! Its got nothing to do with McLaren or Lewis! If both disappeared tomorrow Michael would still be at Ferrari.

And your little summary of "what Schumacher did at Ferrari" does not even scratch the surface. When Lewis fires the McLaren design and engineering bosses, brings in his own, transforms the team around him, becomes the best car-improver since Lauda and uses it to win him 5 world championships (or, perhaps more accurately, goes to Williams or Honda or Toyota and does that), then perhaps these kinds of comparisons can be made.

[racechick]

Interesting reading! Hey you Lewis bashers the bandwagon is on another thread- Its called Lewis' dissenters Club. Nikkon you done quite well on here mate, for someone who thinks it arrogant of me to expect people to spend time discussing Lewis but wrong thread.

I watched the GP from Spain and guess what. No Lewis interviews, no Anthony interviews. Lewis coverage only during place battles, pitstops and tyre blowouts. BUT...interminable shots of Alonso, in the car, in the garage, tracked throughout the buid up, the renault car always in a shot. So what!!! I was i spain and expected it. Come on guys, if you dont like lewis being on tele go emigrate or lobby your tv channell. Not Lewis's fault
Sounds like he's been misquoted again to suit some of your agendas.

If thinking you are the best driver is arrogant then i would agree with those of you who say lewis is arrogant.

I would also agree with the misquoted title "I'm as good as Schu". Nah I wouldn't. He's better!

[darwin dali]

I would also agree with the misquoted title "I'm as good as Schu". Nah I wouldn't. He's better!

Oh, he's MUCH MUCH better!

[McLaren Fan]

And I suppose you think Mika drove that McLaren like he thought it was a DTM car?

What did I expect when Hakkinen came back? Pretty much what I saw. Which illustrates what I'm saying - that he'd lost it, "excuse" or no. Tell you what I didn't expect, I didn't expect Michael to come in after retirement and immediately be fastest. Whatever, the point remains that Lewis suggested that McLaren had an option to do the same thing when there is none.

I wasn't surprised that Schumacher was the fastest. He was hardly over the hill when he retired and was only out of Formula 1 for a year or so. Hakkinen may have lost some of his speed, but we'll never know for sure given that he was out of Formula 1 for so long and faffing around with DTM cars. There's just a bit of difference in circumstances.

Ferrari is not a compliment to McLaren or Lewis! Its got nothing to do with McLaren or Lewis! If both disappeared tomorrow Michael would still be at Ferrari.

I know that. Everybody knows that. I suspect what Hamilton meant is that it feels good to be winning races when Ferrari still have Schumacher on board in some capacity. I'm not an admirer of Hamilton's personalty at all, but I think some people are reading far too much into this piece of tabloid journalism. The journalist set his stall out at the very beginning when he said that Hamilton claimed to be as good as Schumacher.

And your little summary of "what Schumacher did at Ferrari" does not even scratch the surface. When Lewis fires the McLaren design and engineering bosses, brings in his own, transforms the team around him, becomes the best car-improver since Lauda and uses it to win him 5 world championships (or, perhaps more accurately, goes to Williams or Honda or Toyota and does that), then perhaps these kinds of comparisons can be made.

Well, it's hardly hard to pick a Formula One dream team with an unlimited budget and Jean Todt having eradicated Ferrari's numerous political problems. Let's see, around 1995 who were the top guys in Formula 1: Ross Brawn and, with the possible exception of Adrian Newey, Rory Byrne. If Ferrari couldn't build and develop a decent car and come up with good race strategies with those guys something would be bloody wrong. The only reason Schumacher didn't come to McLaren in the mid-90s was because Ron Dennis wouldn't give Schumacher carte blanche in the team. If Schumacher had moved to McLaren under Dennis' terms, I seriously doubt Schumacher would be regarded as such a good car improver and would never have won seven titles. Hamilton is doing all that he in the McLaren setup, which, as I said, is a completely different regime to Ferrari from 1996 to 2006; you can't expect Hamilton to do what Schumacher did.

[deMuRe]

I always thought Dennis started throwing kids into his cars to try and break Ferarri/Schumacher's stranglehold on the record books.

Lewis has shown signs that he could be as good as Schumi one day, but he's a long way off just yet.

[racechick]

I always thought Dennis started throwing kids into his cars to try and break Ferarri/Schumacher's stranglehold on the record books.

Lewis has shown signs that he could be as good as Schumi one day, but he's a long way off just yet.

Kids??? How many has he been throwing in his cars?? Kimi?? Juan?? Mika?? Only thrown the one i think and it's been pretty successfull i'd say

[deMuRe]

I always thought Dennis started throwing kids into his cars to try and break Ferarri/Schumacher's stranglehold on the record books.

Lewis has shown signs that he could be as good as Schumi one day, but he's a long way off just yet.

Kids??? How many has he been throwing in his cars?? Kimi?? Juan?? Mika?? Only thrown the one i think and it's been pretty successfull i'd say

Can you read? Started being the operative word.

Are you going to follow my posts around forever? Have I upset you that much over my Lewis Hamilton comments?

[racechick]

I always thought Dennis started throwing kids into his cars to try and break Ferarri/Schumacher's stranglehold on the record books.

Lewis has shown signs that he could be as good as Schumi one day, but he's a long way off just yet.

Kids??? How many has he been throwing in his cars?? Kimi?? Juan?? Mika?? Only thrown the one i think and it's been pretty successfull i'd say

Can you read? Started being the operative word.

Are you going to follow my posts around forever? Have I upset you that much over my Lewis Hamilton comments?

OOOOO!! Dont flatter yourself, Im not following you around. Just responding to stark nonsense whoever its written by.

Yes I can read. I saw that you wrote the word "started". In fact you said "Dennis started throwing kids into his cars to try and break Ferarri/Schumacher's stranglehold on the record books." Now that stranglehold as you put it has not been in evidence for some four years. This kid throwing did not start four years ago and your use of the word "kids" means more than one child. Can you write?

[deMuRe]

I always thought Dennis started throwing kids into his cars to try and break Ferarri/Schumacher's stranglehold on the record books.

Lewis has shown signs that he could be as good as Schumi one day, but he's a long way off just yet.

Kids??? How many has he been throwing in his cars?? Kimi?? Juan?? Mika?? Only thrown the one i think and it's been pretty successfull i'd say

Can you read? Started being the operative word.

Are you going to follow my posts around forever? Have I upset you that much over my Lewis Hamilton comments?

OOOOO!! Dont flatter yourself, Im not following you around. Just responding to stark nonsense whoever its written by.

Yes I can read. I saw that you wrote the word "started". In fact you said "Dennis started throwing kids into his cars to try and break Ferarri/Schumacher's stranglehold on the record books." Now that stranglehold as you put it has not been in evidence for some four years. This kid throwing did not start four years ago and your use of the word "kids" means more than one child. Can you write?

Yes you are following me around, I know you can't help yourself whenever the words Lewis Hamilton are mentioned on this board

Records don't disappear when a driver retires you know, they don't get deleted, they are still there

Do you understand even the most basic rules in F1?

[racechick]

I always thought Dennis started throwing kids into his cars to try and break Ferarri/Schumacher's stranglehold on the record books.

Lewis has shown signs that he could be as good as Schumi one day, but he's a long way off just yet.

Kids??? How many has he been throwing in his cars?? Kimi?? Juan?? Mika?? Only thrown the one i think and it's been pretty successfull i'd say

Can you read? Started being the operative word.

Are you going to follow my posts around forever? Have I upset you that much over my Lewis Hamilton comments?

OOOOO!! Dont flatter yourself, Im not following you around. Just responding to stark nonsense whoever its written by.

Yes I can read. I saw that you wrote the word "started". In fact you said "Dennis started throwing kids into his cars to try and break Ferarri/Schumacher's stranglehold on the record books." Now that stranglehold as you put it has not been in evidence for some four years. This kid throwing did not start four years ago and your use of the word "kids" means more than one child. Can you write?

Yes you are following me around, I know you can't help yourself whenever the words Lewis Hamilton are mentioned on this board

Records don't disappear when a driver retires you know, they don't get deleted, they are still there

Do you understand even the most basic rules in F1?

Did I say records got deleted???

Yes I understand the basic rules of F1 and some of the more complex ones too. What have the rules of F1 got to do with your comments about throwing kids into racing cars??

You still haven explained who all these kids are that Ron Dennis is throwing around?

Oh! I bet you mean Alonso!! I forgot about him!

[EwanM]

Now now, let's not get personal... unless positive.

[darwin dali]

I always thought Dennis started throwing kids into his cars to try and break Ferarri/Schumacher's stranglehold on the record books.

Lewis has shown signs that he could be as good as Schumi one day, but he's a long way off just yet.

Kids??? How many has he been throwing in his cars?? Kimi?? Juan?? Mika?? Only thrown the one i think and it's been pretty successfull i'd say

Can you read? Started being the operative word.

Are you going to follow my posts around forever? Have I upset you that much over my Lewis Hamilton comments?

OOOOO!! Dont flatter yourself, Im not following you around. Just responding to stark nonsense whoever its written by.

Yes I can read. I saw that you wrote the word "started". In fact you said "Dennis started throwing kids into his cars to try and break Ferarri/Schumacher's stranglehold on the record books." Now that stranglehold as you put it has not been in evidence for some four years. This kid throwing did not start four years ago and your use of the word "kids" means more than one child. Can you write?

Yes you are following me around, I know you can't help yourself whenever the words Lewis Hamilton are mentioned on this board

Records don't disappear when a driver retires you know, they don't get deleted, they are still there

Do you understand even the most basic rules in F1?

Did I say records got deleted???

Yes I understand the basic rules of F1 and some of the more complex ones too. What have the rules of F1 got to do with your comments about throwing kids into racing cars??

You still haven explained who all these kids are that Ron Dennis is throwing around?

Oh! I bet you mean Alonso!! I forgot about him!

KR was a 'kid' when he drove for McLaren, LH and now HK are 'kids', so I wouldn't dismiss demure's claim too quickly...

[Mikep99]

Found this on another site which I thought I should share