McLaren F1 2008

[Seric]

Last season we saw Lewis Hamilton rise to the top in a McLaren. Obviously this youngster has talent, but given that he was put in a car that was at the front of the field, was something the press seemed to ignore, casting this "phenom" into legend long before he could prove himself.

I didn't buy into the hype and I am totally anti-Hamilton. He did add a good element of excitement and was good for F1.

That said, I said throughout the season that you put Kovalainen, Rosberg or Kubica in a McLaren and they will would of done just as well. Now, Heikki gets to prove that.

I don't root for McLaren, but I root for Fins. I hope he wipes the track with Lewis.

[legion]

Hmm...Hamilton nearly won the championship despite sniping from his teammate and repeated legal challenges from Ferrari--not to mention punishment from the FIA designed to hurt the team...

[Porsche-O-Phile]

FIA is so corrupt it's almost unwatchable now.

Add to it the reprehensible actions of ********* Ecclestone and the even bigger ********* Tony George depriving the fans of a USGP this year and I think I'm done with F1 for a while.

[turbocarrera]

Hamilton will rule F1



I hope

[Mule]

I don't watch much F1, but Hamilton is the real deal. It will be interesting to see if they can "legislate" him out of a championship this year.

[Seric]

Originally Posted by Mule

I don't watch much F1, but Hamilton is the real deal. It will be interesting to see if they can "legislate" him out of a championship this year.

How was he "legislated" out? If you ask me, he was given a pretty big break when he was allowed to keep collecting points when McLaren was found guilty of spying. He squandeed the title in the last part of the season by some pretty obvious mistakes.

[jtfreels]

Not a fan of Hamilton for some reason, but I do believe he is the real deal. In one of the best cars on the grid he got the job done.

But.... I do believe he plain through away the championship with a very rookie mistake. He could have cruised to the championship, as a Lauda or Prost would have done. Instead he pushed and well...... I was happy to see Kimi pick up the win.

Hoping Heiki will show how good he is this year.

Jay

[nut11]

Gonna miss the USGP. Outside of the tire fiasco a couple of years back, always a fun time and town. Cheap too.

I like Hamilton and expect he will stay top tier.

87 blk coupe

[Rearden]

He did spin into the gravel going into the pits, true, but you can't say the car going into neutral by itself for 20 seconds to be his fault. If that didn't happen, he'd be WDC.

[911Rob]

I love this Hamilton kid........ all the best to him!
He's got a natural skill mixed with being a true athlete.

He'll be the Tiger Woods of Racing IMHO.

What do you call a 100 white guys chasing a black guy?

PGA.

[Amail]

My understanding is that by going in too hot and letting FA and a host of others pass him by early on, he had to drive very aggressively to regain the position. So much so that he abused the car too much over the berms and broke "something" that reset his hydraulics. He had to wait for a reboot (or some-such) of the clutch before he could press on.

I don't know this for sure - it's certainly an unknowable claim, but I say that if he had kept his cool and just ran a clean race he wouldn't have had the 20-second twilight zone experience. I hand the loss squarely on his shoulders.

[Seric]

I'm not discounting his talent. I actually was pretty excited to see a rookie do so well in the first part of the season, but then he started opening his mouth and ruined it.

Still back to my main point, it will be seriously interesting to see how Kovalainen does against Lewis. I think Heikki has the talent to match Hamilton. Same goes for Nico Rosberg.

[Aerkuld]

Whether the McLaren was the top car of 2007 or not, Hamilton still beat Alonso on several occasions who was in an identical car (unless you buy in to Alonso's whining). I'm fairly sure that Hamilton CAN drive and will be very quick. I do agree that it will be great to see Kovalainen in the McLaren though. 2008 will be a great year as long as the FIA and the WMSC don't fuch around with it.

[nostatic]

Hamilton made some rookie mistakes. The championship wasn't lost in Brazil but in Japan and China. His competitive spirit (dare I say, ego?) got the better of him. What will be interesting to see is whether or not he learns from that.

Most of the great drivers were on the edge and made over-competitive mistakes. I think Kovalainen will be slower than Hamilton. And not because of any conspiracy. Hamilton can drive. Period. He made some moves during the year that were far "older" than his years. I think if McLaren can keep the car running, he'll win in '08 with Kimi second.

[David]

As much as I hate the politics of F1, I've been a fan since I was a kid and I'll keep watching. Now my two favorite current drivers drive for McLaren!

After watching how Alonso raced against Schumacher and then how Hamilton raced against Alonso, I think Hamilton is the real deal.

[Buckterrier]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

FIA is so corrupt it's almost unwatchable now.

Add to it the reprehensible actions of ********* Ecclestone and the even bigger ********* Tony George depriving the fans of a USGP this year and I think I'm done with F1 for a while.

Yeah Tony George ruined CART also. Talk about an arrogant A-hole. And one of te suppose-id reasons was to have a series that was all oval. Last I remember his Indy serious had road coarses. TOAD, (and that's being extremely nice). Good thing Mommy & Daddy have momey

[equality72521]

Hamilton made some rookie mistake for sure. But you know what? He's a rookie!

[mike55]

He's the real deal. I watched almost all the races and he's a great driver. AND don't forget a pretty good driver by the name of Alonso was in a McLaren and finished behind Hamilton in the final standings.

Once he grows into his role, he'll do just fine.......