Is Lewis Hamilton going off the rails?
He’s had three full seasons in F1, smashed the record of ‘Youngest World Champion’, and (quite sensibly) evades tax collection by residing in Switzerland. He made himself known to Ron Dennis at the age of ten, politely informing the former Mclaren stalwart, “I’m a British kart champion and I want to race your cars one day.” But has international fame and fortune finally brought Lewis Hamilton crashing to the ground?
There’s no doubting the 25-year-old’s natural ability behind the wheel of a car, as his CV proudly boasts F3, GP2, and obviously F1 titles. He’s always seemed deadly focused on the task in hand, doing anything in his power to win. Even if it means illicitly passing another driver under waved yellows and lying to stewards afterwards about the technicalities of the incident. In my honest opinion, the 2008 title should have gone Felipe Massa’s way; but the sheer effort and dogged determination of Hamilton to hang on and rip the honours from his grasp couldn’t be taken away from him.
Two years on, and he emerges onto the F1 stage minus one key factor in his success story – his father, and former manager, Anthony. They decided to go their separate ways where F1 was concerned before the 2010 season got under way, with Lewis claiming he felt confident enough to go it alone and was relishing the prospect of engaging in many more ‘father-son’ activities away from the circuit.
Bring on the build-up to Australia, only the second round of the season, and what should the lead headlines consist of? “Lewis Hamilton’s car impounded in Melbourne.” What?!
On first glance I assumed that the headlines were alluding to his Formula One vehicle, and I began to feel most heavy-hearted for missing the qualifying coverage. But it soon transpired that the reckless youngster had reportedly been caught doing a ‘burnout’ in his Mercedes road car – in front of a policeman. Not the most sensible tactic to employ, that’s for certain!
But he insisted to press that this wasn’t a case of him letting his hair down now the watchful eye of his father has turned elsewhere; nor was it an expression of the elation he will have undoubtedly felt at winning back his gormless Pussycat Troll. He is who he is, and Formula One hasn’t changed him a bit.
On one hand, I’m inclined to believe him. After all, Hamilton and arrogance go hand-in-hand. But on the other side of the coin, very few people would stick Hamilton and stupidity in the same coop. Has all this success and money gone to his head? Is he simply going to crash and burn his way into F1 obscurity? Will his next lie see him thrown from the sport before he can walk away? Perhaps he’s just having a premature mid-life crisis. It’s to be hoped he’ll get over himself one day.
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What a sorry piece of blah blah. It has no real substance or value, and it would have been far easier for both the writer and the readers to state “I do not like Lewis Hamilton” in one single sentence.
@JN Am guessing you think the golden boy can do no wrong then?
Is far too arrogant / un-British.
“It’s to be hoped he’ll get over himself one day” = spot-on!
What boring, ill-informed gratutious tripe. Check your facts.He didn’t do a doughnut. Have you ever spoken to him? Have you even been in his company? He’s not perfect, agreed. But what would you know sitting at your lap top in your bedroom.
This article is utter rubbish and written by someone who is poorly informed and wreckless.
You accuse Lewis Hamilton of “stealing information from Ferrari”….that’s a very serious charge. What do you have to back this up? How did he steal info from McLaren.
I meant, how did he steal info from Ferrari? Are you accusing him of theft?
Before I get a mob of angry Hamilton fans coming after me armed with baseball bats and goodness-knows-what, I’d just like to re-iterate that this article is an opinion piece that pokes light-hearted fun at misdemeanours made by the driver in question. It doesn’t necessarily replicate my true feelings. Perhaps you should look up the meanings of ‘tongue-in-cheek’ and ‘Devil’s advocate’ if you have a spare moment. Sometimes people write articles in such an opinionated manner, purely to spark reaction among fans. It might be to get a range of people to visit their website, or it might be to encourage feedback (both positive and negative). It doesn’t mean I’m misinformed or don’t know what I’m on about. It’s a tactic of writing. The feedback’s good – keep it coming!
Bev don’t worry about these people, you’ve clearly achieved what this site is for with the amount of comments on your article. As its in the name formula1 fan cast- as in peoples opinions.
I am not a fanatical supporter of Lewis Hamilton, but I do object to people writing falsehoods.
Your article contains a blatant lie…that Lewis Hamilton stole information from Ferrari. This is a venomous piece of junk and nothing more.
You are misinformed and ignorant of the facts at least.
“Light-hearted fun” does not include blatant lies.
Classic tabloid columnist tactic.
bev, as much as I appreciate the “light hearted fun” you propose, you still accuse Hamilton of stealing information from Ferrari. It´s not only wrong and a blatant lie, it´s also very very illegal. As one fellow writer/columnist to another, I suggest you change that bit of information, as someone WILL charge you with false accusations.
I can tell that a colleague of mine did something very similar on his website, a blog, and was actually fouond guilty of false accusations. He was fined £1500
If you want to be Tabloid and not taken seriously as a website, then fine. But don’t squawk when people who DO enjoy F1 and well-informed debate criticise the blatant drivel and unbalanced, not to say inaccurate, so-called comment. You bring amateur websites a bad name.
Are you all on the Lewis Hamilton legal team or fan club? I can’t tell
Can I get this kind of feedback on my columns please?! (with the exception of accusations if slander and blatant sexism?)
Not sexism…just the obvious truth. She couldn’t write a worthy article on the sport so she reverted to what she knows best…Heat or OK magazine.
Craig i know what you mean i whish my articles got this many comments
I thought her articles on Indianopolis, Sato, !adoer and Forti were excellent. This one was designed to stir people up and it has, although the matter of Hamilton may have been lost by the wayside.
Great article Bev, mate couldn’t agree more. Incidentally, where does it say owt about Hamilton pinching info from Ferrari? I missed that
Hi starrider and everyone else, fyi upon reflection some info was edited in the article as people were concentrating on this rather than the article as a whole.
As mentioned earlier in the comments, I personally have nothing against the article, piece, comment or what we should call it. But once again it is paramount for the site – and your own credibility which I have to admit has dropped significantly – to NOT slander Hamiltons name and accusing him of stealing. Simple as that. And if for some reason you feel the need to say that you don´t care and that we are wasting your time, you seriuosly need to take a closer look at what you ae doing here. This site is being linked to from Newsnow.co.uk and it is simply not good enough to just say that you don´t care about serious accusations that you did. Grow up. Take responsibility
@Tom Jones:
You´re right as rain. The article has been edited, that´s not the point. The point is that Bev openly ignores the fact that she wrote it, and even has the nerve to ask us to go somewhere else because no one cares. Yes we do, Bev. yes we do.
I don’t think Bev ignores the fact that she wrote it and I really don’t see why you’re all so steamed up about it. Would you react the same way if it was a less popular, foreign driver? I think not. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion whether you agree or not, and you don’t know for sure that Hamilton was not involved in the implied scandal. I think its time we all moved on.