I paid my first visit to Monaco yesterday and sat at Casino Square.

Lewis was running soooo close to the barriers.

The thing I found amazing was that he wasn't just close at the exit and apex, he was also nearly clipping the outside barrier as he prepared to turn in. He was the only driver taking things to this extreme on entry. Shame Kubica blew up in the second session and his BMW was handling like a wheelbarrow, as I'd have expected him to be awfully close to the barrier too.

The only guy who was on the power earlier was Button and Barrichello I reckon. But that's just my uneducated observation.

The Brawn looked like it was a far smoother ride, Lewis was hustled his car the whole way. Awesome.

LOL I think the FIFA is gonna be mighty impressed Gordon Brown, David Beckham AND Lewis Hamilton, two hypocrite liars and Becks

Thanks for the insights . Makes me wonder what the Brawn would like with Hammy driving it

I'm quite comfortable with it actually. He's English and is doing his bit for the bid.

Partisan???? He's English! What do you expect him to support the Australian 2018 bid?

And in support of the bid he has to come up with some kind of quote, and I expect you want him to say "Actually, Brazil is a more deserving place".

You just knock for the sake of knocking.

lol he was being sarcastic... channeling his inner MWM

It would have been more interesting had he been wearing a Stevenage Borough shirt.

Wasn't a member of that team recently caught in a liaison with Steven Gerrard's ex missus?

My bad. Completely missed that. Thought the guy had gone mental.

This bit was spot on anyway

What the heck, if it hadn't been me, it definitely would have been MWM, and he definitely would have meant it.

Have you been having a few Friday earlies Buttoneer...?

are we playing the game of "pre-MWMing" MWM now

potmotr

I remember some onboards of Lewis through Casino last year. Everytime time he we through I keep thinking 'what on earth is he doing, he's gonna crash'. The gap been his right front and the barrier was so close that it wouldn't surprise if it was often rubbing. He was doing practically the same thing at the apex of Portier.

I thought it looked rather authentic actually. I can't do anything about the nick or the avatar - The Great Unbreakable and Munificent James Allan will always be a give away, sadly.

I was listening to Ant Davidson talking about driving Monaco during practice on BBC yesterday and he was saying that they start to get closer and closer to the wall and you do end up routinely touching the barriers, enjoying the feeling of being on the edge, and then getting back to the pits where the engineers start wondering where all the writing on the tyre wall has gone and 'hey, where's all this white paint come from?"

Ralf showing how it's done:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRMU7fh5oBc...=PL&index=2

Yeh I heard that, that was a Nigel thing as well I think. 'You're not going fast enough at Monaco, until you've remove the branding on the tyres' or something to that effect.

Not at all. As a driver there are not many others I would place above him amongst the current F1 drivers. He is undoubtedly mightily impressive at squeezing the most out of a car - witness the struggle his Heikke has had in getting a lap out of the damn thing - and for that I applaud him.

What I don't comply with is this idea of wanking yourself into a lather about him (see some of Undersquare's comments about him...you know he had at least a semi on as he was writing), and I definitely don't comply with this approach you and others want us all to take of "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" about Lewis.

He lies, gets caught, then bangs on about his honesty, his humility, how humble he is, and how these things are sent to test him.

I'm sorry if you don't get the problem with that.

Sure, if he's asked questions by the press he should answer them, but preferably without words which show him to be quite so detached from reality.

He isn't honest.
He isn't humble.
He doesn't have humility.
Nothing has been sent to test him apart from the rules he signed up to abide by.

That's OK. He's a f*cking great racing driver. But perhaps he should stop with this tired old "little sweet old hard-done-by poor innocent Lewis" act. It really doesn't wash any more, and I know at least one Lewis fan who cringes every time he opens his mouth.

If you don't agree with me, you're either wanking over Lewis or taking a "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" approach.



It just gets better and better.

I know I have, just reading it.

That was an awesome crash. I remember Ralf's excuse. Something about him expecting the car to have more understeer when actually it gripped up and sent him to the apex.

But he is awesome though.

The best thing to happen to Formula One since Fangio.

Sounds like at least two other recent World Champions...

You're doing it again.

These people are a minority of the people that disagree with you. You wank yourself into a lather every time you get to talk him down from the comfort of your throne. Or his girlfriend. You're JUST as tiresome, predictable and unimaginative as the people you claim are the reason. Nobodies ****ing asking you to "comply" with the idea of wanking yourself off over him. Jesus Christ get over it.

Good to see Lewis is finally talking to the media again and seems keen to extinguish a number of problems he's had this year.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/75497

He sounds like you!

Just watched a rerun on BBC3 of the Top Gear where Lewis takes the Suzuki Liana round the track in the wet faster than Jense did in the dry. Never seen a 100bhp saloon driven like that .

Great to watch, also it made me wonder whether that ability to drive anything means it's better for McLaren because they can design the car according to theory, knowing that it will be driven to its max whatever, or whether it can mask faults.

Crazy

I just watched it. What an incredible lap ;)

Come on, everyone is sensitive to criticism of their man.

Try raising a discussion about Kimi Raikkonen's various flaws and failings and note the invective aimed in your direction.

I think the key is not to needle and provoke.

I noticed that after so many repeats, Lewis must be by now about the strongest man in the world, so maybe he has a future in lifting weights if the FIA/FOTA talks don't succeed and F! is no more

Dont be so sanctimonious MWM, it is unbefitting of you. Plus sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, a trait you have in abundance. The truth is every driver has a fanboy contingent, you somehow by unquantifiable process have come to the conclusion that Hamiltons are worse than any other. Much of your views, stances, and attitude towards Hamilton is berfet of reasonable logic at times. Sometimes it appears that if Hamilton was not around, existance for many of his detractors would be meaningless. What else do you have to say, accept to reiterating the same old line, over and over again. This whole forum is quite aware of your dislike of Hamilton. How many more times are we going to be subjected to another discriptive variant of why you dislike him, or highlight to other people reasons they should dislike him? If ever the defintion NUMPTY was applicable to someone, you are that person. Hamilton is never going to win the Nobel peace prize, nor will be the poet laureate, nor a mother Terresa figure. He is no more flawed than anyone else. Hence he tells the occasional lie and if you can find me a man who has never lied, then I'll show you a liar. Watching him around Monaco reminds me why he is such a special talent and why I watch F1.

Composer.

MWM, stop hiding behind the excuse of doing it because of another forum member, who YOU think, likes Hamilton too much. No-one is buying it. The question is, have you managed to convince yourself that that is the reason?

You really do have issues.

Can we leave out the personal attacks please and focus on the topic instead as we're getting complaints, thank you.

Returning to Lewis and his ability behind the wheel...

I think qualifying will be more crucial than ever for him on Saturday.

I reckon he has the ability to deliver and absolutely ragged-edge lap which could take him to the front.

But I think winning will depend on his fastest opponent, Button, getting stuck a little down the pack and losing heaps of time behind a Toyota or something.

Will be a sensational qualifying session, I'm really looking forward to it.

I really hope that Lewis does not excessively over-drive the car and risk an accident. Monaco and tracks like it are an accident waiting to happen.

I think that is part of the charm of Monaco.

Pushing it to the limit, if you exceed it you're in the wall instantly, if you can ride the knife edge you can transcend the limitations of the car and deliver an upset result.

Yes, Lewis is always very dramatic around Monaco.

Each race has been interesting this year, and Monaco's qualifying is a pretty open affair. If he can get it on to the front 2 rows it will be a tribute to his abilities on the track. If he can develop the understanding that rules apply to him as much as any other driver, and drop the childish Katona-esque "I'm back and I'm stronger" drivel out of the car quickly, there is hope for him to join the ranks of great drivers one day.

*sigh*

Yes, you've made the point.

Hammering it every second post doesn't make me agree with it more.

It is just irritating.

I very much agree, Lewis seems to be able to do an all-or-nothing lap here and if it hits all, I think that even a win could be in the cards.

So looking forward to qualy tomorrow.

Oh and back to getting personal potmotr; where are the pictures of FP you posted earlier and WTF are you doing here on the BB when there are soooo many better things to do in the south of France?

Knife-edge exactly. If he plays it at all safe he'll be mid-grid where the car belongs, I think he has to go for it totally.

Also I'm curious to see if he can overtake at Monaco, with slicks and kers.

And "....he has the ability to deliver an absolutely ragged-edge lap...." every second post doesn't make me agree with it any more and is also getting a little tired. Still, takes all sorts to make the world go round doesn't it. *Sigh* indeed.

I think the "pro-Hamilton comments only" thread is the next door down the corridor...

Back to the subject....

I agree with Undersquare () it will be interesting to see if Hamilton can overtake at Monaco with slicks and Kers and adjustable front wings etc.....that is, of course, if he hasn't started from the front row anyway.

Mine was a one day trip to Monaco!

Flew in Wednesday night, took in Thursday practice, flew back last night.

My Monaco experience ended up costing me 120 quid.

The cheapest I could do the full weekend was 1000 which was really pushing the envelope financially.

So believe me, I'd way rather be in the south of France.

As it is I'm now sitting at work...

Thought it must be something like that, pardon me prying

Anyway at 120 quid you did very well man

Did you sleep outside? Wow, I wish I lived in Europe. We have nothing in NA now.

JPW and Lada, you're not prying at all!

The reciepe was as follows:

Flight, London Gatwick - Nice: 9 quid
Cheap (but clean!) Nice hotel: 40 quid
Bus to Nice train station: 1 quid
Return train to Monaco: 5 quid
Grandstand ticket, Casino Square 50 quid
Return flight to London 20 quid
Food and beers 20 quid
Postcards and Monaco fridge magnet 7 quid

So actually the total was around 150, but 27 of that was stuff I didn't strictly need to spend.

Anyway, I'd recommend it for a cheap Monaco experience.

Thanks for posting that. He comes across really very well there I think. I came twice while watching.

Bloody hell, since when is a round trip plane ticket 29 bob? That's just ridiculous. What'd I miss?

I just searched around and found a cheap deal with Aer Lingus.

When I left Nice on Thursday lots of people were arriving. Went back and the plane was half empty. Coming back on Sunday night or Monday was something like 250!

(Apologies for getting OT with travel tales posters!)

Was one of the times when he was singing?