More follow-the-leader.

But lookin' good on the widescreen!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1182115477.jpg

FYI - Last year, before Hamilton was all the rage, Tiger was asked who he thought was the most talented athlete in thw world was and without hesitation he answered Micheal Schumacher. So I think maybe Tiger does follow F1 a little.


As far as the new kid kicking everyone elses butts, it really makes you stop and wonder WTF is going on in F1 when this kid comes along and starts dominating like this. I have to wonder how much of it is the car, sort of like Villeneuve in 1997 everyone pretty much contends he was in the best car and a "good" driver but not a great one.

I feel the same about Alonso, so far he has been lucky to be with the right team at the right time. Ferrari is floudering right now and they have been since 2005. Whatever ground they made up last year was mostly due to Micheal Schumachers talent, Massa was rarely in sight behind him, look at the 2005 season MS was fighting to be in 4th where Rubens was in the back. Driver talent.

Fernando was in the fastest most reliable car in 2005, and 2006 and now is in the fastest most reliable car in 2007 except he never expected Hamilton to be as good as he has proven to be............ and this is why I will root for the kid, because it proves what I have been saying for 2 years now, Alonso lucked into his Championships and it is really looking like he saw his last ever. Ferrari, Renault and BMW will not flop around for too much longer. They will all be in the front as the next 10 races come and go, he who grabbed the most points early on will be in the best shape.

+1

After every race I wonder what the outcome would have been if Schu was in it.

Hamilton did not "come out of nowhere." From what I can tell, he is where he is because he is supremely talented, but perhaps more importantly, takes his driving seriously, works hard, and is humble. He will make a great champion.

Compare that to the ego-ridden playboy drivers in the paddock. I'll take Hamilton every day of the week, along with guys like Wurz.

Tiger Woods is an F1 fan.

Hamilton didn't really "come out of nowhere." He's been under contract with McLaren since he was 12 years old. Although there are lots of guys who were supposedly "faster/more talented than Schumacher" in testing, etc. (anyone remember Jenson Button?), but on the track wheel to wheel it's always turned out to be a different story. For any rookie to come into F1 and get 2 wins this quickly, that's "kinda" coming out of nowhere. I guess. Well, not really.

It does seem that he is clearly a talent that has not been seen since, well, Schumacher. Which does make it a shame that Hamilton couldn't have been here 5 years ago, so they could have gone head to head.

It's hard for me to see how anyone could NOT like what Hamilton is doing. How could one not like seeing someone who by all indications looks to be a "once in a decade" talent? It's great.

Hamilton's race craft is amazing. That is the shocking part...plenty of guys are quick around the track, but he knows how to race.

It could be an interesting couple of years though. There are a couple of young guns that could give him a run. Rosberg shows flashes of brilliance, and Kubica is very good. Vittel made an impressive show for a 19 year old.

Changing of the guard...

Did anyone catch the driver interviews that Speed did. I think it was on late Thursday night. They interviewed each pair of drivers except for Alonso and Hamilton who had some sort of "travel problem" that forced them to interview them separately. They were very candid so it was a good interview from that standpoint. Most of the drivers were in shorts and T-shirts and I was surprised by the number of tatoos.

Never said anything against the kid, except that I have some favorite drivers who I would like to see win, and they are not winning.

Kind of like having a favorite football team. Whoever they are playing against are the bad guys.

Indeed. He has been under contract with Ron Dennis since he was 13, or so. I read about it when the idea surfaced that getting young protoge's under contract at an early age and then grooming them was a sure thing to having access to a supply of affordable drivers for the future. There will be many more where LH came from.

This probably deserves its' own post, but I thought this article on Lewis Hamilton's role in F1 was excellent.

OBVIOUSLY Hamilton is the BIG story, and deserves to be.... But I agree with NOSTATIC, did you guys watch the performance from VETTEL ?? Relief/test driver qualifying in the top 10 !! He was rockin'! Very smooth and for someone who didn't even know he'd be driving in the race, I thought he did GREAT in qualifying... I don't have cable, so I didn't see the race though. I need to get a copy...

As a side note, Sato is finally starting to come out of his slump. He failed to hit anything for a couple of races but now is back to his old form to some extent. He managed to find the wall but still missed the other cars.
Hopefully by the next race he will himself again and take out the entire starting grid before the lights go out ;)

Sato's idea in canada to run the option tire for a SC lap and pit again to go back to the prime tire was absolutely brilliant. It was the best piece of racecraft of the past two races.

That said, I am a McLaren fan and love to see them sticking it to Ferrari and the others. Given how they started at a deficit to Ferrari at the beginning of the season, McLaren deserves a lot of respect for their efforts.

I like Alonso, but he is the opportunist who felt the need to leave Renault. That seems like it was a very good decision given Renault's struggles of late. However, Hamilton has been groomed and cultivated by the brain-trust at McLaren, so it would not be surprising if there was a sentimental favoritism toward Hamilton.

Of course, if you're Ron Dennis, what's not to like about Lewis. He's been brilliant.

I don't think there's much touchy-feely emotions in F1 - I think they all favor the fellow who gets the car to the finish line the fastest!

That was nice. Why isn't the rest of the world feeds in wide screen?

Rumor has it that Ralphy boy (the other Shumi) is getting a $22 mil salary. wonder how long that will last given his recent performances?

this is the last year of his contract. Buh-bye.

OK, Hamilton has been on the payroll and around racing but before this year's pre-season, how many of us actually knew who he was? I didn't know him from Adam, and I follow the sport fairly closely.

I remember the F1 thread that was going around right after MS retired, it was all ablout Alonso and Kimi, except I was still cheering for Massa.
I don't recall anyone metioning Hamilton's name at all.
I need to go dig up that thread.

No one knew of him because he was in the junior leagues polishing his racing skills - and winning every series he participated in, I believe.