2008 F1 Season

[Marco-R34GTT]

I seem to recall a certain Michael Schumacher landing a seat with Benetton, one race after his debut - who were right up there in 1992, 93 and ofcourse at the top in 94.

Are you suggesting he didnt win all his championships because he lucked into some of the best machinery or because of the fact that he was just bloody good?

As a result of him landing an underpowered, privateer, debutant Jordan car 7th on the grid at Spa, a track he only previously traversed on his mountain bike 2 days before hand... Prior to that though, Schumacher was hardly carried, he did it tough, both parents works and neither could accompany him to most of his races during his adolesence... Always making do with 2nd rate machinery and pushing his own abilities, and his car to the absolute limit, making the most of what he had at his disposal.. I'll conceed that Benetton was a big jump from Jordan, but it was hardy championship winning materal in the 91, 92, 93 seasons... Compared to the McLaren Honda's, the Williams Renault's and even the Ferrari's... It is at best, a very limp wristed comparison to the sweet soufflé that Hamilton fell into... Also, if I recall correctly, for a majority of those seasons in question, I believe the Benetton was only a customer and didn't have a works deal with Ford until 93/94....

[Roy]

He made a 2 time champ look decidedly second rate and that should never be forgotten.

I am all for a bit of a rant. But made to look second rate? What a crock of shit! Seriously, try to dettach emotion and who was the WDC and who was the rookie for a second. (hard hting i know, i find it difficult)

1. Which driver saw an opportunity a few GPs in and started playing mind games with his team mate?

2. Which driver didnt want to relinquish track position during qualifying as per the instruction from pit wall?

3. Which driver was the first to start airing problems in the press, despite the team trying to keep out of the lime light as the whole Ferrari/Stepney thing was going on?

To Hamiltons credit he was in a strong points position heading to Canada. Alonso had settled into the new team quickly and had a few problems, hit by Massa at Spain, damaged car in Canada etc (from butting wheels with Lewis, but all is fair in my eyes...credit to Lewis for being on pole and racing hard for position).

In my eyes the turning point of the season was partly Monaco but mostly France. Alonso simply out raced Lewis and Lewis whilst having a great 2nd in Monaco (clipping barriers here and there driving on the edge) made comments that would the next week mean the team was investigated by the FIA regarding team orders. Comment that he should/could have won the race. Having been mega consistant to this point you could see he wanted a win and knew it was within reach. Confirming it in the next two GPs.

But to me, Monaco hinted, France confirmed, and Hungary Lewis started fighting for it. The 8th GP of the year in France had Lewis 2/4/1 (1st / 2nd / 3rd race finishes) and Alonso was 2/2/1. So Lewis was showing himself to be mega consistant and looking good in points.

But Alonso's gearbox failed in Q3 meaning he was to start from Pos 10. He raced to 7th, giving Lewis a very handy points advantage at this point of the season. Now here is a rookie alongside a 2 time WDC and he is fairing bloody well against him, in fact leading him in teh championship.

At this point i think its when Lewis really began to understand he can win races, he can beat Alonso and started thinking seriously about winning the WDC.

So on to British GP Lewis stuffed a pistop going to leave when the lollipop was turned over. That small mistake meant he was 3rd to Kimi and Alonso. Perhaps the first sign of pressure getting to him in his rookie season as the realisation of the situation became real?!?!

So with a points lead and a little error in the pits it was on to European GP where it was his turn for some bad luck with the wheel failure meaning it was his turn to start the race from 10th. He gambled with tyre strategy and raced hard for a 9th. He was dealt a similar hand as Alonso had in France.

So this is now two races in a row where he has lost points and his lead in the championship.

So at this point of the season, Hamilton is thinking "i am in the hunt here, i can win this" but fark, what has happened the last two races. Alonso knows its a long season, had had some misfortune, some tough beats but is still in the hunt. His biggest challenger is his rookie team mate. No doubt a surprise.

So in Hungary, to me it was Lewis cracking under the pressure. He wanted every advantage he could get, had tasted some of the make or break stuff the previous few GPs that were hindering Alonso and Kimi's campaigns and decided he needed to take what advantage he could.

He disobeyed the pit instruction and messed with Alonso's quliafying fuel burn trying to get track position. Alonso faught back and got burnt by the FIA. Lewis showed his true colours right there. When the pressure to perform was on, he thought of himself not the team. Many great drivers have done it, but he disobeyed the guy who had nurtured him and gave him all his major breaks, a guy he supposedly respected. Ignored. So dont tell me he is a straight up champion. He may win WDC in a similar way to MS etc, but he has shown he will be underhanded when it suits/fortunes him. Just as Alonso did with his threat to Ron about the Stepney info. Both drivers reacted poorly, but it is my opinion that if Lewis had not of started the games then Alonso woudl not have finished it.

In my eyes it was the next few GPs where Alonso showed his grain. Ferrari were competitive, McLaren as a team were under pressure and the drivers were airing their differences in the public domain. But Lewis let it distract him, and the occassion got too much for him. Alonso was no doubt still affected, but consider the pressure on him? He pulled back points on Lewis as Lewis stumbled through 5 of the last 6 GPs of the year, with questionably less pressure on him then Alonso.

Alonso has shown how he is good under pressure when racing with MS in his WDC. He gets the job done when he needs to. He showed that again last year, when the chips were down, he did the better job under pressure at the end of the season. He binned it in Japan, but after his pitstop that saw him in the pack he had no choice but to go all out and the gamble didnt pay off. I didnt hear any excuses or complaints for the crash.

Anyway, i sit back and look at the season, which driver did what in press conferences etc and i am amazed people dont pick up on the fact that it was Lewis that didnt like having Alonso as a team mate from early on in the piece. He didnt like Alonso's 2 GP wins to his none. No doubt by mid season the feeling was mutual, but i love how ppl think that Lewis didnt have any aspirations and was just driving a car for the season and he wasnt saying, doing things, pulling strings to ensure that it was his WDC. It seems strange that from the point that the WDC was possible he seemed to deviate from what it was he had been doing, and distracted himself as much as he did Alonso.

Oh, and it shits me that he won the Japanese GP. That should have been Kubicas by a mile. He was so much quicker and should not have been given a drive through for Lewis running way off line then scrambling back accross the track trying to recover and clashing with Kubica who was sailing by on the inside on the right line. That and with how he controlled the field under the pace car...well he should never have won that race Think if Kubica had of broken through for his first GP win in Japan, what that would have done to the WDC points score?

[Beer Baron]

His onboard was sensational... Monaco has always been a great yardstick for those drivers that were championship winning material. Senna, Prost, Mansell, Schumi, Kimi, and Gonzo...where does the list end, were all masters of that circuit and Ham is proving hes up to the task as well.

add webber to that list. my hazy memory has him taking P2 in quali there in a f**king jag of all things! and didn't he get one of his few podiums at monaco (or was that another "should have been" weekend)?

[djr81]

add webber to that list. my hazy memory has him taking P2 in quali there in a f**king jag of all things! and didn't he get one of his few podiums at monaco (or was that another "should have been" weekend)?

He went P3 in the Williams BMW in 2004(?) Got pants by his team mate - some hack called Heidfeld for 2nd.

[Roy]

I seem to recall a certain Michael Schumacher landing a seat with Benetton, one race after his debut - who were right up there in 1992, 93 and ofcourse at the top in 94.

Are you suggesting he didnt win all his championships because he lucked into some of the best machinery or because of the fact that he was just bloody good?

That is also laughable. He didnt really blow Martin Brundle into the weeds in his first season in F1. Brundle did a damn good job alongside him, even though he had 5 retirements out of the first 7 races. I have no idea why they replaced him with Patreste in 1993. In 93 he did some growing but who couldnt with Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne and Pat Symonds by your side? Also what year was it that the old black box didnt have traction control?

Yeh MS ended up a great champion and had planty of talent from the get go. But he grew as the teams he was driving for grew. To put it into contrast what you are saying is that in 1992 MS was given Mansells FW14B! Thats effectively what Hamilton had last year. Ferrari tripped up in the wind tunnel and with a driver fresh to the team who wasnt initially that happy with the car. McLaren went to sleep and it hurt them

[Roy]

add webber to that list. my hazy memory has him taking P2 in quali there in a f**king jag of all things! and didn't he get one of his few podiums at monaco (or was that another "should have been" weekend)?

Yeh, in 2005 at Williams should have finished 2nd. 2006 was racing hard in 3rd and car broke, who knew what was on teh cards that day if the car had held together . And he has won at Monaco. It was in 2001 or something when he was driving for the Arrows/Walkinshaw/Orange etc F3000 car.

[Beer Baron]

yeah and the japanese GP with kubica being penalised webber should have won that f**ker from louise, but some crafty bullshit under the pace car saw rookie vettel up his ass. as for once in his life webber actually looked a threat to a maclaren driver.

I can remember louise driving it into the sandtrap whilst coming into the pits too hot on worn out tyres. that would just about have to be the definition of "rookie mistake". I lol'd.

GO WEBBER!

[djr81]

That is also laughable. He didnt really blow Martin Brundle into the weeds in his first season in F1. Brundle did a damn good job alongside him, even though he had 5 retirements out of the first 7 races. I have no idea why they replaced him with Patreste in 1993. In 93 he did some growing but who couldnt with Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne and Pat Symonds by your side? Also what year was it that the old black box didnt have traction control?

Yeh MS ended up a great champion and had planty of talent from the get go. But he grew as the teams he was driving for grew. To put it into contrast what you are saying is that in 1992 MS was given Mansells FW14B! Thats effectively what Hamilton had last year. Ferrari tripped up in the wind tunnel and with a driver fresh to the team who wasnt initially that happy with the car. McLaren went to sleep and it hurt them

Roy, as good as it was, last years McLaren was no FW14B.

Benetton signed Patrese for what he knew of the Williams active suspension system. Plus he was an excellent development driver & a damn nice bloke to boot.

[Beer Baron]

I should also say, very nice rant there troy. haha.

[Marco-R34GTT]

Where are the Louise lovers now??

[Roy]

Roy, as good as it was, last years McLaren was no FW14B.

Benetton signed Patrese for what he knew of the Williams active suspension system. Plus he was an excellent development driver & a damn nice bloke to boot.

Ok re the suspension. But he is a driver, not an engineer. Nice bloke, again OK, but Brundle didnt deserve the chop, especially considering his replacement was Patrese. (my opinion, then again i was only 16 at the time so what did/do i know )

And no, last years McLaren was not as dominant as the FW14B. But in 92 two manufacturers still won 15 from 16GPs. Last year two teams won all 17GPs. So if not the Williams he had the McLaren. Either way, MS had the 3rd best car on the grid, so todays equiv is that MS had a BMW-Sauber in his first full GP season after having driven a single race for a team that had never been on a podium.

I stand by my claim that Uncle Tom picked MS at the prefect time, where he was quick but able to mature with the emerging team which had only recently acquired key engineering staff in the past season or two.

What Lewis really got last year was Gerhard Berger 92 McLaren seat. A seat in a car that woudl win races alongside the current WDC.

[m3gtr]

Where are the Louise lovers now??

Oh dont you worry, ive got a retort baking away as i type this..

Ive gotta get home first...

[Roy]

I have just got home, twice as pissed as the afternoons posts ready for a dual! And nothing It seems Louise and his chonies are all off bum brushing one another

Am i wrong about last seasons events or what? Sincerely, was she really 43? She looked damn hot for an old duck!

[dezz]

Kovaleinen absolutely HOSED Hamilton in practice...He's a shoe in for the WDC now.

[Kinks]

Considering Kovaleinen binned his car straight after that hot-lap (causing a red flag), and then it rained, and the cars were 15 sec off the pace after that... you can't really say Louise or anyone else is slower. It's only practice, wait till quali to see who can put down a good time.

Even quali could be luck of the draw at this rate. Imagine if a BMW snaked pole!

[dezz]

Considering Kovaleinen binned his car straight after that hot-lap (causing a red flag), and then it rained, and the cars were 15 sec off the pace after that... you can't really say Louise or anyone else is slower. It's only practice, wait till quali to see who can put down a good time.

Even quali could be luck of the draw at this rate. Imagine if a BMW snaked pole!

It was a sarcastic post...

[OUTATIME]

takin a rdo this monday so can stay up and watch the monaco f1 lol, always gd race...

[wolverine]

Fisi on fire in quali.

[dezz]

Ferrari 1-2

[m3gtr]

It was a sarcastic post...

Accurate but not effective ya bastard!

Ill hose you in a minute...