'Little' Lewis in Monza

[Abba]

Desperation, arrogance, "teen loon", dis-regard for others or just plain stupidity

 

What do you guys think?

 

[The McLaren driver got involved in some close encounters during Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, including with his old foe and former teammate, Fernando Alonso.

 

"There was some unnecessary movements he made," the Spaniard told reporters in his native tongue at Monza, "and he repeated them with Glock and Webber. It is his way of racing."]

 

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news...915141257.shtml

Edited September 15, 2008 by Abba

[Paddie]

Some of Hamilton's moves were definitely questionable. There was absolute no need to cut so sharply in front of Alonso after passing him, for instance. But given the history between the two of them, perhaps we shouldn't be so surprised. The move on Webber also bordered on the unsportsmanlike, and I think he's lost a lot of respect among fans and drivers alike after last weekend's race.

[Abba]

It was pure dangerous on a soaked track. Total dis-regard for safety.

 

The beginning of Lewis downfall and along with of his fans too

[Abba]

Little Lewis does it again, over cooks braking into T1 and throws the race away.

 

Again like last year in Shanghai he forgot he was racing Alonso and not Kimi. This year he is racing Massa and no Kimi. He scored no pts in both. Kimi seems to have a strange effect on Lewis......

 

Ferrari should use Kimi efect to full advantage

[Caparo]

 

Look at what professional F1 drivers commented:

 

Another former F1 racer has backed Gerhard Berger's view that 'too many penalties' are being dished out by FIA stewards this year.

 

"In the 20 years I've been involved in F1 as a driver and spectator I don't think I've seen so many penalties in one season," the former McLaren driver Mark Blundell, who is now an analyst for Britain's television coverage, wrote in his column for the Daily Telegraph.

 

At Fuji Speedway last weekend, championship contenders Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa received penalties for on-track incidents, as did Sebastien Bourdais for what appeared a normal racing collision.

 

"It's political correctness gone mad. An important point is being missed: these guys are racing tooth and nail. Things happen when racing at 200mph," Blundell, 42, said.

 

"I understand the concern about safety but this is getting ridiculous. We might as well dig two grooves around each circuit, put two cars side by side like a Scalextric set and let someone control the action from the pits.

 

"The authorities are losing the plot," he charged.

 

Bourdais' 25-second time penalty, costing him his championship points and handing Ferrari's Massa another point, was undoubtedly the most contentious in Japan.

 

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport contends that the decision even contradicted race director Charlie Whiting's instruction - that drivers emerging from the pitlane have right of way over those already on the track.

 

"It was a normal racing incident. The decision was ridiculous," the magazine said.

Edited October 14, 2008 by Caparo

[Caparo]

Prior to that comment:

 

It was another busy race for the race director and stewards this afternoon at Fuji Speedway. "There are too many penalties; too many guilty ones," former race winner and Toro Rosso co-owner Gerhard Berger said after Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.

 

Not only were championship contenders Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton on the receiving end of the stewards' deliberations, Toro Rosso's Sebastien Bourdais lost his points for colliding with Massa after a pistop.

 

"What am I supposed to do?" the Frenchman said. "Roll out the red carpet?"

 

Lewis Hamilton's drive-through penalty for pushing Kimi Raikkonen wide at the first corner surprised his McLaren chiefs.

 

"We've all seen similar first corner incidents that triggered no such penalty," Ron Dennis noted.

 

Massa, meanwhile, penalised for the incident at turn ten, hit back at intimations that he deliberately punted Hamilton into a spin.

[Caparo]

Lewis comments:

 

What do you say to people who accuse you of being over-confident or arrogant?

 

"I would never say I was better than anyone else. But I am a Formula 1 driver and all of us have to believe in ourselves to get to where we are. You have to have that belief to go out and win: aperformance and to achieve more in your life. I look at the other drivers and I want to beat them. I would never say, 'I'm better than you,'nd that's what helps you strive for better I just think that all these guys are the best and to be the best I have to beat them. That's how every racing driver sees things."

 

 

Is it difficult to cope with all that scrutiny, particularly at this critical stage of the World Championship?

 

"For sure, it's not easy to always say or do the right thing, and when you're constantly being scrutinised it can be particularly difficult. Recently, there have been lots of different quotes attributed to me. And sometimes I've said things that have either come out the wrong way or been taken out of context so people get a different feeling of what I've said when I haven't expressed myself correctly."

"I'm only human and every now and then people make mistakes. Communication is so important in life and some of the things I've said were not meant to harm anyone. I don't feel like I've hurt anyone. And my family makes sure that doesn't happen."

[Caparo]

On the other hand:

 

The Italian press has not given up hope that Fernando Alonso could soon be at the wheel of a Ferrari.

 

La Gazzetta dello Sport, the country's famous sports daily, said after Kimi Raikkonen's championship hopes mathematically slipped away at Fuji that Ferrari should have contemplated showing the Finn the door.

 

'It's a question we have to ask,' the paper's correspondent wrote. 'Was it really sensible to renew Raikkonen's contract?

 

'(Luca di) Montezemolo has called the Finn a striker in search of his lost goals, but Kimi seems more like a mechanic who has lost the operating instructions to his car .'

 

'He now has two more races to help Massa and show that he still has the desire. If this run continues, Ferrari must make the call to Alonso.'

 

Ferrari's 1979 champion, Jody Scheckter, believes Raikkonen is receiving too easy a time from the team's management.

 

"Raikkonen's life at Maranello would have been much more difficult if Enzo Ferrari was around," the South African told the Spanish newspaper Sport.

 

Scheckter believes Ferrari should have signed Alonso. "I think Ferrari needs someone with his personality; someone capable of being in control of things."

 

Former double world champion Alonso, however, is adamant that he is not going to be wearing red overalls any time soon.

 

Asked after Fuji by the Spanish radio network Cadena Ser what percentage chance he assigns to a Ferrari switch, the Spaniard answered: "Zero. Ferrari has already announced its drivers, so there is no possibility."

 

Source: GMM

Edited October 14, 2008 by Caparo

[Caparo]

On the hand next to this other hand:

 

'2008 threatens to exist in the memory as the year of missed opportunities; a wasted championship,' Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport charged.

 

Corriere dello Sport explained: 'Felipe Massa in Japan continued their desperate attempts to lose the title.'

[Caparo]

Slow:

 

Ferrari is still lagging behind with development of a KERS system for 2009.

 

The Italian team's engine boss Gilles Simon admitted last month that Ferrari is "struggling' with the technology, raising the prospects that the 2009 car will debut without an energy-recovery system.

The situation led to Force India, Ferrari's F1 customer, shopping around for a new supplier, with business director Ian Phillips confirming in Japan that its Maranello based partner is being 'non-committal' about next year's package.

 

"I cannot deny that we are lagging behind," Ferrari's Technical Director Aldo Costa is quoted as saying by Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport.

 

He admitted that Ferrari's progress with KERS is behind that of 'most teams'.

 

"Let me just say that I would prefer if our system was already in the testing phase.

 

We now have to do a lot in a short time frame."

 

Costa added that Ferrari is targeting the debut of its KERS system for a group test in mid-January that "we really must not miss."

 

He said: "During the battle for the world championship we have put a lot of effort into the F2008, and now we must also focus on next season."

[Watwheels]

Can't u see? It's Mclaren vs Ferrari, u can ignore other teams. If kimi were to get infront of lewis the Ferrari team will be in control of the race by holding up lewis. If they could hold him up throughout until their first pit stop massa can pit first while kimi continue to slow lewis down out on the track as much as possible. And when kimi and lewis pit , massa will lead the race and chiong to lead as much as possible. And hopefully massa will win, follow by kimi and dan lewis.

 

Typical strategy. That's why lewis deem it was necessary to take that risk by overtaking the Ferraris and not let them get ahead or else he would fall into their game.

 

In F1 whoever has the race lead in the beginning of the race has the advantage in terms of strategy.

Edited October 15, 2008 by Watwheels

[Caparo]

Yes , you are spot on. Somehow some are

[Watwheels]

Most are new at this F1 thing. When I first watch F1, Schumy wasn't in Ferrari yet. I find it boring to watch cos I dunno what was going on until after watching for some seasons I can understand what they were actually trying to do.

 

There is much less publicity back dan, finding information about F1 even on the net is sparse. I have to watch a lot of pre-race updates to learn about the technical aspects of the race.

 

The fight to the top is tough, if a driver missed the chance it might be his last too. The risks are necessary to get to the top.

[Falc]

If kimi slows down, won't that let lewis overtake easily? This is a proper track not a street one where overtaking chances are sparse. I just don't see how this strategy works out.

[Watwheels]

Slows down in F1 means in timing for each lap and not literally slow down to like very slow.

 

It's difficult to explain cos everything is going by so fast. If each lap slow by 1~2 sec or less but by accumulating these "crucial seconds" they can afford to do pit stop for the other driver and not loose a position.

[Watwheels]

Many ppl will see from the point of normal driving. Yes lewis will try to overtake kimi but kimi can also block him, he may be successful, he may not succeed. If anyone makes a mistake and touch, lewis will loose out. So the odds are against more on lewis.

 

I dun like to explain. Watch more u will understand.

[Falc]

Ah ... if the idea is to take lewis down with kimi, that i can understand.

[Turbonetics]

Alonso promise he will try his best to prevent Hamilton getting the champion.

i hope Massa can get to the top.

afterall,the last circuit will be at Brazil which is Massa's homeground.