Lewis all-conquering again

Despite a debatable decision to leave him out under the safety car when most of his rivals pitted, Lewis trounced the field for the second race in a row in a dominant performance at Hockenheim which will have left Ferrari scratching their heads about how they are going to turn things around. Lewis was super-quick in the first stint and then did all that was asked of him(and it was quite a lot) to complete the job in the final stages.

The race saw a big shunt for Timo which proved the turning point. Nelson Piquet will forever be grateful as he found himself propelled from 12th to third on a one-stopper which gifted him second place. Felipe, who said he did not have the car he needed to fight Lewis, was third. Fernando had an eventful but fruitless afternoon battling Sebastian Vettel who would not be moved by the Spaniard. Again Fernando looked impatient with his car and he did not impress.

The force is with McLaren and Lewis just now who have come back from their bad patch exceptionally well and the Hungaroring is a favourite track of theirs. Lewis looked subdued afterwards. He is learning to win and take it in his stride with the focus shifting to the long game.

The place looked half empty in many areas which seemed odd. I know Michael isn't driving anymore but there were five other Germans on the grid. More later...

Pic of Lewis by Darren Heath

Comments

[Phil H]

If it's going to be that easy for Lewis to overtake Felipe all the time, then I'm all for Alonso joining Ferrari if he'll put up a fight instead of jumping out of the way at the first opportunity.

[JoseBelgica]

I'm Alonso fan, but Hamilton has done a Brilliant Race!! Well done!! Well deserve number 1.

Heikki, what orders did you receive ? It was too obvious. :-(

[Juan]

"Equal treatment to our pilots", Ron Dennis. Jajaja.

Cosy face of Kova after the race. Nevertheless, amazing race by Hamilton. I am a fervient Alonso supporter but I hope Ham (as I said it at the beginning of the season) catches up the tournament this year.

Concerning Ferrari. This is just too ridicolous.

Piquet!! He won the lottery today. Amazing.

Poor Alonso. Frustrated and unable of doing something coherent with his car.

[El Ponso]

What it looked like another monologue from Lewis in the first part of the race changed dramatically with the entrance of the SC after Timo’s frightening crash. It was a reminder of D’s coment about driver’s physical integrity. It’s no joke.
Some sports fascinate us mainly because they are unpredictable, like football or boxing. Anything can happen in one split second that changes the whole situation upside down. And F-1 is not different, quite the contrary.
Although the way Lewis is driving at the moment I don’t think there’s much room to any surprises as to whom will be the next WC. He just looks unstopable. That mental strenth that he showed back in Monaco is right there, just as in Silverstone. He seems much more centred and focused in what he needs to do. In spite of the SC and the decision to keep him on the track while everybody else was refuelling, he came back with such determination that you could sense that he would eventually overtake everyone till P-1. Some might say that he encountered a poor opposition, Kova and Massa, but still he went on to win the race.
It started rather exciting, with Lewis pulling away and some dogfights in the following bunch and backwards, but it soon became evident that it was again Lewis day. Felipe could not follow him and Kimi was losing time battling somewhere else.
Then the SC really complicated the situation and the team’s decision didn’t help either, but he just wanted to win and so he did.
These are happy times for McLaren fans and not so happy for Ferrari’s. And no to mention Fernando’s, like myself. However, a bad spell can’t last forever as they say.
I’m not that knowledgeable about technical issues, tyres, strategies, etc. and there are others here that would comment on those, but it seems that in Ferrari, right now, things are not going very well. Of course I don’t mean the results of the races, that’s pretty obvious, but the internal affaires. It’s like when you sense that in a football team the dressing room is at odds with the manager. The squad’s potential is there but somehow they just don’t seem to be able to deliver.
A great result for Nelsinho, God knows how much he needed this. First podium of the season for Renault. Was he lucky with the SC going on one stop? Of course he was, but then at some other races he was very unlucky. And this would work wonders with his selfsteem. Well done!
Heidfield is keeping his momentum and had the race lasted a few more laps he might had gone for Felipe.
Sebastian is an upcoming youngster that quietly is getting there. He might be on the podium before the season is over, you wait and see.
And Trulli and Toyota have come some way since the start of the season.
Quote of the race, Lobato’s in Telecinco. He really is a nice guy this Lobato but how he talks… What energy! Anyway, after Lewis overtaking of Felipe while showing the replay he went on about how mediocre a driver Felipe is, and as an oncore, Kimi aswell. And that the bosses at Ferrari would no doubt be taking good note as to who’s driver should be with them next year. ‘Well there’s only one driver here today that can make Ferrari a winner, and we all know who that is…’ , more or less along those lines.
And just then, precisely at that moment, we could all see Fernando’s spin when trying to overtake Vetell. Ha!
A day without a smile is a wasted day… (Charlie Chaplin).

[CPART2]

Ed, hope you had a good weekend.

I think Ferrari are going to feel shell shocked coming out of this weekend. They took another comprehensive beating on a track which has been labelled one of theirs in recent years.

A big well done to Lewis today, he drove a superb race, especially when things turned following the safety car. It's one thing to say it's just the car but he extracted every ounce or performance from it this weekend and hats off to him.

I tend not to descend in the pathetic Alonso debates which go on, but i have to say that he had a mare today. I coldnt believe he was on the radio complaining about vettel forcing him off the pit lane. Alonso would have done exactly the same if he was in vettel's position. Not so magic today or in the last race if i'm correct.

Well done to Nelsiniho, that's another race where he's outdone his x2 world champion team mate (ouch!!)

[D]

^
Hyperbole drove hyperbole !

[MCLAREN THE MOST HYPOCRITICAL TEAM IN F1]

Pussycat boyfriend did the best ever, the most brilliant thrashing of the field imperius overtake ever, ever to Heikki.

[Derek Smith]

So why were the Ferraris so off the pace today? I could accept it if Massa was just slow on his hard set because he couldn't get heat into them, but he was slow on the softs as well, at least compared to Hamilton. He wasn't that much heavier on fuel in the first stint.

Kimi was even worse. I wonder if there's going to be all that much supporting comment in the Italian press tomorrow for their team.

This defeat for them, and this is what it must be, being beaten by a Renault, is quite remarkable. One wonders what they will do now. Panic is my bet.

[Marilyn]

Brilliant race by Lewis, well done, despite a wrong call by the team.
Mr Gorman, I would agree with you, Lewis did look subdued after his win and I noticed it yesterday after qualifying. But can you blame him. He has taken a great beating from the press in recent weeks. So you must forgive him for holding back. Also the anti- hamilton groups would only continue saying how big headed he is. Lewis says he does not read the press and websites. But I bet he does and some of it is not pretty.
Once again Heikki, very poor indeed, should have been 2nd or 3rd. Mclaren cannot win the Constructors with this driver. Hope he can turn it around soon, time is running out.

[jordi]

I don't think the issue is whether Ferrari is off the pace, I think the issue is, where is this suddent difference between the pussycat boyfriend and the rest comes from?

Is not that LH learned a new trick in the last few weeks, is not that Mclaren has made a few improvements (in that case Heikki would be there with him) Where the hell is that second a lap coming from?

[Team Player]

It is today when I finally understood what "being a Team Player" means at McLaren.

¡Go Heikki!

[Matt]

Hi Ed,

would love to get your opinion on this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGvoGqB-j_U

[McLaren mst sporting team in F1]

McLaren won the grand prix
la la la
Lewis is a winner
la la la
I am really happy
la la la
Did you see that awesome driving
la la la
It's great he is English
La la la
I think it's time I finished
La la La

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

There is NO other current driver that could have done that. The onl7 down side is Kovi who isn't up to the standard required to have a McLaren drive, if he were the would be leading the constructors.

[Mrs Bishop]

Great win from Lewis, what started as a predictable race was turned upside down by the safety car and mclarens strategy; making the race alot more entertaining, although i didn't like the look of Glocks crash at all.
I noticed how subdued he was after the race aswell, I think i also remember someone on this very blog taking the mick, and saying he would win and claim it was his best win ever. So that gives the Hamilton bashers less ammunition, and makes Lewis look like a decent bloke.
Can't wait to see Ferraris fight back...if any.

[Alex Reed]

What a tremendous drive by Lewis! He just would not be denied, and won by pure force of will (and force of talent). Remarkable.
Not such happy days in Maranello! I think we can safely surmise that Luca di M. is not pleased, so heads will soon be rolling.....

[McLaren mst sporting team in F1]

Matt
I have just seen your link, seems that being at Ferrari and being the F1 champion has gone to his head, this was just plain nasty, not nice at all.

[Pau]

INCREDIBLE! Team orders exist in McLaren. Policy of equal treatment abandoned. It was all a lie, anyway.

Lewis, do you still you'll win this "fair and square"?

Let me give you an answer. NO!

And it is too bad because you are an awesome driver ...

[Phil H]

The whole Heikki letting him past thing is all pointless really, Lewis was going to get past him regardless, he was over half a second a lap quicker than him. Heikki parked it at the hairpin, but there was no point in getting in the way any longer, neither of them were going to benefit from it.

Can you anti-Hamilton fans not just accept that he destroyed everyone today? You have to pick fault in everything he does. I'm sure if he does win the Championship, it'll only be because Fernando isn't in a leading car.

[Nikka from Kuhmo, Finland]

Hey, hey, hey...Stop there guys. It's only 4-7 points. That's nothing!! Remember last year? Kimi still can do it!

It's amazing how english people jump like mad, thinking that they have won the WDC or the European Cup because they won the first qualifying game. Haven't you learnt to be more prudent? No you haven't.

Maybe, at the end of the season you'll be crying. And that will make some people very happy. Do not sell the chicken before catching it!

I would like to have a closer look to Lewis's car. Not normal to beat Heikki that easy - of course, no team orders, no driver one-two, like last year :)
things are becoming clear!

I understand you getting so happy and excited because you are used to win nothing, but don't be pathetic. Lewis is stiull to win and if ypou celebrate too early, the pain will be err more painful.

[willy]

Ok...Either Lewis car is totally diferent to Heikki's, or Heikki is by far the worst driver in formula one history!
I can't square in my head that Heikki is tenths of a second slower than Lewis in qualifying, and then in the race, he's fighting to hold his position while Lewis is overtaking everybody.
And what about Ron pressing that Buttom Telling cova to let Lewis thru!
Su much for Mr. Ron(dishonest)Dennis "EQUALITY"!
But the biggest mistery is the pace of Lewis car in comparison to the other 19 cars (including kovalainnen's).
How can the sport regulators allow a guy like Ron Dennis that was just fined 100
,000,000 million dollars for cheating,create the program or system (ECU-CARD) that will rule every single car performance...I mean, this is hillarious!
On the other side...How pathetic is to have to ferraris in the hands of two useless second degree drivers.
The owner of ferrari should not only fire the drivers, but also everybody involved in giving this two benchwarmers a contract!.

[daniel ,northants]

To be honest I really love F1 but what really annoys me is that all that is ever talked about is Lewis Lewis Lewis. He is getting such a big head and it's making the sport boring when all the commentators do is talk about Lewis. Give me a break he has done well but it won't last. I predict no points for him in the next race!!!!!

[MaLaren most sporting team in F1]

Well Mr Ecclestone removes Silverstone from the F1 calender whilst also saying, if Donnington isn't ready on time Britain could/will loose its race as F1 will not be going back to Silverstone.
Silverstone sold out, Germany half empty, and that's with the Germans having all those German drivers.
No F1 race should be awarded to any circuit, anywhere in the world if they can't fill the seats.

Anyway, I am so harpy
la la la - la la la
McLaren are the winners
La la la
Ferrari are the sinners
la la la - la la la

Go McLaren, go!

[CHIUNDA]

Pau how desperate can you be that now you want Heikki to do Ferrari's work for them - if Ferrari want to beat Lewis they should have Massa and Kimi do it not for tiffosi and pseudo-tiffosi to start falling back to McLaren driver policy to do the work that $35 Millions worth of driver skill is not able to achieve. Whine about the incompetence of the over paid Ferrari drivers not the McLaren policy - last year it was spygate and now this year you are trying to comb Mclaren procedures to see what else you can exploit? aiich!

[Jay]

Daniel - you must be dreaming to think that Lewis will have no points in the next race.

Cannot believe that a person proclaiming to be from Northants will not support Lewis because "he's getting such a big head" and making the sport boring - are you for your real!???!????

Well done Lewis. I hope you'll continue to do well and give these haters like Daniel grief and heartache!!!!!

[Gary M]

So it is very clear that either Heikki is is trully awful driver or Hamilton is simply an outstanding one, I mean truly outstanding as in one of the best ever.

Everybody here is talking about how great the car is, how it is McLaren that have suddenly found this massive improvement. Well if that is the case then somebody forgot to tell Heikki about it!

How about it is not the car at all? The most obvious answer is that it is Lewis who is the fast one, imagine if Lewis was never at McLaren and they had two drivers like Heikki? Massa would be favourite for the WC by now. If you really believe that the car is responsible for Lewis' results then please somebody explain Heikki?

** Heikki lets Lewis past**

Of course he did. Why anybody has a problem with this is beyond me. Lewis was flying. If it were your team would you really bother risking an incident while one of your drivers overtook the other? It was clear Lewis was going to get past him anyway, of course you would want to make it easier for him, especially when it was your own decisions that put him behind his team mate in the first place.

Any team would would have done that, McLaren would do the same for Heikki if the roles were reversed, they would have done the same for Alonso last season if they had too. This my friends is F1 and if you are seriously complaining about it then you sound like you have no idea about this sport. Give it a rest and think of something else to complain about.

** Massa was awful**

Not sure about this. He had Lewis Hamilton behind him, not the McLaren but Hamilton (see above). He knew he was looking good for a 3rd place why risk that in wasting time trying to fend of Lewis who was going to get past him at some stage anyway. Massa had to think about staying in front of Heidfeld, fighting with Lewis for 3 laps could well have put Heidfield on his arse.

The smart racing driver does not put up much of a fight and gets on the podium, the idiot racing driver does and ends up finishing 4th or even in the gravel.

I think that Massa did an OK job in an average looking car, he finished ahead of his team mate and current WC. I think it is a bit harsh to make comments on his lack of fight when I really think he made the smartest decision. He is not an idiot, like the rest of us he could see how amazingly quick Lewis Hamilton was.

Some fights are better left alone, it is more important to live to fight another day, hopefully then a fight that you have more of a chance of winning. This my friends is great advice and one of the secrets to being successful in anything.

**Alonso**

He must be pretty fed up this morning. Again he drove far too hard. He always drives as if he has something prove, which I guess he does. If he spent more time driving like the Alonso who won two WC's and less like someone trying to get a seat at Ferrari next year he may well fair better.

He is not doing himself any favours at all, I am not sure Ferrari would want him at the moment. He is like the little kid in the street trying to impress everyone on his little bike. He looks cool for a minute but does no look so cool wrapped around a tree crying for his mummy. He really needs to chill out a little, step back and try to remember what made him a great driver in the first place.

I tell yer, he is bloody good that Lewis boy is he not? I think probably everyone with any respect for this sport just has to stand back and savour the moment. We may be quite lucky in getting to witness the birth of what could be one of the greatest drivers to grace this sport.

Of course there is a long way to go yet for the boy, but by the time we find out it would be too late, you cannot go back in time then. So just enjoy the spectacle, give credit where credit is due and maybe in 30 years time you can tell your grand kids you watching when it all began!!

Or not.

[Nikka from Kuhmo, Finland]

Willi, you have a very valid point. this is something that most teams, including Ferrari have complained about. There is a sense of mistrust in the ECU-Card. It is unbelievable that McCheets were allowed to enjoy this form of what to the eyes of most is an unfair advantage. And no doubt that McLaren treat Lewis wth the privilege that they gave him last year. Only that Kova is a pussycat that has no guts to stand up to what is most obvious to everybody. No doubt that car 1 has technical advantages over car 2...Wanna bet???

[MAN FROM PHOTOCOPY SHOP]

Congratulations go to Lewis and McLaren. I am a good guy as you can see,

Just to let you know: Something important is going on. Luca, Stefano, Kimi and Massa have had an emergency meeting this afternoon. They did not look very happy. Some drastic changes are expected.

Hungaroring is the final test for them. Win or bye-bye. Luckily for us, we should have an important upgrade which could give us an extra second per lap. Aother upgrade is expected for Valencia and Monza.

We'll still win the WDC and the Team Championship. Do not understimate Ferrari. I am glad that most of you believe that the championship is a foregone conclusion. Wrong!

[FordGT40]

I really enjoyed that race. Good result for Lewis. As for those annoyed that Hekki let Lewis through - remember this is business. Lewis is leading the championship and thus him maximising his points brings more money and by leading the championship he brings more prestige to McLaren. If Heikki was good enough the roles would be reversed. If you think otherwise, don't start a business.

I disagree with Ed on Alonso and I am not an Alonso fan. I would rather see a bloke in a bad car giving absolutely everything to win even if at times he looks a bit silly doing so. That passion and desire to win is totally absent at Ferrari. Kimi and Felipe are both super uninspiring and I don't expect them to last long at Ferrari. They don't have the hunger that Michael did. Some of the Ferrari greats didn't win much, but left nothing out on the track. Can't say that about these two. Though I do suspect Brundle got it right - this car is a tricky one to setup.

Bring on the next race - looking forward to it.

[Andrew]

I totally aggree with Daniel. I was watching F1 today on ITV and there were some things that totally annoyed me:
1) those damn commercial breaks for 5 minutes every 7 laps
2) those pro-british comments from commentators saying that they are running out of superlatives. Of course you do, if you talk about him using phrases like "famous poise", "legendary skillset", "tremendous drive", "fantastic performance" and "master of wet and master of attack". That makes me sick. No other country is so biased about any driver as Britain.
The same thing about Jenson Button. What's so special about him? The fact that he's british? He's earning 18 million for constantly being in 18th place. To me it's not an achievement.

Speaking about Lewis's speed and "unbeatable talent" - it looks a bit suspicious that Heikki and everyone else is so much slower lately. I don't think that he suddenly found a hidden talent or everyone else lost theirs.

And last thing - is it not forbidden anymore to promote one driver from the team? It is 100% obvious that Heikki was told to let Lewis past. And don't tell me that Hekki started breaking too late...

[JoseBelgica]

As I said before, good win for Hamilton. But Kovalainen.. you do not have the balls to stand up and complain about you being NUMBER TWO !! Disgrace.
It was so obvious that you let Hamilton overtake you by slowing you pace, that even Hamilton almost hit you. You did it in Silverston and today as well. Incredible. More incredible is that nobody FIA is going to investigate this.
Kovalainen, if you do not "stand up for your rights" you will never be a contender for the title.

As for Ferrari, Raikkonen realized he was driving at the end of the race, perhaps he used the automatic pilot until last laps?? Wake up man !

Massa, he chicken out, and play conservative.
No wonder why the crazy Hamilton won the GP, he had the balls to risk, and he won.

N Piquet, well done and you had good luck!
Alonso ????

Renault, your car is slower than my Seat Ibiza ecomotive, in 1st and 2nd gear, i will beat you for sure. Alonso and Piquet lost all the slow curves battles.

Vettel, fantastic race.

Ron Dennis, please, remember us that thing about "equal treatment and no number 1 policy".

Two more weeks till next GP, arrggggggggg I can wait

[SAd day for F1]

How fixed is this racing?? I thought things were bad where Rubens was ordered to pull over for Schumie, but what happened today was disgusting. First Hekki lets LH pass, but then Massa pulls over without a fight and then Piquet. I can't believe the betting palours in England take this type of action. You can't bet F1 in Vegas cause they know it's fixed.

It's a sad day for F1

[jordi]

@ Gary "...If it were your team would you really bother risking an incident while one of your drivers overtook the other?..."

You see Gary, it is not my team, it is Ron Dennis team, you see, that's the all point.

Yes, Ron Dennis is the one that keeps going on about equality, honour, pride and the Queens Mother.

Most of Mclaren fanatics, last year called Alonso "the crying baby" for telling the true, in fact you Gary still calling him that today. Alonso and Spanish fans were also insulted constantly in this blog, but now it has become very clear that the equality policy is just a big pile of rubbish today as it was a year ago.

If Alonso didn't win last year championship was because the "Pussycat boyfriend" had preferential treatment over Alonso.

I knew, we knew, now... you know.

You want to have a Number one in your team?
Fine, but be honest about it.

[GFehr]

To be fair, Nelsinho -- who has never been one of my favorites due to his favored ancestry and little else -- ran a pretty damn respectable race. Even with a second stop, costing him 20-25 seconds more, he may have ended up down there at the lower end of the points, and well ahead of Alonso.

Of course, in thicker traffic he may have lost it instead. As it was, he stayed cool and once he was firmly in second place it did not appear that anyone (except Hamilton) was gaining much on him.

Alonso's first win, as I recall, was at the Hungaroring (sandwiched in between the German fans' trips to the various nomadic brothels on hand). Will be most interesting to see which of them can handle a hot-to-trot Renault better this time around.

[jordi]

Andrew, totally aggree with you.
The funny thing is that british press is very good making heroes, but its even better bringing them down.

[Kohque]

Lewis,

Great for him. Ferrari still will bounce back, but so far McLaren seems to have the upper hand. The partnership with Benz is paying off.

Hockenheim,

What a crap circuit! What is next? A square? Why not a circle? Or maybe just put all the cars in a treadmill and see which of them takes better care of the tires...

Massa,

Thanks! Another performance like that and the seat goes to Kubica or Alonso... He did almost the same move than Kovalainen, but without team orders... Nice!

Raikkonen,

He did better than many think. Did you actually see the race? Didn't you notice how the car lost traction in every curve? Yesterday, he was driving a Renault with steroids. Finished 6th, overtook Kubica, not bad. If you want to finger pointing, point towards THE 'MEN' OF THE PHOTCOPY SHOP ;)

Alonso,

Worst race since the start of the championship. Lost 6 positions, 2 failed attempts to overtake and an unforced error in the hairpin... Having said that, I still like him more that way. This is racing, not a car show. You can't fail if you don't try.

[Gary M]

Jordi, as usual you are just talking a load on nonsense. You obviously have not been watching F1 very long and are getting out of your depth here.

It has got nothing to do with favored drivers, and everything to do with using the ream resourced to make sure that the car most capable of winning the most points is given every chance capable.

If the situation were reversed it would have been Lewis who was told to let Heikki past, there is no doubt about this and anyone with any F1 knowledge knows this.

Did you watch the race?

Heikki was floundering in 4th place with Lewis behind him, he was going nowhere besides being in the same car. Lewis on the other hand managed to pass 2 cars and win the race, this is from the very same position, in the same car with the same amount of fuel.

Again, if this was your team what would you do? They could have waited for Lewis to overtake but this would have wasted time and there is always the chance that they would take each other of the track. Every single F1 team would do the same had they been in the same position, even Renault would have done given the right circumstances. F1 is a team sport, team mates will always help each other when needed to. Heikki's job for the rest of the season is to do all he can to help the team secure as many points as possible.

Your paranoid rantings are silly and only serve to highlight your ignorance of the sport.

Of course Ron Dennis favours Lewis Hamilton, but not because he is Lewis Hamilton but because he represents their best chance of winning anything. God do I really need to explain this to you?

What happened in Monaco last year Jordi? What were the team orders then? They told Lewis not to push Alonso and protect the 1-2.

Just give it a rest Jordi and stop being so paranoid, have you any idea how silly you sound?

[Jorge Lardone]

Another good race, great car and great driver with McLaren and Lewis, great surprise with Piquet, and good race for Massa, Heifield, Kovalainen, Raikkonen and Vettel.
Alonso? it is amazing that the users of this blog and Ed. sayed that he is the best driver of 2008...

[Tim B]

It's not team orders and unequal treatment of drivers if one with no chance of victory, struggling to hold onto his place moves out of the way for a clearly faster teammate who's pursuing the victory. If Heikki had proved during the race that he was as fast as hamilton was today there would have been no instruction to let lewis through.

It's common sense that he let lewis past and concentrate on preserving his 4th place rather than get involved in a fight, letting his rivals catch up and running the risk of a crash with lewis.

McLaren are still treating their drivers equally and their treatment of drivers during the race is meritocratic rather than predetermined.

[P M Reddy]

A faultless race from Lewis Hamilton. Two successive wins speak a lot about his determination and competitive spirit.
However, there were some anxious moments on Sunday when McLaren made strategic error by not calling Lewis for second pit stop during safety car period. But Lewis drove like tiger and overtook all those in front. Any other driver including Iceman would not have done it, except Micheal Schumacher.

P M Redddy, Dubai

[Weasel]

So many "experts", so much "advice", so much stupidity - this is really getting near rock bottom.

[todd]

maybe you can answer this one ed, or someone else...

has santanader bought FOM out or something? do they own F1 now?

Aside from heaps of ads on every track, i've noticed that the last 2 races, every trophy has been a santander logo, rather than a real trophy... *** is that all about?

congrats, you have won the gp, here's a big silver logo. didn't think they were that desperate for money...

[Deadbeat]

I believe McLaren do have a policy of equal treatment in terms of EQUIPMENT and the FIA verified this at Brazil last year. That doesn't mean when one driver is clearly quicker than another in a race, they put commonsense on the back burner.
By the way, this continuing Alonso/Hamilton feud by proxy (fans)is pathetic.

[Derek Smith]

Some interesting points from Gary M. One point I would disagree with is that it has been my experience that he who fights and runs away will live to run away another day.

But after sleeping on it, I think Massa didn't have such a bad race despite 'only' coming third. The car is difficult to set up. Perhaps the choice of wheelbase is the basic problem. (Mind you, I like Massa and am getting a lot of stick from my friends so perhaps I'm whistling in the wind over this one.) But what is unarguable is that he beat his much favoured team mate.

There was an earlier posting suggesting that there was a council of war in the Ferrari motorhome. This is not good news for the championship as it is a sign of panic. Sacking staff when under pressure is as close to suicide as you can get without actually putting a noose around your neck. If Ferrari don't pull themselves together then Lewis will walk the rest of the season, and that will kill the excitement. Ferrari must not think that they've already lost the drivers' championship. They've got a lot of work to do to catch Lewis up, let alone pass him, but it is do-able for a team with their resources.

But what a good race. I watched the highlights last night but it was one of those races where you need to see the whole event to get the best out of it.

Appropo nothing: wasn't that a brilliant image of Lewis coming through the spray at Silverstone.

[Elizabeth]

It's not Alonso Ferrari need right now, it's Ross Brawn.

[Matt Black]

Lewis Hamilton dominates a race, pulling-off two great overtaking moves making F1 look exciting and we get a rash of complaints about 'hypocritical McLaren's team orders'.

Are those guilty of such comments so ridiculously stupid as not to realise:

1. Hamilton is leading the championship and Kovy has little, if any chance this year

2. Kovy wasn't gaining on Massa and Hamilton was lapping over a second quicker than both

3. Because of Hamilton's speed, Kovy moving over allowed McLaren's only real chance of winning the race.

Last year it was very close between Alonso and Hamilton… in fact it was Hamilton who led the championship for the longest – against everyone's expectations (including McLaren's),but they both had a chance of winning it, hence no 'team orders'.

It seems that Hamilton can NEVER, EVER win a race and be universally praised for such a sensational drive – there will always be the negative, hateful comments.

I can only suggest that the culprits must be getting paid handsomely to make such coomments!

If you love F1, just accept and savour witnessing a great drive and stop this childish bitching!

[Candela]

GARY, how persuasive you are. I bet Jordi, as myself, and the rest of bloggers here, must be very convinced that Hamilton might be ever asked to let Heikki overtake him. Wow, congrats for the elaboration! You also showed off that you have been watching F1 for ages, well... keep on watching... and watching.

[Oliver]

Simply amazing. Bravo, Lewis.

Why did HK let LH pass? Who knows... Team orders? Well, Massa did the same and he drives for Ferrari (by the way, Mr. Montezemolo, send that guy back home and bring a real driver, please). Anyway, it's not Hamilton's fault.

And Alonso... I think he will be faster if he drives Fred Flinstone's car.

[Andrew]

I am afraid of only one thing - that it will be news one-driver era, like we had with Schumacher. Almost 7 years in a row. I wasn't even watching formula1 for some years because it was clear who would win. I hope Kimi, Massa, Kubica and others get themselves together and start doing something instead of just giving WC title to puss as a present.

[javiervivaespania]

It has been a very lucky race for Nelsinho, as Fernando said to the Spanish press. However, I think it is unacceptable that Nelsinho has free access to our Champion's telemetry data and set-up details. Nelsinho did a very poor qualification on Saturday so I think it is impossible that he got to the podium yesterday in a fair way. It is very sad that everyone is benefitting from our Champion's knowledge and expertise and that the wrong decisions are always coming from the garage. Last year this was the case with Hamilton, and this year we cannot tolerate the same thing happening to our Champion!
By the way, big disaster for Ferrari. They desperately need Fernando.

[Javier (not VivaEspaña)]

Stunning drive from Lewis. I still don´t like him, but he was really impressive. Congratulations.
Regarding Ferrari drivers, well I would not say that they are opening the door for Alonso (or Kubica).
They are opening it wide, putting the red carpet and are waiting for them with a welcome drink. Kimi has no motivation and Massa is not good enough. They´re not bad, but They do not belong to Ferrari.

[supercampeaobrasileiro]

GReat race from lewis - a stunning drive in a superior car.

Felipe and kimi both suffered as ferrari lost grip, felipe also had brake issues late in race. Dont think massa drove badly, lewis was coming past him in any event - he did after all still make the podium and is only 4 points behind ham.
Hope ferrari can get back on form soon!!

[McCheets]

MATT BLACK

McLaren's team orders yesterday once again expose the blatant hypocrisy of the team. It was not so long ago that Ron Dennis claimed that McLaren allow its drivers to race one another until the world championship becomes a mathematical impossibility for one of the drivers.

As for childish behaviour, you are the last person who should be making such accusations!

[McCheets]

Kovalainen's excellent manoeuvre to overtake Kubica yesterday reminded me of a similar move made by the latter, in the wet, on Hamilton in Shanghai last year.

In the name of consistency, shouldn't Heikki have been given a drive-through penalty?

So much for a conspiracy against McLaren!

[FURIO]

Formula One has a new Master ...

[McCheets]

MALAREN MOST SPORTING TEAM IN F1 (sic)

"No F1 race should be awarded to any circuit, anywhere in the world if they can't fill the seats."

Bernie couldn't care less whether or not the grandstands are full, as long as he gets his fee.

[McCheets]

GARY M

I am sure that many of us have been following F1 long enough to remember that Ron "unlike other teams, we allow are drivers to race one another" Dennis and his squad ask David Coulthard to move over for Hakkinen in the 1997 European GP, and instruct Hakkinen and Coulthard not to race one another in the 1998 Australian GP.

If Righteous Ron were not an Englishman then he would have been crucified long ago, both by the British media and a plethora of purportedly impartial F1 fans.

[F1-Insider]

Matt Black

Excellent post. Maybe the constant negatives from quiet a few is based more on other motives than the team he drives for or his beating of his team-mate last year. Any true, non bigoted F1 fan, can only marvel at Hamilton’s last two race victories regardless as to who they support. Some of the comments on this thread are getting silly to say the least.

Elizabeth

You hit the nail on the head there. Ross would, at an instant just calm the team down. I do think that Kimi is no longer really interested in the way he was a few years ago when at McLaren. Even last year when he won the championship there were many races where he didn’t look the class of the field or the fastest driver as most F1 fans thought he was in his McLaren days (not counting his last year there). Stella, you may have competition

Gary M

Good post. Maybe the Ferrari supports are forgetting how Kimi overtook Massa last year to win the championship. As Derek rightly says, F1 is a team sport first and an individual sport second (maybe one of our Spanish contributors can tell Alonso this).

Derek

Not often I disagree with anything in your posts but I do on the Massa point. To me Massa is a great driver when he’s leading and that’s it. There is (as Lewis said on ITV) no way he would have been able to pass Lewis if the roles had been reversed, when do we eve see Massa overtake cars that are as fast or very nearly as fast as his?
I think Massa is looking slightly better than he is because Kimi is somewhere else nowadays. Ferrari could do a lot worse than bringing Montoya back to F1 as he, like Hamilton is a real racer who will overtake other cars as needed if he’s in the right car, big loss to F1.

Andrew

This is unlikely to happen but at least with McLaren (assuming they don’t sell out completely to Mercedes) they will always let their driver’s race. They either need to bring Kovi up to speed (not sure it’s there) or replace him with a faster driver. Seeing McLaren dominate with Prost/Lauda/Berger and of course Senna was never boring in the way many of Ferraris wins were in the Schumi days.

All in all the last two races have been controlled by the current class of the field, ask any of the other team principles in private what they really think of

[Lucy]

javiervivaespania Alonso actually had to look at Piquets set up details yesterday, he said so in the press conference, so you're totally wrong.
And what was unfair about the way he got to the podium? He had luck with the safety car so stop being so bitter.
Well done Hamilton and Piquet.

[McCheets]

People who constantly attack forum contributors who clearly do not speak English as a first language probably should not take the moral high ground.

[Richard]

@MCCHEETS - 'It was not so long ago that Ron Dennis claimed that McLaren allow its drivers to race one another until the world championship becomes a mathematical impossibility'

Anyone who knows anything about the sport will realise that McLaren will allow their drivers to race each other but they won't choose to make stupid decisions that will only harm the team. To see that they are still racing each other, just ask yourself which McLaren driver was on pole at Silverstone.

Had Heikki held Lewis up for long enough to prevent him taking the win, there would be major mockery from McLaren's detractors, and if they'd crashed whilst fighting each other, it would have been met with derision.

Had Lewis failed to pull away once he'd got past Heikki, you may have had a point, but he simply disappeared and went on to win the race, whereas Heikki maintained his position.

Moving over when your team mate is fighting for the win and is so much quicker than you are is one thing, but playing the supporting role is another. I don't see any evidence that Heikki is playing the number 2 role yet, although it is surely only a matter of time.

Mccheets, I suspect you realise this yourself,and that you are only making these negative comments due to your dislike of McLaren. You need to realise that it's making you look like you know nothing about Formula 1, so do yourself a favour and change the subject.

[Richard]

@Javierviva...'Nelsinho did a very poor qualification on Saturday so I think it is impossible that he got to the podium yesterday in a fair way. It is very sad that everyone is benefitting from our Champion's knowledge and expertise '

Maybe you should read this from ITV F1's website about Nelson's qualifying performance:

Piquet did not deserve to start the race from 17th place; he was very unlucky that his strong showing in practice was not rewarded with a start slot in the top half of the grid.

Because he and Fernando Alonso had been so fast, the team were confident of getting through Q1 without a problem, so they did not send him out early to get a banker lap in.

Others including Ferrari did a lot of laps because the conditions were tricky and they wanted to be sure and a rookie like Piquet needed a little bit more care than Renault gave him.

When he did not make it through to Q2 the team did not support him very well in their press statement about qualifying – saying that his result was disappointing, when in fact it was a lot to do with pressure they had put on him.

His performance in the second half of this race shows that he’s a better driver than he’s been allowed to demonstrate so far and you have to hope that this is the start of something good for him.'

And, as others have pointed out, Nelson suggested that Alonso was using his set up, not the other way around.

[PTM]

Congrats Lewis, it was a fantastic race!
My, my how envious and bitter some people are, I thought Spain was famous for oranges but I see now its full of lemons.

[Richard]

@Javierviva...

I wonder whether you'll appreciate the irony in this Autosport article entitled 'Alonso: Renault Needs Points From Piquet':

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/69328

This is my favourite line: ..'today it will be difficult for him to score any points' (said by Alonso about Piquet).

Nelson clearly read the article and responded, it's a pity Fernando doesn't practice what he preaches!

[javiervivaespania]

Lucy,
I am not bitter, but when I am bitter, I am better. Just a joke and a tribute to Mae West, my friend.

[Jacob]

Classic.

Alonso is being beaten by a Rookie for the second year in a row! And this time, he's number 1 not an equal!!!

It's time he became Flavio's chauffeur full-time instead of embarrassing himself on track.

[STEVO, Madrid]

We are living in times of GREATNESS! King Lewis has come and banished the boredom of the crafted Ferrari/Schuey years, the gifted chamionships, the years of blackmail for Spanky Max - all Hail King Lewis! There have been many pretenders to the crown of Senna (Alonso, you know who you are...) but King Lewis has brushed them all aside as easily as he brushed Massa aside yesterday... Actually, did anyone wet themselves laughing when the TV camera cut to Massa's brother and wife in the garage just after that move? What, just me? You could obviously tell Massa's wife was thinking 'If only I was a pussycat doll too, and then I'd be with a REAL winner!'

Also, I really don't know why Javiervivaespana is so keen for Alonso to go to Ferrai - they already have two slow drivers, two drivers that spin when trying to overtake other cars and they certainly have a driver that can't drive in the wet (remember Fuji last year and Monaco this year? No so magic, after all...) Why would Luca dM want Alonso when he would bring nothing new to the bozo's that already drive for him? There is only one King in the game today, and it is King Lewis!

[Richard]

Here's another perspective on the Lewis/Heikki overtaking manoeuvre.

Imagine you're Heikki, and you are currently being obliterated by your team mate throughout the season. One thing uppermost in your mind at the moment is the preservation of your reputation which has never before come under such scrutiny.

During the race, your team mate is driving the wheels off his car and is clearly the fastest man on the circuit. Due to a quirky pitstop decision, you find yourself in front of said teammate. You know you don't stand any chance of keeping him behind you for long.

You're expected to play the team game under the circumstances, and you accept that it is only sensible to allow your teammate through to fight for the win.

At this point, you have a few choices:

1. You can genuinely fight to keep position, but you're sensible and fair enough not to do this and you know you'll fail anyway.

2. You can drive normally knowing that your teammate will be past you quickly as long as you don't drive defensively. This is probably the 'right' thing to do. However, you realise people might think that you're just poor at defending your position, and this might further damage your reputation.

3. You can allow your teammate through so blatantly that you're seen visibly to be playing the team game, thus limiting the damage to your reputation that option 2 might bring.

Heikki clearly chose option 3, and I can't blame him for that, although there is a risk that the governing body might look at it closely. I'm sure McLaren would have told Heikki not to have defended his position against a much quicker Lewis, but the manner in which he did it was all Heikki's own work.

[jordi]

@ Gary,
Saying that LH had a chance to overtake Alonso at Monaco last year, really shows your knowledge on F1.

RD told Alonso and LH to save the engine for the next race, anything else comes from your wild pussycat boyfriend fantasy world.

[Daniel]

What's the betting Schuey is cleaning the visor of his skid lid, on the decking at his lake geneva home, after a frantic call from Stefano asking him to sort the Fia-rari at Fiorano..??

Of course Heikki let him past, Lewis was clearly quicker and Fia-rari can hardly complain, they got away with it many times when Michael overtook Rubens.

Poor old Alonso really is in the doldrums, to me, the mark of a really great driver is to get an underperforming car back to the top, and "magic" hasn't managed to do that, thus far.. Also, why wasn't Alonso investigated for going over the white line on the way out of the pits, or was there no point as he wasn't fighting at the front ?

[Richard]

Much has been posted about McLaren's inequality between drivers, but I notice nobody has highlighted the fact that it was Heikki who was given the pitstop in Germany not Lewis, thus making life more difficult for Lewis. Had it been the other way around, no doubt it would give the McLaren-bashers more ammunition to claim inequality.

Although I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere, I believe that the pitstop decision may have had more to do with moving Heikki up the field (maybe looking for a 1-2 on Mercedes home turf) rather than anything else.

They may well have thought Lewis could look after himself, but if Heikki can refuel without having to queue behind his teammate, he might be in a very good position to fight for 2nd. Of course, as we all know, he wasn't quick enough, but that's another story.

[Aaron James]

Might wanna chill just a little bit and consider the FIA scrutineers report which makes a little mention of the engine of car number 22 needed further inspection at the Hungaroring and therefore must remain sealed until then...

Looks like Ferrari got on the phone to the FIA and they've stepped in ...

[CHIUNDA]

"If Righteous Ron were not an Englishman then he would have been crucified long ago, both by the British media and a plethora of purportedly impartial F1 fans.
Posted by: McCheets | 21 Jul 2008 11:17:47 "

Oh MCCHEETS you are getting tiring - Ferrari are the masters of this, its is even their policy and clearly they are not Ron Dennis - i don't see anybody crucifying them - more notably in Brazil last year!

[Daniel]

McCheets - Quite. The short one cares only for revenue, he doesn't care if the grandstands are empty. I reckon in five years time there will be so few people if any at gp's and it will be run solely for tv. Very sad, but at £100 for a ticket, it is a bit silly pricing.

[McCheets]

RICHARD

What McLaren did yesterday made perfect sense to me. However, I know how Ron Dennis, the British media, and a legion of British F1 fans would have responded if one M Schumacher had been the beneficiary of such action.

It is the indefensible inconsistency and blatant hypocrisy of those in, around, and the followers of, F1 that I am addressing.

p.s. I am not the one who raised the subject in the first place.

p.p.s. What on earth makes you think that I don't like McLaren?

[Derek Smith]

F1 Insider,

You seem to be in the majority with regards Massa. By way of explanation of my minorty view, I like the way he comes over on the television. Further, after his somewhat rocky start to the season he came back in a bit of a rush and I felt that he had perhaps put everything behind him and had reformed. His pace compared to Kimi - whom I believe is a quality driver - was astounding.

But in my group of F1 nerdish friends my opinion hasn't a lot of support. I like to point out that he remains second in the championship but they like to remind me of Silverstone.

Still, I'm used to being wrong about drivers.

I can't help but feel there must be something fundmentally wrong with the Ferrari. The team suffers with set up problems and it seems to be getting worse. They do not get the bet out of the tyres. Whilst it must be nice to be able to go longer on the same set, it's not that much of an advantage.

Kimi seems frustrated with the lack of development. Massa just seems pleased to be there.

[Richard]

I'm sure this comment will infuriate you Hamilton-haters, but bear in mind that it comes from a triple F1 world champion not known for hyperbole, rather than from an armchair critic:

"It was outstanding. Senna-type driving. Honestly." said Lauda. (speaking about Hamilton's drives at Silverstone and Hockenheim.)

It comes from this article on Autosport today entitled 'Lauda Says Hamilton Could Be Unbeatable';

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/69372

I know comparisons with Senna have sent some people into apoplexy but when the likes of Niki Lauda start to say it, maybe it's time to take notice?

[McLaren most sporting team in F1]

Richard

You say: Mccheets, I suspect you realise this yourself,and that you are only making these negative comments due to your dislike of McLaren. You need to realise that it's making you look like you know nothing about Formula 1, so do yourself a favour and change the subject.

Gold star to you, the guy is obviously a warped bigot who hates all things McLaren. You are not the only one who has noticed this, better to ignore him.

[Gary M]

Oh Jordi, Tell me where I said that Lewis had a chance of overtaking Alonso at Monaco last year and you may have a point.

All I said was that the message to Lewis was not to push Alonso and preserve the 1-2, exactly as happened. Please refrain from mis-quoting me.

My point is that if Ron Dennis really is so unfair as to favor Lewis so much over his team mates as much as your paranoid mind thinks he is then he would have ordered Alonso to slow down to let Lewis catch-up. But he never and team orders came into play to ensure that McLaren left Monaco with as many points as possible. Just like yesterday although this time it was Lewis who was the banker for the win and therefore quite rightly got the benefit of the call.

Over the course of this season you and other like-minded Alonso fans have really seen your delusions and great claims from last season all but destroyed. While your hero is beginning to look and drive like a bit of a duck - except of course and rather bizarrely in the rain (where ducks usually prosper) and has even seen his rookie team mate take the first podium for Renault this year, you have resorted to inventing more nonsense to try and discredit the outstanding performances from Lewis Hamilton.

It is very sad Jordi.

And who actually said that Fernando Alonso was the best driver in F1 this year? My god how things quickly chance in Formula 1. Wouldn't it be interesting to have that vote again?

I cannot hide the fact that I take great pleasure from this situation. After the complete and utter rubbish I have had to read on this blog over the last year not to mention the very unsavory comments and hatred from certain posters I can honestly say I am enjoying the fall from grace of Alonso nearly as much as I am the meteoric success of Lewis Hamilton.

Not that I take any pleasure from seeing Alonso suffer, he was a great champion and a wonderful driver for a couple of years. But I do like the thought of those ungracious and hate filled Alonso fanatics sat staring at their TV's for a glimpse of their hero only to see him spin again for no apparent reason while lewis romps off to yet another commanding victory.

Not bad for someone who cannot drive and needs Alonso to set his car up, someone who cannot win without Ron Dennis giving him favours, someone who pushes the wrong buttons hey?

Till the next race.

[carlos codax]

and so ferrari deperately needs alonso. how people can be tediously biased. who was last year disputing race after race with alonso and hamilton (whom btw had faster cars) but the ferrari drivers?

damn good performance from hamilton. let the british dream he is the new senna, and dire strait him under pression. but in germany felipe started to win the thing. he was pretty wise to notice that fighting hamilton - who is a very good driver, but a lot unstable and imature too - with an inferior car with bad breaks implies a serious risk to end the race in the gravel. otherwise, felipe did the right thing: let hamilton pass. other races will come with a better ferrari set up. four points is no great loss. felipe's comming of age, and has erverything to be the first post-senna brazilian champion.

cheers, felipe! they say you're not a gifted or consistent driver. well, being ahead of kimi and only four points behind hamilton, what about if you were!

[ELCROWLEY]

Well, it's OBVIOUS Kovalainen's car is worst than Ham's.

It's OBVIOUS Kovalainen was told to let Ham pass.

Guys, be prepared to Alonso and Ferrari advise on Monza. They'll have an agree for next year ( I thought it will be for 2010 but seeing last races ferrari wants the BEST driver, and that's Alonso).

[Richard]

MCCHEETS

I don't think any true fan of the sport has a problem when a much faster driver is given the space to pass his teammate when the former is challenging for a win and the latter isn't competitive. This is what McLaren did. Common sense prevailed, and the result was that it improved the spectacle of racing rather than detracted from it, as LH was able to pass two others towards the end of the race to claim the win.

I think true fans of the sport DO have a problem when one driver is heading for a clear victory but he has to slow down and let his teammate through to take the win from him, even when both have a mathematical chance of the title. This is what Ferrari did on more than one occasion. Each time it left the fans feeling cheated, and Ferrari were universally booed on the podium and criticised after it,not just by British fans, but by almost everyone, tifosi included.

McLaren's actions were not inconsistent with driver equality, they did the only sensible thing available to them at the time. I don't think Ron Dennis has ever said that he would tell a driver to fight hard against his teammate under such circumstances, and I'm pretty sure that Heikki would have let Lewis through whether he was told to or not because he knew how much faster he was.

If it were Heikki in the quicker car coming up behind Lewis, the same thing would have happened. You may say this is rubbish, but just bear in mind that Heikki would have taken more points off Lewis's main rival (Massa) by overtaking him for the win than Lewis would have lost by allowing his teammate through.

[Frank]

Great race - Hamilton was indeed quite good. His passes of Massa and Piquet however reminded me a bit of one Michael Schumacher. How-so, well it certainly seemed as though Lewis' position was "this is my race to win, therefore your other blokes need to simply make room for me to drive as I please", forcing Massa off track was absolutely Schumacher-esque. Have been a fan since he made his debut - but I found this bit of driving somewhat offputting.

[Jon T]

The whole team-orders thing came about because when Ferrari did team orders it was tantamount to what other sports calls match-fixing. Schumi and Reubens swapped places when Reubens had the better of MS all race and built a commanding lead, then surrendered it for no reason. That was the kind of unsporting theft of a merited victory they were trying to stop with the rules. It's gone a little overboard in that now it's apparently cheating to let a faster car past according to some people's interpretations!

As has been pointed out, Ferrari's cars mysteriously swapped last year at a circuit that is rightfully Massa's (Brazil, home GP) but I didn't hear many people complain about Massa being denied victory so Kimi could be WC. In that case it was at least so subtle that you couldn't see the strings being pulled but I still found it odd.

Funny also how short some people's memories are. While people were hooting and laughing at Lewis' pit-lane guff in Canada, I didn't see anybody call out BMW, another team with no "favoured" driver, after RK easily slid past NH in a faster car even though he was behind him on the track. Nobody talked about team orders there, it's just good sense not to let one driver ruin the other's race when there's a clear deficit. It's a different ball game to the MS/RB deal I mentioned earlier.

Now can we please stop this nonsense and just enjoy the racing? It was great to see McLaren actually dominate a weekend for once. So far their main victories have relied on Ferrari getting it wrong and I was worried it would be a whitewash this season. It's nice to see they can actually match and better Ferrari's pace sometimes. Well done to all the drivers for actually giving us a spectacle of overtaking and drama for once. It's the first race in a while where there's been real tension up to the last few laps. Great job by NPJr, here's hoping HK gets his game together too to mix up the results in the coming races...

[McCheets]

MCLAREN MOST SPORTING TEAM IN F1

At first I thought that you were someone out having a bit of a laugh, and trying to wind a few people up in the process.

As time has progressed, it is clear that whilst you are a clown, it is wholly unintentional.

[jordi]

@ Gary

"All I said was that the message to Lewis was not to push Alonso and preserve the 1-2, exactly as happened."

You see Gary, that's not exactly what happens. The message wasn't to Lewis, the message was to both drivers to save the engine for the next race. Mr Pussycat boyfriend had not a chance to overtake Alonso (as you seem to agree) but that didn't stop him throwing the toys out of the pram.

Now, do you really think that if RD asked Alonso to slow down only to be overtaken by Hamilton he would do so? Please, not even RD is stupid enough to think that.

I know I won’t stop your wild pussycat boyfriend fantasy, but in my eyes and in many others it has become very clear that equal policy at Mclaren is just rubbish.

I knew, we knew now... you don't want to know.

That doesn’t take away the good races that Hamilton had (Monaco was his best ever, ever, ever).

Do you enjoy the fall from grace of Alonso?

Nothing compared with my enjoyment when Pussycat pressed the wrong button o forgets what a red light means, i'm telling you that was quite enjoyable experience, and I'm sure Pussycat will delight us with some more.

All the best mate.

[willy]

RICHARD.
Explain me like if I was a six year old kid the reason for Heikki bein so off pace.
I do remember last year when Heikki was a "real rookie" with renault, the way he used to outqualify Fissichella with the same equipment.
The problem this year is that Mclaren is making Kovalainnen look worse than last year with a better equipment!
I don't think we will see Ron Dennis giving Lewis orders to let Kova thru, because Lewis will not be slower than Kova at any race! And not because Lewis is faster than anybody, but, because Lewis car will always be faster than any other team-mate they pair him with...It is what it is!!!
Kimi,Montoya,Alonso, and so many other drivers can tell you the way Ron Dennis handle his business. And this kid Lewis hamilton is goin to get the advantage not matter what!...It's part of the "LEGACY" that Ron Dennis is building for his retirement.
Ufortunately Heikki is the puppet of the moment to help Lewis achieve the "TEAM'S (Ron Dennis) GOAL".

[McCheets]

RICHARD

If the reverse had been true, ie. Heikki was considerably quicker than Hamilton, thenHamilton would have been expected to cede his position (for the sake of an argument, let's avoid whether or not he would have done so). Once again, this would have made perfect sense.

Correct me if I am wrong, but in six seasons competing together, which corresponds to approximately 100 races, Barrichello was asked to cede his position to Schumacher on TWO occasions, Austria 2001 and 2002 (there may be another couple of occasions, but I can't recall. Please correct me if I am wrong). In the latter case, both drivers were told not to race one another.

In the three-and-half seasons that they were team-mates, I recall Irvine being asked to move over for Schumacher on three or four occasions – Suzuka ’97 (where Schumacher was fighting for the championship), Barcelona and Austria ’98 (where Irvine mysteriously slowed and then sped up again once Schumacher was through), and France ’99. Again, please correct me if I am wrong.

In 11 seasons (approximately 180 races), Schumacher’s team-mate was asked to move over for him on around five (or possibly six or seven) occasions when winning the championship was a mathematical possibility for that driver, and one more occasion when it was not. Approximately once every 25 races.

The way that McLaren, the British media, and many British fans responded would suggest that this happened every other race. Ron, Nigel Roebuck and many others, felt the need to tell us over and over that at McLaren both drivers are allowed to race one another, and that team orders only play a role when winning the championship is mathematically impossible for one of the drivers. Yesterday’s events demonstrate that this is not the case, as have events on other occasions (eg. Jerez ’97 – it is a shame that the normally erudite and probing media have never provided an in-depth investigation into the bizarre events that took place on the final lap of that race). So why can’t Ron follow the example set by other team owners and keep his mouth shut? How many other teams feel the need to boast about the fact that their drivers are allowed to race one another, and that team orders do not come into play unless the championship is at stake?

Many of the Schumacher/Ferrari critics are well aware that there was a time when a driver was asked to give up his car, and hence potential victory, for the sake of his team-mate. Indeed, such scenarios eventuated on numerous occasions. This allowance was hardly fair play, but I am yet to hear of anybody begrudging Stirling Moss for winning races in such circumstances.

Furthermore, I do not recall too many moaning at the outcome of the ’98 Belgian GP where a demonstrably quicker Ralf Schumacher was asked not to overtake his Jordan team-mate, Damon Hill, who was in the lead. Perhaps this was because ‘our Damon’ was the beneficiary on this occasion. There were always rumours that team orders were at place in Williams in ’92, however this did not seem to bother too many people. Could this be because ‘our Nige’ was the beneficiary?

There are many instances where team orders make perfect sense, particularly if each driver in the team is running a different strategy. Team principals, journalists and F1 fans should be consistent with their views on team orders, ie. not claim such tactics to be acceptable in one set of circumstances, and then launch off into hyperbolic rants in another set of circumstances – generally when a ‘Johnny foreigner’, in particular a Teuton, is the beneficiary.

Please note that I am NOT accusing you of the latter.

[Mrs Bishop]

As many have picked up on this blog Mcheets bends everything in formula one to agree with his "hate maclaren" stance.
When he failed to come up with anything useful to say...

People who constantly attack forum contributors who clearly do not speak English as a first language probably should not take the moral high ground.
Posted by: McCheets | 21 Jul 2008 11:47:03

This was probably due to the fact that the majority believe Lewis "drove his backside off" and apart from his heikki theory he cannot detract from that.
Heikki would have been passed on that lap eventually and has someone earlier in this blog said he took the option to make it look obvious that he was doing it, so much so even Lewis was shocked.

[Kiwi Expat]

I love reading this blog. Some contributors are so disarmingly ignorant and/or biased they are hillarious! Seriously, though, as an old friend told me long ago, pooling ignorance only gives the world a bigger pool of ignorance.
As one who has watched F1 in all of it's manifestations since the mid '50s, plus Formula Tasman when all the F1 greats came to NZ and Australia during their off-seasons, I find the current level of ignorance in some so-called fans to be quite funny, but irritating too. They seem to view F1 as if it was a video game - why can't these people check on how F1 works before writing?
Drivers are obliged to allow faster drivers to pass and in the case of HK moving over to allow LH to pass,he was obliged to do so to make way for the faster car. RD, too, was obliged to ask HK to allow the pass of the faster of the two team cars. Anyway, attempting to keep ahead of faster cars only slows both cars down, which is too counterproductive to consider.
The safety built into current F1 cars is great and a huge step forward after all of the lives that were lost over the years.
On a slightly different note,I find the rabid desire among Brits for instant heroes who are snarled at the instant they can't measure up to silly expectations to be a bit of a worry. Some of the greatest drivers, as judged by their peers, didn't win a World Championship: Moss and Amon are examples. Luck has always had a major influemce in the sport and always will, so LH has to have the breaks as well as great ability, great car and a great team if he is to be a World Champion. After Monaco, Silverstone and the German GP, Lewis and MacLaren-Mercedes look the business: I hope the luck goes their way, but if it doesn't I hope the Brit public are a little patient and don't try to destroy what they have put on an unrealistic pedestal.

[McCheets]

MRS BISHOP

Are you writing on behalf Mr Megabyte, or have you missed the point completely?

It had nothing to do with the Heikki/Lewis incident.

Read the comment made by an individual who frequently mocks dissenting comments made by forum contributors who clearly are not native English speakers.

p.s. I can not understand why you would accuse me of hating McLaren! Please provide one instance of where I have stated this!

[Samuel]

With a consistent and cool-headed Lewis, it is my view that the WDC of this year will be resolved 3 GPs before the final, and Alonso will be able to come down and learn that no driver is irrelevante in the struggle for the WDC, just has Nelson podium implies strong message to the emocional former 2-time WDC.
To my mind,if Nelson could beat Alonso again in Hungarian Grand Prix, I forsee a strong tension similar to the one we saw last year in McLarens. Lets wait and see real test of the sportmanship of Fernando ALonso particularly if Nelson refuses to share his telemetry report with him in Hungry and beat him in a two round straight wins.

[Alex]

"forcing Massa off track was absolutely Schumacher-esque. Have been a fan since he made his debut - but I found this bit of driving somewhat offputting."

Frank, you clearly did not see the moves the incomparable Valentino Rossi pulled later on Sunday to beat a Ducati with a very significant electronic advantage. If you think Hamilton's straightforward pass was "somewhat offputting", you should perhaps take a moment to watch what motorsport's other incomparable genius got up to. Hamilton won a gentlemanly afternoon stroll, Rossi, a dockside knife fight.

[Femstar]

1. KIWI EXPAT makes a lot of sense.
2. Why is it that people find it hard to say welldone Lewis without adding a 'BUT'.
3. Alonso is a great driver in a not great car. - A shame.
4. I remember Fisichella moving over for Alonso a few times. All teams do it.
5. Why cant we all just agree that Alonso and Hamilton are excellent drivers. Its Lewis time to shine. Simple as that.

[jordi]

@ Kiwi expat

"...Drivers are obliged to allow faster drivers to pass and in the case of HK moving over to allow LH to pass,he was obliged to do so to make way for the faster car."

What are you going on about?
Having a faster car does not mean that everybody else must give you way, Shumy trying to pass Alonso comes to mind.

[Richard]

@WILLY - 'Explain me like if I was a six year old kid the reason for Heikki bein so off pace'

OK, here goes:

Giancarlo Fisichella (GF) was Fernando Alonso's (FA) teammate at Renault and he was annihilated by FA. FA was Lewis Hamilton's (LH) teammate at McLaren (when LH was a rookie) and they performed at a similar level. It's fair to assume that both FA and LH are much quicker than GF.

Heikki Kovalainen (HK) was GF's teammate (in his rookie season), and there was little to choose between them. Even if we give the verdict to HK, it was only by a small margin.

Assuming both LH and HK have improved by a similar amount since their rookie season, we can quite easily see that by comparing performances of various teamates, LH is a considerably quicker driver than HK.

There you have it, mystery solved. I can assure you that McLaren don't want to throw away the constructor's title by giving HK a car that runs on 5 cylinders, or whatever, but I don't expect some readers will ever believe this, no matter what evidence is put in front of them.

[Richard]

@MCCHEETS

The situation with Damon/Ralf can't be compared to what happened last weekend. Jordan was about to get its first victory, and I don't think there would have been a team manager on the planet who would have thought it was a good time for his drivers to start racing aggressively. It was very wet, and no other driver was going to challenge Hill for the win. What would you have done, risked them crashing into each other? It was only an issue because Ralf moaned about it. Why on earth would Damon have tried to drive as quickly as possible when you have the victory in the bag on a soaking wet track?

Regarding 1992, on the occasions Patrese was 2nd to Mansell, he was usually way behind at the finish. You only have to look at the overall record of each to see there is no merit in the suggestion that Patrese was being artificially slowed - Mansell 31 GP wins, Patrese 6 GP wins.

Anway, the point is, I don't think McLaren has ever claimed that it never has team orders, they just say their drivers are allowed to race each other. If one is significantly quicker than the other, then of course, they will do what's right for the team. We've seen McLaren suffer for this policy many times in the past, often to Ferrari's advantage. If they have two equal drivers, they will race each other, as they did last year (and they both had very similar results).

[Richard]

KIWI EXPAT - I agree with a lot of what you said but I would take issue that Chris Amon was unlucky not to have won the championship. After all, he never even won a grand prix. I know he was considered unlucky to have never won a GP, but a championship?

[Pau]

To Gary M and Richard,

Lewis was asked to move over for Fernando last year in Hungary. This was team orders to preserve the agreement that each driver should have the right to a final lap in the Q3.

Did Lewis follow team orders at that time? Do I need to tell you the story again? Btw why was Fernando being given the wrong tyres at that pit stop? (remember his conversation with the engineer on the radio was "why are you giving me these set of used hard tyres instead of fresh soft ones"). This coming from McLaren, the best organized team on the planet ...

It is really too bad Lewis ruined his reputation too early, because he is turning out to be a great driver ... really impressive. But as a person, just as bad as Alonso.

[Kiwi Expat]

Jordi, you are a comic genius!
"Obligation" means an obligation to do something is felt and usually acted on, as over a period of time the "obligation" has become accepted as the correct thing to do, whether it is an actual rule or not. In the example I used (which you question) HK would have slowed both himself and LH if he did not allow LH to pass. RD, as Manager with overall responsibility for the team's success or failure, obviously felt an obligation to request HK to do the obligatory thing for the good of the team
Does that make my meaning clear?

[carlos codax]

well, 2008 is a great season. even better than last year. we have been watching wonderful races. drivers like lewis hamilton and felipe massa did a great job in some of them. but also failed miserably. (hamilton in canada was as laughable as massa in silverstone. or even more). the weather has contributed a lot too. silverstone was great. and we still have two exceptional circuits: spa and interlagos. great drivers made mistakes. massa was quiet good in monaco, and it was raining. to be an ace in the wet is not to be the greatest of them all. (senna combined the both of them. but then it was senna). barrichello is the rainmaster at the moment, but lewis is a far better driver (despite the british hysteria around him - for better and worse). i suppose alonso deserves a better car. but i don't think ferrari will hire him. why? because they still have in mind last year: the team beat maclaren with raikkonen and massa doing a GREAT job. and remember massa was essential to raikkonen victory. maybe raikkonen - who is an excellent driver - has been a bit unfortunate at the moment. but maybe the fun of the thing is to wait and see who will improve at the right time. and perhaps the great thing this season is to have at least four drivers with real chances to win the championship - hamilton, massa, raikkonen and even kubica (who's car is not at the same level as the others. shame that kovalainen isn't among them). lewis is an exceptional talent but yet no sennasque genius or a complete rubbish. and i think massa is indeed a great driver. if he wasn't would he ahead of the reigning champion and only four points behind a very promising driver with one of the best cars in the lot? anyway is great to see some genuine enthusiasm on hamilton. prospects are good. but are still prospects. he didn't win anything yet. appart from the fact that he begun driving the best car avaible. and last year he couldn't cope with the pressure. a driver like senna, for instance, had a toleman his first season (84), then a lotus (85-86-87) to finally reach a maclaren (88) and his first real chance to win a season. AND HE WON IT (despite his teamate, a certain... alain prost). comparisons had to be always cautious. what i think is quiet funny is that massa btw seems more consistent in areas that hamilton can't be that good. like qualifying and setting-up. anyway, nowdays is better to watch f-1 than in the schumacher years, don't you agree?

if you're not german, i suppose.