Anytime you want to show me he wouldn't have been (say) 0.1% faster without the triathlons...

Your missing nothing other than the internet fiction/rumour that passes for fact around here.

All this "why is his dad there" stuff - ffs he is his MANAGER.

I don't really understand all these people hung up on the dads being there.

A lot of them put a lot of their life into getting their sons to where they were today, why not watch him where best,. the actual garage and enjoy watch the success my son has become.

On the other hand as a driver, I'd also get great pleasure by having my family there, supporting me at the track.

And also if you can get rides around the world for free and watch these events and partake, wouldn't you?

Do the people who think its strange not have close relationships with their family?

It's true, I don't like the whole parent-dad thing it doesn't look right. I think parents should maybe attend two or three races a season and be restricted to the garage. I don't even see other managers or agents on the grid. It just sets Hamilton up and more importantly sets him apart a little from the grid, seems almost a little defensive, like a little gang, not good, which can obviously be construed as a weakness, and is, here.

Anthony Hamilotn should definetely step back now, hire someone if he has to and continue working/establishing his other drivers, Di Resta?

The one thing I would say is that if Lewis wanted to get his dad of the grid it is reasonable to assume that he could have dropped a few hints by now, so fair play to him, he is obviously comfortable with the situation and I suppose there is an element of being secure and not being bothered about what people think about that, possibly?

I don't like to see it though, what's the purpose?

Anthony Hamilton doesn't need to step away or step back, he just needs to learn that he has limits, and f1 journalists and international press are beyond his.

In other news, Lewis in 'he's been a nice bloke' shocker;

James Anal blog and Autosport too.

Obviously he's been a bit of a **** in not tipping Alonso for the title and this is clearly a reflection of his hatred towards Spaniards in general.

You don't think that most of the drivers will have family there as much as Lewis but we just don't see them.

Can't really see the big deal..

I think he should definitely step back a little from Lewis, concentrate on establishing his other drivers (Di Resta for Williams?).

Lewis + Anthony as we have seen, becomes a much bigger target, much easier to hit. I thing the situation is unique to Hamilton because of the constant grid presence of this dad/manager hybrid, it seemed appropriate in the early days but post world champion? is it still a question of moral support or just a little limelight thing, even as a fan of Hamilton I can no longer be sure.

One thing I am sure about is as Lewis' manager it is tactically inept PR wise and it is harming Lewis' image because as Anthony should have noticed it gives an enormous amount of bonus and unneccesary ammunition to the critics. Surely Anthony has considered this. If so .........? back to the question of perhaps sacrificing a little limelight? We'll see I suppose.

The big deal is that it is Anthony Hamilton or Nicholas, Lewis' brother. If its Felipe's mother, father, wife, or Mark Webbers dad, or Jenson's dad or girlfriend only then is it no big deal.

Obi

that's classy, I think Lewis is genuine, he knows the deal regarding the cars and he knows what Jenson has been given to drive previously and just how good he is, of course the fact that Jensons a fellow Brit is just a bonus. I cringe when the interviewers crudely try to play one of against the other, it just isn't going to work with these two. I actually think they would make a perfect 'equal' driver pairing.

The Brits are like buses, you wait for a world champion and then two come along at once.

Sorry.

eh? what I take you are taking the p155 out of it all, as really not understanding you fully

Yet another story on the Autosport front page with Hamilton saying how fed up of F1 politics he is. Seems that he's saying plenty to the press at the moment, just not Jonathan Noble. Perhaps it's personal?

This is cracking stuff from Lewis: Autosport Story

"It's got to be a similar feeling to anyone who goes to jail but feels they shouldn't be behind bars," said Hamilton.

Quite reasonable for somebody to feel that if they've done nothing wrong. But then, as quite the contrary is the case, he has to admit:

"I know what happened in Australia was wrong".

As the above highlights, Hamilton really does appear to have developed the belief that if he does something wrong he should be immune to punishment or even criticism. Where has this belief come from. Ironically it is not possible to say in detail. What can be said is there was an incident in his youth where he was found guilty of an offence against another person, and, after intervention and appeals by his father, that decision got rescinded and changed, despite many of those present believing the intial decision was correct.

It does seem Lewis, in conjunction with his father, has got into the habit of being protected from the implications of his own actions.

"Spare the rod and spoil the child", as the saying goes.

All too true in Lewis' case. And he will be the loser in the end, both in terms of respect from F1 fans and the media.

He would be better acknowledging his errors and understanding and accommodating the press than lashing out at them, but perhaps he lacks the emotional capacity to do so given the stifling of this area of his character by his father.

It's good so see, normally two drivers from the same country are the least likely to get on. Though I don't see them as equal at all, TBH, I think apart from being a generous person Lewis can afford to be nice about Jense because he knows if they were in the same team Jense wouldn't see which way he went. It would be a good, quick driver against a very special driver. Ross Brawn had all Jenson's telemetry last year but he was still chasing Fernando...

MWM, is it fair to say, you're finding it harder and harder to like the guy, and stuff like this just makes you lose even more respect for him, no matter how hard you try?

On the subject of judging a man, by his actions as a child, I once flying kicked a special needs kid at school.

That's not a reasonable interpretation. He's saying he did wrong but the level of condemnation was out of kilter with what happened. I think he's got a point. The analogy is that someone can go to jail for a crime which didn't deserve a custodial sentence.

Appears our resident expert in childcare, MWM, needs an education in the difference between the words "similar" and "the same" ...

PS What odds a poll on this story?

I wouldn't be surprised.

He seems to be on a marketing drive to denegrate him not just as a driver, but as a Human being. Even going as far as to criticise his family, and the people in relationships with him. That's very low, and very cheap. One way to do this would be to:





Of course it's not. It's spin. It's confirmation bias. He needs to repost it here, and make a new article of it with his own interpretation. He's on a marketing drive.

Every word and clause will be scoured. He is consumed by it. He will be positively excited by the prospect of a Hamilton Q&A. It seems to be the primary purpose of his forum account. He's dedicated avatars and signatures to it.

It's memetic bug desperately trying to reproduce.

Never mind putting Lewis on the psychiatrist's couch, I think MWM could do with some therapy having read the rants.

Well I lolled. I quite enjoy MWM's creativity, actually. I'd rather discuss anything with him than some of the unpleasant types we had recently in the 'blackface' thread a few days ago.

Button and DC put Lewis in the corner, with international press and television on him, and pressured the shit out of him. Just watch the conference again .. he never wanted to do it, and as soon as he was out of there got his manager to cancel it with whatever reasons fitted.

You've completely missed the point of my post but I anyway disagree with you. I think he was clearly up for the challenge, but not sure whether he could do it.

I'm confused: are we talking about the triatlon-gate or lie-gate?

But you're not confused. You're trolling.

Pressured so he learnt a lesson of not saying stupid things.

Lewis claimed in front of the press that he was fitter than JB. Now, its fine for F1 drivers to think such things, but to say publically and name names is just plain stupid. He then jokingly ofc said Jenson had a belly... Then having said all that Jenson decided to challenge Lewis's fitness against his own for charity. It would have been a HUGE PR success for both of them tbh, a huge media event which is good for all. Hamilton appeared pretty up for it after the conference aswell! But then we all know what happened next.

One thing though, it would not have been such a big deal if Lewis had opened up and admited his wrong, and if he had said he could not do the challenge, NOT his dad. For his father to come out and say it made Lewis look far worse than needs be.

Absolutely, and it certainly isn't the first or the last time they've mishandled something. He's not enjoying being an F1 diva - it's harder work these days - but ironically it's what Lewis always wanted after idolising Senna, Prost etc.

Exactly.

On track is almost faultless.

He is up there with the best of all time imo. On track he is something else, you can see that everything the camera watches him, everytime we go onboard there always looks like theres something else to him than the others.

What lets the guy down is off-track behavouir. Okay, he might be the nicest guy youve ever met. He might be willing to stand for hours signing autographs which is great! BUT there is something off-tack which just isnt working with him.

For instance in spain during interviews I was getting mixed messages about the team, first he was as happy as can be with the car/team then the next moment was he was complaining about it. The there is ofc the whole triathlon incident, and lie-gate.

All this will be fixed with experience, but being dropped into a top-team, into the limelight 24/7 and not having the experience to handle the media aswell as other drivers is damaging him. Look on this board how many people dislike the guy...

I'm not inclined to be fair to Lewis. But I think very few people in the world truly understand what it is like to be in the eye of a media hurricane everyday of their lives. I doubt it is anything like Lewis imagined. And while no doubt there are plenty of perks to that attention, I'm sure the price is pretty high.

Lewis is still relatively young, I think in time he will learn to cope better, to maybe be more judicious in the things he says. Michael Schumacher is a good model to follow. I do think Lewis, or at least his Dad on his behalf, has some grander vision for Lewis.

Tiger Woods basically.

In my opinion Lewis should forget such things, if such comparisons are merited they will come, cynically chasing it only cheapens him and debases his obvious god given talent.

But in the meantime, Lewis should just start insulating himself with good friends, trustworthy family, and find himself someone to represent him, to do his dirty work. I truly think it is a bad idea for Anthony to keep managing him. Maybe they want to secure every dollar, every euro, every pound for themselves. Maybe they feel sick in their stomach at the idea of toiling so hard to get to where they are now, only to hand over control and a big chunk of money to some manager/agent.

But, and I think Michael learned this earlier than Lewis, somethings are priceless. Peace of mind is one of those things. And Lewis should be pushing Anthony for that. Anthony, for all his hard work to get Lewis where he is, isn't a superman.

What I'm suggesting is that offences of any kind rarely happen out of nowhere. There is usually a pattern. The first time somebody gets caught committing an offence is rarely the first time they have committed that or a similar offence.

If people think the first time Lewis has lied to cover his ass was Melbourne, then they are mistaken.

The fact that a previous, violent, offence was rescinded after intervention by his father will have reinforced his belief that he is a little bit special, and can get away with things others can not.

And, as it turned out, there was a repetition of duplicity, and, predictably, an assertion by Lewis that he is "exasperated". Exasperated at what? Politics? Really? It is clear he is exasperated at having been caught and held to account without his flunkies being able to get him off the hook.

He needs to escape from his boyhood bubble and accept the real world and how it works as a man.

The press love to love Lewis. For Lewis to believe he has been treated unfairly by them tells us a lot about the bubble he lives in. That's not necessarily his fault...he has been brought up to be a professional sportsman, and it appears there is a price for that.

What sticks in the throat about Lewis though is this constant whining about being "honest", "a good guy" and "humble". Me thinks he doth protest too much. If he could STFU and take his punishment, understand the press's stance and accept he is as flawed and human as the next man, he wouldn't be so embarassing.

If people are going to continue sucking his dick and regarding him as the golden child, of course some people who think different are going to say so. I understand the angst of those fans who don;t like to see him criticised, but it doesn;t make the criticism less valid.

Quite a positive article by Kevin Eason in the Times.

What he said

MWM: with your hints getting less and less oblique, you're in serious danger of giving the impression of someone who's bursting at the seams to tell his little story and is absolutely gutted that no one's asked him to yet

Yes as positive as it gets all thing considered.
I liked one of the comments:

Lewis is learning about the media, MWM is learning about subtle bashing from kar

Nice try, but it's not just his dick sucking fans who think he's the golden boy that take issue with your drivel MWM. You are JUST as bad as the dick sucking fans in your obsession and bias.

I don't like your approach, or the dick sucking fans approach. Both pollute and derail forum debate for personal attention.

I don't like to see him unfairly criticised. I don't like to see any driver unfairly criticised. You simply cannot brush me under the carpet as being just a fan of Lewis, as if being just as bad as you renders my point invalid while leaving yours standing.
I'm a "fan" of all the drivers.

And for the benefit of anyone reading who's a bit mentally malformed, I'll hide a statement below lest it give you a nose bleed.

I love Alonso and Hamilton. Absolutely love them both. Really want to see Raikkonen get back on the game. Would about cry with happiness if Webber won Monaco.

And why are you telling him he should be a man, when you see fit to judge him NOW by some actions he did as a child?

You're a hypocrite.

Well that's the comments for you. The next one is "Alonso is the best!!!!!!!!!"

The comments on there aren't worth shit when you see the snide agendas some people are on.

No doubt expect a comment of someone expressing new found disinterest, despite qualifying themselves as once a big fan.

Take them with a pinch of salt if MWM is anything to go by.

Im really starting to like this guy as a driver. He has completely whipped his team-mate this year and hes always "pushing" which im sure a lot of fans like to see

He's pushing like crazy in actual fact.

It's weird. It was hard to see Alonso demoted to the background and the Renault for '08 after really enjoying watching him in the McLaren the year before. But, I think Hamilton having to fight back up again is a good thing, and good for him.

I'm fairly sure what his 'little story' is, and if all of us who who had been less than perfect at school had our misdemeanours hanging over us like a warning to others that we were never to be trusted or employed the world would be a very different place.

This year will make Hamilton a better driver (as it would to everyone). He will be hungrier for win than ever before once he gets winning car. His fans should be happy in some way, especially as you can see him learning from last season mistakes.

But try to imagine what feel fans of other top drivers who haven't got winning car yet!

It's absolutely ridiculous. You aren't born perfect. The mistakes you learn in childhood are what shapes you as an adult. It could be exactly because you've done something as a child, or the way you were as a child that ashamed you, that has since driven you to be the man you want to be.

If childhood if for nothing else it's for this. This CERTAINLY applies to me. I am not ashamed now as an adult about anything I did as a child, but I've certainly learned from some things, and would certainly not do some of the things I did then now.


MWM's little story is utterly ridiculous. It's almost beginning to sound like he went to the same school and was bullied by him or something.

To be judged by what you did as a child, while simultaniously being told to be a man, is cheap and low. Just as cheap and low as extending sportsmanship rivalry to personal family and girlfriends of a given sportsman.

But that's what you expect from this forum user. Cheap.

He's Racing His heart Out™ apparently.

So long as he's not racing like crazy, or pushing his heart out, it's all good

Just been reading the Eason article and it's got some rather more interesting quotes than were mentioned above. I particularly liked this;

It's clear that he's a total Button fanboy. He might be me.

The story isn't true anyway, the school did eventually accept that Lewis was not involved, it was all covered in Lewis' book and Mark Hughes' book. I had to report MWM's first go at this in a totally libellous sig, a grubby disgrace. Just smearing, exploiting the fact it can't be positively disproved.

Sounds like a Creationist. Especially if he keeps repeating debunked cannards and is relying on the fact you can't prove a negative.

Im sure he'd be much rather lapping him but still, Lewis

Fair point. Also imagine the feelings of those fans who support drivers struggling to make it in F1, for reasons beyond their ultimate control.

Yeah, i think he'll realise more than ever what a great position he was in 2007/2008 with the car he had, and will make much better use of a good package when he gets it again. The speed and racecraft has always been there but there have been those errors, over exuberance which he got away with, i think without really meaning to they got into a mindset of pushing like mad all the time, and that if he had a bad race he could always win the next one.

I mean button is looking great at the minute, 10th season and all that experience/ ability matched to a great car. I wonder what lewis will be capable of in his 10th season?