Planet F1 forum - stupid issues!

[Harrison]

Schumacher won’t even talk to most of the media and ignored ITV.

That wasn't really down to him not wanting to. He had an exclusive contract with the German channel RTL which stated they had exclusive interviews and rights to him before a race. Therefore ITV were not actually allowed to talk to him.

Hamilton may be acting cool, but those negative traits that each driver needs are now beginning to show.

True, but don't you think it could be because he has finally become fed up with Alonso and the off track digs he has been receiving throughout the season from him? The comments have definitely only started to come from Hamilton since Alonso blocked him in the pits.

Back to Alonso, he isn’t all bad however. Unlike most F1 drivers, he remained grounded in his off-track lifestyle, much to the annoyance of Bernie who wants F1 champions to be as flamboyant as possible. He hasn’t run off to Monaco to protect his millions from the taxman, instead living in Oxford and walking its streets in the off-season.

Maybe Alonso is just tight and doesn't like spending his money!

Flavio Briatore also lives in the UK and is a close friend (and Manager) of Alonso, which could be one reason Alonso is living in the UK.

BTW, have you read about Briatore's life? Most can be found here. The part I find most interesting is: "Briatore was involved in the bankruptcy of Paramatti, and eventually convicted on various counts of fraud in Bergamo and Milan to 4 years and 6 months of prison. To avoid imprisonment, he fled to Saint Thomas in the Virgin Islands"

The begs the question, why is he not arrested when he goes to the European races in these countries? How did he get around these convictions?

I’m a big fan of Hamilton as an English driver in an English/German team taking F1 by storm. It’s great to see the flag flying on race weekends and as a sports person, he has what it takes. I’m not sure what I think of him as a person in comparison to Alonso until he’s got a few seasons under his belt.

I didn't really know what to make of Hamilton at the start of the season as I've always been a fan of Button. Being British and a good driver has gone some way to make me like him more, and some of his abilities on the track in the past few races have really shown how good he is. But as you say it is hard to gauge what to think of him as a person. He has been coached by McLaren well over the past few years and this has left his personality lacking life and individuality. But I'm sure that due to the way Alonso has acted this year it is starting to bring his real personality out and we should hopefully see the real Hamilton in the next couple of years.

His rumoured wage increase from £340,000 this year to £10 Million next year might also have something to do with his change of heart regarding his lifestyle!

[Bloodwych]

I never understood that "exclusive" Shumi media contract. It always seemed a very convenient way of ignoring 99% of the press and came across quite unfair to the rest of the world who wanted access to a world champion. Another issue was Martin Brundle - he never hid the fact that they didn't see eye to eye for many reasons and the cringe worthy moment he handed him that stupid going away present from ITV was very awkward!

Although I like Martin, I bet Schumi would have always had time for good old Murry Walker!

I can see where your coming from about Alonso, but as we've all shown we can interpret individuals actions in many different ways depending on who we choose to support or which side of the fence we sit.

I see more similarities between the top drivers than differences, in that they all at some time or another do something deemed inappropriate or unfair. It may not be the same "bad act" that surfaces, but the motivation behind it stems from the same uncompromising and selfish desires to win at all costs.

Greats such as Schumacher and Senna have had their dark moments, and now Alonso too. Hamilton has all the markings of such a great and will undoubtedly get a few blips on his career; he's even got a few already.

The only reason I refuse to fully criticise Alonso is due to those similarities and watching him do no different than recent past champions. Senna never put up with Prost's equal status and friction brewed all the time; Schumi would never have put up with a super rookie at Ferrari or shared setup data and allowed them to have equal status in his prime. It was him or no one, a stance many of his team mates complained about.

I'm sure the list can go on. Perhaps I'm just a fence sitter, but I can't see Alonso acting any worse than many recent past champions and most probably future ones.

Briatore's story is an interesting read, thanks for letting me know. I have no idea how he escapes his past, although I can't say it surprises me - that man seems as dodgy as anyone I've ever met! As for Hamo's wage rise, I don't want to think of how much money sports people make - it makes me cry!

[Harrison]

I also always thought Briatore seemed very dodgy and now knowing the facts of his life just confirmed it. Just goes to show that crime does pay!

And yeah, the amount they get paid is pure madness. Even on his wages from this year any normal person would remain in shock over such a pay packet for months. (Then go out and buy a new house or super car!)

[Bloodwych]

You're so right! Playing it by the numbers doesn't work in society, or at least sets you up for an ordinary life.

That's it - I'm off to buy a balaclava and a water pistol. Time for a life of crime...

[AlexJ]

The FIA are investigating Hamilton after the Webber/Vettel crash which the Japanese HB somehow missed. Their evidence? Amateur video posted on Youtube : http://youtube.com/watch?v=8hWIfBkVQUk

[Bloodwych]

Thanks AlexJ - LOL Formula one management have already pulled the vid. That really annoys me - how are 10min clips of F1 hurting Bernie's bottom line on YouTube?

Grrrrr. My F1 mood strop is coming on again....

I've seen this reported on the BBC webpage. The conspiracy theorist in me wants to think this is a very convenient way of keeping the championship alive to end, expecially if Hamo gets the 10 place drop or punishment.

Yes ok, Webber and others complained, but in the past we haven't seen this kind of investigation pop up amongst the backmarkers.

[Harrison]

I read about the Hamilton/Webber complaint earlier and it made me laugh. Can any more complaints happen this year to try and prevent Hamilton becoming champion? I'm sure the rest of F1 are just looking for the smallest of things they can pin on him to try and stop him.

If they agree with this complaint it could mean a lose of his 10 points for the race win, which would be completely unfair in my view. a 10-grid slot penalty for the next race wouldn't be quite so bad, but could still cause the championship to go to the final race as Alonso would have a big advantage on the grid and Hamilton could be in danger of not scoring any points, meaning it could be down to just 2 points at the final race!

Racing incidents happen, it's racing after all, and Webber/Vettel are not exactly the best drivers in F1!

I like the quote "The accident which saw Webber and Vettel retire from the race was not captured by the official coverage, but a clip on a popular broadcasting website shows Hamilton slowing down and lurching to the right of the circuit."

Didn't they notice how wet the track was? And how many others were crashing or not being able to completely control their cars? OK so Hamilton may have lurched to the right, but could that have been due to standing water? And trying to follow within 5 car lengths of the safely car (as the rules state) could be very difficult with so much rain and water on the track.

[AlexJ]

Having watched the video (and saved a copy) I think Hamilton was actually at fault for the incident. Hamilton lurches to the right and visibly slows down. Webber then slows down to avoid overtaking LH under the safety car but is unsighted by Vettel through the spray who doesn't slow down.

You could argue that Webber and Vettel should have increased the gaps to the cars in front but they were about to go green so didn't want to give a huge gap. If Hamilton had kept at the speed the Safety Car was going, then the accident wouldn't have happened IMO.

Thanks AlexJ - LOL Formula one management have already pulled the vid. That really annoys me - how are 10min clips of F1 hurting Bernie's bottom line on YouTube?

Because there's a disclaimer on the back of all F1 tickets giving conditions of entry, one of which is that all video taken inside the venue becomes the property of FOM. Like all interesting clips, FOM will want to save it for the season review DVD. There was a great on-board video of the Massa/Kubica battle on Premiere's Interactive service which never made it onto the world feed (and was soon pulled from Youtube). You can guarantee that will also turn up on the DVD.


EDIT: Just found someone's analysis of the LH/MW/SV crash:



Look how far the Safety Car has moved between the first and second shots, while Hamilton has pretty much stayed in the same spot. The regs state you shouldn't slow down excessively. The third shot shows the number of car lengths between him and the SC, nearly twice the maximum given in the regs. Yes it engineers the championship nicely for a decider at the final race (or gives LH a shot to show a GP2-esque drive from 10-14th on the grid) but at the end of the day, F1 wants it's rookie world champion story as that will give the sport the most coverage so the punishment will be no more than a 10 place drop IMO.

[Bloodwych]

Thanks again AlexJ, interesting read.

That strange wide line Lewis is taking in those pics has just reminded me of the other controversial occurrence that weekend - I'm sure he took the same line when Kubica hit him and got a dubious penalty, which I thought was a racing incident.

My recollection of the contact involving Hamilton and Kubica was Lewis took a really wide entry into the corner and Kubica remained on the normal and faster racing line. Then Lewis, unsighted by the spray behind, cut back onto the racing line and hit Kubica.

Am I wrong? Perhaps, I only saw it once.

[AlexJ]

There are two plausible justifiable explanations for the wide line I can see:

a) He lost control and aquaplaned off

b) He deliberately went off-line to cool tyres.

a) is unlikely as he had slowed before getting to the corner and made no attempt to turn into the normal line and b) is equally unlikely as there was no dry racing line emerging.

Therefore, gamesmanship remains the only plausible explanation for the incident, and that would be termed "causing an avoidable accident" which is the same thing Kubica got hit with. It was a stupid thing to do, because neither Webber nor Vettel are competing against him in the WDC so if they'd finished in 2nd and 3rd instead of Kimi he'd have effectively knocked Raikkonen out of the championship race.

Also makes Mark Webber's comment about kids f***ing up a bit different. At first, I assumed he was referring to Vettel but kids may suggest he thought both Vettel and Hamilton was at fault.

Some new Youtube links of the videos (likely to be pulled shortly so download them):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QJurnfxRm4 - SC Crash
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgkR9Dej0wk - Massa/Kubica Onboard Footage