And Lewis Hamilton wins his 5th Championship!

jonneymendoza · 23 Jul 2018 at 07:54

Merlin5 said:
Thread title is going to happen.

come on now

Entai · 23 Jul 2018 at 09:25

Vertigo1 said:
You've got it totally wrong. Hamilton's goal is simply to be the best driver he can, to perfect his skills as much as possible and continually test himself against the best drivers. The records that come with his success are merely a way of measuring it, not a goal in themselves.

Take championships. When he won his third, he was more concerned with having equaled the achievement of his hero, Senna, than he was with the number three per se. When he won his fourth, it was more about becoming the most successful British driver than the number four. It's not about the raw numbers, it's about achievement and measuring himself against the greats.

If anything, Rosberg was more interested in records than Hamilton. He just wanted to get a championship to "put a tick in the box", then he quit. He wasn't interested in continuing beyond that as he had no real love for racing, he just wanted that tick. He was also willing to do anything to get it, often employing underhand tactics against Hamilton and ultimately needing poor reliability for Lewis to achieve it.

Rosberg was undoubtedly quick on his day but was a totally forgettable driver. Many people have already forgotten about him this year - ask the average person with a passing interest in F1 who the current world champion is and they'd probably pause for a second or two. He'll go down in the history of F1 as a forgettable driver who lucked into a single championship.

If those statements are really what Hamilton is about, then we will see him driving, (cars and teams permitting) until he has beaten Schumachers seven titles.

Personally I cannot see that happening, I give him one or two more years, then he will retire and move into something else, even if he has 6 titles by then he will retire I think, he almost hinted at exactly that in the interview with Jenson Button.

GravyMonster · 23 Jul 2018 at 10:46

It's Ferrari's to lose right now. They have the best car and engine, plus their midfield teams are fast enough to get in the mix when Merc have a bad day. All the Mercedes customer teams are bottom 10 of the grid more often than not. All things being equal most races would finish Vettel, Hamilton, Raikkonnen, Bottas. Unless Merc can do something magical over the summer break it's going to be a difficult second half of the season for them.

PaulCa said:
Lewis Hamilton is a great racer, but out of the car he's an irritating smug annoying English ****.

What is it with this "Love" and "God" thing? Praying at the car side? Saying "Love conquers all", utter tosh.

To be honest, I mute him on TV these days when he's out of the car. Can't stand listening to him.

Great racer though.

Completely agree with this. It was interesting watching one of the 2011 races on Sky F1 the other day and how completely different in attitude Hamilton was then. I can't remember which race it was but he'd won and was on the radio shouting, thanking the team and generally enjoying the moment. Compare that to yesterday and he quietly gives some BS line about love conquering all, in as little energy as possible. I'd honestly thought he'd be jumping off the walls having pulled out a victory from 14th and having his main championship rival show himself the barriers. I can only assume he has some kind of 'mental guidance' coming from somewhere in his camp.

#Blessed #BestFans

insideline · 23 Jul 2018 at 10:55

A sports star who thanks and believes in god... the horror.

The "love conquers all" was in response to the booing he received from the fans on the parade lap btw, bit cringey but lol at the thought of people actually getting mad about it.

AndyCr15 · 23 Jul 2018 at 11:04

I would have said Hamilton just comes across a A LOT more mature than he was 4 or 5 years back. For me you could see the elation in him when he got out of the car, again, in a more mature way is all, as you would expect as he gets older.

XeNoN89 · 23 Jul 2018 at 12:08

AndyCr15 said:
I would have said Hamilton just comes across a A LOT more mature than he was 4 or 5 years back. For me you could see the elation in him when he got out of the car, again, in a more mature way is all, as you would expect as he gets older.

Yep he is definitely much more mature than back in his McLaren days. He's still one of these people that lots just like to hate on though. Like the comments about his 'love conquers all' comment. Yes it's a cheesy statement but is it really a reason to get annoyed or hate someone for?

CaptainRAVE · 23 Jul 2018 at 13:12

Spunkey said:
It's Ferrari's to lose right now.

Agreed. Ferrari have a lot of hidden innovation in that car. Mercedes came out with a big update and Ferrari negated it immediately with a new floor. That said, Bottas is finally stepping up and Vettel is making his usual errors. It will all depend on the swing of the final race and any more unreliability.

pacegod · 23 Jul 2018 at 13:32

Sadly I feel Ferrari have got this championship, they are out developing Merc at this point and seem to have a better engine to boot, also there seems little sign of any reliability issues. Ferrari do not seem to have any bogey tracks unlike the Merc.
The only thing the Ferraris don't seem to like are the thinner tyres, but I don't think there are any more track this season they'll be used at.

ebilcake · 23 Jul 2018 at 13:59

Ferrari have the better car this year, It's Vettel's Championship to lose and I think he knows it.

His problem has always been the same, under pressure he tends have a meltdown if things don't go his way, if he can overcome that and keep his head he'll win.

CaptainRAVE · 23 Jul 2018 at 15:07

ebilcake said:
Ferrari have the better car this year, It's Vettel's Championship to lose and I think he knows it.

His problem has always been the same, under pressure he tends have a meltdown if things don't go his way, if he can overcome that and keep his head he'll win.

More rain could also work against him.

ebilcake · 23 Jul 2018 at 16:22

CaptainRAVE said:
More rain could also work against him.

Indeed, he does seem to struggle in the rain, he doesn't seem to be able to judge the level of grip.

VermilionChaos · 23 Jul 2018 at 16:44

It was a dodgy mistake, with that lead he should have been able to make the most of it and take that turn easier, would have stayed on then. Oh well, great result still for Lewis

PaulCa · 23 Jul 2018 at 20:02

XeNoN89 said:
Yep he is definitely much more mature than back in his McLaren days. He's still one of these people that lots just like to hate on though. Like the comments about his 'love conquers all' comment. Yes it's a cheesy statement but is it really a reason to get annoyed or hate someone for?

I didn't say I hate him, I said I couldn't stand listening to him.

I personally don't think his candor these days is genuine at all. I think he has a marketing gimp behind him urging him into creating a celebrity personality and showing emotion and all that stuff to attract a different market of fans for profit. It seems to have stepped up a gear this season. It's all but "best fans" and "love you guys" and "god bids", showing his emotion by shaking and the praying stuff. To me it looks like a false personality to create a media character. I just wish he would shut up and do his talking on the black stuff where it belongs.

And don't get me started on his appearance.

EDIT: I'll sum it up. It's the "Hello Magazine" effect. They are trying to turn him into one of those magazine types who is just a brand, famous for being famous. He doesn't need that, he is one of the best racers of all time, so I just want to see him race and so... I mute him or watch something else when he gets all Hello magazine.

AndyCr15 · 23 Jul 2018 at 20:17

Do you know he has a marketing team? He doesn't have a manager and negotiates his own contracts, I'd be quite surprised if he has someone do his marketing for him.

CaptainRAVE · 23 Jul 2018 at 23:05

https://www.planetf1.com/news/conclusions-from-the-german-grand-prix/

Two standout quotes for me:

Mercedes have admitted that Ferrari are now the team to beat, yet so far the men in red have shown a worrying tendency to beat themselves.

It’s not vintage Hamilton, though it is a different Hamilton, one that will be very difficult to beat over a long campaign.

Mr Jack · 23 Jul 2018 at 23:21

Hamilton is one of the only drivers on the grid capable of winning with a second best car - he did it in 2008 - and I think he may well do it this year. A pleasant change from the more recent titles that have come from sitting in the clear best car on the grid. Although that counted against him in 2016 when he was beaten by his team-mate because the Mercedes was too good for anyone to take points off Rosberg when he wasn't winning.

timmeh · 24 Jul 2018 at 05:07

AndyCr15 said:
Do you know he has a marketing team? He doesn't have a manager and negotiates his own contracts, I'd be quite surprised if he has someone do his marketing for him.

I know people that have worked on marketting campaigns with him and he was directly involved in every part of it.

this_is_gav · 24 Jul 2018 at 07:58

ebilcake said:
Indeed, he does seem to struggle in the rain, he doesn't seem to be able to judge the level of grip.

I should point out probably the best wet weather win in the last decade was by Sebastian Vettel.

Mr Jack · 24 Jul 2018 at 08:02

this_is_gav said:
I should point out probably the best wet weather win in the last decade was by Sebastian Vettel.

No, it was by Jenson Button. Although Hamilton was actually much faster than him until they collided in confusion as Button tried to let him past.

(Not that Seb's Italian GP 2008 win wasn't a stunning drive)

deuse · 24 Jul 2018 at 08:30

Mr Jack said:
No, it was by Jenson Button. Although Hamilton was actually much faster than him until they collided in confusion as Button tried to let him past.

(Not that Seb's Italian GP 2008 win wasn't a stunning drive)

And vettel done the same mistake on the same kind of corner at that race.