Reflections on the Brazilian Grand Prix

Back home in Autumnal and damp southern England, Brazil and the dramas of Sunday seem a long way away. Talking to my wife on the phone before I left, she remarked that our coverage of race day seemed to lack enough of a celebratory note. And I know exactly what she means and why.

I think for all of us in the Brit-pack who were understandably hoping that Lewis would make it, the experience of actually being there and watching him try to do just that, was so uncomfortable and uneasy that it was hard to enjoy. Early in the race Lewis, like everyone else, struggled as the track dried, he had a few big moments on his new tyres and he had to make some moves, for example on Fisi, when disaster was just millimetres away. He never looked safe at any stage as he ran fifth, sixth or fourth.

The finale, meanwhile, was agony. I will never forget the atmosphere in the press room as it unfolded. The noise level suddenly rose and confusion reigned as everyone scrambled to make sense of one of the most dramatic and stressful finishes ever to a championship. I will never forget either those pictures of Felipe's father celebrating prematurely in the garage until someone told him what had happened in the last 1,000 metres of Lewis's race. Poor chap. Once again, however, his son showed his true sporting qualities, even at the moment that his heart was broken. "I know how to win and I know how to lose." Fair play to you Felipe.

Another image imprinted on my mind is that of Lewis and his father motionless in a back room at the McLaren hospitality area minutes after the finish; the son sitting, his father embracing him while standing in front of him. They remained there together - I am sure at least one of them, if not both, were in tears - as they let the pent-up emotions and pressure of the last few months run out of them and as they tried to come to terms with what they had achieved. You can only imagine what must have been going through Anthony's mind after all the years of work and sacrifice going back to the earliest days in Lewis's karting career. Lewis looked shell-shocked at the end of the race and he needed this moment to try to come to terms himself with what had happened.

Travelling back home from Heathrow and making myself car-sick reading the papers, I saw they are full of the "conspiracy theory" being propounded in Spain and elsewhere that the finish was fixed. Apparently Timo was in league with McLaren (I am sure this also features in the comments here which I haven't had a chance to read yet). We did not waste any space in The Times on this rubbish. The Apollo moon landings are more likely to have been faked than Glock's conduct at the end of this year's Brazilian Grand Prix. The guy was on the wrong tyres, end of story.

At the end of the race, the mayhem in the press room was replicated outside in the paddock. The confusion, excitement and tension all bubbled up together and then expended itself as word went round that Lewis had made it, that Ferrari and Felipe had been pipped in the cruellest possible way and the best setting in Formula One - a grubby and narrow corridor, the width of four pavements (the Chinese authorities please take note) - filled with hundreds of people buzzing on adrenaline and nervous energy.

Outside the McLaren sheds - for that is what they are in Brazil - it was chaos. The team already had those ghastly "Dyno-Rod" flourescent victory shirts on, and everyone was trying to find Lewis. I found myself conducting an interview for the first time with his half-brother, Nic, who spoke with great maturity about his elder sibling, of whom he is so proud. As we talked, the heavens opened and the rain that started at the end of the race and played such a huge role in deciding this championship, came down in torrents. By the time Nic had finished, we were all soaked to the skin. Next year, unless the championship is decided at the penultimate race, we are going to miss this madhouse of a track as we go through the motions at the majestic but possibly antiseptic new venue in Abu Dhabi.

The morning after the night before we saw Lewis and his father at the Hilton. I find it difficult to believe, as do all my colleagues from Britain, how anyone could find anything to dislike in Lewis. On this occasion he spoke without any trace of immodesty, cockiness or vengefulness which might have been understandable less than 24 hours after he had become world champion. He was relaxed, he was funny, he was grateful, he acknowledged those who had helped him and he showed a sense of balance about what he had achieved despite our best efforts to egg him on. I could write a lot of inflammatory stuff here about what the naysayers have said about Lewis over the past two years, but I am going to take my cue from him and not do it.

A final thought. James Allen the ITV commentator who called what may be his last race for British terrestial TV viewers at Interlagos, remarked before the race that, in his view, Japan had been the key moment in Lewis's season. His dreadful start there, Allen believes - and his thoughts on this were subsequently echoed by Lewis's father - gave him a massive shock which proved almost the perfectly-timed lesson. Finally he grasped that the championship was more important than anything else and from there we saw him produce two controlled drives in China and Brazil to seal it (just).

Many highly qualified judges are predicting Lewis is going to break all the records. I agree he may well put together a career which rivals Schumacher but it is still a little early to be making these calls. After his immaculate start in Formula One, Lewis has displayed an inconsistency which made this season a huge struggle for him. He needs to try and iron this uneveness out of his game. Of one thing we can be sure, he will be trying his damndest to do that between now and March when we reconvene in Melbourne.      

         

Comments

[Rony]

Ed, what is the penalty - if any - for driving on dry tyres with the red rear light FLASHING like you are driving on wets?
I ask because HAM did exactly that for all the second period...

[Vincent]

Reflections on the Brazilian Grand Prix?

No one simple word about Vettel, or Kimi, or Kubica. Edit your headline.

PS; I'm not saying that talking about Lewis isn't great! But the GP was something more complex than one or two anecdotes. "Reflections about the press trying to sell newspapers, Hamilton winning and beeing ok and Massa loosing" is far more logical as a headline.

[Max]

Like you I find any conspiracy theories hilarious. If Toyota really were backing Lewis they would have brought Glock in for tyres when they rain began and a 5th place would never be in doubt for the Brit.

I guess just as I hated Schummi back in the day people are now hating Lewis for his similar self-confidence and success.

Let the Lewis era of F1 begin!

[Tony]

Thank you, Ed. I am sure that your positive assessment of Lewis's character and personality is accurate. I have seen him up close several times and he always conducted himself in an exemplary manner whatever the circumstances.
The hatred and abuse that he has had to endure this year are totally unjustified and baffling unless they come from fanatical Alonso fans, racists or Mosley's maFIA. The latter repeatedly punished him for daring to suggest that Mosley should resign his presidency because the revelations about his S&M perversions made him an unfit role model and because of Mosley's sickening vendetta against Ron Denis and McLaren.
I hope that Lewis continues to rise above them and prove them all wrong.

[17 points in two races]

Congratulations to LH!!

We did not waste any space in The Times on this rubbish. And it should be with the racist rubbish.

Spain is not a racist country as Great Britain is not a hooligan country, isn´t it?

I like very much OBAMA and I don´t like LH. Congratulations again.

In spanish, only for joking, Timo means fake, and is the name of Glock.

[Prasoon]

I want you to answer just one question Ed -
Glock was on wrong tyres for three laps - that was when it started raining right? Can you explain his laptimes only in those 3 laps hence?

Its ok - I admit Lewis has won it and Glock might not have had a chance to play in that victory anyways but doesn't this just sound quite odd that only in the last corner and all does his pace fall?
Just that speed wouldn't have fallen - Massa and Lewis would have tied on points. Can you tell us your opinion as to why you would have preferred one driver over another then - why one would have been more worthy and the other not? [please don't consider the finish order when you answer this]

And yes, you comparing Lewis and Schumacher is just not acceptable. He is racing in a completely different era. If you wish to compare - compare Lewis and Alonso - give them the same cars and equal cars for that matter and then let us have the race track speed.

[Martin]

Well said Sir, the first is always the hardest at anything in life and it is nice to hear a little about the "real" Lewis rather than the perceived Lewis.. he thanked God and his family and I dont hear many winners or losers doing that these days, showing the measure of the man. Motorsport is a selfish game where no quarter is asked nor given.

[Tom]

Nice summary Ed. I agree with your wife however, that the media has given too much time to the naysayers at an inappropriate moment. I also agree with all those who've commented that the negative remarks tell you more about the person saying them than about the boy himself. I suspect that ironically many of them are, or were, big Schumacher fans. Take any possible negative angle you may have on Lewis, multiply it by a thousand and you're probably getting near an accurate description of Michael.

But getting back to the new Champion.. I would hesitate to call him inconsistant (a term better associated with those with variable talent). Lewis is wild, yes, but thank God he is! He's a spectator's dream! - Lighting up the circuit with total commitment and uncompromising determination to get every last ounce of grip and braking ability from the car, whilst simultaneously pulling miracle overtaking manouvres that make the other drivers look painfully ordinary.
This approach can't fail to produce some big highs and some big lows but not only is it great to watch, he's shown this year that you can also win the Championship this way. No argument. He is Number 1 this year. We should all rejoice in the knowledge that it is possible to do that in F1 - a sport that we were advised a few years ago by Max Mosely to think of as a 'game of chess'.

Do not forget that it is exactly this fantastic ability that brought him the win in Spa. If that result had been left unmolested he'd have been named Champ on more accurate grounds (no luck involved there).

Much like Felipe, the circumstances of this season got in the way... but those circumstances are very different depending on which driver you're talking about.

Lewis showed that his approach was the winning one. To those expecting him to 'back off' and nurse himself through next season to a calculated victory, prepare to be disappointed.. he is capable of just so much more and should be widely applauded for it. Those who don't want to watch that are watching the wrong sport.

[ELCROWLEY]

Ed, no spanish newspaper said a word about Glock's tehories and that rubbish. This rubbish you can find on english and spanish forums too.

[hitori_de_aruku]

Although I have seen some mention to the conspiracy theory in Spanish media... it has been in a humorous mode and free of any bitterness. Serious Spanish media have simply compared Truly times with those of Glock and attributed Timo's fall in the last two laps to undrivable conditions.

The only serious comments I have found about such theory is in international discussion forums (including British fans dwelling on the conspiracy) and Brazilian media (not buying it but describing the perception of spectators at Interlagos).

All in all, I've felt a general consensus that Lewis is a great champion, Felipe was a very respectable contender, and Alonso ended on a sweet high. Everybody seem to have something to be happy about. And tensions seem to be over (especially compared with 12 months and a half ago).

Ed, in the last weeks you seem to be angry with Spanish. And I think you are misled with this anger.

Spanish contribution to this blog is really valuable. Please don't close doors to such important fan base.

Best,

hitori

[rafa]

Mr Gorman: your fixation with Spain is starting to be outright obsession. You may wonder why I bother to rebuke you all the time. The main reason is that I´ve been a long time reader of the Times and Formula 1 fan. Incidentally although not a journalist I have a long family tradition of them and know a couple of things. Here is what I think: you state there´s a conspiracy theory "propounded in Spain". I have no idea which newspapers those might come from. Yesterday I read any paper that has any serious consideration in this country and found no advocates of such a theory. In fact most congratulate Lewis, bear articles over Alonso´s future, and comment the involuntariness of Glock´s capitulating in the last curve of Interlagos. Not even Marca or Sport bore such claims. If you can offer some relevant paper that shows another line of information I´ll be willing to take back my words.

I think, Mr Gorman the Vitriol you´ve been spreading of late against Spain is sickening, and bears a great deal of xenophobia. For a huge majority of Spaniards, the reasons for not liking Mr Hamilton have to do with supporting Fernando Alonso, much the same way for Barça supporters it is impossible to like Real Madrid. Nonetheless, the Bernabeu fans applauded Ronaldinho who is as black as Hamilton in his eye catching performance of 2005.

Hamilton is strapping young lad who has put F1 upside down, and therefore he deserves praise. That´s it. You may well point out that some Spanish media have themselves started this war and you are simply responding. Perhaps. But this media has the consideration of the Spanish equivalent to The Daily Mail or the Daily Mirror.

I can also put my claims in perspective: in the 96 Euro Cup, one of these tabloids made a mock front page displaying a Brit bullfighting some Spanish football player under the headline. "Your done Juan", just before England and Spain played each other in QF. In Spain, As, Marca, and other such papers raised their voices in protest, while serious newspapers did not bother with such rubbish. In our present controversy, Mr Gorman, it is the tabloid sport papers which have echoed your claims of racism in our country. Serious papers have not wasted one line commenting the incident. Maybe it is a measure of how seriously your Spanish colleagues take you.

[Pau]

Why do you forget to compare Schumi and Alonso? Once Fernando had a competitive car (the Minardi years don't count for obvious reasons) he was able to beat Schumi.

Also you cannot compare Schumi and Lewis because Schumi always had number one status, and Lewis, we are told, does not.

[Chris]

I really dont understand why people have this hatred for him either. I watched both Mansell and Hill take the title in what were superior cars and there was none of this then.

Lewis did amazingly well. The youngest World Champion and he is british, why can people not be proud of that.

The Glock conspiracy is one of the craziest things I have ever heard. Just why would GLock move over? Doesnt make sense to me.

Kudos to Lewis Hamilton, you should have won last year and this year was just great. That last lap was the most emotional lap of any f1 race i have ever seen.

[Michael Grinks]

Fair play to Felipe indeed. He has proved himself as a driver and a sportsman. And thank you, Ed, for putting he "conspiracy" theories to rest. Hamilton took it fair and square, if only barely. And for the finally sane comments about trying to determine if Lewis is the next Schumacher, Senna or whoever. He will be what he will be and thats all that need be said.

I guess this will be one of the last blogs of the season and it will be missed. By me if not my lovely wife. Thanks to you for taking the time to do it. See you next year.

[mecano]

The problem with Lewis for those non Lewis supporters is that he does not come on as a modest person who respects other drivers. Ed and rest of press know him better than any of us probably will, but, why isn't he popular with rest of driving colleagues? I cannot accept the 'racist', jealous excuses. All these driving guys are in an 'elite' club and despite the 'competitiveness' they seem in general to respect and value each other, at least that's impression I get. So, where has it gone wrong with Lewis? Lewis cockyness is not liked. You can be blunt and honest and this is sometimes argued by the British press about Lewis and that he is misinterpreted, yet, Fernando is also the same, but he's the nasty little man from Spain.
During this season, Ed's comments re Alonso have been from praising his driving to him personally and saying what a nice guy he is. Then a few blogs back, with over 400 comments, he crucified Alonso, after Alonso had given his blunt and honest opinion about whom he wanted to win.
It's a British journalist, in a British newspaper, and despite it being The Times, it is normal that a bit of jingoism should be shared by Ed with us. Please Ed put the jingoism aside for a moment, and tell us why if Lewis is such a nice person ( I may be wrong in thinking the contrary) is he not liked as much as you and rest of British press think he should. The PR machine gone wrong? Moving for tax reasons to Switzerland with "Anon the real one..." yet saying it was not for that reason, having posters of him in every Abbey, and so on. Don't forget and please take into consideration for a non-biased article/blog his comments about 'whose got *****', 'learned how not to behave as a teammate/similar' and so on.
Beckham, is a Marketing machine, and despite not being a magnificent player, but a very good one, he comes across as a likeable person and all his teamates have spoken well of him. Same with Michael Jordan, Federer, Nadal..., so being a superstar is no reason for being disliked by you colleagues and neutrals, yet, listening to other Brits, British phone in radio shows and blogs, my opinion of Lewis is shared by other Brits.

[Jordi]

Mr Ed Gorman, just a few points.

1- You said: "the "conspiracy theory" being propounded in Spain and elsewhere...
If it has being propounded elsewhere (it has been all over the internet and British newspapers BTW), why do you feel the need to remark Spain? Can you read or understand Spanish? If you do, you will realize that none of the main Spanish papers are making a big deal about any conspiracy, and what's more all of them congratulate LH.

2- Last week you worked hard to criticize FA personality, based on kiss and tell stories from last year, also you implied that Alonso would do something illegal and dangerous in Brazil to stop Lewis.

I think is time for an apology to Fernando Alonso, who went to the Mclaren garage after the race and congratulated Lewis, which by the way neither of you or your paper had the denency to mention.

[olPL1896]

"I find it difficult to believe, as do all my colleagues from Britain, how anyone could find anything to dislike in Lewis."
I agree! I'm not from UK (from Poland, Kubi's fan) and maybe thats why I dont get this mentality but for me Lewis is great driver and very friendly person. And each driver must be self-confident!

[Manuel from Barcelona]

So Lewis was relaxed,funny, and grateful? Whas he?
Well, its not difficult to be all those things when you wining, is it?

[Andrew]

Why can't we just be proud of LH and everything he has done in 2 seasons, more points than any of the others and the youngest world champ. Massa is a great driver too and took the lose with great dignity, lets remember it was an entire season of races not just one. FA is a double world champ but he does not know how to play the game I know plenty of Spanish people who all love him as a driver but don't like the way he throws his toys out of the pram when he does not get his own way

[Iñigo montoya]

Reflections of how to win the championship if you are not the best driver. Easy; give Fernando Alonso a bad car, put in Ferrari a cuple of nerds, give the British boy a good car from the beggining. Here you have: A FALSE CHAMPION!!

[A Parker]

"I find it difficult to believe, as do all my colleagues from Britain, how anyone could find anything to dislike in Lewis."

Ed, he's black. End of. There are still disgusting racists in this world. When will we ever be rid of this evil?

[Ben]

I agree; all this stuff about people 'hating' Hamilton is just nonsense. Those who criticise him at this moment merely reflect that peculiarly vindictive strand of Britishness, where for some reason we mock succesful people.

Instead of criticising, for example, Hamilton's decision to move abroad for tax reasons, shouldn't we ask why our tax regime encourages succesful people to leave their home country?

I thought James Allen commentated superbly on this last race. I hope the BBC keeps him as well as Brundle.

[russ mckennett]

Wow there are sure alot of haters in england!Racists I would say.Lewis is Champion.
GET OVER IT!
Hamilton has sure chased a bunch of cockroaches out of the shadows.Shame on them.
He is going to be competitive for 10 more years.Life is good:)

[hitori_de_aruku]

Ed, some links to articles published by The Times in the past five days.

There is a common topic in these articles: why is Lewis unpopular? And two of them are specifically about Britain (Can Britain learn to love Lewis?)

Debate: can Britain learn to love Lewis Hamilton? (Matthew Syed, Times, Nov 4)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article5076423.ece

Can Britain learn to love Lewis Hamilton? (Ben Smith, Times, Nov 3)
http://timesonline.typepad.com/formula_one/2008/11/can-britain-lea.html

Another article discussing Lewis popularity (and lack thereof)
(Matthew Syed, Times, Nov 1)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/article5058194.ece

The anti-Hamilton wave is Spain passed time ago. He is not the most popular character... but the same seems to occur in Britain (according to The Times).

I'm not criticizing Hamilton... just asking that you bring back that good balance of old posts.

[Colin]

"I find it difficult to believe, as do all my colleagues from Britain, how anyone could find anything to dislike in Lewis. "

Naturally, the Germans felt the same way about Michael Schummacer. I'm a yank, and I find Lewis uncomfortable in the sense that he, and it seems most of the British press, seem to assume that he will be the greatest driver ever. He goes as far as to consistently compare himself to the greats. That is annoying.

Furthermore, his Christian antics are mind numbingly stupid. Making statements like "God oversees me on the race track" or whatever is something straight out of the dark ages.

The fact remains that Lewis just as easily could have lost it, again, in Brazil and all of England would have dumped him. He barely squeaked it out in a year when Ferrari didn't have their act together and two of the best drivers spent half of each of their seasons in uncompetitive cars.

[Christian]

I couldn't agree more with Rafa's comments. It is heartbreaking to read how a serious Daily like the Times spreads the news about us Spaniards being racist and xenophobic. I couldn't help but feel there was a great need to justify ones guilty conscious by bashing those that have never expressed themselves in such a way. Examples I can recall many, so more offensive than others, but bashing Spain, for instance, has been a British sport for decades, and I don’t ever remember so much ink dedicated to denouncing it. We, on the other hand, have never lost sleep over such infantile stupidities. But this time, to read a headline in Times referring to 'Hamilton attacked by racist Spain' I think is going beyond the limit. 'Puncturehamiltonstire' is as much of a serious and journalistic website as my 5 year-old opinions –not that I would never intend to minimize the importance of my sons opinions. How did you ever manage to come across such rubbish and give it so much importance is certainly a reflection of the total and utmost obsession you have with all the Alonso-Hamilton hullabaloo. A lot more than there is here, I can assure you. As Rafa stated earlier on, 99% of supporters are passionate and indulge into provocative comments in the same way the football followers do. In my humble opinion, this is fantastic if not taken out of context -like Times has done. It has created a new wave in Spain towards F1 which was non-existent before, drawing great attraction to the sport and generating a lot of business, but –logically- with our Latin spirit. And I can assure you there are a great number of F1 followers (since Alonso became a local star) that now go to races, sit on the edge of their sofas every second Sunday, buy the merchandise, buy magazines, write in the forums, and are Hamilton, Massa or Trulli fans, and not at all Alonso supporters. This is now a popular sport, and is fantastic. But, like in all passionate sports there are ass**les out there that go beyond the limit. Does this mean we all think the same. NO. As and example; are all British football supporters drunk and aggressive hooligans? NO. So, let’s all enjoy the long lost competitiveness there is in F1 now with many very good drivers, races, spectacle and emotion, and get over all the emotional rubbish. Funnily enough, this is usually not a British virtue, but a Latin one! ;-)

Regards to all and congratulations to al Hamilton followers. Personally, I really like (driver) Alonso. ;-) Just to keep the spark!

[Gonzo]

A Parker - so everyone who doesn't support Lewis is a racist? And when people criticised Damon Hill what was that - hatred of 'whites'?

Perhaps you should examine your persecution complex. Every dominant world champion comes in for some stick - why would you expect it to different for Lewis? When fans criticised Schumi's attitude was that just anti-German sentiment? What a sad and bitter world you live in.

[Tony Oliver]

When you read these theories of conspiracy you really do wonder if these people have brains as they certainly are totally unaware of the full story. Both Toyotas were on dry race tyres and if the last lap times were checked it would be found that both Glock and Trulli set similarly slow times due to the worsening weather conditions. I read one idiotic comment stating that Glock should be banned for the first six months of next season!! This 'hate' vendetta against Lewis is so ridiculous and unfounded. Yes,he made mistakes, and was heavily penalised for them, but what of those many wonderful drives epecially in the wet. Roll on next season with uninterrupted coverage of races and fewer mistakes and, dare I say it, less bias by the stewards with the issue of penalties!

[PTM]

Jordi - Ed didn’t insinuate FA would do something illegal, FA was the one insinuating it, please have the cojones to admit.
Get it hihihi....

[aljuk]

@ Prasoon - "If you wish to compare - compare Lewis and Alonso - give them the same cars and equal cars for that matter and then let us have the race track speed"

Alread did that, and Alonso lost. Remember?

[joe]

" I want you to answer just one question Ed -
Glock was on wrong tyres for three laps - that was when it started raining right? Can you explain his laptimes only in those 3 laps hence? "

I think the answer to this question is that it started to rain more heavily on the final lap. You could even see Glock struggling for grip as he tried to accelerate after Lewis passed him.

Why can't we show a bit of pride in what Hamilton, a young British sportsman, has achieved. He isn't a 'big timer', he keeps his family around him and he is always gracious in defeat!

This is a great story, thank you!

[Thomas]

I have to comment on a few things:

- Lewis is black. Seriously, does anyone care? I've never thought about it at all, I've hardly seen it mentioned except in a passing "first black driver" and recently "first black champion". Other than that - nothing. Not in news, not on discussion forums, nothing.

- This has to be the most exciting finale ever. I, as a dedicated Massa fan, found the whole race to be a nail-biting affair. I was jumping up and down in front of the tv when Vettel was pursuing Lewis for fifth and I kissed my friend when he passed him, out of pure joy. Then the 2-3 last laps I was litterally holding my breath while still jumping around screaming at the tv and occationally praying. When Martin said "ITS GLOCK" and Lewis passed him I was heartbroken, but also awed at the awsome spectacle of Formula 1 anno 2008. If the sport can produce such passion in a otherwise calm and collected guy from Norway, things are definately right.

- Lewis is a deserving champion, just as Massa would have been. Massa has been the faster driver/had the faster car but lost out to reliability while Lewis has been peerless but at times not had the car to compete and also he's made more serious mistakes. Both have been at a different level to anyone but Kubica and Vettel.

- And lastly - there are definate similarities between the Lewis/Kovy and the Schumi/Rubinho pairings. Both have a superfast driver and a dutyfull but slower driver, both Rubinho and Kovy has the reputation for being quick but nothing to really show for it, despite being in a quick car. If Rubens was as good as Michael he would have finished second behind him in world championships or even first if he was allowed to. If Kovy was as good as Lewis but was #2 he would have finished far higher up, technical problems aside.

And last - Viva Formula Uno!!!

[A Parker]

Hitori, I think all the articles are just reflecting the reality of the hate in recent days.

Colin, Lewis does NOT compare himself to the greats. That is a LIE. He is constantly asked about it and the papers constantly speculate about it, but Lewis has NEVER compared himself to them. Find me an article with reliable quotes that says that.

And let him have his Christianity - doesn't do anyone any harm.

[Harry Lime]

"I find it difficult to believe, as do all my colleagues from Britain, how anyone could find anything to dislike in Lewis."

Ed, he's black. End of. There are still disgusting racists in this world. When will we ever be rid of this evil?

A Parker

Dear A Parker. I do not particularly dislike Hamilton, but neither do I like him very much. Maybe that is because he is black and I was born in Spain. Who knows.

But then again, how come I like the gorgeous Haile Gebreselassie? Well, apart from being one of the most gifted athletes ever, he has always been very humble and gracious both in victory and in defeat. My favourite basketball player ever is Michael Jordan (followed by Magic Johnson), I enjoy the likes of Thierry Henry (well, the Arsenal years), Romario, Ronaldinho, Etóo, etc, and so on.

Yes, I must be a racist for not liking Hamilton.

Regards

[Richard]

People who are young, handsome, talented, and absolutely sure of their talent are often a little difficult to really warm to. But there are plenty of them out there, and very, very few of them actually have the talent to make good on their feelings. To date, Lewis Hamilton does. If he is not as good as he likes to think, time will deal with his hubris. In the meantime, he has every right to think he's good doesn't he?
And from a spectators point of view, I think its fantastic to see a young black man winning in a sport not known for its inclusiveness. What the hell is so wrong with Lewis as a positive role model? This is about the british inability to forgive success, and joy in embracing failure - well sorry, I'm not buying into it any more. Good on you Mr. Hamilton, and long may it continue.

[Lucas]

"I find it difficult to believe, as do all my colleagues from Britain, how anyone could find anything to dislike in Lewis."

1. Lewis is a celebrity aberration. His girlfriend is a pussycat doll. He had 3 bibliographies published in his first year (!) He spent £200k in a vanity plate - few examples.

In some sense, he represents (or likes) the worse of what the junk culture in UK has to offer.

2. Lewis has just started and still compares himself to the greatest of the sport, not mentioning the British press. This is just too arrogant. He is good but it is also clearly overrated.

Note that his record breaking two first seasons are not much better than those of Villeneuve.

3. Lewis is strongly associated to a team that was caught and fined in $100 million for cheating, and mistreated a double world champion because him.

Regardless of what the British press believes, it seems that the rest of the world does not follow their logic and sided against McLaren/Hamilton.

--
I am sorry to inform you that there are plenty of reasons to dislike Lewis. It will take more than PR to take off this bad karma. He may be a nice guy, but people like me is unable to see this through layers and layers of exaggeration, arrogance, celebrity-behaviour.

[jordi]

@ PTM
No my friend, Alonso said that he preferred Massa to win and he would help him if he could, and he did by finishing the race in front of Lewis. Any other twisted insinuations are just that, twisted, and those who made them should apologize.

Regards.

[rafa]

A Parker has expressed his views broadly and consistently: people who do not like Hamilton are racists, end of. There is no reasoning with him because if you bother to do so you must not like Hamilton and therefore are a racist, so any arguments you use are simply not worth taking into account. A Parker does not realize what laughing stock he is making out of himself. If only he could dedicate his efforts to something more worthy of his passion against racism.

[jordi]

Ed Said:

"We did not waste any space in The Times on this rubbish. The Apollo moon landings are more likely to have been faked than Glock's conduct at the end of this year's Brazilian Grand Prix."

As a punch line is ok, shame that is not true.

The times 3/11/08
Lewis Hamilton victory: a conspiracy?

http://timesnews.typepad.com/news/2008/11/lewis-hamilton.html

Ed writes: Hi Jordi. You are getting pretty detailed these days...I was referring, in a rather old-fashioned way, to the newspaper. The thing you can buy at a newsagent. Anyway, you will have the last laugh on this because I am fairly sure the "conspiracy theory of Brazil" will get a brief mention in tomorrow's paper (the thing you can buy)...no doubt you will spot it.

[Daniel]

I'm sorry to contradict some of my fellow countrymen but if you read AS newspaper's article on the Brazilian GP you will find that the coinspiracy theory is one of the main items in it.It even implies that there was an agreement between Mclaren and toyota previous to the race.Furthermore the author of the article goes on with this conspiracy thoery on his internet Blog.So just don´t be so quick telling Ed that in Spain no newspaper says anything about it.The AS is the second most important sports newspaper in Spain afer Marca so I think it should be considered ( even if the information it contains is pure fanatism )a serious newspaper.

Congratulations to Lewis from Spain!!

[jordi]

Please A Parker

Tell us that you are just a joke like javiervivaespania, so we all can sleep better.

[LewisNo1]

The fact that hurts most people is that our boy Lewis won fair and square the WDC despite fierce FIA involvement. When will you lot realise that you are lucky to live and see with your very eyes the most talented and greatest driver ever? Just enjoy this moment and when you are 80 you'll be able to say to your grandsons: I saw him driving and my dear, how good he was!!

England has a well deserved champion. After all, we are the country that has produced (and will in the future produce) most champions in this sport. Simply, we have racing in our veins (and we are the best, like it or not).

2009 - I can't wait

Does this blog remain open during the winter break? I'm told it doesn't. Is it true?

[C. Class]

You ask "how anyone could find anything to dislike in Lewis?". I'm a bit surprised by this question because you gave the answer yourself in the blog entry "Can Britain learn to love Lewis Hamilton?" below.

[Juan H]

As mentioned by others before, Ed has changed his comments on FA and Spain in the latter months. As there are not logical reasons for that, all I can imagine is that this is because FA is growing again in contrast to what Ed was defending earlier (i.e. look at the miserable Spaniard, look at where he is now because of his behavior last year). So, once FA is again a serious threat for the golden boy (because he starts to beat him fairly and square, not because he's doing nothing unproper), the attacks have been massive.

Also, to give credit to "who knows blogs" instead of to well established newspapers (i.e. El Pais) is out of all proportion and speaks volumes of what Ed / The Times is pretending.

So, to all Spanish people reading and writing here, be prepared for a whole new year of FA and Spain bashing in The Times. This is not over at all.

By the way, I did write a long text last Sunday congratulating Lewis and wishing all people enjoying Lewis victory. I also remarked that image that we saw in catalonian TV3 of father and son merged in a big hug, with Lewis crying, and asked people to not ruin this by starting the bashing with the racism, McLaren and FIA. That was never posted, unfortunately. But the nastiness has spread again. Sometimes I conclude there is no hope for humans.

[Richard]

JOE - you're partly right about the tyres but there's a little more to it.

Racing tyres operate in a temperature range, and they quickly lose their grip if they fall below it.

We saw this with Ferrari earlier in the season, with Silverstone being the best example. Felipe and even Kimi found it hard to stay on the track. The Ferrari chassis worked its tyres less hard than some of its rivals, so it kept its tyres cooler. Ferrari's vice was also its virtue - in hotter temperatures, the tyres didn't overheat as much as some of the other teams' and Ferrari were dominant in such conditions.

In order to build heat into the tyres, they must be worked hard. On a wet track, it isn't possible to work them as hard because the grip levels are lower. So the temperature drops, causing even less grip, so they can't be worked as hard, so they lose more temperature, and so on. When the tyres are cold, it's like driving on ice.

In Brazil, the dry tyres took a little longer to go cold for two reasons 1) the high ambient temperature, and 2) the track was still dry in places, allowing the driver to work the tyres harder in those places, thus building a little heat. However, as the track became wetter, the loss of heat was inevitable, and when it came, the lap times worsened dramatically. We saw a similar thing in Spa when some drivers managed to pit on the last couple of laps for wet tyres but still managed to gain a lot of places before the finish.

[steve]

I have just read Ed,s post,and i feel guilty by allowing myself to be drawn in to media hype,yet this was about the real LH,and his family,not some of the other things i,ve read,why is it some papers only wish to draw negative conclusions from anything,i,m guilty because of being sucked in to believing so much about this young fella,which quite frankly is,nt true,and he is only 23 years of age,how on earth would i have behaved given the same circumstances at this age? He is very fortunate,talented,determined,a little cocky,but,it appears money,possessions,are not for him very important,racing is,winning,but above all his family,i hope one day he will decide to move back to the UK,his advisors may argue otherwise,so thanks Ed for showing the "true" Lewis Hamilton.

[jordi]

Don't you worry Ed, I will be leaving this blog...soon. I just wish you could say that you were wrong on thinking that FA was capable of crashing into LH and also it would be nice if you could acknowledge that FA went to Mclaren Garage to congratulate LH.

Regards

[Tom]

I'm loving all the comments from the non-UK posters taking the opportunity to have a good dig at Britain, like there's some deep underlying problem with the nation's psyche. Please.

They're even worse than the British posters having a dig at Lewis!

Again, they're saying more about themselves than they are about Lewis or Great Britain.

[Maria Da Silva or Gary M]

For god's sake people get over yourselves.

Is it really not time to put the events of 2007 out of your heads and move on? There are people on here who sound nothing like Formula 1 fans and just chldish fans of Fernando Alonso. C'mon, surely you have other things in your life to be bitter about.

It is the press that hype up Lewis and compare him to the greats, If any of you had half a brain then you would know that. So you are either lacking in general intelligence or just so blinded by your bitterness that you just do not care about the truth.

Give it a rest.

Ed, thanks for this. I was beginning to worry you had been kidnapped by the Tiffosi and replaced by Ben Smith. Glad to see you made it back in one piece. Thanks for all your efforts (and patience) during the last 8 months.

[Becken]

I really hate to say this but I´m starting to give some reason to A Parker…

Lewis won the championship, fair and square, and all what a see here is a bunch of haters and bashers proclaiming their jealousy feeling between lines of pseudo F1 comments. All this thing written here against Lewis is rubbish now that he is a true champion and could reveals the obvious.

What the hell explain this kind of behavior?

[May]

Jordi, before you leave - thanks for your posts and continue enjoying Barcelona's savoir faire this season (and hopefully next ones, but not when they are playing Real Madrid!). As I told Anon (in Switzerland, etc), I hope to meet you too again in an F1 forum.

Best regards,

[El Corte Ingles]

I'm English, I´ve lived in Spain for 8 years and I'm married to a Spaniard. I speak fluent Spanish and some Gallego and in general I love Spain and the warmth of the people.

Up to a point. Because for those on this board who want to pretend that Spain comes out whiter than white on the Lewis Hamilton debate I have one thing to say to you.

You are seriously f***ing mistaken.

[alison]

Thank you Ed and all your co-contributors on this blog for another fascinating season of comment. And thank you to Lewis for cheering everyone in the UK up with a wonderful championship win(even if I haad to watch most of the Brazilian GP from behind the sofa because I could not bear the tension). I mean really; you would need to be in an awfully sour mood not to feel, as I do, that Lewis is just a wonderful success-story who has given pleasure to all of us who have watched his progress in F1. Enjoy your well-earned break, Ed.

[JR]

First of all congratulations to Lewis Hamilton and to all his fans; despite his many mistakes along the year he fully deserves the WC as he got more points than the others.

Second: comparing LH to Schumacher is in IMHO a nonsense now, too early to say. My personal feeling his that he does not have the talent to achieve what Schumacher or even Alonso have done, but who knows, I might be wrong. Ayway comparing him to Schumi will do no good to LH, that’s for sure.

Third: this is my last visit and last comment ever on this blog. I have enjoyed it a lot in the last two years, comparing opinions and sometimes arguing a lot but honeslty Ed, I've had enough of your Spain / Alonso fixation.

Your last post about Alonso was really disgusting (compare it to your "How could anybody dislike Lewis” and maybe you will understand); and now on a week like this when all of you British should be enjoying Lewis success you come up talking about conspirancy theories coming from Spain. I've read all kinds of Spanish newspapers and web sites on the last two days and I haven't found ANYTHING about that.

We have some amazing years to come in F1 with the Alonso/Hamilton rivality, the new regulations and, hopefully, with less anger and bad intention from the media. Let's we all enjoy it!

Good luck and goodbye.

JR

[Colin]

"Colin, Lewis does NOT compare himself to the greats. That is a LIE. He is constantly asked about it and the papers constantly speculate about it, but Lewis has NEVER compared himself to them. Find me an article with reliable quotes that says that.

And let him have his Christianity - doesn't do anyone any harm."

A Parker,
Here are just a few recent quotes from the last few days:

"I've always felt I had a connection with him, that we're somehow similar," he told Motor Sport magazine.

"I do crazy things that others wouldn't do and I feel like I have an edge, too. I feel I share something with him."

And the Christianity thing is annoying. If God looks over Lewis, why doesn't he look over Felipe? Is it because Felipe is Catholic?

Man, talk about nuts. Lewis is racing for Jesus, and not England, apparently.

[phil]

Nice article Ed. Just starting to come down from one of the greatest dramas I have ever seen. Althoug LH is champion I still dont believe it somehow. It seems to me that everyone has lost somehow and there still seems a black hole in LH's champion status.I guess it has something to do with the sheer,seismic duality of win and lose, triumph and disaster that we all witnessed in front of us. It keeps flashing in front of me like a photo negative that Felipe is champ and Lewis rnnner up. Everyone won as well because I was truly humbled by everyones reaction to this awesome demonstration of the hand of fate. Felipe, Fernando and Lewis were magnificent after the race, well done all of you, you are all a credit to the sport. It has been an awesome spectacle of emotion and drama with everyones hearts truly on their sleeves. Thanks for that...wow!!

[Pau]

Jordi,

stop trying man!

It doesn't matter Fernando drove superbly to be the driver who collected most points in the second half of the season. It doesn't matter that he went to congratulate Lewis personally. It doesn't matter it was Vettel, Kubica and Glock who gave a hard time to Lewis in the last laps of the championship.

The only way to explain what happened last year in McLaren from the british point of view is that FA will always be a monster and LH is a half god.

It is called British double standards. In case you wondered.

[Pau]

By the way I am still amazed by the british fans who accuse FA to hold grudges, to be a sour grape and not be able to move on ... and the first thing they do when their hero wins the WDC is to attack FA.

Get over it!

Looking forward to next season. Is Fernando going to become the youngest three times champion?

[Pau]

By the way and for the record,

I think Lewis drove a great race. We (the fans) asked him to drive with his head and secure fifth, which is what he did. If he had gotten involved in fights with Kimi or Fernando we would have said he was crazy. To me it was a good race for him. Chapeau Lewis!

Also, why do people ignore that Glock was running forth because he did not change tyres? The conspiracy theory is nonsense (and definitely IT DID NOT START IN SPAIN). It was raining too much in the last lap for Glock to be able to control his car in the last laps.

What a great championship. I just hope Renault have a competitive car next year, and BMW too. The nightmare of 2000-2004 is over, now we have many candidates and excitement until the last meter.

[Peter]

I can decide if I want to like Hamilton or not and I do not need the media telling me I have to like him. Just wach some of his interviews on ITV being very arrogant and smug. He thinks he is the only one has ever overtaken in an F1 car...How about Kimi, Alonso, Kubica etc. He is one of the very good drivers, ONE of them. He is over PR'd by Macca and talks a lot of rubbish. I do not care of his colour at all. Also, I want to wach an F1 race and not a Hamilton special broadcasting, please. He nearly missed the titel and it will be very difficult to win it again, it is a very competitive field.

[Sheona Hutcheson]

Don't forget, Ed, that there are still people who believe the Apollo moon landings were faked!

[James B]

Jordi - I never thought Alonso would deliberately take Lewis out. However I think you should cut Ed some slack here. Without going through all the old comments do you not think that maybe Alonso put himself in a position where someone like Ed could infer what he did? Alonso never actually denied what he had said (particulary on the Thursday in China) and he very much left it open for interpretation. My personal view is Alonso was just tryint to heap more pressure on Hamilton.

Finally I hope you will be back next year because I feel Alonso will be right up there - Renault/Bennetton under Flavio have had a knack at getting the best out of their limited budget and I expect the same next year.

[Kate C-J]

There's so much anger on this blog; it's absurd. Those who are Spanish blame Ed for his comments about rubbish conspiracy theories - he was talking about the much-publicised blogs (not the Spanish papers) full of racist abuse about LH and let's not forget the booing etc at Interlagos; to an extent you would expect a home crowd to behave like that but has anyone else had to endure such vilification for so few 'errors' in this sport? - and is it surprising that LH supporters take offense so quickly when you remember that horrendous press conference when the behaviour of the other main contenders suggested they were all out to get him and were acting as a pack.

Why does this happen? Jealousy first and foremost; they are jealous he is so good, so young and such a gift to advertising but above all they are jealous he is so goodlooking. I think that point gets overlooked; he is an advertiser's dream. He earns a fortune outside the sport because he has a winning smile, a fresh, honest face and an innocence that is almost child-like. He is almost child-like since at 23 he can hardly be anything else. What all LH's critics forget is that he is daily making the sport richer. He has brought into the sport so many new young fans, and yes, black fans too who weren't there before. I am sure he is no saint, and I say this never having met him, but I know people who have and have met him often and they all say the same thing; he is delightful, as keen as mustard and utterly committed to improving as a driver. The money he earns is secondary but not unimportant.

Finally, Jordi, you must be mad. Ed has said so many wonderful things about FA and about what a good guy he is. He was writing here about a very special moment in British sporting history; let him enjoy the moment. He's writing for a British paper and for British readers. Imagine if Real Madrid beat Inter Milan - would the Spanish think it appropriate to say that David Beckham went to the spanish dressing room to commiserate or congratulate them? No way; Beckham would be an irrelevance.

[Pau]

Yet another set of lies by McLiers:

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/081104094320.shtml

Note that this is a serious website who doesn't need to underline the nationality of the outrageous conspiracy theory (which most people, in Spain and elsewhere, me included, think is garbage).

[rafa]

Hey Daniel:

So As does support the conspiracy theory. A fanatical newspaper indeed publishes rubbish, that´s a surprise. Meantime, back in the UK we have a standard setting newspaper as The Times writing that there´s an all out conspiracy theory subscribed by the same unrepentant racist people who write rubbish in weblogs and sites. My point is, when did The Times start being like As?

[Dave B]

Ed,

Will you be posting the interview with Nic?

I think the most memorable thing about the conclusion to this championship was not the racing at all, but the human element. Catching the fleeting glimpses of the reactions to both Hamilton and Massa's family and friends on the TV screens really told a story.

I'd like to hear Nic's take on the last ten minutes of the race.

Cheers, Dave

[Federico Jimenez]

I am Spanish. I am a follower of FA and i congratulate sincerely to Hamilton.

Any way, I may say, I really find racist manners on Edward Gorman speech about Spain and the spanish.

Spain is not, and never has been a racist country.

We just preffer Alonso because he is the first and the only spanish in the history of our poor country able to win in F-1.

May be Edward Gorman, a proud son of the british empire, can`t understand.

[David Hope]

Well as ever I totally disagree with Ed. Lewis is not modest quite the opposite. I remember him post canada when he ruined raikkonen's race. Rather than expressing his great sorry at ruining the Fin's race he went on about how it was unlucky cause he'd have won. Not only was this unrealistic given the way the race was going it was rude. In the prior qualifying which he topped it he said something about how the other drivers should feel embarassed being so much slower than himself. After and before every race he rambles on about how fast he was and how he always had the pace to win. He also says he confident cool and relaxed he is about everything before screwing up under pressure. Compare to Massa who always admits when someone was faster than him. Finally the tax haven thing did not help either nor the fact we are always subjected to the family like its saturday night tv when F1 fans want to watch fast cars. As a brit I like Kubica, Raikkonen, even Alonso and Massa but not Lewis who is aloof, arrogant and disrespectful.

[Christian]

For any spanish reader who believes there is no problem and the press are anti Alonso/Spanish, you are the problem. Its not just the idiots who black up, its the fellow spectators, marshalls etc who ignore them, although the noises at Grand Prixs and at football stadiums where black english players are on display are made by far more people than just the five or six idiots in the t-shirts. Its this willingness to try and hide behind the weak claim that its a 'handful' of idiots that compounds the problem. Hamilton has had to endure some very sick stuff indeed thats originated from Spain and its websites yet there is no real acceptance of any problem DESPITE the same problems also occuring in football. If one had to be as crude as some of the comments here appear to be, then I'd tentatively suggest that refusing to address a problem or at least all agreeing to look away or forget about it seems to be a uniquely Spanish phenomenom which the rest of Europe are immune to. Alonso could or really HAS to be at head of any attempt to sort out the attitudes of partisan spanish fans, I doubt he will be. Not, you understand, through any malice but because after his tantrums at McClaren he still hadn't learnt his lesson and misbehaved at Renault, even critisising his teammate of undeserving of his best result of year! This means Alonsos' ego is still running rampant and he won't do anything that is in any way altruistic.
Toyotas cars both did near identical last laps put your prejudice elsewhere...

[David]

Relaxed, Funny and Balanced is one way to describe Lewis Hamilton I suppose. However I prefer arrogant, conceited and totally despised by all in the drivers' briefing room

[CHIUNDA]

November 2008 - History month - 1st Black Formula 1 Champion, 1st Black US President

Congratulations to Anon for supporting Obama and congratulations to A Parker for supporting Lewis and congratulations to Ed Gorman for putting up the first truly international and inclusive Formula 1 blog that has brought brothers and sisters of the same faith together, taught them how to disagree with each other and matured them to eventually respect each other.

Bravo Ed!

[Pau]

To Kate-J,

"Finally, Jordi, you must be mad. Ed has said so many wonderful things about FA and about what a good guy he is."

And he has said many bad things too.

[Furio]

The first man to "disculpate" Glock was Felipe in the post race press conference.
He said: "I am a driver and I know what it means to drive with slick tyres on a wet track".
Would you please give Felipe credit at least for that?
Or shall we all hold in admiration of the new F1 God?

[jlk]

@ Colin
Why do you find LH's religious remarks "stupid". Does that go for all people of faith? I am an agnostic but I am also fed up with this kind of small minded attitude so fashionable in the US and Europe.
I am an agnostic but feel people should have freedom to practice their faith as long as they don't proselytize in my direction. And thanking God does not count as proselytizing.
But people like you Colin seem to feel they must insult people of faith to feel superior I guess.

I also feel like Lewis hatred is a true mystery. Being a native speaker I have heard him in dozens of interviews and have NEVER heard or seen anything objectionable or particulay arrogant, considering the level of competitiveness necessary at the pinnacle of motor sport.

What I find objectionable are gold plated jerks like Bernie making remarks about LH which are both condescending and arrogant. This guys seems like what the Brits call a "Pikey" except he has billions of pounds. That does not make him a class guy. Once a disgusting boor always a disgusting boor.Money and power make no difference
JLK

[Agustin]

Although I'm Spanish I don't see any reason why Glock would help Hamilton. I dislike LH because he talked like a champion before being one, and because he is inconsistent in what he has been saying throughout his career. When he is upbeat he wide open his mounth, when he is beaten he is more humble. Alonso is always the same guy, and I like true and intelligent people.

[Keith]

@Lucas – Lewis only published one book last year and he did not spend £200k on a vanity plate. If you’ve already made your mind up about Lewis then fair enough but just when did you become the official spokesperson for the “rest of the world”?

[Guzzz]

ALJUK

Let me remind you that Lewis an FA drove on the same cars as you said and had the SAME points at the end of the championship...

[Dominc Lewis]

afternoon Ed.
a well judged apraiseal of events and an interesting insight into the off camara bits we don't get to see.
Guzzz; makes an interesting point that Hamilton and Alonso shared cars and points totals in 2007. Question for you Guzzz, who was 2 times world champion at the time? conclution; Alonso either did very badly or Hamilton did extremely well to match such a great driver as Alonso in his rooky year.
Prasoon; askes about the lap times of Glock, if you check them you will find them to 1.28 / 1.35 / 1.45 approx. showing Glock stuggling to maintain his race speed in the last 3 laps. also check Trulli's last lap time, which I belive to be 1.43. This would suggest that staying out on the dry tyre did not afford Glock the advantage that Toyota had hoped for. Illistrating that Toyota wanted the points and did not care who suffered in the championship as a result. No conspiracy there just good racing.

[dis]

Unfortunately giving examples of black sports men that you do respect thus proving your nation isn’t racist is meaningless when they are all winners.

How about respecting people of all differing ethnicities then your own? Not just the all time great sportsmen that you cant logically dispute as being highly talented. How about prove your nation is not racist by banning individuals who black themselves up and wear t-shirts mocking Hamilton’s family from race tracks before they actually get inside? How about your government actually takes offensive, illegal, racist websites down when they are spotted rather then leave it up to the host to make the decision for them? How about your Spanish champion Alonso, instead of emailing stolen Ferrari data around actually condemn racist behaviour rather then deny it? How about you don’t employ an openly racist man as your national football manager, or ban him when he makes racist comments to (apparently one of your heroes) Henry? How about you actually stop clubs allowing fans in your stadiums to make primate sounds at black players by fining the clubs more then 20 Euros at a time?

This blog entry actually has nothing to do with Alonso so please stop brining that ‘has-been’ up. It says a lot that you would rather hear us praise Alonso for NOT running into Hamilton in a race and for going to congratulate him after the race then talking about his own lucky race result and his chances next season. It is almost like he has gone so far down the chain of F1 importance that the most interesting thing he does now is to not CHEAT. Amazing that he was actually paid over 10 times more then Hamilton at McLaren, lost to him and people actually question Hamilton as being the money grabbing celebrity wannabe.

Anybody actually remember how Hamilton couldn’t go out the house without being hunted down in the first part of 2007. That was part of the reason he found it impossible to carry on a relationship with his former girlfriend. Does it not make more sense to be dating somebody who is used to that attention now and is actually more protected by the American system anyway? Don’t have a dig at Hamilton because he chooses to date an attractive woman. Perhaps if most of the other top drivers were on Hamilton’s scale of good looks they could too have attractive world famous celebrity girlfriends too. Have you notices as many paparazzi sources photos of Hamilton splashed over the papers everyday since he moved to avoid all that? No I haven’t either. It is almost like his apparent reason for moving turned out to be true.

Please stop comparing Kubica and Vettel with Hamilton. They are not even close YET. Even comparing the consistent Kubica (who for the latter half of the season actually had a worse car then the German) with Vettel is ludicrous, considering he finished 40 odd points behind the Pole and if it had not been for his win in Italy would not even get a mention from anybody.

As for conspiracies, well they have to be expected when you think it took a conspiracy for Schumacher to lose his last contracted years to Alonso so he could quit Ferrari without them forcing him to stay. It took a conspiracy for Massa to even be in title contention still at his home track. Wonder how busy it would have been if he had lost the championship two races previous? It takes a conspiracy to believe that Renault FAIRLY improved the pace of their car by about 10 seconds a lap mid season.

[Agustin]

It is only a matter of time that someone somewhere will unveil how Alonso's car was tamper with at McLaren. That is why LH and him finshed in the same points last year. Please remember this because, as I said, it is only a matter of time. From 2009 is going to become clear who is the best (read Fernando Alonso). By the way, congratulations to LH for a well deserved victory.

[Weasel]

@ Chiunda

You write "November 2008 - History month - 1st Black Formula 1 Champion, 1st Black US President"

WRONG on both counts. Both are of mixed ethnicity, therefore 'coloured'. Neither of them are ethnically black.

Here's a breakdown of Obama's ethnicity - and note that his father is classified as ethnically Arab African in Kenya: "Mr. Obama is 50% Caucasian from his mother's side. He is 43.75% Arabic, and 6.25% African Negro from his father's side" - this taken from Obama Watch. But never mind eh, maybe one day you'll check your facts before posting.

As for Lewis Hamilton, don't forget that a young Cassius Clay, later to become Muhammed Ali, was definitely hated, arrogant, loudmouthed and later, to be proven through his fists... right. He has turned out to be one of the most beloved sporting characters in the US if not world wide. Time tends to have that effect.

Lewis Hamilton does not appear to be anything like Muhammed Ali, but you need to bear in mind that the media/press thrive on subterfuge, innuendo and patently false claims - that is the substance of their game - controversy, and where none exists, "hey, we'll just manufacture some". Thus the US presidential election was to a large extent determined by a slew of false reporting by the media, ignoring or glossing over facts and hyping a person, big on rhetoric but empty on substance, who would give them plenty of future fodder - a person whose 'autobiography' should top the Bestseller lists in the category 'Fiction'. And let's face it, Obama is far more newsworthy than staid old white McCain. Whoever said the US Presidency has to do with qualifications to do the job or experience? The media will have a lot to answer for as the ObaMessiah 'heals the world'.

And so it is with the media and Lewis Hamilton - grab on to some basics and distort and manipulate the hell out of them to feed the rumour mill and provide fodder for the self perpetuating media. Incorrectly labeling them as 'black' when they are not, is just minor detail and can be glossed over - it makes for more attention grabbing headlines. And 'being black' is the new hot ticket for public figures. Forget about accuracy, honesty, morality and principles - it's all about the sensationalism and selling newspapers man.

[PTM]

Augustin - Mate you are completely deluded, firstly FA is as humble as LH is Chinese.
The only thing he is a victim of is of his own sense of self importance.
Sure the guy is a great driver but he still got pretty humiliated by a rookie but did he humbly accepted it?
Nope
Nothing was done to his car by the team to make it slower you'd have to be a complete idiot to believe that.
Unless he tried to apply some of the Ferrari data he had and messed up his own car (that’s right I can make stuff up to).
Dude next you gonna say RD shot JFK.

[Kate C-J]

To Pau:
What is it you don't understand? Journalism requires, yes, requires, you to criticise the people you write about: that's the job. So sometimes Alonso is in the spotlight, sometimes Kimi, oh yes, even Lewis gets the treatment: words like 'reckless' and 'impetuous' have been used by Ed to describe him and equally, 'brilliant' and 'inspired'. Why do you ONLY remember it all one way?

There is something else that so many people seem not to 'get'; you don't just become a champion. You have to live and breath that dream day in day out. The pursuit of excellence requires utter dedication. As Ben Smith writes on another thread: 'Hamilton is who he is because he is single-minded and utterly dedicated to winning.' You cannot win and win at this level unless you have massive self-belief and total determination. What Pau and others like Chiunda see as arrogance I see as focus and determination. If you talk like a champion before you are one surely you are just trying to hold on to that self-belief? The younger you are the less likely that you will be able to hide that naked ambition.

Btw, just in case he reads the Times online, huge huge congratulations to Barak Obama.

[PR]

Some thoughts:
1. This is not the Times, neither Ed acting as a journalist. He has been keeping the post alive, at times quite tactless with reelvant issues as racism in Spain that were written absolutely biased (as some bloggers have shown with facts and articles)
2. LH is hated because he is a great driver (always causes jealously), has the best car, and is not precisely humble, but I guess no serious F1 fan will doubt about his class
3. Some blogger does not speak for all blacks or brits, and should not be given bigger credit than deserved

This is like going with the same issues for the last 3 months, isn't it?

[Jose]

I just dislike more RON Dennis.

yes the boss whom raced against the most complet driver he ever could had, and the one that could got the title in 07 if RON wasn't at MC charge, just to favour his protected "son in law" acting like a real "goodfather" and just to see how at the end LH lost the championship.

What I don't like of HAM is that his succes come from RON's unfair behavior to Alonso, despite the hard work developed by Alonso to transform a car to be 2nd or 3rd, watch 03, 04, 05, 06 seasons, into a 1st price one. Even admitted by Norbert Haugh, Alonso took out of his job some extra 0.6 sec per lap to make the car competitive in the race fight. But it looks that his huge contribution to MC succes in 07 and even 08 seasons, wasn't enough to give Alonso just an equal treatament, but what he got was just favoritism to HAM whom did nothing to improve the car. If he would do it we would know already, just to strike back Alonso's bitter coments.

I would say that most of us maybe could had behave like HAM did, yes most of us will take advantage of some favouritism, deserved or not, from our boss to overcome a coworker (Alonso), but even that, RON and HAM together went just equals to Alonso 109=109.

So I dont dislike HAM what I dislike are trailings behaves.

[MDA]

Kate C-J,

If Real Madrid beats Inter and Beckham goes to congratulate his former team mates, that will be all over the Spanish newspapers because Beckham is very famous and well known to Spanish football fans - and by the way very much liked, particularly by the Real Madrid supporters, but I dare to say that he was liked by non-supporters too (Jordi, this is a question for a Barcelona supporter like you!). Given that British papers have been extensively covering the rivalry between Alonso and Hamilton and the 2007 issues between Alonso and McLaren, I have to say that the former going to the McLaren garage to congratulate the latter is not an irrelevance, as you said.

Colin, JLK,

As to Hamilton's religious remarks, my only issue is that the one driver who was well-known for his deep religiosity was Senna. I cannot help thinking that it is too much of a coincidence, particularly as I understand that Hamilton himself states that he is religious, but that religion is not that central in his life:
www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article419638.ece
“Sometimes, if I was in trouble I would pray, but I was never hardcore into it – but then neither was the family, although we all believe.”
(The full article is apparently an exert from “Lewis Hamilton: My Story, by Lewis Hamilton”).

Regards,

[M. Taylor]

People - do not hate - get a life. Do you think that hating Lewis Hamilton is going to make him drive poorer. He will only use this as an impetus to do better in the future. Do not forget that he was cheated out of a win this year - otherwise it would not have taken this last race to secure the overall title. Are people also forgetting that he almost won the overall title last year? He is a young man and instead of encouraging him, why are people trying to pull him down? What does it matter if he is daing the lead of the Pussy Cat dolls? Everybody dates someone? What does this have to do with driving?

[Kohque]

So much bitterness in your reflections. If Hamilton's title doesn't cheer you up, what will?

For me it is joy to see a new and talented driver achieving the maximum in Formula 1. Why would you care about the reaction of people who is not supposed to be fan of Lewis Hamilton anyway? Stop making demons in your own head Quixote. PR machines are not going to convince the world that it must revered Hamilton as you do. They cannot manufacture worldwide adulation for someone you and British people may feel proud of, and rightly so.

Whining and critizing at this point is weird. So much for British manners... Hamilton has won, why aren't you enjoying the moment? What kind of reflection is this? Are you trying to depress everyone here?

And the 'best and brightest' can only said "well done, Ed"... Yeah, well done, Ed. You have just made the celebration looks like a funeral. Well done.

[Karmen]

Good stuff, Ed. I really appreciate your columns. And for what it's said here in Spain, it's pure jealousy. Don't waste time on those idiots

Let the Lewis&McLaren era begin!

[Maurizio]

Now we know how Hamilton managed to pass Glock:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYE8WvPnyTI

(just a joke, of course!)

Well done to Lewis, great driver. I wish he'd change his mind and join Ferrari one day.

[Mike]

Mr Gorman, It seem's you just can't help yourself, the jingoistic drivel continues. I can't help asking myself whether you actually bother to read what goes to print?

Let's get things straight, Hamilton won the championship, well done to an obviously talented bloke. However, it's one championship which to be frank wasn't won convincingly..

What rubs level headed F1 fans up the wrong way is the constant crap you and your fellow hacks write. Already Hamilton is being talked about as "great" don;t you think it's a bit early? I heard some cretin on the BBC news say "Hamilton has touched greatness" Sky news reckoned that Hamilton's overtaking manouvre on Glock was one of the best all season?? etc etc People are pissed off with all the Lewis did this and Lewis did that..

Your continuing criticism of Alonso is baffling, despite being arguably the best out there, your praise has been scarce.

I think it's very important to be balanced and I don't believe you are.

[Richard]

JOSE - "admitted by Norbert Haugh, Alonso took out of his job some extra 0.6 sec per lap"

I was interested to learn more about this so I Googled it, but I could find no reference to Haug saying Alonso had made the McLaren faster by 0.6 seconds per lap. Could you please post a link to an article which confirms it.

Thanks

[Antonio Xixon but in UK]

Well, I didn't want to write anything before waiting for the "hype", anger, and joy disappear, or at least scale down.

Can I explain why some people dislike (I don't like the term "hate") Hamilton?. Precisely because what has happened after he won. Only four days in his reign of F1 and there is Lewis everywhere. Comparisons have started to flourish like mushrooms: Schumacher, Senna, better sportsman of the year...That's why I dislike Hamilton, although I admit that he is a victim of the people around him. Have a close look and tell me, how many times did you see Michael or Alonso in celebrities parties, wanting to be the centre of attention?. Are their wifes part of the media circus?. That is one point. The other is the press, people like Ed that couldn't wait more than two days to start comparisons that first, are out of place for their prematurity, and second are irrelevant.

As Alonso has pointed out very nicely, he would have to try to beat him in being the youngest double champion. Why don't you start with that. I tell you why, because this championship hasn't been convincing. Same way for Reanult in 2006. Everyone could see that they couldn't be competitive in 2007 with an alarming descending line in performance. Same is happening with McLaren, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Lewis 4th or worst in the 2009 championship.

An example of how eclipsed is the British press with Lewis is the fact that the F1 section of The Times doesn't mention at all one of the most awaited decisions for the last months which is Fernando's future. He is staying with Renault for the next season and with other one depending in results, etc...well, depending if Ferrari can make their minds once for all and offer him a seat. That's the journalism in Britain for you.

To conclude, do you know why Ed has a fresh line of confrontation with Alonso?. Cristal clear, he knows, as I know that Fernando is going to be one of the biggest threats to the Billion pounds boy next season, and it is better to start sooner rather than later isn't it Mr Gorman?.

P.D.: Quite a few black people in my hospital think that Lewis is not a very good driver and prefer other pilots...are they racist?...hmmmmm.

[Guzzz]

DOMINIC LEWIS
I was just answering to a statement from someone else saying that Lewis had more points than Fernando.
If you want to see it that way, fair enough, Lewis is better than Fernando and Senna and Schumacher... Actually!! Lewis Hamilton is God!!!
I don't believe in God, by the way... I see you do...

[Peter Bench]

It's simple: live in the UK, pay UK taxes = good sport. Live somewhere else, pay tax somewhere else and cheapen the flag = not terribly nice person.

[Ricardo Gómez]

I find reading the comments of Spaniards on this forum most amusing. Their howls of protest at Ed's suggestion that the Spanish press have been anything other than even-handed in their treatment of Lewis Hamilton over the last two seasons is totally disingenuous; you need only read AS, Marca, Telecinco and 20 minutos to know that this is completely false. I believe it all started with Telecinco's fawning, pro-Alonso TV coverage ever since they started broadcasting F1 5 years ago. It boils down to the fact that they believe, without any doubt, that Alonso is a national hero who must be defended and protected at all costs. ITV's coverage understandably focuses on Hamilton, but Telecinco goes beyond this. Last year they launched a hate campaign against Hamilton, openly encouraging conspiracy theories at McLaren by demonising, not just Hamilton, but Ron Dennis and the entire team, knowing full well that it was very easy to rile the emotionally charged Spanish public -and they did this on air at every F1 race. They went further, attacking and slandering ANY driver who was perceived to be a direct threat to Alonso (i.e. both Ferrari drivers). It was childish and petulant behaviour but reflected Alonso's own character. This was a man who played the media off to perfection, saying one thing on ITV and quite another on Spanish TV. There's also another deep-rooted problem. Spain, as a nation, does not do 'objectivity' or 'self analysis' well - it's not in their make-up; one only has to look at the way they see themselves as a nation of underdogs who have always been the victims of political duplicity - mostly from the 'conniving' English - to know that. Before I'm charged with being a xenophobe I'd like to point out that I'm Spanish. There's no doubt that there's an equally distasteful side to the British tabloid press, but the difference is that British newsreaders don't get in on the act; there's still an understanding about what objective broadcasting is all about. As for charges of racism? There's no doubt this goes on, but it's mostly from morons who post their unpleasant comments openly on forums. I would say that the media here deliberately downplays this aspect, partly because there is a sense of denial about the extent of racism in the country and partly because Spain has yet to undergo the social transformation Britain went through which allowed it to understand that such vile comments were clearly a manifestation of something far more serious. Lastly, I've no idea how good Hamilton will become. He is, in equal measure, vastly talented, extremely arrogant, inmature and has been ill-advised, but in my opinion he is no worse than Senna and Schumacher were before they became World Champions.

[Weasel]

@ Ricardo Gomez

You hit the nail on the head - well said and intelligently and elegantly written. As a former interpreter and linguist myself, it appears to me that your command of the English language would indicate that you are either of Anglo Hispanic parentage or have a natural linguistic talent and have lived in an English speaking country for many years.

Your points are well made and well taken.

[PTM]

Ricardo Gomez thank you for your post, personally I couldnt agree with you more as beeing able to read both English and Spanish I know exactly what you mean, I think you just made write my very first serious post.

[rafa]

To Ricardo Gómez:

As? Marca? Telecinco? 20 minutes? Why those are indeed amusing sources of info you rely on, my friend.

If you take these examples as representative of Spain´s journalism, we should likewise discard The Times in the UK and take The Sun instead. The New York Times and the Washington Post and only aknowledge USA Today or Bild in Germany. What is your point anyway my friend?

As for your claims of Spaniards styling themselves as a nation of underdogs victims of political duplicity... well, you pretty much do realize that as a Spaniard you´re actually reinforcing that notion?

One last thing: laying claims of discrimination over a country is a serious matter. I don´t think it should have a place in such controversies as the rivalry between two F1 drivers. You want to discuss about this? Fine. Why not head to other forums where the object of discussion is indeed racism in its most crude forms? Laws, gangs beating immigrants, suburbial margination and stuff like that. Lewis Hamilton and Alonso? They are just two rich fellows living life in the fast lane. The racial controversy is artificially overblown and deliberate in its purpose to grab attention: it has no serious background. If you think that alone the fact of being a Spaniard lays more truth to your opinions over your country, you are seriously deluded. You are right that since you are a Spaniard I can´t correctly label you xenophobic. How about this then? Demagogic.

[tiptoe]

Is Ricardo Gómez JAVIERVIVAESPAÑA?
or better, is he A PARKER in disguise?

But then again he might be GARY M.