Lewis Hamilton

[peterg]

Just been informed via Blatchat that McLaren issue their drivers with a nice clean jacket exactly matching their overalls to wear at press conferences etc - Lewis chose to wear his, Ferdi didn't  

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

This Lewis is an arrogant little bleeder isn't he?! No idea where this supposed reputation for humility came from, his dad I assume.

[Martin Keene]

Just been informed via Blatchat that McLaren issue their drivers with a nice clean jacket exactly matching their overalls to wear at press conferences etc - Lewis chose to wear his, Ferdi didn't  

I suspect that was some kind of protest on Alonso's part...

And Hamilton is starting to make him look a prize prat, what was the dive across the pit lane for exactly?

[neilb]

This Lewis is an arrogant little bleeder isn't he?! No idea where this supposed reputation for humility came from, his dad I assume.

He is 22 only had 7 starts in an F1 car and is a race win ahead of the championship - how cocky would you be and compared to football players he is a real professional and a roll model that the UK should be very proud of.

He is the best thing for F1 in the UK since Mansell just a shame that MS will not be racing against him.

[michaelcoombs]

I don't think GuyH was necessarily complaining about him being arrogant little bleeder, just questioning the his reputation for humility which does not seem very evident at the moment.  

If he continues to demonstrate the 'decisive' driving style and wins more races than he looses i wonder if people will start to 'dislike' him for making it 'boring' in the same way some people disliked schumacher for being successful.

[Pembroke Pat]

Not in the UK.  If johnny foreignor is winning then it is not fair but ok if you are british.

Actually I think if he resorted to the gamesmanship of Shumacher then he would get a bad rep but so far his driving has been hard but fair.

[michaelcoombs]

Its not so much his driving style which i agree has been fair, but a few of his comments such as referring to the other drivers as 'the monkeys at the back' which has/will do him no favors.

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

Is it not highly unlikely that he would use the term 'monkeys' in a deeply disparaging way, given how that term has been used/abused by football supporters against black players? I suspect it is a word that means something similar to 'proles', 'also-rans', 'oiks', or 'hoipolloi'. Somewhat disrespectful, certainly, but not quite as insulting as it has come to be interpreted.

[GuyH]

I don't think GuyH was necessarily complaining about him being arrogant little bleeder, just questioning the his reputation for humility which does not seem very evident at the moment.  

Exactly. He is clearly obscenely quick. And it's great to watch him drive. Watching the tail of his car hang out at Monaco was fun enough, but watching him defend second place in the early laps at Malaysia while hanging the back out all over the place was really fantastic.

It's just his comments about "Monkeys at the back", about not trusting other F1 drivers "to drive a shopping trolley", and when asked why he hugs the wall so tightly at Indy when none of the other drivers do he says "well, I'm not one of the other drivers (cheesy grin)". No doubt it's youth and confidence, but I'd be surprised if he gets through the year without really putting his foot in his mouth.

[pistonbroke]

Is it just me but at the post race press conference did Lewis Hamilton's overalls look like they'd been washed in Daz    and Alonso's looked like they been dragged through an oily puddle    

Alonso complained about the carbon dust from Lewis's car , his reason for driving along the pit wall was to "clean himself off from the dust "  

Perhaps he decided not to clean up for the interview so as to prove his point  

[peter pan]

His comments could be construed as cocky, but unfortunately for most of the other drivers they are true, that is of course unless all the other drivers are holding themselves back to make sure that Lewis can allways win (dont think so somehow). It is Lewis Hamiltons way of treating those around him,  even just the people who are there to show him the way to the upper levels of the podium building , which impressed me. Instead of ignoring them, he shakes their hand, and talks to them. If he is arrogant on the track so be it. that kind of attitude is needed if you are going to win races. But he certainly doesnt seem arrogant in terms of his attitude to his team, and relatively lowly staff around him.

[Matt Seabrook]

If he was German and called Michael would those comment bee taken with such good spirit by one and all on here Calling other drivers monkeys is a little off in my book. If he was driving a Spiker or Honda would he be so dangler sure of him self? Lewis just let your driving do the talking and have a little more humility up until I heard that comment I could not see a bad point in him.

[peterg]

I rather suspect that is the expression that backmarkers etc are referred to by the team in the pits/factory at McLaren and he just used the term 'in public'.

It's easily done and whereas in something like F Renault no one would have taken much notice, now everything he says or does is analysed and critiqued to the last detail by the press and public no matter how little they know about him as a person.  

Personally I'd rather he did that than punt them off into tyre barriers in the race like MS  

[bhouse]

Did anyone see the shots of Lewis and Alonso getting ready before going to the podium?

Lots of water swigging, wiping face/neck with towel etc. Alonso left his overalls open at the neck, whereas Lewis very carefully did up the neck strap, making sure that all logos etc were fully displayed. Only a tiny thing, but it shows that he has a good grasp of how the 'sport' actually works.

Brian