Of course it is called informed speculative opinions, but at the same time it is also a desire to see, because informatively and speculatively speaking at the time of his opinion, Massa, Vettel, Webber, Lewis and Button should have all been in competitive cars and he Martin went for Alonso.

By the way there is nothing wrong with rooting for an Alonso win, I just think it is a conflict of interest publicly announcing Alonso is going to win the WDC in the 18 races that have not be raced and then filling out an application to be Lewis Hamilton's manager.

Why is everyone else who roots for someone other than Alonso a fanboy? If DC roots for Button or Hamilton (by the way he is rooting for Vettel) why does than make him a fanboy and Martin who is rooting for Alonso...not? Is that just not hypocrisy.

Martin isn't rooting for Alonso.

He was asked as a pundit for the BBC who he thinks will take the title and he thinks Alonso with Ferrari will.

One of the reasons for this is that he expected Button and Hamilton to knock points off each other, where perhaps Alonso at Ferrari would gather the team around him.

A few years ago MANY people would have tipped Schumacher for the title, but VERY MUCH desired another driver to get it...




I've been here long enough to know that a lot of people here think rooting for a driver, and thinking a driver is going to win is the same thing. I believe I've seen that logic applied in trying to discourage people from rooting for certain drivers, in some kind of twisted hope that it will change the reality of their favourite driver winning...

There's zero logic to that statement.

Routari

He is predicting not rooting, big difference.

I wish there were more people like that.

They are marvelous to bet against or play poker with.

I am sorry you can dress it up how you like he said he is going for an alonso win, predicting or rooting neither here nor there, he said it!

Funny on this board, everyone else is deemed as rooting and fanboyish if you support Hamilton, everyone else is deemed as informative and predicting if you root for Alonso!


Weird.

Anyway there will also be another conflict of interest if martin is lewis's manager, it could be counter productive to both Lewis and Martin as he is commentating he might feel obliged to talk about Lewis more during the race, which will obvious annoy a hell of a lot of people out there.

Even if he resisted the urge to talk about his lastest challenged of managing Lewis during commentary one mention of Hamilton could still be seen by millions of Martin talking too much about Hamilton, the PREDICTED tedious complaints will come flooding in.

But I would like to be a fly on the way if Martin ever gets interviewed by Lewis with his dad looking over his shoulders

Anothony "so who do you PREDICT will win the title"

Martin "Excuse me"

Lewis "You heard"

Martin "Yeah I did, well i said Alonso so I would have to stick by that

Anthony "so not Lewis"

Martin "no not Lewis, Alonso he seems more hungary for it"

Lewis "Okay do not call us, we will call you"

Martin" when can I expect the phone call"

Er, no - there is a massive difference between predicting and rooting for. Back in November, I'd have predicted an Alonso win. I can assure you, I am not rooting for it.


I think the reply in italics in that conversation would actually be "no not Lewis, I expected Ferrari to produce a better car than McLaren"

That is you, the difference is between yours and Martin prediction is that yours is irrelevant, like mine, you are not looking to be on Lewis Hamilton's bank role are you?

A manager has to be centre focused and 100% committed to the person they are managing, there is little between Lewis Hamilton and Alonso in terms of the capablities to get on a drive a car and win, and if someone believes by their early prediction that another can truimph over the other, then stop deluding ourselves and acknowledge the truth.

Martins beliefs and predictions does not make him a suitable replacement for Anthony Hamilton, if Anthony Hamilton had a prediction like Martin's, Lewis would be Alonso number 2 in McLaren today.

I'm sure if he is appointed as Lewis' manager his opinion will change miraculously.

That didn't happen for DC when Martin was his manager. Martin was able to bring comments about the current driving difficulties into his commentary, informed by DC but he wasn't supporting DC in anything except his career.

So if you had asked Anthony Hamilton, in 2009, who he thought was going to take the title and he replied Jenson - does this mean that he isn't fit to manage Lewis? Your theory makes no sense. If Martin, rightly or wrongly, believes the Ferrari/Alonso combination is the strongest one for 2010 then his opinion is valid and construes no bias for or against any team or any driver.

It may be difficult for a biased fan to understand that there are other people out there who are truly unbiased and hence can disassociate their opinion and their support.

No one said Jenson Button before the engine's rev'd!

What is your point?

I'll go one further, Jenson Button's manager Richard Goddard, I assume supported Jenson moving to McLaren and going up against Lewis. Now we don't know who will come out on top, but for argument's sake let's assume it will be Lewis. In such a case, by your theory then Goddard as Jenson's manager was still correct in believing Jenson to be able to beat Lewis but the reality would be that he turns out to be incorrect and should have advised Jenson more accurately. In such a case, a realistic manager is more valuable than one that follows your theory.

Anamihamilton, 'predicting' and 'rooting for' are two entirely different concepts. You can insist as much as you want to that they are the same thing, but the are, by definition, not the same thing.

I am rooting for you to understand that, but I predict that you won't.

Are you some how offended that Brundle is predicting Alonso for the WDC this year? Do you now consider him "an enemy" of sorts? It sounds like you don't want him on the Lewis payroll because of this incident, regardless of how good a manager he may be...


You don't "root for" a driver because you feel they will get one over on their team mate, or you think their car is better, or you think their team has better legs for the season.
Those would be reasons for "predicting" a WDC.

Conversely, you don't "predict" a driver will win the WDC only because you think he's amazing. It takes more than an exceptional driver in this formula to engage in a WDC campaign. Alonso has proven this for the last few years, and Lewis proved it last year. It's a team sport.

So, Martin thinks Alonso will wrap up the title in Budapest?

He used to be very supportive of DC but would never ram it down our throats so to speak. If there was a controversial issue, and there were many towards the end of DC's career, MB would either say nothing or would defer an opinion until more was known.

He was a good manager to DC

What? we can take any point you like

The plain act of the matter is

There is very little in terms of Alonso and Hamilton when it comes to winning this title

Martin has the predicted belief that Alonso will BEAT Hamilton, massa, vettel and Button, Whilst at the same time looking to get freshly on Lewis Hamilton bank role and take a nice precentage of his wages? Makes no sense.

Sorry it won't work and anyway Martin has a strained relationship with lewis anyway.

He deals with Garry Paffit’s driver contracts which would mean ANOTHER conflict of interests also been trying to get gary a seat in McLaren for sometime now, so that would not even be good for Button's sake.

Martin's main man now is Alex Brundle and should be centred focussed on him the way Anthony Hamilton was with his son!

Lewis needs someone just as committed as his father, just a little more detached and good at sponsorship endorsments and PR relations.

People were less senstitive about DC than they are about Lewis. DC was a number 2 driver, Lewis is a number 1 driver many find the very smallest thing to complain about. If you didnt notice Brundles promotion on DC , I remember DC always being in the studio with heidi hanging off his arm if he was on the grid.

Interesting you have such strong opinions of who Lewis should and should not have as a manager and what not. You sound very sure of yourself.

Just stating my opinion, and I am strong enough to believe my opinions are ten a penny and irrelevant (like any othe poster), Lewis Hamilton will lead his own life and make his own decisions, I am just merely pointing out what I think is wrong with that picture.

You could of asked Anthony Hamilton who was going to win the title last year and he would of said Button.

OMG!!11!

For ****'s sake lad it's not difficult to understand. He was asked like all the BBC pundits who he THOUGHT would win the title and he said Alonso. That's called a prediction. He can say that and still want Hamilton to win. There's absolutely no inconsistency there.

I think Man Utd will win the league next season. I want Spurs to. See the difference? And before you say "yes, but it was before an engine was revved", so what? Everyone knew Ferarri had been working on their car longer than anyone else + Alonso as a double world champion. Predicting he'll win, as a paid pundit for the BBC, isn't anything unusual and I'm quite sure Hamilton couldn't care less about pre-season predictions.

I don't think Lewis will go to Ferrari. It's simple really - if Alonso in the Ferrari is beating Lewis then there is no reason for Domenicali to try to change the driver pairing and screw up a good thing. If Lewis is beating the Ferrari's then there is no reason for him to change teams because he is already winning and he really fits in with McLaren and they had that long history together.

Hmm, chill out dude

Rooting is different from predicting. I predict Alonso would win the title while he is the last driver I would like to actually win it. I think Hamilton is better driver and am rooting for him, but he doesn't have the car to win it this year, and first race of season is usually good indicator of who's gonna win the WDC.

My mind says Alonso, my heart says Hamilton

Yes sharing data is not a problem because Jenson basically cant change his driving style to mimic Lewis and neither could Heikki

that is just nor true



I really hope that changes, it would just be a perfect season(at least for me) that both alonso and hamilton fight at the top for the WDC.
In my opinion those two are the most talented in the grid.

cheers

Martin has predicted that Alonso with Ferrari rallied around him will be the biggest contender for the WDC over Hamilton and Button in the McLaren taking points off each other.

Is your evidence for Martin wanting a "precentage" of Hamiltons wages based on anything more than those two photographs?




And that's just bullshit. YOU, nobody else, were being informed on the difference between supporting/rooting for a driver to win, and predicting who will win, which requires no emotional attachment or wishful thinking.

There are people here who root for other drivers, have said they don't like Hamilton much, but have also said they think he'll probably win it though.

It is not a pundits PLACE to say who they love the most and WANT to win. Martin was doing his job, and using his experience in F1 to give a prediction.
From what I've heard from Martin, he thinks Alonso is a brilliant racer, but doesn't seem to like him as a person much. Wasn't it him that coined Teflonso? He's also said many times that a lot of people have the wrong idea of Lewis and that "he's actually a really nice lad".

...but it's not his PLACE as a pundit to say who he loves and hates. It's his job to be neutral and informative as much as he can.

If he says he thinks Alonso is likely to win the WDC... that doesn't magically make it more likely. It doesn't make it less likely that Hamilton will either.

Hamilton has huge respect for Alonso, that much was clear as seen on the BBC at the weekend - perhaps Lewis needs Alonso to be there pushing him to the very limit to bring out the best in him, he admitted as much . I don't know if we will ever see LH & FA in the same team again, but for sure it brought out the very best (and worst) in both drivers.

Alonso for the title this year, he looks awesome and frankly MSC has to raise his game beyond belief to get alongside these two drivers.

I think LH has the skill and the determination - but another season long battle with Alonso will require not only a better car, but huge mental & physical reserves. It's what makes world champions.

I dunno, I would imagine that Hamilton also has an eye on Vettel and Massa at least - even if posters sometimes seem to forget they exist.

You have a fair point bourbon I agree -

personally I hope Massa scores more points than Alonso (he deserves a fair chance at the WDC after the last two years) - For my view....... I see in Alonso more single minded determination beyond anyone else on the grid, Vettel is superb, but I don't think he can handle the Alonso pressure all season long? perhaps not yet.... maybe he needs his own China 2007?

We all know Lewis will run Alonso close, given a good car he can beat him, but it won't be easy at all and make no mistake the entire grid is watching Alonso first

that's my view

It is true ,massa will be a tough contender in the ferrari, always has been, and vettel will be a future WDC no doubt,but i dont think its his time yet.Of course i could be wrong, and will eat my words letter by letter if i am . There is no shame in being wrong.But still think those two are the best in the grid.

cheers

Vettel lost a golden opportunity last year...

old?.

Lewis pass Massa at start.

One step forward, two steps back!

Technically it was the sand (picked up because of Massa) which made the next braking not sufficient to defend the (P3) position.

Great video

In a short Autocar piece with Lewis from yesterday...

"Most impressive still was the relaxed way that LH was chatting to me about cars, and life in general. You always worry that F1 stars, especially McLaren drivers, are going to be be super on-message but he wasn’t at all. Just a normal, polite and intelligent young man – he even offered to make me a cup of tea."

It was supposed to be about road cars but he hardly drives them. Anyway his company car is a white SUV with chrome wheels, as Ron mentioned

Great article, thanks for that. Like the bit about him:"he has been wandering round the place since he was a small boy" when talking about how relaxed he is talking about McLaren. I like it when people write positive things about Hamilton, people who've actually met him and interacted with him, to counter the negative nonsense often written by those who don't know him.

Technically it's always something other than Lewis himself, eh?

Anyway, great view on the true pass in front of Hamilton.

So when Lewis Muscles his way past someone you won't Bitch about it?

No, but in this case it's a fact, Lewis was forced off the road (by a move which would have been done by LH then you would bash him for that), which made his tyres dirty, and that has a significant effect on brakabiltiy and brake distance, especially in the very next corners.

OK, it's hard to grasp for you, because your technical understanding is limited and affected by your antihamiltonitis.

He will bitch it. He's a latent fan of Hamilton.

Massa's move, fair or not, wasn't what made Hamilton overshoot the next corner. His miscalculation of the braking point with dirty tyres was.

"Technically" my ass. It was a plain and simple driver error, as they happen to all of them from time to time, especially in the first few corners. But we can't have that with Hamilton, eh?

You're silly.

If he brake too early, the followers will overtake him. He couldn't brake too early if he wanted to defend the position.

Also he couldn't know how much brake performance he lost because of the dirt on the tyres. You'd want him to get out of the car to analyze the tyres then calculate brake distance...

And Massa's move wasn't fair, neither Alonso's move on Massa; Alonso did a 'Massa' on Massa just before Massa carbon copy that.

They were both perfectly fine! Absolutely nothing wrong with what either driver did... I hope you're being sarcastic. Even Hamilton indicated in his tone of voice and body language he would've done the same thing. This is f1 not ballet!

So he chose to not brake "too early" and guess what happened? Watch the video again if unsure.



You're joking, right?

He didn't want to brake too early neither too late, Captain Obvious. He couldn't find out the exact brake performance of the dirty tyres in advance as he didn't planned it to make with dirty tyres in the first place and didn't practiced to make it with dirty tyres.


I'm not joking when I say you're a hypocrite as you used to bash Hamilton for that, which now your latino drivers you're defending for.

Now we're getting there. It's indeed obvious that was what he was trying to do, and it's equally obvious that he failed. Failure = error, that's why people outside Hammyland call it a plain driver error.



Well, too bad.



Hu?

This thread isn't about other posters it's about Lewis Hamilton.

It's not plain driver error because something unexpected change forced it out, which couldn't be judged correctly in advance.


Don't brake my sentence, the 'I'm not joking' is only about your hypocracy.