Sunday 1 July 2007

Lewis Hamilton - all he's cracked up to be?

Whilst I admire Lewis Hamilton and am really please that a British sportsman/woman is doing well at the moment, part of me is a little skeptical. Granted, he looks to be a little better than Jenson Button, the last British driver to come on to the scene, and he certainly has talent. However, despite his impressive 8th podium finish in a row, there has rarely been a time when he has improved upon his grid position from qualifying. Indeed, his two wins come from pole position (with only half-hearted attempts by Alonso to challenge him) and half of his other podium finishes have been from when he has started at that place, or higher on the grid.

With such an experienced team as McLaren-Mercedes, he has managed to make up a lot of time in the pits with their lightening quick stops and clever tactics. There has also been a lot of talk this season about the team orders that the two McLaren drivers may be under. It obviously helps if you have a teammate behind you who has been given orders not to overtake you as this will act as a welcome buffer to the other drivers!

Like I say, I am not doubting that the boy has talent and will go far, but it would be interesting to see how he does from lower down on the grid, and as we saw today, without Alonso there to back him up.

4 comments:

Andy Sweet said...

The question is also whether Lewis is using a lot of Alonso's car data and knowledge in setting up the car. I guess he's got some idea though, as he's been eyeing up a job with McLaren for about a lifetime.
Keep up the blogging!

James Fullard said...

I think he deserves respect whether Alonso is helping him or not

Chris said...

Although he is doing well because he is with McLaren, he can't be bad for McLaren to have wanted him. Maybe he has been a bit lucky in how it has gone this season with no real car trouble, crashes etc., but I think he is a genuinely good driver in a great team who will go far.

Phil Lewis said...

I agree, he and McLaren with him will go far, but do you reckon there is a place for Alonso in that equation?