This page will be updated throughout the day.
Please if you are on Twitter press the tweet button below. If you re-write and tweet individual story headlines don’t forget to include #F1.
You may not realise how hugely important this is and has helped grow our community significantly.
Previously on TheJudge13:
#F1 Polls: How would you rate the MONACO 2014?
On This Day in #F1 – 26th May 2001 – Vittorio Brambilla
#F1 Race Review: A showdown in the principality of Monaco
#F1 Polls: MONACO 2014 – Driver of the Weekend
Hamilton wants a fair fight on his terms
F1 could be destroyed without a ‘dictator’ – Briatore (GMM)
Gerard Lopez confident Maldonado and PDVSA will stay with Lotus
Bianchi hopes to ‘ride wave’ to better team (GMM)
Twitter observes Maldonado leaving Monaco after early retirement
Hamilton wants a fair fight on his terms
“Lewis Hamilton wants a fair fight with Nico Rosberg” was the BBC’s headline story. Yet nowhere within this British website was any mention made of Hamilton’s underhand tactics in recent races.
The article continued with Hamilton commenting that – “This weekend went in a direction I wasn’t expecting. I’m aware of it now. I’ll make sure I’m aware in the future.”
Hamilton himself stated after qualifying, “I wish you could have seen the data, I saw something late last night and all I could do was smile”
Oh boo hoo hoo. As Christ once said, let them without guilt cast the first stone…
It emerged over the weekend – from non-British sources – that Hamilton had ignored team orders in Barcelona to win the Grand Prix. Both Mercedes drivers were instructed to change their engine mapping to a specific lower setting towards the end of the race and yet Lewis kept to his original map to beat Rosberg.
Obviously the wounded child within Lewis made it clear that he was simply doing what Nico had done in Bahrain when he didn’t change his setting apparently. This tit for tat has brought about a change from the Mercedes management, “In the last couple of races we had some little fouls left and right, this is not happening ever again” Toto Wolff said.
So, the German manufacturer wants Rosberg to be World Champion, they give him ‘secret’ information to counter Hamilton’s runaway Malaysian victory, they get Lewis to test Rosberg’s clutch system… is this a pattern developing here? Is this the traditional unbalanced reporting that implies the Germans can’t be trusted?
In 2013, the early season scandal was Red Bull telling Sebastian Vettel to remain behind Mark Webber in Malaysia with the now infamous ‘multi 21’ instruction. Vettel ignored team orders and countless column inches were given over to his hollow victory. Most people were not bothered by his hard steel core but by his blatant dishonesty after the race when he apologised – yet barely two weeks later he stated he would have done it again and Mark didn’t deserve to win.
The fact that Vettel hadn’t turned his engine down in his pursuit of Webber – whereas the Aussie had – suggested unfair competition yet it seems Lewis was perfectly entitled to perform in this manner in Spain.
In fact you could go back to the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix when a similar situation arose with Red Bull. Vettel was close behind Webber, they were both instructed to reduce their engine mapping and whereas Webber complied with team orders, Vettel ignored them. A collision between the two when Vettel running at tracks edge and alongside Webber turned into him caused a collision which initially made the squad blame Webber and only the media’s reaction made them re-think their public uttering.
More specifically Hamilton has repeated his blatant disregard of team orders and team ethics over his career. We will probably never be told the full story of the 2007 Mclaren teams behaviour towards Alonso. A double World Champion had been promised multiple things by Ron Dennis, but observers such as Montoya knew he would have problems when Hamilton was confirmed as his team-mate. Not because of his inherent speed but because of the paternal relationship he shared with Ron Dennis.
In 2007, qualifying was run with start fuel aboard. The drivers would burn off as much as possible, come in take new tyres and qualify. Their fuel would be re-filled prior to the start of the race.
In Hungary that year, the two Mclarens went out in qualifying with Hamilton knowing Alonso had more fuel on board and the team told him to let him through to burn it off. Hamilton thought otherwise and stayed ahead to disadvantage him. Alonso replied angrily by staying in his pit slot and causing Hamilton to lose an opportunity to take his final qualifying lap. Incredibly the FIA decided to get involved in an inter team battle and relegated Alonso five places on the grid.
In more recent years he found he couldn’t deal with Button’s subtle political machinations and got to the point he was tweeting secret data in a quite frankly childish manner and it was only in the last couple of days that he suggested he was quite happy to cause an accident to get his own way…
When he first entered Formula One, a TV clip of him racing radio control cars was shown in various interviews/ features and when he lost a race the petulant child came out. Sports psychologists spoke about his inherent competitive qualities upon observing this and suggested he had a natural winning mentality. What was not immediately obvious but has since become the ‘norm’ is that this petulant child has not grown up.
F1 could be destroyed without a ‘dictator’ – Briatore (GMM)
Formula one “needs a dictator”, according to the flamboyant former team boss Flavio Briatore. Embroiled in a corruption scandal that could end his reign, F1’s current ‘supremo’, Bernie Ecclestone, has hinted that his bosses at CVC could be about to replace him.
“I feel sorry for him,” Briatore said on his customary trip with his yacht ‘Force Blue’ to Monaco, “but if I was Ecclestone, I would have left five or six years ago.” Reports suggested Italian Briatore, who left F1 amid his own scandal some years ago, might be a potential successor for Ecclestone, but the 64-year-old played that down. Asked if he wants to be the ‘new Bernie’, Briatore told Auto Motor und Sport: “I prefer the old Bernie.”
Pressed as to whether he is interested in the job, however, Briatore just “grinned, turned around and left”, recounted correspondent Michael Schmidt. But before he left, Briatore admitted he knows the kind of person that needs to be running F1.
“What formula one needs is a dictator,” he said. “He makes the rules and the teams have to follow. If you don’t want to, look for another job. Formula one is a strong brand, Bernie took 30 years to build it, but without him, it could be that it is destroyed in two or three. What is needed now is a man who has a clear plan for the formula one of the future.”
Dieter Zetsche, the chairman of Daimler, also said that amid the corruption scandal that could end Ecclestone’s reign, the next steps for the sport are crucial. “It is very clear that Bernie Ecclestone is responsible for the success of formula one,” Zetsche, whose Mercedes camp is utterly dominating the 2014 season, told Germany’s Welt am Sonntag newspaper. “That is why it is in everyone’s interest that his incredible work, ‘formula one’, which he has built up over the years – the story that he wrote – is not damaged,” he added.
Gerard Lopez confident Maldonado and PDVSA will stay with Lotus
TJ13 reported last Tuesday that Pastor Maldonado’s time in Formula One may be at an end. Venezuela’s Sports Minister – Antonio Alvarez declared that not another dollar would be provided to sponsor a F1 drive.
Despite having won a Grand Prix on merit – Maldonado’s stock at the pinnacle of world motor-sport is still unknown – coloured by the substantial oil dollars provided by his principal sponsor PDVSA.
It has become obvious in 2014 that all the skills Chemical Boullier learnt whilst at Enstone are thriving and, in fact, developing in a new direction as Team Principal at Mclaren. What was not apparent at the time was he had left behind the detailed dossier from Crescent Investment Management which he had memorised whilst dealing with the company’s chairman – Mansoor Ijaz.
Gerard Lopez of Genii Group, and Lotus team owner, has continued in similar vein to Boullier and denied over the weekend that Lotus could be losing their lucrative PDVSA sponsorship. The media had made a “..very big misunderstanding. PDVSA, as with Maldonado, is staying with us. In Venezuela, it is this company that has the final say, not the government.”
As TJ13 often stated last year, a quick perusal of Google would have unearthed countless articles of Ijaz’s questionable business ethics – yet the team blindly declared investments would arrive in days. Whilst the senior figures sought the generous trough to feast upon, many foot soldiers within the team decamped and left for pastures new.
Once again a simple google search reports that Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) is the Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company.
Maldonado’s primary supporter was Hugo Chavez, the late Venezuelan President. But since Chavez’s death, the landscape in the country has changed and last year in October, investigations began into the nations motorsports teams for defrauding the government of millions of dollars.
At the time, then sports minister Alejandra Benitez told ‘Ultimas Noticias’ her signature had been forged on more than 60 requests for US dollars by race car teams. One athlete, she said, claimed $66 million over a year and a half…
Bianchi hopes to ‘ride wave’ to better team (GMM)
Marussia crowned its hero Jules Bianchi in Monaco, after the French driver on Sunday delivered the backmarker team its first-ever F1 points. Maintaining the spot in the constructors’ chase ahead of Caterham and even Sauber would now be worth dozens of millions of dollars in F1 prize money to the struggling team. Ironically, however, Frenchman Bianchi’s feat could also cost Marussia the talented, Ferrari-backed driver.
“It felt like a victory to me,” the 24-year-old said on Sunday. “Even if it does not mean so much for others, for us this ninth place is like a win,” he told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.But Bianchi also admitted that Monaco 2014 could be the turning point in his career. “It can only help,” he said, “but as for the future, we will have to see as the season progresses. I do feel ready for a top team.”
Bianchi’s result earned praise even from arguably the very best driver on the grid, Fernando Alonso. “He is not only a Ferrari junior driver,” said the Spaniard, “but also a friend. We spend a lot of time together at Maranello,” Alonso is quoted by Speed Week. “We play football and basketball and also travel together a lot. I am so pleased for him. I have no doubt that he will have a very good career and so I hope that this result helps him to find a competitive cockpit for next season,” he added.
The task now for Bianchi’s manager, Nicolas Todt, is obvious. “It is often said that Monaco is a driver circuit,” said the Frenchman, the son of FIA president Jean Todt and also Felipe Massa and Pastor Maldonado’s manager. “Yes, he benefited from what happened in the race but when you see his lap times, he had the pace. My job now is to try to ride this little wave,” Todt is quoted by BFMTV, “as they do not come along every day.”
Twitter observes Maldonado leaving Monaco after early retirement
Pastor Maldonado attempts to leave Monaco early after his retirement.
Kudos to the one who dared writing the first article. Prepare for critcism, mate. It’s the best balanced piece I’ve seen in a while.
That the BBC wouldn’t dare to say something about Lewis’ antics is normal. They have to cater for a british crowd and having a go at ‘ze Germans’ always sells in Blightey. It’s the same over here. Having a go at the ‘Island Apes’ is the flavour of the month in the Fatherland. You’d wish people would get over something like that…
The bbc might not have written it, but I’ve read other publication that has said it.
It’s an opinion.
Balanced ? A hippo on the end of a seesaw with Eddie Jordan on the other comes to mind.
Of course it’s an opinion, but you’ll find that in most motorsport related forum that particular opinion is shared by a large amount of people even some, who are known to be steadfast Hamilton supporters, so I’d say it’s well thought through.
That feels harsh. Lewis just said he saw the data and smiled. That’s not saying that he has done no wrong nor is it directly casting any stones. You’ve really done your best to find the worst in everything he has said. You are clearly coming from a position of already being Anti Hamilton and as such have lost any objectivity
Why is one immediately anti-Hamilton, anti-Alonso anti-whatever, if criticising a certain pattern of behaviour?
one isn’t immediately anti-anything if one criticizes. however, if one calls a specific driver an abrasive whiny bitch constantly interprets what he says in the worst way while and suggests he is favoured by his team, a certain anti pattern does emerge.
It does say that Nico started it in Bahrain by not turning down his engine 1st, so that really makes it game-on between them.
I do have a sneaky feeling that Mercedes are very much writing the script to avoid viewers turning off due to the already known outcomes. It’s all seems a little contrived, with Toto saying one thing, Lewis another, Nico another and Lauda yet another. Wolff is always on about the show blah blah blah, I think they are doing all they can internally to hype up the rivalry to avoid a repeat of the late 2013 borefest. It keeps Mercedes-Benz in the headlines (that people are interested in) and in turn sells cars.
An interesting, and rather more balanced view from Jenson:
“Whether Nico did it on purpose or not, Lewis is going to think that he did and that is the way when you are team-mates fighting for a world championship. But you will see a more determined Lewis at the next race. I remember with Lewis that when we had a tussle in a race or there was an issue between us or with the team, he would have a really bad race and be quite outspoken and emotional. And at the next race he would destroy me. He would come back stronger than ever…”
How strange, because slagging off Hamilton for no apparent reason and complaining that German drivers are not well loved by everybody, as I read it I was convinced it was written by the Fat Hippo.
I’m about to get berated and labelled a fanboy and so forth….
But don’t you think your overall assessment is a bit over the top?
So are you saying, it was ok for nico to do what he did, but not Lewis?
You mentioned tit for tat, then made reference to the incident in Hungary in 07, so wasn’t that tit for tat as well?
Which driver has not disobeyed team orders at some point in their career? Well unless your name is Massa. Which driver has not thrown their toys out the pram and shown petulance on more than one occasion? You find that sort of behaviour in every single sporting arena you go to. Who was more petulant than McEnroe, but yet it was and became very amusing to everyone.
It doesn’t matter how old or grown up you are, we’re all still petulant. You yourself are being petulant, because your comment, seems to be one of annoyance and isn’t that a form of petulance?
This is sport and these athletes are at the top of the food chain, so behaviour like that of Lewis, nico, Kimi, Alonso etc, should be expected, because they all want to win. Michael Jordan is one one rhe worlds greatest sportsman, he was petulant and there as a who lot more like him. The moment you become happy when you lose, then it’s time to quit.
Some great points fortis, before writing under my own name I used the nick herowassenna. If anyone could show me a more petulant, self obsessed driver I’d be amazed.
I think it’s called competitive spirit, but in recent weeks, a very subtle media campaign has been run which seeks to defend every action taken by Hamilton as opposed to the German side of the garage. Even headlines which suggest Rosberg has to toughen up or stating he was unhappy being beaten were in support of the Lewis phenomenon.
As an Italian, I perhaps have a unique view of both sets of media and as frankly alarming as the Itaian media is over anything Ferrari, the British media is the same with the Formula One community which resides in the UK. The constant inference against the German team is laughable, because apart from a few senior Austro/ German senior figures, the team is essentially a British outfit owned by the Stuttgart concern.
As to your assertion that you are a fanboy, you are merely a pretender, you attack nobody and have not blasphemed – not typical behaviour lol 😉
Thank you Carlo.
But is say it depends on which media outlet your looking at, because in The Daily Mail, it’s quite the opposite, there’s no defending Lewis there. But isn’t that normal, that the national press of a driver in the sport, would favour to put their fellow countryman on a pedestal?
But let’s be honest, as much as nico tries to portray a squeaky clean image, he’s no saint himself. Because had Lewis not made it known about the engine mapping in Bahrain, then we wouldn’t have known about it.
This was taken from the post race press conference
“Q: (Haoran Zhou – Formula One Express) Lewis, how did the debrief of yesterday’s qualifying go because as we understand, you were not in the debrief room, while Rosberg was?
LH: I was in there. I went to the toilet and Nico did his big debrief before I got there which is unusual. Usually we do it when we’re both in the same room but as I came up I did mine and fortunately the engineers had written down what Nico had said so I read it.”
Dear I say it, that he’s exuding the same sort of behaviour as Jenson? Everyone thinks that they are all honest upstanding guys, but I don’t buy that, they’re both ruthless, but they approach it differently.
My criticism of Lewis is this…. He’s too emotional and we as people are controlled by out emotions. He needs to learn to play the game. On Saturday, he should’ve just played up to the camera as if nothing’s is wrong and deal with from infront of the cameras and the watching world.
But could his action have something to do with how Nico celebrated getting pole? Maybe/not, but he has got to rein in his emotions and do like he said in his interview with Herbert…..
“I don’t play mind games, the only mind games I play, is when I’m in the car. The best way to play mind games, is by winning”…. Because let’s be honest, Nico’s confidence took a massive hit with those 4 wins in a row. Has he recovered from those body blows, we won’t know until Canada.
Was Hamilton petulant when he wasnt fighting for wins?
I dont get the hate towards Hamilton this weekend. The story about being hungrier and less entitled was a stupid thing to say in hindsight. Other than that he was rightfully upset after qualifying, probably immediately thinking Rosberg got his revenge for Spain. He could have been on pole, which means the world on Monaco. Who wouldnt be upset about that? And not everybody mastered the pokerface (like Rosberg or Alonso).
On to yesterday, he got every right to question the teams motives if he feels he is getting shafted on strategy. It wouldnt hurt to fight that battle behind the curtains though. I have no doubt he did get some dirt in his eye. First, why would he voluntarily drop back into Ricciardo’s claws? Why would he only be interested in the gap to Rosberg, not Ricciardo? And why specifically say left-eye?
And I think he showed some class by not using that condition as an excuse. Remember, “tell us about what happened to your eye” Reply: “It doesnt matter/Its not important.” But some people want to ignore that apparently.
And for the record: I don’t think Rosberg caused that yellow on purpose. He still drove a magnificent race by being fast, making no mistakes and keeping his head.
Some good points although I don’t agree with all of them. The ‘hungrier than thou’ spiel was absolutely cringeworthy and with all due respect to his talent as a driver, even saying something like that out loud doesn’t exactly reflect well on his intellect. One doesn’t need media training to know that saying something like that is a stupid idea. And he lost a lot of respect through that. I was actually gaining more and more respect for him as he handled the last season in quite a mature manner and everyonbe thought he had learned his 2007 and 2011 lessons, but then he barges in and knocks over everything by such remarks.
Same thing goes for his comments during the first SC. It is an open secret that whoever is ahead on the track gets the first call on strategy, so it was Nico who would get the potentially favorable strategy call. To complain about not getting something you aren’t entitled to is childish at best.
I’m still in doubt over the eye. I’ve been following F1 since 1990 and I never heard before that someone got something in his eye and that was way more probable at a time when drivers still dusted the track when crawling back out of the gravel traps. Even Lauda seemed to be finding it suspect. RTL likes to interview Lauda and Marko together and yesterday Lauda came up with that hillarious line: “Maybe next time he’ll [Lewis] ask him [pointing at Marko] how to race with one eye.”
Except for the fact that it was a headline writer who said the hungrier quote, not Lewis.
But since it’s convenient and sells it becomes everyone’s narrative.
See the autosport comment further down.
The thing is when vettel did stuff like that all of you cried. And i said this just shows he’s a sportsman and he wants to win. And if hamilton did it nobody would complain. And now hamilton is doing stuff like that and you’re defending it. Just like I predicted. It’s like the hippo says, if it’s german to hell with him. If it’s British long live the queen. But if you think hamilton isn’t being a cry baby after the race than there is something wrong with you. Before the season started he was telling everyone how he and nico where best pals and all that crap and now suddenly they’re no friends anymore. He started the mind games and he can’t take it that his opponent participates with the same tricks as he does
Best comment I’ve read Fortis! Putting the judge in his place!
We don’t know which page Hamilton wants to take from Senna’s book. We can only speculate.
One with pictures on it!
>As Christ once said, let them without guilt cast the first stone…
And when he was whacked upside the head with a boulder, he sighed: “You are really starting to gen on my nerves, mum…”
Brilliant 😉
Can we avoid religion please, as it is important to some and often offends. Many thanks.
Can I say that it often offends me that it is important to some? How does that fit in to the debate 😛
I agree with Clear View. Keep it to Formula 1. No reason being disrespectful to religion! We all come here to this sire because it has something different to offer. No to entice more visitors by doing the same stupid antics as other media.
I find Lewis very tiresome. As a driver obviously his talent speaks for itself but his attitude does massively let him down. He seems to think he’s the next coming of Ayrton Senna, because of this it means everyone will let him off for his emotional outbursts, as they did with Senna. The trouble is he can’t pull it off and he just comes accross as a spoilt brat. As a Brit I will always support Jenson over him as he comes across as a bit more humble and less self righteous.
If Lewis carries this on I’ve got a feeling everyone will become sick of the I’m so hard done by shtick.
Which is a shame because he should be recognised more for his outstanding ability. As I saw on twitter yesterday an ex Mclaren mechanic was saying they all got tired of his antics and it’s probably not long before Mercedes do as well.
That’s why he’s an ex mechanic, but he should also remember, that piri to Lewis, they hadn’t won a WDC title in what, 10 yrs and by the look of things, it might be a much longer wait. Could it also be he’s saying that, because he can’t stand the to see Lewis lapping the Mclarens this season? Sour grapes comes to mind.
As for jenson, he’s the perfect politician, all smiles for the camera, whilst plotting to slit your throat behind closed doors.
Mind you, McLaren didn’t exactly win that one title on merit alone. They were helped by crashgate. Massa was leading with a big margin at the time of the finangled safety car. In the resulting chaos Ferrari botched his pitstop. There is a good chance that lewis wouldn’t even have been in contention anymore by the time they arrived at Interlagos.
Well if your going to highlight those cases, then you should also highlight Spa as well. So it evens itself out in the end.
you’re right, Hippo
if wasn’t for the “crashgate” and the last lap blown engine in Hungary, Massa would have arrived as a Champion as early as Suzuka, or China, who knows
I think McLaren had the best car in 2007, and Ferrari in 2008. McLaren pushed hard in late 2008 to secure the title they lost in 2007. But they also had some Ferrari data (Stepney), as did Renault.. but the Ferrari seemed weak in the wet in 2008.
I’m sure more detail can be added than that, from what I remember in the past of others adding to my comments on this subject 🙂
Re-Hamilton dirty tricks.
So basically Nico started it all by not turning his engine down in Bahrain. So why is Lewis getting jumped on? I’m not a Hamilton fan but I do feel this site is a little anti-Hamilton at times. If Nico did start the tit for tat then what was Lewis supposed to do? Role over and take it, I think not.
Look at this way, he gained an unfair advantage in Bahrain and lost, Lewis turned the tables on him in Spain and he still lost. So the argument for tit for tat is just ridiculous.
He mentioned the redbull incident in Turkey in 2010, but somehow conveniently disregard what occurred between jenso and Lewis in that same race. Which probably would’ve been the first “multi 21” saga. Lewis was told to turn his engine down and when Lewis asked, if the same message was given to jenson, there was no response given over the radio. It later turned out, that he wasn’t told to do the same.
Lewis sells papers and generates massive amount of web hits, so it’s easy to twist his words to generate attention. I’ll use the autosport headlines earlier in the week, “Lewis wants to dominate Rosberg”. So I went and read it, upon which, I realised at no point did he use the word “dominate”.
It’s easy to pick on him, because he’s emotional and that plays into their hands. If he’s able to get that under control, I doubt that they’ll have much negative stories to write.
This article wasn’t written from the point of objectivity, but rather from annoyance, just by it’s tone, because all the drivers he listed, aren’t really so squeaky clean themselves.
I agree with your points Fortis, I did post higher up that maybe everything I’d being orchestrated by the Mercedes management to avoid the Vettle-borefest for last season. Wolff is always on about the show and entertainment. So I think there is a little bit more being made of it than needs be, just to stop viewers turning off because they know the outcome.
Very much possible because Toto himself did say after the last race that this domination is obviously not ideal because it keeps them off the headlines.
If you’re honest, neither of them fought particularily fairly at Bahrain. Hamilton employed some pretty nasty chopping moves and tried to push Rosberg off the track.
As for the engine turn-down. So far the only one claiming that Rosberg hasn’t turned his engine down in Bahrain is Lewis, while the info that he kept his engine fired despite a contrary order from the team comes from the team itself. In fact both Lauda and Wolff have said that the problems and the unfair games between their two drivers began at Barcelona. Bahrain was never mentioned by anyone but Lewis himself IIRC. I could be wrong. Maybe someone could collect a list of who said what and when.
1 thing is for sure and that is that we are all going to have a very entertaining remainder of the season, which ever way it goes. Just wait and see how true Nikki Lauda’s comments are, that once no one can catch their 2 drivers they can drive over each other. They are still playing for the team right now to secure the constructors, which to be fair won’t be too long unroll they become untouchable, then it will be war with Lewis and Nico.
But the team hasn’t denied it that he didn’t, now did they? Furthermore, he was sitting right next to Lewis in the press conference when he said it, so he had the opportunity to rebuff that claim, which he didn’t. But I hope your not going to say, “he didn’t do so, because he’s a gentleman”
So are you saying, that because they didn’t mention it, then he’s lying? How about, maybe they’re weren’t ask the question by journalist?
As for unfair moves, there’s only one of note you can point to and that was the incident in the first corner….
As for runnin him off the track, listen to what Brundle said in the commentary, “there’s no way he was going to pass him on the outside” Lewis had the natural racing line and he wasn’t the only person who did that in the race. Everyone knows that trying to pass someone the outside of the corner, is one of the most difficult moves to pull off, because all the driver has to do, is just to let the car drift wide. How many successful have you seen pulled off at that corner before? I’m not sure if it was Riccardo who tried the same move on the opening lap and got the same treatment. If Nico had felt that it was a nasty move, he would’ve said something about it, just like the incident at turn 1. So there was no nasty chopping going on at all.
Both Lewis and Nico have said after Bahrain that it [their fight] was just barely within the rules.
By the way, there have been successfull outside passes in that corner. For instance Heidfeld against Alonso. It was quite a bold move actually, so I think Mr. Brundles statement was perhaps a bit too optimistic.
As for the engine thing. Neither of the drivers have made even remotely as big a splash about it than some of the fans.
So if it wasn’t a big deal, why wasn’t he happy about it? Why did he complain to Nikki? Why the need for Lauda to make it public?
When asked about it in the press conference, his reply was….
“NR: I don’t know what Niki is referring to but it’s completely normal that we switch modes together you know, we always do that in the races. It’s nothing unusual.”
So who’s lying and who’s telling the truth?
As for the overtakes, there was nothing outwardly wrong with what he did. He defended his line fair and square, furthermore, at no point at that corner, was nico ahead of him.
From the article
“This tit for tat has brought about a change from the Mercedes management, “In the last couple of races we had some little fouls left and right, this is not happening ever again” Toto Wolff said.”
TW seems to be implicating both sides of the garage pretty clearly with that statement.
Did we watch the same Bahrain race? Hamilton shut the door once firmly and a little aggressively which he is entitled to do. The rest of the time he held his line. If Rosberg was a top driver he would still have found a way past, being on better tyres.
It seems Mr Fat Hippo that you have a hatefest against Hamilton. Perhaps this is because you can no longer have the job of “bigging up” your boy Vettel.
And you seem to have quite an irrational beef with me, Mr. cloud 😉
I would not even label this drivel as a fanboy post. It is an opportunity to spout hate…nothing more. Severe omissions and misrepresentations here.
Lewis is half black. Nico is white. Get over it.
And please dont’t reply with the cliches “race card” or “Racist? Not me”
True, but Lewis not coming through would have meant Alonso would have probably won the 2007 championship, as well as the 2008 one as there wouldn’t have been any reason for him to leave. Everything would have been rosy with Kovaleinen in the team supporting, as he did with Lewis in 2008/2009.
I’m not saying Jenson is the perfect human being as he clearly has his flaws, as everybody does, but he’s obviously a lot more savvy than Hamilton, who’s mouth speaks before his brain a lot of the time. Which tarnishes his achievements somewhat I feel.
That’s the main difference between the two, your comments that “he slits throats behind closed doors” will always remain conjecture, as there’s no proof what he is really like, as he keeps it all behind closed doors.
this was supposed to be a reply to @Fortis96, dammit!
There’s no public proof, because he’s good at what he does. But he did let it slip recently, with his comments about the need to have 2 experience drivers in the team, to develop the car.
Which basically means, “sorry, but I don’t think Kmag is giving good enough fees back to help car development.”…. This coming from the who has a history of failed development. Brawn 09, his days at Honda. was all Rubens work, Mclaren 12, he was going nowhere with his car until the team used Lewis’s setup. Last year and this years Mclaren, could not be any worse than their 09 car and they were still able to win 2 races with it. Hence why there was a piece done on here, suggesting that he might be ousted from the team when honda returns. If he loses his seat at Mclaren next year, can you truly see him getting a drive with any of the other top teams?
Personally, I have never really rated him as a driver, he was fortunate with his WDC title, because date winning the first 6 out of 7 races, he literally struggle the rest of the season to hold on to the championship. Had Seb not run out of engines, causing him to miss a few practice sessions, he probably would’ve won the title.
Sorry for the typo, typing on an iPhone isn’t always the best thing to do
Did you see my theory on it being Davidson? Joins BAR – they come strong. Joins Super Aguri – they start beating Honda, developing Brawn 001. Rejoins Mercedes – now they are dominant…
Yes I did and I think you should write it up and submit it. Most interesting and original theory I’d read in a while.
McLaren’s 09 car was a hangover from throwing the kitchen sink at the 2008 title with Lewis….. they redid it from Mid-Season onwards and it was a brand new car. From then on, they were a top team again and Lewis was the best point scorer in the 2nd half of 2009.
Vettel was the top driver in the second half of 2009…hence the reason Jenson was lucky to win the title. If RB had got their act together instead of waiting for the double diffuser to get banned Vettel would now be a 5 time world champ
I meant that since McLaren B-spec (Hungary), Hamilton led the points scored with 5 podiums, Kimi 4, Vettel/Webber 3, Rubens/Jenson 2 (both wins for Rubens). But that’s just looking at results, and there were various unlucky factors for each driver.
I do agree with you on RB’s car development. The Australia collision with Kubica was also costly, but they couldn’t have foreseen that at the time.. without that it would have come down to the last race.
Podiums in 2009 – Button 9, Vettel/Webber 8, Rubens 6, Hamilton/Kimi 5, Trulli 3. So we could say that with just a little more pace consistency, Rubens would have also been in the battle at the end.
Wins – Button 6, Vettel 4, Webber/Rubens/Lewis 2, Kimi 1. By wins, the results look fair, although I agree with your assessment in general. With a little more luck, Vettel could easily have pinched it from Button.
Bianchi is NOT hoping to “ride wave.” Nicolas Todt is.
Do a Google search on the 66 million. On top of my head it was about exchanging dollars for Venezuelan Rubels. Done by someone who raced in the USA.
;-/
It’s also noticeable that E. J. Viso is now not driving Indycars anymore.
blimey
the sail on Pastors boat looks like a private jet
Nah, not a jet. Possibly a prop driven piston engined Cessna or something.
This is a blatant lack of objectivity. Throwing the first stone you’re saying? In that you assume that Rosberg missed that corner on purpose which isn’t intra team battle anymore or disobeying team orders but breach of F1 rules! There were 9 drivers that were potentially affected by his action. When Alonso got pissed on the Radio because Fisichella wouldn’t let him through and finally sent the car to the wall was it a lack of maturity? Hamilton is emotional then what? Does it mean that you need to ignore the facts? Nico disobeyed orders in Bahrain. You seem to ignore that. We need more serious articles. This is not a pub
LAUDA CRITICISES LEWIS’S BEHAVIOUR
When asked by AUTOSPORT about concerns of distrust between his drivers, Lauda said: “Lewis not happy finishing second is normal, but in the end he has to accept another guy was quicker. This is very simple in racing.
“What I did not like, and I have to say, and I will tell him this on Monday, is that when you are up there [on the podium] and you don’t say hello to your team-mate, which Nico has always done, that is not good.
“It’s not because I am well educated, but it’s for the brand Mercedes. This is something I start to worry about now, but it’s easy to fix.”
Hamilton conceded that the Monaco podium was the first time there had been no communication between himself and Rosberg after the race.
“We never really speak on the podium,” he said. “The last four podiums I will just say well done to him, and after we would say this is unbelievable what the team has achieved.
“This weekend we didn’t. But we will I’m sure in the future.”
Agreed. Lewis is the first to talk to his teammate when Lewis wins… Petulant child.
upon review of the data for maldobado’s car late Saturday night Lotus determined the best course of action was too put no fuel Sunday morning on this car. The loss of constructors points was less of a risk then allow ing him to race causing 17 accidents 3 front wings and points to his super license. Lotus had this writing for Maldonado s contract and are expected to enforce it for the Singapore and Abu Dhabi grand prix.
If only!
Good to see someone has written an article saying what many people feel about the weekend.
Bahrain. The team stated that engineers were working against each other with engine modes/ERS settings when the two drivers raced. So I’m wondering where and when Nico used this setting? Radio traffic suggest that if Nico did use it, he was instructed to – that’s very different from what Lauda and Toto said happened in Spain. So far I can find no evidence that anyone other than Lewis is saying Nico had an unfair advantage in Bahrain – and with the greatest respect to Mr Hamilton, he’s not the most reliable of witnesses.
Lewis’ reaction on getting out of the car after qualifying was amazing. He’d not seen the incident, nor the data at that point, but immediately presumed Rosberg to be guilty. That lack of trust in his team mate is something we’ve not seen in F1 for a while. Not even Webber insinuated his team mate was cheat!
Overall though, this is Hamilton in his true light, and why I’ll never be a fan of his even though he’s got massive natural talent. The guy who tells the media he’s going to take a leaf out of Senna’s book, then the next day he claims to be joking – oh the hilarity – Derek Warwick though it very funny… not. The guy who claims to have something in his eye, but has no red eye on getting out of the car, the guy who says he’s friends with Nico, then claims he isn’t, the guy who criticises his team for not been the only team to make a stop before the safety car was deployed, a guy who routinely treats his engineer like something on the bottom of his shoe.
After all that people boo Vettel and say it’s because he ignored team orders and is arrogant? I think they’re booing the wrong guy !
fair enough, Paul
and Lewis been using those manouvers since 2007
though I admit his talent, I hate his behaviour and attitude, he abd Alonso are the ultmate c_nts, it doesn’t surprise me why they’re bff now they’re cast from the same mould
“The guy who claims to have something in his eye, but has no red eye on getting out of the car”
I see what you mean – he deliberately lost 5 seconds to Nico, to fall in to the clutches of Ricciardo, and give F1 fans an exciting final few laps. Very sporting of Lewis.
I have the greatest admiration of any F1 driver who can achieve what Lewis has done in F1 (and other GP series), especially if they are born/grow-up in poor family living in a council estate. Add the fact that Lewis is from a minority that is absent from F1 and other motor sports, that makes his achievements beyond comparison.
I don’t care how good/bad he is in any other respect off the track. I only care about how they perform on the track.
So you’re saying you’re a massive Vettel fan?
Paul..,,
When he got out the car and took off his helmet, didn’t the commentators say, “oh we can see that his left eye looks a bit puffy?”… Furthermore, that was there a close up picture of his eye?… Why would someone lie about something like that?
You say he’s not the most reliable witness, so I take it your talking about Australia 09….but let’s review that again….did it not come to light that, he was actually told by the then team manager, Dave Ryan to give a different account of what happened, after he had already told them what really happened?…. Wasn’t he dismissed from the team, for doing so?…..somehow you forgot to mention that right?….
When schumi incident occurred, didn’t everyone accuse him of foul play, even before they saw the data or the incident, didn’t everyone presumed him guilty without knowing the facts? Was it Lewis the only person, who presumed nico was guilty, without seeing the facts?.. I remember hearing Ted Kravitz saying, “he spoke to mechanics, engineers etc and they all said, that I looked deliberate”… So why aren’t you lambasting them?…
You say you’ve seen no proof that nico gained an unfair advantage in Bahrain, based on radio traffic and so forth….but let’s review that….there relatively little radio traffic that anyone heard between the Mercedes team….
1… When nico complained about the move in turn 1
2…. Discussion about the gap between teammates
3….. Paddy coming on the radio and talking to both drivers
4…. When Lewis came over the radio and said..”I’ve got no power”
5…. Lewis engineer telling him, to change some settings to give him more power
I could go on and on, but I think you see where I’m going.
Now nico was asked about that and he didn’t deny it, he however said, “he doesn’t know what Nikki is talking about, they were all changing settings in the car etc”….. Ask yourself this, he was sitting next to Lewis when it came out, why didn’t he deny it?
If you’ve got a friend that you grew up with, spent time on his dad’s boat, yacht, home and now live in the same building and he’s getting married and didn’t invite you, would you still call him your friend?
You were never a fan of his from the get go, so you can’t now say, “that’s why I’ll never be a fan of his.”
If your going to make criticism, use all the facts available to you and do so, but don’t acknowledge the ones that suit your argument and then ignore those that don’t.
As for the Vettel ignoring team order incident, your now comparing chickens and apple, two different food group. The world heard the team radio and the world heard him say, “mark didn’t deserve to win and if I had to do it again, I would do the same thing”…. What occurred on Sunday, pales in comparison to that.
No driver is perfect and they will all screw up and some point in time, all the greats have done so, so if your looking to support a driver with character that’s a pure as fresh snow falling on the ground, then you’ll never do so. Because they’re all flawed. The line between insanity and genius, is a very fine one.
re. my opinions of TheJudge13’s opinion piece on Hamilton:
1. Worthy of childish tabloid biased sh*t-stirring “click-bait” job.
2. Not worthy of a fair/balanced article to be expected from a “Judge”.
Well said.
It’s unfortunate that such op-ed diarrhea was the first thing I encountered here after several weeks away. B/c now there’s no need to continue reading beyond that screed.
This article falls well below the usual standards on this normally excellent site. Has changed my opinion quite considerably.
Best to read Autosport or James Allen going forward.
The judges articles regarding Lewis are always blatantly one sided which is a shame really as in general the articles are well thought out and balanced. With Hamilton it is a relentles barrage about his off track activities or spurious claims about his mental capacities. Love him or loathe him, only he and Alonso show any real grit and determination when driving and being a sore loser is another trait they both share. This is why they both achieve results, they are driven by the urge to win. Senna was no different and neither was Schumacher. Give it 20 years and you will sing his praises as only his races will be remembered and not all this hubris.
Exactly! There were not that many articles condemning Alonso after crash gate or when he blatantly blackmailed Ron Dennis. Montoya did used to keep his mouth shut and there are many more like that.
I’m pretty sure that Hamilton’s main problem, which is the same as Obama’s is his skin. It some circles, being black isn’t accepted.
Especially when it’s in a elitist sport such as F1.
Sorry, that’s just not true. Alonso was absolutely vilified, perhaps not to the same degree as Vettel, but not far off. It was only once he moved to Ferrari that the media decided to write anything pro Alonso.
The reaction to Hamilton on Twitter doesn’t mirror the press coverage. Lewis was roundly slated yesterday. The press, most of who know which way their bread is buttered, have not really gone anywhere near as offensively as they did for either Alonso nor Vettel though.
Lewis might be misunderstood but insinuating your team mate is a cheat and the teams strategy isn’t as good as the mighty McLaren? Wow. How to win friends and influence people….
Now he didn’t say the team strategy wasn’t as good as Mclaren. He said, “at Mclaren, they had 2 strategist, one for each driver, but at merc, they’ve only got one”…. Did you forget that part as well?
Well it seems thejudge has finally shown his true colours. The manner in which the piece on Lewis was written sounded as if thejudge himself had finally lost it and it came across as someone who had failed to retain their composure….
When Senna mentioned that Prost was a coward, everyone hailed him for his honesty and people still continue to do so. He was and is still praised of his outspoken and truthful comments that were made in times of controversy.
Yet when Lewis has any hint of a frown on his face, he is lambasted even though people bang on about how F1 has become desensitised due to the PR crap that comes out of drivers’ comments. Maybe he’d be better off ignoring the media altogether?
Are you mad man?😄
That would make it worse. If they’re calling him names and saying he’s a prima doña, can you imagine what they’ll say if he refuses to talk to the media?
Headlines, “Lewis refuses to talk to the media”….. I can see the comments now
James Hunt was praised for being a playboy, Kimi for his, “I don’t give a F” attitude, Alonso for his single minded attitude etc.
The level of hypocrisy and double standard journalism is absolutely abysmal.
Lol, i wasn’t actually being serious when i said perhaps he should ignore the media. It was more rhetoric, as every time he is not 100% satisfied the media find a way to twist and manipulate his words and certain people follow. Then when the drivers give the standard media response we all complain as to how robotic their answers are….
I know, that’s why I threw in the “smiley face”…lol
I can’t speak for Hunt, since I was <5 months old when he died. Kimi generally goes about w/out any attitude, rarely do you see anger or brashness like what can happen with Hamilton. Alonso again appears (at least publically) to have a single minded attitude, without the anger/brashness of an unhappy Hamilton.
What I'm trying to say is it's how Hamilton "displays" his personality and emotions that makes the difference compared to Alonso and Kimi.
Ingoring the media is a very good suggestion indeed. Looking to the columns Lewis writes for the BBC, I’d say that he can use some media training and grow up.
@ formula
it’s a bit rich that a cheat and a liar should call someone a coward.
Especially as the said ” coward ” has beaten him when they were team mates …
Prost was just sick of Senna’s bullshit – FACT !
I want to weigh in on Rosberg’s last qualifying lap and the results of it.
I believe the basis of the investigation, Hamilton getting pi**ed and the ‘data’ is around Nico reversing onto the track.
Backing up onto the track with 20 seconds to go was…. Questionable. He could have tried to go to the back left side of the box, got out of the car and hope that his teammate had a sporting chance.
I don’t know of an explicit rule against doing this (at least in Monaco), that’s why IMO he kept his pole. However I am sure most people in the Paddock have a low view of what happened; and I expect the FIA moving to prevent it happening again. (you must try to park the car at the back of nearest slip road after all 4 wheels leave the track whilst during last minute of Q3 etc.)
I believe the ‘data’ Lewis smiled at is about team transmissions of the distance between the two cars in Q3, and Nico’s quick decision to come onto the track.
I’m just too skeptical to believe Nico fluffed it on purpose.
To clarify, your car has to make it back to the pits after qualifying, this was introduced after Hamilton (ironically) set pole in Barcelona without enough fuel to get back to the pits. The one where he lost his time and Maldonardo won the race.
Secondly Nico wasn’t on the track when Lewis approached, nor passed. He was about 3 car lengths down the slip road. This can be seen from the onboard of Lewis’s car as he approaches and passes Mirabeau.
I think you’ll find that your actually wrong.
Qualifying wasn’t finish and that rule only applies at the end of qualifying if your car was not involved in an on track incident. In this case, nico had one.
If nico was not able to find reverse and as such was unable to get the car back to the pits, he would’ve still kept his time. Because his incident didn’t happen on the slowing down lap after qualifying finished.
No he wasn’t on the track, hence the yellow flag….what are you talking about???
And what’s ironic with his car running out of fuel? Was it also ironic when Seb’s car ran out of fuel the same year in Abu Dhabi?
Yet again your choosing the facts that support your lame claims and ignoring those that gives a better perspective of what truly took place.
All I will say is that from a driver’s point of view, Nico did not park it deliberately…. all the ex-F1 drivers have said so (except Herbert), and I would agree. To see how that is done (and badly), we only need to look at Schumi parking it at Rascasse.
Secondly, Lewis was equal with Nico’s pole lap on the aborted S1, and they were roughly even in the rest of the lap. Lewis might have snuck it by a hundredth or so, but it wasn’t guaranteed. Although, my laptime prediction on F1F of 1:15.979 might have been made more accurate than 0.01…..
Seems Niki “nursing a semi for Lewis” Lauda ain’t best pleased eh FH. I worry Hamilton is turning back into his selfish unpleasant self we have seen in the past, just as he seemed to be really happy in life. His “wearing heart on sleeve” personality is one that has serious issues for him when he isn’t completely happy, as we saw in Monaco. It’s why I personally support Jenson, despite him not being the best driver out there.
Oh and another thing – shut up Flavio!!!
Ferrari Formula One driver Fernando Alonso will wave the official starting flag for this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours sportscar race next month.
https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/formula-1-alonso-wave-le-mans-24-hour-200805268–f1.html
Not only giving him a chance to catch up with his old mate Webber – but maybe see if Porsche are willing to supply Ferrari with a decent power unit for this years F14T ………. ?
😉
LOL! Don;t think much can be worse than this year’s power unit… worth a try eh 🙂
Everything is a pretext to bring up Webber and the unjustices inflicted upon him during his Red Bull days paired with Vettel. We get it.