Lewis Hamilton and Mclaren; the road to greatness or Ruin?

[TK9780]

Hi everyone

Soon be Beer and GP time again.

Until than here's a thought [ Must seat down and recover, whilst I do please read on ]

Lewis Hamilton a great driver, and as the situation at Mclaren stand this year’s World Drivers Champion .
But what happen next to LH career. LH would be a WDC with very little experience of been an F1 driver. The attitude of Mclaren towards [if true] Fernando Alonso this year would make any driver looking to win the WDC think twice before considering partnering LH.
Drivers are willing to play second fiddle in a team to a WDC to gain a little extra knowledge and experience. The trouble is has LH the knowledge and experience required to be number one driver?
I personally think the situation at Mclaren is destroying a great long term career for a great driver in a bid for short term honours for a team.

[gkaytaz]

Hi everyone

Soon be Beer and GP time again.

Until than here's a thought [ Must seat down and recover, whilst I do please read on ]

Lewis Hamilton a great driver, and as the situation at Mclaren stand this year’s World Drivers Champion .
But what happen next to LH career. LH would be a WDC with very little experience of been an F1 driver. The attitude of Mclaren towards [if true] Fernando Alonso this year would make any driver looking to win the WDC think twice before considering partnering LH.
Drivers are willing to play second fiddle in a team to a WDC to gain a little extra knowledge and experience. The trouble is has LH the knowledge and experience required to be number one driver?
I personally think the situation at Mclaren is destroying a great long term career for a great driver in a bid for short term honours for a team.

I think Hamilton is quite good as a driver but calling the situation destructive would be a tad too harsh. Alonso can and should be able to handle the pressure. Hamilton has yet to make a mistake. That time will come sooner or later. When that happens the pressure will turn to Hamilton and we'll see how well he can handle it.

Hamilton will be a contender for the title for sure but I don't think he can win it. Given the reliability and quickness of the McL I believe Alonso will win it in the end. If Ferrari recovers Massa may be his main rival, apart from LH of course.

[gkaytaz]

Oh and btw, welcome to the forum...

[RE30B#16]

Hi everyone

Soon be Beer and GP time again.

Until than here's a thought [ Must seat down and recover, whilst I do please read on ]

Lewis Hamilton a great driver, and as the situation at Mclaren stand this year’s World Drivers Champion .
But what happen next to LH career. LH would be a WDC with very little experience of been an F1 driver. The attitude of Mclaren towards [if true] Fernando Alonso this year would make any driver looking to win the WDC think twice before considering partnering LH.
Drivers are willing to play second fiddle in a team to a WDC to gain a little extra knowledge and experience. The trouble is has LH the knowledge and experience required to be number one driver?
I personally think the situation at Mclaren is destroying a great long term career for a great driver in a bid for short term honours for a team.

Welcome to this forum!



Now to respond to your posting...


It understand the concern about too much too soon, but I'm not sure what your point is. Ayrton Senna came into the sport with similar fanrare. When he arrived, he lit things up for a solid decade. If he had to compete against the weak talent Michael Schumacher was left with after his death at such a young age, he would've retired with 10 championships and 100 pole positions! Early success didn't ruin him or any of his teams (Alain Prost was the devisive character at McLaren, not Senna who was universally loved by the team).

I'm sure some will be quick to compare Lewis Hamilton with drivers like Jacques Villeneuve. There is no comparison. Jacques Villeneuve was only ever good for about 2 season with one team throughout his career. He never won a championship until he won the CART championship. Then the strange career decisions started.

If you will pardon the obvious comparison, Lewis Hamilton is more like Tiger Woods. Early success did not ruin Tiger. Golf would be virtually dead without him right now. (Incidently, I hear Hambone and Woods are friends.)

Fernando Alonso is not as fragile as everyone seems to hope. He will be a champion for a long time as well. After all, he knew Hamilton was coming when he made his deal with McLaren. Hamilton has dominated every race class in which he has participated. This is no fluke. Don't pay any attention to those who would want to turn Formula 1 into a soap opera.

See you on the boards...

[mlittle]

Hi everyone

Soon be Beer and GP time again.

Until than here's a thought [ Must seat down and recover, whilst I do please read on ]

Lewis Hamilton a great driver, and as the situation at Mclaren stand this year’s World Drivers Champion .
But what happen next to LH career. LH would be a WDC with very little experience of been an F1 driver. The attitude of Mclaren towards [if true] Fernando Alonso this year would make any driver looking to win the WDC think twice before considering partnering LH.
Drivers are willing to play second fiddle in a team to a WDC to gain a little extra knowledge and experience. The trouble is has LH the knowledge and experience required to be number one driver?
I personally think the situation at Mclaren is destroying a great long term career for a great driver in a bid for short term honours for a team.

Welcome to the forums, TK9780.....

I think you've raised an intriguing question.........going into this season, the assumption was that Alonso would be the team's lead driver(since Alonso's the reigning WDC) and that Hamilton would be the #2 driver, but judging by their results, it would seem that Hamilton is making a case for being McLaren's lead driver in years to come.....there's no question Alonso's rattled at the moment, but I don't believe that the situation is quite as bad as it might appear; if Hamilton wins the WDC this year(a decent possibility at the moment) I don't think Alonso would bolt for another team but it would most assuredly change the team's dynamic IMO. How is the question?

[Julian Mayo]

Hambone has been with McLaren for more than thirteen years, Alonso was never going to be Number One. I think Dennis is just as surprised as the rest of us at how good Hambone is, so quickly.
If Alonso reaches a point where he cannot close the gap, and Kimi does move to Toyota (and those rumours are getting stronger), then I do believe he will jump to Ferrari, where he will feel more at home. A journalist suggested that Alonso does not readily trust people, waiting til they prove themselves. If so, (and I am similar), he would find it easy to suspect that Hambone was being favoured, which would sour the working relationship.
IE," Hambone arrives at work and sees friends, Alonso arrives and sees only engineers...." was close to the journalists quote.

[gkaytaz]

A journalist suggested that Alonso does not readily trust people, waiting til they prove themselves. If so, (and I am similar), he would find it easy to suspect that Hambone was being favoured, which would sour the working relationship.
IE," Hambone arrives at work and sees friends, Alonso arrives and sees only engineers...." was close to the journalists quote.

That is something I've heard from a few different sources as well. Unless there are some changes looming in the horizon (and I don't see a reason why Dennis should feel the need to make a change to his winning recipe) Alonso will be unhappy as time goes by.

[jacfan]

I don't think it is as simple as that... ruin or greatness. Lewis is doing a fantastic job at this point in his career and you would have to be a complete and utter fool to say otherwise. However time will tell whether he is one of the greats. I don't believe that you can make it to F1, which is supposedly the pinicle of motor sport and be useless... apart from a few in the past who have bought the seats. Even then I believe that any shortcomings are quickly found out in this sport.

[gkaytaz]

I don't think it is as simple as that... ruin or greatness. Lewis is doing a fantastic job at this point in his career and you would have to be a complete and utter fool to say otherwise. However time will tell whether he is one of the greats. I don't believe that you can make it to F1, which is supposedly the pinicle of motor sport and be useless... apart from a few in the past who have bought the seats. Even then I believe that any shortcomings are quickly found out in this sport.

[JayVee]

Hamilton will NOT win the championship this year

Soon enough you will see a weakness or two

So to answer a speculative question that I am sure will not eventuate does not appeal to me

Comparisons are being made with Tiger Woods but you may soon be making comparisons with things more English and they way a lot of times they collapse on the international sports scene

So far he has massive simulator experience but simulators don't teach you what to do when you're running 10th.

Grid - Finish
4 - 3
4 - 2
2 - 2
4 - 2
2 - 2
1 - 1
1 - 1

Great result of course but apart from Indy, he had no battles yet!

Way too much hype at the moment (AIMHO)

[Julian Mayo]

So he has bettered or maintained his grid position from flag to flag.......... in all 7 seven races, in his first season.........fought off Massa,Alonso....... I think a tiny bit of hype is in order

[gkaytaz]

Hamilton will NOT win the championship this year

Soon enough you will see a weakness or two

So to answer a speculative question that I am sure will not eventuate does not appeal to me

Comparisons are being made with Tiger Woods but you may soon be making comparisons with things more English and they way a lot of times they collapse on the international sports scene

So far he has massive simulator experience but simulators don't teach you what to do when you're running 10th.

Grid - Finish
4 - 3
4 - 2
2 - 2
4 - 2
2 - 2
1 - 1
1 - 1

Great result of course but apart from Indy, he had no battles yet!

Way too much hype at the moment (AIMHO)

I agree, mostly. I had posted about the very same topic before in this thread. Here's a few thoughts, more organized:
1. Hamilton will be a title contender until perhaps the very last race but he's still a learner and there will be a time when he'll make a mistake. Every driver does make a mistake. I just hope that it won't come at an unfortunate time that will cost him.
2. Yes he did not have real battles starting from behind and trying to climb up the grid and when that time comes he will have to deal with great pressure. That part has yet to be seen.
3. Eventually some mechanical problems will arise that may frustrate him (like Kimi back in 2005). Or perhaps his mechanics will have the wrong setup. How he can communicate to them when that happens is the main issue. Another point to be pondered.
4. Be as it may, 7 podiums in the first 7 races, 2 wins, 2 poles, a fastest lap... Impressive list to say the least and it does deserve some hype. He's good, no doubt. Greatness has to be earned in time though

[jacfan]

Hamilton will NOT win the championship this year

Soon enough you will see a weakness or two

So to answer a speculative question that I am sure will not eventuate does not appeal to me

Comparisons are being made with Tiger Woods but you may soon be making comparisons with things more English and they way a lot of times they collapse on the international sports scene

So far he has massive simulator experience but simulators don't teach you what to do when you're running 10th.

Grid - Finish
4 - 3
4 - 2
2 - 2
4 - 2
2 - 2
1 - 1
1 - 1

Great result of course but apart from Indy, he had no battles yet!

Way too much hype at the moment (AIMHO)

I agree, mostly. I had posted about the very same topic before in this thread. Here's a few thoughts, more organized:
1. Hamilton will be a title contender until perhaps the very last race but he's still a learner and there will be a time when he'll make a mistake. Every driver does make a mistake. I just hope that it won't come at an unfortunate time that will cost him.
2. Yes he did not have real battles starting from behind and trying to climb up the grid and when that time comes he will have to deal with great pressure. That part has yet to be seen.
3. Eventually some mechanical problems will arise that may frustrate him (like Kimi back in 2005). Or perhaps his mechanics will have the wrong setup. How he can communicate to them when that happens is the main issue. Another point to be pondered.
4. Be as it may, 7 podiums in the first 7 races, 2 wins, 2 poles, a fastest lap... Impressive list to say the least and it does deserve some hype. He's good, no doubt. Greatness has to be earned in time though

Exactly what I tried to say earlier.

[Julian Mayo]

It is way too late

[Southernman]

Hamilton has got the x factor that could lead him into greatness. He is confident with the media and has deflected the media spectulation that he and Alonso don't get on well better than most rookie drivers could.

Time will tell if he becomes a great but like mentioned earlier that he and Tiger Woods are simular in alot of different ways.

Great potential but how he copes when things start going wrong is when we see what his character is and if he deserves to be talked about as a great.