Hamilton blows hot and cool

Tom Dart writes: You take the long, straight motorway from central Budapest (the M3, today sharing the same car-park resemblance as its English namesake) for twenty minutes and here you are at this curious and curvaceous little track with its curls and twists; as kinky as an FIA President, you might say.

But there was nothing quirky about qualifying at the Hungaroring today. It was an efficient display from Lewis Hamilton with none of the drama of last year as his relationship with Fernando Alonso, his former team-mate, imploded. The hot weather ought to have favoured Ferrari, but the two McLaren-Mercedes were dominant, albeit that Felipe Massa produced a strong drive to push Heikki Kovalainen close for second place on the grid.

You wouldn’t bet against Hamilton sealing a hat-trick of wins on Sunday. In fact, from the tenth pole of his career, you’d strongly bet that he will. Red hot, on fire, all those heat clichés – yes, he certainly is, but it’s his coolness and composure that is so impressive at the moment. With both car and driver improving steadily, he gives the impression that his failure to win the drivers’ championship last year was merely destiny delayed.

How’s this for confidence? “Every time I get in a car I learn something new and feel more and more comfortable,” he said after qualifying. “I’m at my best so far, this is as comfortable as I’ve ever been. I feel on top of things but I have no doubt I have room to improve and I plan on doing that.”

Not that Massa’s ready to concede just yet. “I have the feeling I can push the McLaren guys tomorrow,” he said. And I have the feeling that if he does, Hamilton, so hot and so cool, will push right back.

PS Not wanting to deviate from Ed’s blog tradition… I’m pleased to report that lunch in the McLaren motorhome was a very pleasant beef with onion salad, the meat a similar shade of pink to my face as I struggled back up the six flights of steps to the media centre afterwards.

Comments

[Bob M]

Dear Ed,
been thinking about you this afternoon as I was at Goodwood, and looked through my binoculars down towards boats in the estuary. Then checked this blog, and was sorry to hear that you were not in Hungary - like others, I hope all is well at home.
The other reason that I was sorry that you were not in Hungary was because you missed Timo's 5th! Not bad eh? In aggregate I don't think he has been brilliant, but it's not been shabby either.
Readers: I was fortunate to meet Ed in Barcelona last year. At that GP Timo made a big impression on me in the GP2 race - so I have followed him with interest. Ed has been sceptical (to put it mildly!). I think he has been OK.
Anyway, fingers crossed for tomorrow,
all the best,
Bob M

[Pau]

Hi there first of all I hope whatever it is Ed you and your family are doing OK.

Second, this World Championship seems to be for Lewis. Last year Alonso was a distraction (well they were a distraction to each other!) and with the dove Heikki next to him he has nothing to fear.

As for the Ferrari drivers, what's up with them? Kimi lost the competitive edge. I am still amazed Massa cannot drive under the rain or does not like slow circuits like Hungaroring or Monaco (he will be suffering in Valencia and Singapore). He will never be WDC, although he might win his Brazilian GP. And keep winning Turkey. But this is not enough, obviously.

BMW still one step behind, but Kubica is a great driver. Renault and the other two or more steps behin.

[Pau]

Hi there first of all I hope whatever it is Ed you and your family are doing OK.

Second, this World Championship seems to be for Lewis. Last year Alonso was a distraction (well they were a distraction to each other!) and with the dove Heikki next to him he has nothing to fear.

As for the Ferrari drivers, what's up with them? Kimi lost the competitive edge. I am still amazed Massa cannot drive under the rain or does not like slow circuits like Hungaroring or Monaco (he will be suffering in Valencia and Singapore). He will never be WDC, although he might win his Brazilian GP. And keep winning Turkey. But this is not enough, obviously.

BMW still one step behind, but Kubica is a great driver. Renault and the other two or more steps behin.

[diane]

Have we seen a better driver in recent years, I do not think so. Not only is he a great driver but he does it in style and that is again something the sport has missed for many many years. I hope that he will not miss out on being crowned world champion as he deserves the title

[P M Reddy]

Dear Tom,

No doubt, McLaren dominated qualifying yesterday. They will do today too since it's not easy to overtake at this circuit. McLaren has a fabulous car and famous driver. What more they need?
Ferrari seems to be struggling for the last three races. They should scratch their heads and come up with something new to contain the McLaren jaggernaut

P M Reddy, Dubai

[K.L]

Go Kimi

[McLaren most sporting team in F1]

ED, Hope all's well, come back soon.

Now for my bit: McLaren are the winners lalala, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, now for a one, two - Oh and their engine is totally legal, sorry for all the McLaren haters, lalala

[McLaren most sporting team in F1]

McLaren winners again, Yahoooooooo!

Well done McLaren and well done Ron Dennis you al deserve it.

[Koj Finland]

Two Finns on the podium, if only it was in Finland (how about it Bernie)?

[Anon]

ABSOLUTE star of the race: Felipe Massa

This guy needs a beer the size of his bad luck to get over this.

His start was magnificent and his overtaking maneuvre perfect on Lewis.

SOOOO sad for him and Ferrari. They deserved to defeat McLaren easily.

So, for the usual pointers.

1.) Heikki- wins his sort of home GP. You need some luck to win a GP, and here Heikki got a ton. First Lewis goes byebye, then Felipe joins the fun.

2.) Timo- FIVE races straibght with a "weird bloke on the podium". Coulthard in Canada, Trulli in France, Barrichello in Britain, Piquet in Germany and now Glock in Hungary. Could you even imagine that happening last year? Great driving.

3.) Kimi- Once again, Renault showed that their strat sucks. Alonso would have gotten podium, especially seeing how Kimi had to preserve his engine. But a solid drive, I guess.

4.) Fernando- the moment Kimi got past him, Kimi started setting the fastest laps. That shows you the pressure Fernando had on his shoulders! Great result, gets Webber in the package. Good start.

5.) Lewis- for once, one of my preds goes right. Alas, his tires. Popopopopop. He is SO lucky that Felipe didn't get the championship lead. The fact that he expands his lead is disgusting ina sense. At least Fernando beat him fair and square. Oh wait, no, not fair, cuz Fernando has a horrible car.

6.) Piquet- he woke up! Here is the Piquet we expected at the start of the season. Still can't beat Fernando.

7.) Trulli- also ran.

8.) Robert- BMW have so shifted their resources to '09. Ever since the Canada win it has been going downhill. THey don't care about '08, ONLY '09.

Star of the race: Felipe Massa

Overtaking Maneuvre of the race: Felipe Massa, on Lewis Hamilton, on Lap 1

Ferrari- get Felipe beer. Lots of it. AND FIX THE ENGINES.

McLaren- Lucky. Ferrari have striked back. Real hard. I don't see them winning the constructor's anymore. Maybe Lewis the drivers. But Felipe is really, really ON right now. His drive was amazing. As in Turkey last year, Lewis is SOOO lucky. Turkey last year cuz he popped close to the pits. This year because his rival had an engine burst. Couldnt it please have been Kimi? Jis drive was boring and he couldn't have gone past Fernando, who would have taken podium.

[Anon]

"Hamilton Blows Hot and Cool"

No. Today Hamilton just blew it, along with his tires.

"“I have the feeling I can push the McLaren guys tomorrow,”"- Massa

...but my engine couldn't take the pushing.

Siiiiigh. I don't like Massa that much. He is uncharismatic sand doesn't make much of a show unlike drivers like Fernando or Kimi or Lewis.

But this race, I hope, will reconcile his critics with him. He was sooo good today as Kimi could nt do anything, heikki was off pace, Lewis blew it, the BMWs were nowhere, etc. The most unfair mechanical failure. THis one goes to the top of the most unfair moments of F1, along with Mansell's tire blowout which handed the champoionship to Prost. At least with tires, some responsibility can be given to the driver. Sometimes engines too. But Felipe was not pushing. It was simply a reliability issue.

Which helps Ferrari. Cuz everyone time a team says they are improvoing reliability, their engine gains 20 horsepower.

[Sam]

Hi Tom, I hope all is well with Ed.
You don´t ever feel the effect of the Ed`s blog untill you got addicted to it. This blog is getting to be part of F1´s GP for me.
Good to have the McLarens win again this weekend... What a luck for Massa and Lewis?
Congrat Hikki...

[Marilyn]

Great for Heikki pleased that he has finally got a win. I know many will be saying lucky win. But a win is a win no matter how it comes to you. At least Heikki will not be getting any stick about the win. Just imagine if Lewis had won it that way. The forums around the Internet would be in meltdown. So all in all it has been a good weekend for the boys in silver. Keep up the good work.

[B Cave]

Usual stupid comments on here. Lewis drove well - Massa overtook him but that is the nature of F1 - it is unpredictable. Lewis would have won if he hadn't got a puncture. Massa would have won if his engine hadn't failed. Heikki won because of Lewis' and Massa's misfortunes. That's the real truth - just because Lewis didn't win, we get the usual senseless Hamilton-bashing on here. Lewis did brilliantly to recover from 12th to 5th and do a very long stint on the softer tyres. Hang on, wait, Lewis gets bashed EVEN when he does win. Silly me!

[B Cave]

Before the plethora of comments about how Lewis caused the puncture by tyre wear caused by his style of driving, Bridgestone at time of writing, have said it was due to debris and not tyre wear, but are still doing an analysis. No doubt this fact won't stem the bashing, but it's still a fact, like it or not.

[FordGT40]

I think we should just be grateful that the race wasn't as boring and procession like as most people expected. Most thought that after the 1st lap the action would be over until the chequered flag. Thankfully, not so.

[Anon]

B Cave: how could you possibly say Massa's overtake was the nature of F1. Whenever Lewis makes an overtaking maneuvre everybodypraises his wheel to wheel racing and blah blah blah. Here, Felipe got him clean. Lewis got totally owned off the line. This does not make a him a better or worse driver. But it happened. Yes, Lewis is not invincible.

Oh, and for he overtaking:

""He didn't defend very well. All I know is that if it was the other way around then he wouldn't have got past" - Lewis Hamilton, after the Hockenheim GO, on his move on Felipe Massa

Tut tut.

And for the tires: now, 3 in one and a half years. In comparison: Fernando, zero in 1 and 1/2 years.

And about the debris: Planet F-1, for once, said something right: that the comments about debris can be shuffled in the "well, that's what they would say, right?" drawer.

Considering this happened in a race with literally no crashes and no bumps, it comes off really funny. Oh, and of course, who else to get it apart from second placed Lewis Hamilton. Curse Fernando and his voodoo.

Now, the tire problem would be fine if he wasn't so careless about it. If he won today and sealed the McLaren one-two, his championship would be virtually guaranteed and McLaren would be in a great position right now. But instead of going "We need to work together and fix this problem" he says that he lost a championship because of tires and it just happens. I add: to him.

Now, of course, this makes me a Lewis basher, a McLaren hater, etc. Meanwhile, everybody can make personal attacks on Fernando and they are heroes.

For a Hungarian GP, not bad. I had expected that this GP would be dramatic. For the past three years in a row it has been (including this one). And it wasn't won from pole!

[Gary M]

The man of the day was certainly Massa, I really felt for him, he worked so hard to get that win and I never like anyone to be robbed of a win under any circumstances. Bad luck Massa but at least you can hold your head high.

A great win for Heikki, I was pleased for him and he did deserve it based on his race yesterday. Though not based on his poor season so far, maybe he can turn things around now with his maiden win behind him.

Unlucky for Lewis, I would have been gobsmacked if it was tire wear that had caused his issues, he was not on the track long enough on that set. So no surprise to see it was caused by debris on the track. Good for him that he seemed to be maturing well, kept in on the road and got back to the pits in one piece.

He was smart enough not to push Fernando too hard and save his hated soft tires, even managing to last longer on them that he has ever done. A good intelligent drive to collect a few points and made even more so by Massa's misfortune.

You can talk about Silverstone and Monaco but Lewis's drive yesterday was the drive of a champion.

Was also pleased for Glock, he is one of those drivers that really deserve days like yesterday. He drove like a demon and worked so hard to get 2nd, really nice to see him get his rewards.

I thought the Renaults looked quite good yesterday and nice to see them both in the points. Alonso probably did as good as he could and managed to fend off Kimi for a good stint. A pretty good race for Alonso really and much better than his last few efforts, maybe he is coming back to form?

* If you watch the start again you will see how Alonso might well have got into 3rd at the first bend if not for being checked on the approach. I swear he was going for it.

So all in all not a bad race really, plenty to talk about anyway.

It was worth noticing how Heikki was congratulated by everyone at McLaren, Ron Dennis was VERY PLEASED, Lewis seemed happy for his team mate too. What a great TEAM atmosphere they seem to have at McLaren at the moment.

Is it not time we stopped with all the rubbish about Heikki not being given every chance to win races and being treated as inferior to Lewis?

Ron Dennis - "Welcome to the world of winning...the first of many"

Nuff said.

[Anon]

OK, first for the tires.

"Lewis Hamilton exposed himself to a greater risk of getting a puncture by flat-spotting his tyre during the Hungarian Grand Prix."- F-1 Live

Hirohide Hamashima- ""A flat spot makes you more vulnerable to a puncture because it makes the tyre thinner in that area and therefore you have less protection against debris damage. "

Tire issue solved. Lewis's fault although not as drastic as Turkey last year but still stimulated by his driving.

Gary M: forgive me saying that if Lewis's drive yesterday was one of a champion's, then I prefer the driving of bored Finns like Kimi or Heikki!

But sure, he salvaged the most out of his mistake.

Now, as bit of '07 controversy.

"He [Ron Dennis] insisted that 'only one' former McLaren driver has ever complained about driver inequality"- F-1 Live

What utter bull. Hilarious. Really, then?

Prost- team favored Senna
Coulthard- team favored Hakkinen
Montoya- I feel Alonso
Alonso- team favored Lewis

That's three drivers, plus one agreeing with another. 3.5 let's say. Poor Ron Dennis forgot to count. This one goes up with the "We're racing Fernando" comment.

Gary M: well, considerng Lewis blew himself out of contention, sure, Heikki got the win. But realize what had to happen:

BMW off pace
Kimi off pace
Lewis blows
Felipe's engine blows

Now, if noly this happens every now and then, then Heikki can be on a par with Lewis!

Naw, but seriously, I don't doubt Ron was happy with Heikki's win. He loves them stout, never questioning, Finns. MH, KR, and now HK. Good little Heikki.

Imagined if Heikki's engine blew- Timo win. Wow.

[F1-Insider]

Gary M

Well said and in particular your comment re Hami’s drive, for probably the first time I have watched he was in total control of both himself and the car and the big game, this was a drive of a champion. Had he wanted he could easily have chopped Massa to stop him overtaking but at what cost to him? This was on his mind and as the likes of Lauda have been saying, it’s points, points.

Last year he would have gone for it and stopped Massa, maybe taking them both of or made a rash attempt to get it back and as you rightly observed he would have won if it had not been for the puncture either through Massa’s misfortune o0r on the McLaren strategy anyway, in any case he left Hungary with an increased lead in the championship.

The real reason why Massa drove so well was nothing more than the ambient temperature, for sure the Ferrari likes it when the track is hotter and we’ll never know how much of Hami’s pace at the stage of the race due to him playing the longer game preserving his tyres (again for all the Hami knockers the puncture was caused be debris, nothing more or less, just rotten luck).

Hami is certainly maturing and getting better by the race.

One thing I will say and I am sure others have noticed it but Massa and Hami seem to have a lot of respect for each other and seem rather friendly which is great to see, hats off to the both of them. What is absolutely certain is McLaren are a far better team without Alonso there, one can both sense and see this and I get a feeling that maybe, just maybe we have already seen the best of Alonso as he just has a nasty side to him. His recent bleating on about McLaren again proves this, he just can’t help himself, this is a great shame as when he is good and all’s going well he is a great driver (or was?) and I for one was overjoyed when he joined McLaren, but boy did he make a mess of that.

As an aside I was extremely pleased that the FIA gave the Mercedes engine the all clear as with the entire Mosley thing I did wonder if he/the FIA would do anything to put the brakes on Ron’s team. I hope for both McLaren and F1 that the FIA let the tile run without undue interference I also hope they inspect all the other engines with the same vigour they did the merc unit.

[PTM]

Congrats Heikki, great win!
Excelent drive by Glock, Massa and Lewis. It looks like it's not going to be decided till the last race.
Tom – welcome to the blog, hope the childish bickering doesn’t put you off.

[Kohque]

The driver of the weekend goes to Massa. No buts. The best: A great qualifying and start.

Still, Kimi showed once again why he should never be underated... He set the fastest lap, twice. Lack of consistency during qualifying could be only temporary.

Congratulations to Kovalainen. He started heavier than Hamilton, which gives more merit to his 2nd position in qualifying. Nevertheless, he set slower times than his team mate almost in every lap. He didn't race better or faster. He was just luckier.

Hamilton did a good race. Maybe, just too many corners for his driving style... His pace was not that fast behind Alonso, but I think it can be explained by the use of the softer set of tires, which did a particular bad job with the McLaren's.

[Carlos, Manila]

Yes Dennis was HAPPY alright, so HAPPY that he did not even bother to go up on the Podium to honor Heiki. Perhaps he was busy backstage consoling his baby.

[Luis Gil Alonso]

Raikkonen is behind "the person who `was alone when he celebrated his victory in Hungary 2007 ( No one of his team was with him )". For us is better if Hamilton wins this year but Raikkonen will win again.

[Keith]

I wonder what was on Lewis mind crossing the line after Alonso and Kova winnig the race.
Anyway if he learns how to keep the tires the championship is secured, dont't worry B Cave!

[CPART2]

Anon, why do you bother?

I reckon most people who come on here probably just read the first two paragrpahs of your posts then scroll down. it's always full of the same old nonsense.

I agree with you in that Massa was clearly the best driver of the day but what you say about Lewis and his tyres is total rubbish. do you dream this stuff up?

[Stephen]

Re the comments that Hamilton `blew it' and Massa did the drive of the race, sorry I thought the result was Hamilton 5th, Massa DNF. Formula 1 is not a competition where being first with three laps to go counts for anything. Massa would have done the drive of the race if he'd finished it. Secondly time was when if an engine blew the commentators would be querying whether the driver had overcooked things. In this instance did Ferrari `tweak' Massa's engine management system to get more power, but this was at the expenses of the engine's longevity?

[Anon]

CPART2- GReat! Cuz I think you write nonsense too. I only read the first sentence.

Stephen- ello mate. 1.) THe engine was not Mass's fault. Why? Because he was not stressing it. In fact, he letting his lead slip enormously just to have it not boil. 2.) M assa was beating Hamilton throughtout the whole race! Take care.

[torpedo]

cpart2, are you sure that this sunday you had turned on your TV? what kind of race was you seeing on sunday? I think is quite clever LH damaged his tyres, is very useful to see him making sererals flat spots per race. And this Sunday, one second before the incident, another one with his disctinctive white smoke. Of course, this is a coincidence, isn't you? Or maybe LH was lighting an "Habano" to celebrate another great victory of the one and only? And finally, for me and another posters is a pleasure to read the Anon comments(and others, of course, including you), but maybe next time you must change "scroll down" for "close window - tab" ;)

Ah! Kohque, fantastic sentence: "What is absolutely certain is McLaren are a far better team without Alonso there". Incredible but true.

[torpedo]

One more thing: There are two drivers in McLaren and this sunday one of them modified his driving form to preserve his tyres. Maybe "Habano man"? ;) Heikki, good work :)

Regards

[Pinaster]

CPART2. Sorry, I read Anon comments, and I like and agree most of them. But I read too all the comments, even those that express quite opposite opinions to mine. I even read comments like yours, comments that instead exposing reasons are coarse ad hominem arguments.
That reminds that an intelligent discussion is not affordable for many people, so yes, why Anon should bother answering you?

[jordi]

CPART2, sorry mate, I tryed to read after your first line and I fond myself reading someone else, can you post it again?

I will say only one thing, on saturday after qualy, while all the papers were talking about the upcoming "hat-trick" of wins from Hamilton, the pussycat boyfriend said in several ocassions that he could go faster.

Faster than who?

[Gary M]

How long exactly is this nonsense going to carry on for?

Jordi, Anon, Pinaster, Torpedo and friends. I really, really, really have had enough of the utter tripe you people talk day after day. My god are you not bored of yourselves?

[Pinaster]

Gary, its a good new to hear that you quit. I think we can survive without your deep philosophical essays, but I think News of The World blog would be delighted with your brilliant contributions. As a goodbye present, please, accept a box of chalk.

[Anon]

I am so sorry Gary. I should have realized that having a different opinion than you was bad for your mental health and that when Lewis loses you become quite exasperated. Hopefully Valencia will make you normal again.

[Keith]

How old are we?8? This "nonsense" will carry on as long as we have freedom of speech thanks to this great blog.
Every person has an opinion. If you dont like it you always have the choice of going to another blog.

[Gary M]

@ Keith

"Are we 8?" Well, sometimes I do wonder.

Well you point out that you have freedom of speech and then go on to tell me that if I do not like what you say I should move to another blog????

Does freedom of speech not extend to people who do not agree with what you say and want to say so? Or does anybody with a different opinion to you have to leave the blog? mmmm.....

So I never even mentioned your name, but maybe you see yourself as part of that group. All I was referring to is the fact there is people on this blog who cannot change the record. I have been on this blog since the start of last season and there are some people who just repeat the same old rubbish time after time. I am quite within my rights to point this out whenever I want to. Because it is true, it is getting boring.

There is collection of people who yourself seems to have shown an affinity for that have no real interest or love for Formula 1 and are only here to slag off Lewis Hamilton at any opportunity possible. The lack of F1 knowledge is astounding, any situation or event is twisted around to fit the view that Lewis is crap and Alonso is a god and the truth is discarded at any opportunity in preference for more lies that prove how awful LH actually is.

It is making these comments unreadable and it is making this blog unattractive.

If you do not like me pointing this out then fair enough but please do not suggest that if I do not like it I should leave!

I am merely wondering why the authors of such posts are not boring themselves as much as they are boring everybody else?

Have you nobody not noticed the lack of activity from many of our long standing commentators, the posters who brought valuable insights and interesting comments to this blog? Some who's opinions varied greatly and who's views I would often disagree with but who all shared a real passion for this sport. Once can only assume they are all bored of the nonsense too.

[Pinaster]

Oh God. It was all a bluff, hes not quitting! Still here, but he kept the packet of chalk. Now is using it to point who is a true f1 lover and expert among himself, and who is not. You dont get it, do you? Oh dear.

[Andy G]

I stopped spending much time on this blog last year. With so many loud mouthed but small brained people who want to reduce this sport to a gladitorial contest between heroes and villians (individual and corporate) it just becomes boring and stupid. I do wish these fools would go away, it's nothing to do with freedom of speech (a must in my book) but how's that hard won right is used. What I think we need here is a quality threshold, something that the vexatious and ignorant trouble makers would not exceed.

[Pinaster]

OK, whatever. Maybe once some people will walk what they talk, and will stop denigrating the "dissidents". I will find much more useful an age and maturity (some will never learn) control, than a "quality threshold".

[Keith]

Ja, ja , ja Gary M you make me laugh, you are funny!
You can twist my words as much as you want, look I DO mention your name cause I'm refering to you.
Again, you don't like this blog?
Help yourself...

[Anon]

Gary M: I'm writing one more post on your subject. One. After this, I won't even look at this thread.

you seem to forget, my dear sir, the existence of the mirror. The mirror is an object which allows one to see himself as others perceive him. I suggest you use it.

Because I could write your whole post about you and your friends on this blog by changing a few key words.

Does freedom of speech not extend to people who do not agree with what you say and want to say so? Or does anybody with a different opinion to you have to leave the blog? mmmm.....

So I never even mentioned your name, but maybe you see yourself as part of that group. All I was referring to is the fact there is people on this blog who cannot change the record. I have been on this blog since the start of last season and there are some people who just repeat the same old rubbish time after time. I am quite within my rights to point this out whenever I want to. Because it is true, it is getting boring.

There is collection of people who yourself seems to have shown an affinity for that have no real interest or love for Formula 1 and are only here to slag off Fernando Alonso at any opportunity possible. The lack of F1 knowledge is astounding, any situation or event is twisted around to fit the view that Fernando is crap and Hamilton is a god and the truth is discarded at any opportunity in preference for more lies that prove how awful FA actually is.

It is making these comments unreadable and it is making this blog unattractive.

If you do not like me pointing this out then fair enough but please do not suggest that if I do not like it I should leave!

I am merely wondering why the authors of such posts are not boring themselves as much as they are boring everybody else?

Have you nobody not noticed the lack of activity from many of our long standing commentators, the posters who brought valuable insights and interesting comments to this blog? Some who's opinions varied greatly and who's views I would often disagree with but who all shared a real passion for this sport. Once can only assume they are all bored of the nonsense too.

Gary , Gary, Gary. You sit here and tell us that when Lewis gets overtaken off the line by a third-placed guy and that when he flat-spots his tire and ets a puncture that it is the drive of a champion. THen you come here trumpeting how you know more about F1, and love F1, more than anybody else. My dear friend, you may have been in F1 longer than I have, and you probably have. But when you come saying the above things that a drive of a champion is to blow your tires up for the third or fourth time in one and a half years when others never have it happen to them, then I think you quite delusional. And when you start barking at us you come off as astoundingly rude. Pinaster suggested you leave the blog because apparently you can't take others who have somethin else to say then you. It's a suggestion. You don't have to leave. But if you do stay, please have the common decency not to act like a bull dog.

Andy G: you do the same thing. Except heores are villains in your book, and vice-versa. Which is fine. But don't come pretending that you're book is smarter and due to the result of a bigger brain.

[Richard]

ED/TOM - I'm all for freedom of speech but unless this blog is moderated to weed out the %*@* (Andy G sums it up well), I can see all the genuine F1 fans going elsewhere. That would be a real shame because there have been some great contributions during the time I've been reading it.

I think the genuine fans want to talk about genuine and interesting issues, and I'm sure there would be many insightful posts if the threads weren't bogged down with all the childish rubbish we're seeing so regularly.

It seems to me that there's a minority of regular posters who cause the majority of this. It looks like they're going to end up being the only ones posting as all the more mature, intelligent, and knowledgeable F1 fans go elsewhere after growing tired of trying to discuss matters rationally with those who have no desire to reciprocate.

I originally began this post with the intention of making the point that there's no evidence that Hamilton caused the puncture, and just flat spotting the tyre is unlikely to be the cause. How many drivers flat spot a tyre during each GP? Did anyone see the big lock-up Massa had whilst trying to pass LH into the first corner? Surely, if a tyre is so badly flat spotted to have caused it to weaken in this way, the car would probably be undriveable due to vibrations (remember Kimi doing this some years ago, and it eventually broke his suspension). Likewise, there's no evidence that Massa caused the engine to blow. Teams know exactly how hard they can push their engines, and they certainly wouldn't have allowed FM to take his beyond known limits. I'm not making these comments for any other reason than it's how I see things after following the sport for over 35 years. I'm defending both McLaren and Ferrari drivers so I hope it might deter those from accusing me of being pro-this or anti-that.

I'd be happy to have a genuine debate about these points, but instead, it will inevitably result in yet more childish bickering, and I've had enough of it.

So Ed, thanks for creating the blog, I've enjoyed much of my time on it, and I will still check regularly to see if the quality improves. But until it does, I don't think I'll be posting again.

Best wishes to you all.

[Anon]

Richard: OK, here is whyI think Lewis flat-spotted his tires. Let's see if I am reasonable.

See, I make daily rounds of F-1 news site. AMong my list (they are this blog, the official F-1 site, BBC for the Webber collumn, ITV for the Coulthard column, F-1 Live, and Planet F-1).

So, a few days I read F1-Live.

And they said this:

"Lewis Hamilton exposed himself to a greater risk of getting a puncture by flat-spotting his tyre during the Hungarian Grand Prix.

That was the analysis at the Hungaroring of Bridgestone's racing boss Hirohide Hamashima, who said immediately after the race that the McLaren driver's problem was probably the result of hitting debris rather than a failure. A flat spot makes you more vulnerable to a puncture," the Japanese told the Telegraph, "because it makes the tyre thinner in that area and therefore you have less protection against debris damage."

Hamilton had three tyre problems in his rookie title challenge last year, leading some to suggest his notably aggressive driving style may be contributing to the problem.

He told reporters in Budapest: "I was the one to get a puncture and it was a case of 'Oh no, not again'."

"I had it three times last year and that's what really lost me the championship," Hamilton added."- F1-Live

The URL: http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/080804101412.shtml

Now, Richard, you're argument makes sense. But now, would you be childish enough to go contradict the highest, partial, authority on this?

So please, stop calling us childish. Because, although I'm polite enough not to say it, all you guys do is say everybody else has no idea what they are talking about and that you have all the answers. Apparently not. You can tell me that once you win your first F1 championship.

[Pinaster]

Best wishes to you too, Richard. Im confused. When you say that Andy sumes it up well, I´m not sure if you mean that he is an example of a %*@* to be weeded out, or that you have his same opinion. Please, excuse my english.
In the second alternative, I dont know if you mind my opinion, or you rather "scroll down because it's full of the same old nonsense." Anyhow, you have a point. But unfortunately, it doesnt sound consistent when you write that someone who says "Jordi, Anon, Pinaster, Torpedo and friends. I really, really, really have had enough of the utter tripe you people talk day after day. My god are you not bored of yourselves?" in a personal and unprovoked attack "sums it up well".
You will be dead right if you will be true. Please, let me remind you that the issue is not your experience and knowledge of F1, excuse me, I think most people dont care about it. I hate to tell you, but those comments sound a bit smug and unnecessary. Your knowledge and experience will be shown by your contributions, not by your opinion of yourself and self esteem. Also, likewise, it is a mystery to me how you decide who is an "intelligent, and knowledgeable F1 fan" and who is not.
My opinion is that this blog would be much much pleasant with much much less ad hominem arguments, and much more respect to the others arguments.
Will you kindly revise this thread to find out whos replacing arguments with personal denigration and insults? Will you kindly tell us why someone that disagrees your opinion cant be considered a "genuine fan" and should be "weeded out"?
And after that, yes, lets stop the childish rubbish.
Cheers.

[torpedo]

@Gary M, @Andy G: you allways write words like "rubbish", "nonsense"... when you read something you don't agree, specially if it's reffered to LH. If you don't have solid arguments to convince, i think it's not fair to underestimate all people who thinks different than you. Personally, I don't aggree with a lot of your comments but that's the rules game: you write, I write and everybody join this blog and the F1 Seadon every 15 days. If you don't want to read more "rubbish", please RESPECT.

Regards

[Richard]

ANON and PINASTER - if you want the perfect example of the kind of childish rubbish I'm talking about, please read ELCROWLEY'S most recent post on the other thread about who has more friends than the other. I think the last time I heard an argument like that was in the primary school playground. After reading it, I hope you can understand where I was coming from in my earlier post. This kind of post brings the tone of the whole blog down. Freedom of speech is very important but it doesn't come without responsibilities, and it seems to be used as a shield by those who like to abuse it.

ANON - Just for some balance, Hamashima also said this after the race - "Regarding Lewis Hamilton's tyre deflation, we are still investigating the reason for this as it is not immediately apparent from initial analysis, however a puncture from a sidewall cut looks to be the probable cause." A sidewall cut will not have been as a result of flat spotting.

[Anon]

Correction: Hirohide Hamashima is impartial, NOT partial.

[Anon]

Pinaster: Alas my friend, Richard is one of them, the self proclaimed intellegentsia (Intelligent elite). In other words, he doesn't agree with you.

BTW, while we're on the subject of who is vile or not, let me just say that coming on here and saying "I'm smarter than all of you" is not the kindest thing to do in a blog. It's also pretty childish.

[Anon]

Richard: "we are still investigating the reason for this as it is not immediately apparent from initial analysis"

This is the result of the investigating Hirohide mentions. He said this the day after the race.

About ELCROWLEY, the first person to talk about friends was actually JLK, who was criticizing Alonso. Sure, driver friends, who cares. But that was on the other thread, maybe you should go call them childish.

Anyway, I don't like arguing. I'm more than happy (as I always have been) to respect your opinions, just as long as you respect mine.

[El Ponso]

Hi guys,

We all know that Ed is away for at least a fornight. Hopefully he’ll be back in time for Valencia and in good shape. We’ve got Tom at the moment hosting us here and doing a very good job for on top of his usual duties in the paper he has to put up with us lot.
This is a quiet time as usually it is in the summer. Politicians take a break, football has not yet started, tv programmes are even worst than average, etc. and there are no races for a couple of weeks.
So, we have to find something to go about. And what do we do? We start a debate about, no more no less, the convenience to set a sort of filtering policy on the comments of this blog.
Very well.
Even taken into account that last year there was a thread about this issue:

( http://timesonline.typepad.com/formula_one/2007/09/bob-m-proposes-.html#comments)

and that the response was unanimously against such a move.
Or that only a few weeks back Ed himself rejected indirectly any similar idea:

'You do feel you get to know people here, I agree. Voices come and go but I've noticed that when a really good commentator drifts away, there is usually an equally good one waiting to take their place. Unlike me, the users of this blog can pick and choose how often they take part. I'm not quite sure what you mean by the "storm" or the "bitterness" - it all seems pretty fair-minded to me. All the best...'
Posted by: Ed Gorman | 23 Jul 2008 10:05:24

But like I said, fair enough. Lets talk about it, this is a blog isn’t?.
In my opinion (take it easy, its just my opinion) there’s a slight risk that what it begins like a simple idea of ‘raising the quality’, ‘improve the standard’, etc. might result, as time goes by, in a more purposeful attitude of rejecting what it might be considered ‘not suitable’.
Even supposing that it would never reach the level of censorship, there’d be several questions to deal with that they are not easy.
Who would be deciding what comments are fine and which are not?
Under what qualifications would be those comments regarded?
Who’s going to approve the said qualifications?
What happens when a comment is rejected and its author feels this is unjust?
And if this author is one of those who was in favour of the new policy…?
‘This is never going to happen to me, of course, because I always write good, insightful comments’, more than one would be thinking. Indeed, until it happens.
You see, its not that easy. Hence Ed disregarded the idea in a cleverly casual style.
The fact that some contributors are not posting lately could be due to a number of reasons, not least that, like I said earlier, we are on holidays season.
I wouldn’t like to think that because they dont agree with the contents of some of the comments here they just decided to quit for it would show, above everything else, a lack of character and personality that do not quite suit the likes of Tim or Baena, to name just two of the most representative.
Ed said that one gets to know somehow the blokes here and I agree. You can tell a lot about people by the way they behave or talk, but you can tell even more by how they express themselves writing. This is not mine btw, I read it somewhere.
And one could easily imagine some folks here, when reading the lines from an ‘idiotic moron’, how the eyes begin to grow wider and wider, face going livid, hair standing (if they are not bald), just like an alley cat when confronting the neighbour’s dog going out for a pee. Why you could almost hear the hissing sound of the steam between its teeth. Yeah, just like a cat, peeesh! Ha!
I’m sorry, I can’t help it but to have a good laugh. Honestly, what do you expect? So someone says that Lewis has bad breath and another one replies that Fernando has smelly feet. Great! And you go and try to star a war about it. And even talk about maturity, armchair common sense, long standing following of F1 and the lot.
A wise chinese man, I think he was chinese anyway, or maybe he was one of those US presidents that occasionally can manage to think rationally, said that if you can’t beat them, join them. Well, its not that dificult is it?
Some here have adopted that style. You could tell very clearly that they are just taking the p...s out of you. And they love it when you fall head on in the pool. I agree that some comments could be distateful, even rude, like that nutter who called Fernando ‘El Ingeniero Bastardo’ sic (literally the b…..d engineer), but these guys would try to enter a serious comment someday and people won’t take any notice.
I always enjoy reading the knowledgeable comments, I said that before. And I have even adressed personal comments to other bloggers on some particular issues. Some have replied and some not. But always withing the boundaries of respect and tolerance. Also some drops of good old fashioned humour are very useful. Now that reminds me, on my last comment after Hungaroring I asked if somebody knew why there was so many problems with the refuelling. So far no answer. Maybe nobody read my comment, maybe you are all so busy with the guerrilla war or maybe you are not so much 'in the know' as you are brandishing about. Ha!
One will never persuade his opponent by disqualifying him or placing himself above him ‘because I’m the one who knows and you’ve got no idea, mate’. Well, I’m sorry but it doesn’t work like this.
Neither is a good solution to stop people expresing themselves, usually it backfires.
The intelligent, rational attitude is to expose your arguments without the intention to change your opponents mind, but to make him understand why you think otherwise, and maybe, just maybe, you could both begin to see each other’s point of view. This is not mine either, it must be definitely from the chinese bloke because I can’t imagine an US president reasoning like that.
God this was a marathon post!
And you guys are going to quit here simply because you don’t like some comments? That’s not fair on Ed, Tom, the rest of the bloggers and yourselves.
Anyway, I’m falling sleep on the keyboard so I leave it here.

Buenas noches.

P.S. There’s a dog outside my window barking furiously at a cat! Cross my hart is true. Hope he lets me sleep.

[Richard]

ANON - I hope you can see the irony here. Your post has just confirmed what I said earlier. I don't come on here to bicker with people who disingenuously put words into my mouth such as "I'm smarter than all of you". I do it to have reasoned debate about F1 matters of interest.

If this is the style of blog we're going to have, then I'd rather go elsewhere, and debate issues with more likeminded people i.e. those who'd rather have open and friendly discussions about real F1 issues rather than 'Alonso's got more friends than Hamilton' or 'Ron Dennis is the devil' ad infinitum ad nauseum. I would have thought you'd be glad that I'm going elsewhere seeing as my opinions seem to cause you so much anguish.

[McCheets]

RICHARD

I know that we don't always agree with one another, but I will miss your presence.

You are able to add to your posts a touch of humour, which others in this forum who have been following F1 for longer than yourself are not capable of. You also don't mind both giving and receiving the odd wind-up.

All the best.

[Richard]

MCCHEETS - thanks for your comments, the feeling's mutual. Hopefully we'll bump into each other on another blog someday, and we can continue our spirited (and humorous) debates!

Regards

EL PONSO - great post, if a little long! I don't agree with censorship, it's just that I'm so fed up with hearing the same old stuff being said over and over. Whilst there are certain people who make controversial remarks with humour, there are also those who do seem hell bent on maintaining an air of unpleasantness. Personally, I don't like reading this stuff - that's just an opinion, but it's my opinion and I'm comfortable with it.

I remember some very boring years when McLaren, then Williams, then Ferrari walked away with the title, and under such circumstances I would expect some controversy to be stirred up just to entertain everyone. However, these last two seasons have had enough entertainment in themselves for all fans of F1 to celebrate. We should all be thankful that there are a number of possible winners each time there's a GP, rather than it being a case of 'which McLaren is going to win this weekend?'

[Anon]

Richard: there's no irony. Except now you make more sense then when you said that a lot os stuff said here was childish etc.

I'm moer than happy to hear your opinions, although I'm not the one leaving the blog because I can't stand others. but I'll miss you for your smart witty comments which have always made me have to think hard. Don't go for long!

[jlk]

Richard
Sorry I brought the "friends" thing up. Tried to back away on my next post but I seemed to have started a tiny brush war. I was only making the point that LH is not the ******* he is made out to be by many here on the blog.
But if little things like this p... you off (I am obviously American with that one) I think you will be disappointed with the others. BUT if you want something REALLY erudite read my buddy Jason's blog at jde-thingsf1.blogspot.com.
He is a superb writer and an f1 fanatic.
JLK