On reflection, I think I'm disappointed with all of the front runners and big guns today. Hamilton, Raikkonen, Kovalainen, Massa, Alonso all made really stupid errors. None of them looked world class today or yesterday.

Except Sutil and Kubica. But neither had the luck or the machinery to take a well deserved victory.

 

And beat the existing World Champion driver.

And is thrashing his team mate, and leading the world championship over two drivers in better cars

 

 

not disputed

he won't win the driver's championship though

and Mclaren won't win the constructors' title

 

Never said he/they would, doesn't change his performance from last year though.

 

what's your point then?

 

You implied (or that's how I read it) that his performance was all down to the cars he has been given, and of course that's a huge part of it. But given that he's beaten a World Champion when given the same machinery (last year's performance), and is currently beating two guys in "better cars", I think there's more to it than that.

[ITV mode]He might even win the World Championship [/ITV mode]

We all agree that the ITV coverage is nauseating. Simplest thing is to turn switch on at the beginning of the race and turn it off immediately after. If you can, try the Radio 5 commentary which is much better.

 

I'll clarify then.

I don't think his performance is all down to the cars he has been given. I do think it's a huge component. I do think he is a very talented driver, but I don't think his name deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence as Senna's. I also think there are at least half a dozen drivers capable of emulating his performance, given the same machinery. Finally, I believe the bubble will eventually burst, just as it did with Button, then we can get on with looking for our next great hope.

None of the above means I don't think he can win a World Championship. He has, and is likely to continue to have, a better chance than the vast majority of his competitors. Failure to take that chance will quantify and qualify his real talent far better than I ever could.

I would like to see a British champion, one able to dominate the sport. I just don't think he is ever going to be good enough to do that. Time will tell. I could live with it being Hamilton too, just as I can live with other World Champions that I find rather unappealing as human beings. My views are based on an assessment of Hamilton's abilities and potential and are quite separate from my views of him as an individual.

With regard to coverage, I generally dislike turning a blind eye (or deaf ear in this case) to things I find repellent. I would prefer to complain in the hope of changing them. If enough people complain about the Hamilton hype, it might just have some effect. If it doesn't, we will just have to wait for the bubble to burst of its own accord.

 

We agree on so much!

Cars being a huge component, we even used the same word

Agree about the whole Senna hype, although there's nothing wrong with Hamilton having Senna as his hero, many motor racing fans are the same, and we all have boyhood heroes in many sports. What is irritating is the constant commentary comparison, but that' just the meedja doing its job.

Sniff Petrol sums up the media view rather well:

[QUOTE]With two races already out of the way in the 2008 F1 season, Lewis Hamilton

 

At the minute, Hamilton is better than his team mate.

However, I think Heikki is probably the more naturally gifted driver. And his personality is far-and-away the more appealing of the two.

His time will come. Remamber Alonso's trouble switching from the Renault to the McLaren?

The trouble may be Ron. He tends to fall in love with one of his drivers and leave the other one out in the cold. He obviously has a soft spot for Hamilton and, I fear, this may hamper Kovalainnen...

As for Hamilton being compared to Senna....Bullshit. Total Bullshit. I can understand the press and James Allen getting a bit worked up (like the English commentators when England are in a major football comp.) but it really has all gone too far. He's done nothing in his career thus far to even mirror some of Sennas minor achievements. The most notable being the GP2 race where he overtook the entire field. But then Barichello was capable of that at Ferrari so I'll hold on the eulogies for now.

'Build me up Buttercup' or 'I'll hold the poisoned chalice until the next vaguely talented driver comes out of the UK'....I'm sure Hamilton doesn't care either way.

He may even be embarassed by all the hype but I doubt it.

As for your point Gad, on the other drivers, I think Rosberg, Kubica, Heidfeld, Davidson, Button, Bourdais, Nakajima and Webber could all do a shift in that car. In fact, any top driver could get results from that car.

This season, I'm hoping for a four-way champioship fight with Kimi to win it.

And I'd hapilly have Heidfeld(unlikely) or Kubica(likely) in that four in place of one of the Ferrari or McLaren drivers(ahem, Massa)