[Watsey]

I watched the race on catch up last night. Reasonably entertaining by F1 standards

Although I don't find Hamilton's humility and sincerity very humble or sincere, he is an instinctive racer and that really appeals.

His pass on Vettel was superb and it's in those to wheel to wheel situations where he often makes a clear and bold decision, gives enough room, and makes the pass stick.

Vettel and Rosberg both often came/come off the loser in those situations, either from aggressive driving which doesn't pay off or from errors of judgement. From what I saw, Vettel made a change of line in that corner and drove into Hamilton's car. Hamilton maintained a steady line through the bend.

Vettel lost the race yesterday probably more than Hamilton won it : he has no-one to blame but himself. Ferrari may have the faster car, but Mercedes has the better driver and that still makes a big difference.

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by RobUK

Agreed. Besides, there's a saying "Nice guys finish last"

Or my favourite, "Show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser"

Which probably justifies Vettel and Verstappen not taking any of the blame yesterday for their own mistakes I guess.

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

Or my favourite, "Show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser"

Which probably justifies Vettel and Verstappen not taking any of the blame yesterday for their own mistakes I guess.

I've no reason to believe Hamilton isn't a nice guy, it's more that out of the car he just comes across as a bit of a prat sometimes! He clearly doesn't enjoy it when he gets beaten and can sometimes be a bit sulky and petulant when that happens; however, when his mind's on the job he's the best racer out there and has been for several years in my view.

In some respects he reminds me of Nigel Mansell in the sense he's hard but fair on the track; he'll always give someone the room to race and won't deliberately close the door or punt people off in the way Senna and Schumacher were inclined to do. Unfortunately our Nige could at times also be a bit of pain out of the car (albeit in a different way) so perhaps there's a theme here!

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by JNW1

I've no reason to believe Hamilton isn't a nice guy, it's more that out of the car he just comes across as a bit of a prat sometimes! He clearly doesn't enjoy it when he gets beaten and can sometimes be a bit sulky and petulant when that happens; however, when his mind's on the job he's the best racer out there and has been for several years in my view.

In some respects he reminds me of Nigel Mansell in the sense he's hard but fair on the track; he'll always give someone the room to race and won't deliberately close the door or punt people off in the way Senna and Schumacher were inclined to do. Unfortunately our Nige could at times also be a bit of pain out of the car (albeit in a different way) so perhaps there's a theme here!

I think it's really quite hard to tell what the "real person" is like, for absolutely all of the pro-sportsmen we see on TV, away from the glare of the cameras and microphones, so I genuinely don't care about the personalities, and just focus on what I see on track. After all, we watch them for entertainment, not to find new mates to go to the pub with.

What you do notice is they mostly become much more normal and likeable once the pressure of racing is behind them, look at Nico Rosberg now.. seems like a completely different guy! Even Paul Di Resta has spade loads more personality now.

The whole scene is full of what appears to be false gratitude, none more than Vettel himself with his cringeworthy thanks in Italian when he wins.

And to be fair to Hamilton, they all complain like hell and sulk when things don't go their way... just look at some of Alonso's behaviour. Whilst completely understandable given the what's happened, if Hamilton did the same the reaction of many folk would be very different.

Anyway, I'm not trying to defend Hamilton, as the god-bothering, jet set materialistic lifestyle thing is absolutely not my cup of tea, but I like that he's hard but fair, and that's he's just such a damn brilliant driver, and British!

[Wills2]

No one who is driving in F1 is a "nice guy" you've got to be ruthless to get a seat and keep it and none of them are "losers" clearly.

Sunday's race was epic, I just loved the fact that Lewis stuck one on Vettel and then went after Kimi, proper racing over driving his car and making the difference.

They really turned the tables on them and Ferrari folded, Mercedes had better strategy and a better driver in Lewis, it really was a world champion's performance, it reminded me of Senna and the way he used to drive.

That gave the jeering booing Italians something to think about and I loved the side by side parade lap they did as well.

Kimi drove really well all weekend as well and Bottas did a great job as the wingman.

Toto called it last week at Spa when he said Ferrari needed to remember what happened last year at Monza, so clearly he knew they had a package that had closed the gap enough to mean that Hamilton's talent could be the difference at the next weekend.

On the subject of his attitude and personality, back in 2014 I was at Venice beach and witnessed him throw a hissy fit and fall out with Nicole, he was with his dad and step mom (I presume) we were about 10 feet from him and he just started kicking off very much like a petulant child, but who hasn't acted like a child? His father soon shut him up, the lads wanted to have a bit of banter at his expense but thought better of it.

Last year I was fortunate enough to spend the Saturday as a guest of Mercedes at Silverstone GP including access to the garage during P3 the organisation is incredible and your access to it all although controlled was a privilege and from what I saw he's a totally focused individual.

[Herr Dreier]

I know Hamilton isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I just can't seem him wanting the team to favour him - he wants to win, and wants to win by being the best. Yes, he gets upset when he is beaten, but what is wrong with that.

Vettel on the other hand... Remember the "Get him out of my way" comment regarding Webber. And this following Monza... https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/20539...g-3-cars-.html

I know some of these sites sensationalise comments, but I think there is some truth here that Vettel expects to be treated as #1

[Watsey]

How could we prove which team has the best car/driver combination, eradicate team orders, and reduce F1 team budgets simultaneously ? Restrict each team to a single car/driver entry for each season. Other rules would still apply, ie limitations regarding the number of tyres and major components per race/season.

Unlikely to become reality, and not great if the sole driver gets hurt and can't race, but it would remove the postulating and BS from the drivers and potentially open up the grid to a larger number of team entrants.

[73henny]

I don't think there is anything wrong with Hamilton's will to win. He's perhaps not the most gracious in defeat though.

It's debatable whether he'd have won at Monza without Bottas's help. Just last week at Spa, Vettel went past Hamilton on the first lap then left him behind.

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by 73henny

I don't think there is anything wrong with Hamilton's will to win. He's perhaps not the most gracious in defeat though.

It's debatable whether he'd have won at Monza without Bottas's help. Just last week at Spa, Vettel went past Hamilton on the first lap then left him behind.

We'll never know for sure but it looked like Kimi had tyre problems towards the end on Sunday and I think Hamilton would have got him with or without the help from Bottas.

At Spa Ferrari appeared to have a power and straight line speed advantage and once Vettel was in front that was it unless he made a mistake or suffered a problem with the car. In Belgium he experienced neither but he's definitely more error prone than Lewis and that's a big part of the reason Hamilton was world champion last season and will almost certainly retain it this year as well.

[Syntac]

Originally Posted by JNW1

We'll never know for sure but it looked like Kimi had tyre problems towards the end on Sunday and I think Hamilton would have got him with or without the help from Bottas.

At Spa Ferrari appeared to have a power and straight line speed advantage and once Vettel was in front that was it unless he made a mistake or suffered a problem with the car. In Belgium he experienced neither but he's definitely more error prone than Lewis and that's a big part of the reason Hamilton was world champion last season and will almost certainly retain it this year as well.

I think he probably would have caught him regardless. Lewis and Kimi were hammering their tyres but Hamilton's were newer so could hammer them longer.

I thought it was quite a good race considering how boring spa was.

[RobUK]

Originally Posted by JNW1

We'll never know for sure but it looked like Kimi had tyre problems towards the end on Sunday and I think Hamilton would have got him with or without the help from Bottas.

There's a YouTube video called 'How Hamilton stole Ferrari's home win' which seems to give a good assessment "one of Lewis's greatest drives". Still from the video of Kimi's rear tyre.

[Tengocity]

Hamilton destroyed the field today in Qualy.... has to be one of the most perfect laps of all time.

[JustChris]

He's a legend.

We know this because he has his own energy drink.

[Wills2]

Another incredible lap from Lewis, fingers can't seem to hold it together at the moment.

Mercedes have of course improved the package and it looks like they have caught the Ferraris up enough to allow Lewis to be the deciding factor, he should let Verstappen go if he puts one on him to the first corner no point in copying the Ferrari shambles of last year.

[stefan4]

Originally Posted by Wills2

Another incredible lap from Lewis, fingers can't seem to hold it together at the moment.

Mercedes have of course improved the package and it looks like they have caught the Ferraris up enough to allow Lewis to be the deciding factor, he should let Verstappen go if he puts one on him to the first corner no point in copying the Ferrari shambles of last year.

There was never that much if a gap between them tbh.

I'm a Ferrari fan, and I do rate Vettel, but that lap today was special, no doubt about it he's a brilliant driver, but I cannot get along with him,

[Wills2]

Originally Posted by stefan4

There was never that much if a gap between them tbh.

I'm a Ferrari fan, and I do rate Vettel, but that lap today was special, no doubt about it he's a brilliant driver, but I cannot get along with him,

Yes you can all aboard the Hamilton express, it's hammer time!

I believe Lewis will be seen as a modern era great along side Senna and Schumacher, I know Prost should also be up there but I'd actually put Lauda above him, I don't see Vettel as comparing to those drivers.

[SteveChester]

His quali lap today was pure magic.

[teaston]

Lewis is a bit of a cockwomble though isn’t he?

[sahajesh]

Originally Posted by teaston

Lewis is a bit of a cockwomble though isn’t he?

To be fair though, Vettel is a wanker, which makes Hamilton OK.

[JustChris]

Originally Posted by sahajesh

To be fair though, Vettel is a wanker, which makes Hamilton OK.

When Vettel was on Too Gear once I thought he came across well.

Over the years with his battles with Lewis he's come across as a dick.

Channel 4 later on today. Get it on lads, get the family out, get the beers on the fridge.

COME ON LEWIS.

[JustChris]

PS Best bit of F1

"Box Box BOX"

Make sure you think of this at that point.

[Colmsport]

Originally Posted by JustChris

When Vettel was on Too Gear once I thought he came across well.

Over the years with his battles with Lewis he's come across as a dick.

Thats just the point, when Vettel doesn't get his own way he acts like a spoilt child. Like when Raikkonen was in front of him at a race this year & he instructed the team to 'get him out if the way'.

Vettel's just a tool, in my opinion he got his Championships through having a much better car than the competition, not through pure driving skill. Appreciate that Lewis has had similar over recent years but his racecraft is on another level.

It will be interesting to see how Leclerk fairs at Ferrari next year, if he starts to give Vettel a challenge I can see it causing problems.