It is perhaps unfortunate that various previous decisions have gone against Hamilton (regardless of all arguments and justifications - since this is not what I'm driving at here). What I'm getting at is the way Hamilton's mentality has been affected by some of these decisions which he (not us or anyone else) felt were harsh, because it has perhaps resulted in a loss of confidence at the critical moment (which lasts for the briefest of instants) during any overtake attempt. Previously Ernie, I feel that he would have done as you've suggested, but having faced huge criticism when he has followed his instinct - regardless of its rights or wrongs - he is momentarily questioning the way his own judgements may be perceived especially against a Ferrari driver he keeps meeting on track, who is being coached during the race by a highly respected Ferrari team 'official', who is backed up by Luca di Montezemolo, who loves his loyal, 'cheated out of a World Championship', bashed on the head Felipé; and holds considerable influence with various other very influential bodiesâ¦
These guys have had enough publicity. Like they have won another championship or an in a title deciding battle. They should be banned from racing till 2012, just liabilities.
I think Hamilton and Massa are taking the attention away from other drivers who are doing a great job which is a shame, as it's debatable whether they are doing a good job for their teams at the moment.
Mystery solved..... LEWIS Hamilton's recent dip in form is because he is actually in his mid eighties, it has emerged.
I dont care who is, or who is not to blame, I simply believe Massa saw Hamilton and clearly drove into him, and of course you are absolutely correct, Hamiltons amazing overtakes are dependant upon the preceding driver being aware of whats going on behind and around them, an overtaking driver has the right to assume that the driver he is overtaking is able to use rear view mirrors, even a learner driver has to prove adequate use of their mirrors. Hamilton took the art of overtaking and F1 car control in particular to a new level, Hamiltons judgement is Macro and on the limit in the extreme, sometimes just beyond the limits, but always under control, the problem is, we have drivers on the track who shouldn't ****ing well be there, judging by their distinct lack of awareness or suspect mental attitude. As Cosi says the lack of adequate co-operation and or race craft awareness, deliberate or otherwise, from some F1 pilots has resulted in some of these spectacular overtaking manouvers becoming the subject of criticism. Some of them are cruising around like Sunday afternoon drivers totally unaware of whats going on. Michael Schumacher, of whom I am not a great fan, always knows whats going on around him and who is trying to overtake as evidenced by his antics in prevention techniques, at least he is aware !!!!!!!! equal at least to those trying to pass him.
I'm not sure about Massa being unaware of Hamilton. He had a good few looks in his mirrors. He himself argued that he thought the corner was his so turned in. In that case it was up to Hamilton to back out, which he admitted he attempted to do. But just as in Singapore Hamilton got it wrong and was involved in a collision. Massa is simply not the driver he was, I agree, but I don't see why he should start letting people who don't even get alongside him past. Maldonado didn't veer out of the way into turn 1 at Monaco when Hamilton careered into him. As far as Maldonado was concerned he had the corner. The latest Hamilton smash was similar for me. In my opinion Hamilton wants people to be scared of him. I think he wants people to feel intimidated into letting him by, worried that Hamilton will simply smash them off the road if they do not. This sort of tactic worked well (in the main) for Hamilton's role model Senna, but today's F1 is a different proposition. Drivers these days are simply not going to give way so easily. Remember when Button overtook Alonso in Canada. He was ahead of Alonso and on the inside, yet Alonso still turned in. Remember Schumacher's almost heroic refusal to yield this season. Hamilton's debatable level of car control and overtaking skills notwithstanding I can see him being involved in accidents for his whole career unless he has the quickest car. Button has had the same machinery, but has made tons of beautiful, clean passes all season. All against the same supposedly unaware drivers that Hamilton has had such trouble with. He has clearly outperformed Hamilton.
Hamilton had shown the move at Monaco was on as he did the same to Schuey and there was no contact. Earlier him and Schuey diced at the hairpin with no contact, but when Hamilton went to overtake Massa there was contact. The tunnel incident was pure Massa's fault as why he was trying to defend going around teh outside of the tunnel is anyone;s guess. Massa's judgement has been questionable at times this year in his desire to show he is as good as Alonso.
Very well written Ernie thank you . I agree with what you have wrote down , interesting read about shumacher awareness . I have to admit he may be an old head but his awareness is one of the best on the grid . One example i can remember from the top of my head is with lewis at monaco , going into turn 1 was as tight as it was going to get , he gave hammy just enough room. Alonso and Button have great awarness aswell . Alonso and webber up eau rough at belguim is a good example also japan when he made that overtake at 130r , Button dicing with hammy at turkey and hungray is another great example . Hamilton usually does know whats going on around him , He has made some of the best overtakes in f1 but for sure this year he has lost part of his awareness due to his poor form this season. I hope for one he can get it back up to his standards so he can show us why he is regarded as one of the best overtakers in F1.
to be fair Hamilton gets let off lightly from the fury of Massa [video=youtube;cMjknmNdvrM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMjknmNdvrM&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL90DAA36132E1E6AA[/video]
more and more it seems that Massa is deciding that contact is better than being over-taken. Too much pressure?
hahaha cheers bando for putting this up . He cant help himself can he haaha what a twat and whats with all the patting on the back crap . He done the same thing to hamilton at singapore lol
so what are you saying , all hamiltons little comings together this season have all been somebody else"s fault , nearly fell off my chair laughing at that one ernie - maybe he should watch and learn how button does it - button has made more passing maneuvers than lewis this year and made them all stick , i dont see button hitting somebody every other race -- hamilton better get his passing technique sorted out soon as he wont have the benefit of the all singing all dancing all powerful class of the field mercedes V8 for much longer that he has had the advantage of for the last 5 yrs - what will his overtaking technique be like when he loses that particular BHP advantage , ------------- alot more trips to the stewards office me thinks -
I'm not a Massa fan by far but IMO opinion this is way off the mark, but like me, you are entitled to your opinion. The defenition of "avoidable" is very difficult to implement consistently by the Stewards (which is a variable in itself race to race), because everything is avoidable subject to a starting point and an action or multiple actions that inturn create a reaction or an event. I have had my say early in the thread (which I viewed as a racing incident) and whilst it has crossed my mind that Massa may have felt "Fuk It", I cant see how you can justify the theory that any driver should yield in the event of a move either legitimate or not. Forcing someone into a mistake through pressure is one thing, but effectively forcing potential contact by an action (I.E a lunge, half hearted move or a successful pass) is surely "AVOIDABLE" initself? Certain drivers are more passive and certain drivers look at the percentages (i.e. where they are in a given race or season), but you can not expect all of the drivers all of the time, to yield to a Yellow Helmet in case he makes a move in a high speed corner with one racing line and a corner that leads into a right hander in which he would have been hung out to dry. Or would lewis have then turned in on Massa in an avoidable event? I would also like to add, that had Lewis not had to pit for a nose cone, I bet the stewards would have issued NO penalty because neither would have lost places and hence been disadvantaged.
Am I right in guessing that ErnieB never gets overtaken on the road himself and therefore doesn't need to use his mirrors?
Oh please are you one of them people who forgot about 07,08,09 and 10 when lewis was overtaking left, right and centre All of those are plastered over youtube by the way. Dont be stupid saying lewis cant overtake in f1 thats one of his talents , Your just a typical hater who is talking bullshit. Ive seen your previous posts putting down lewis for no reason.
Ahh yes, this is more like it. I was starting to think that the old 606 childish internet tough guy talk was largely gone from here. Eeeeexxxceellent The thing is, When you look back at Lewis' career, what has he really done? His first season was outstanding, no doubt, but that McLaren was an awesome machine and Lewis was let down by Ron's management with the Alonso Fiasco. Then he had to beat Massa and Kimi in 2008, in a 3 horse race, and to add controversy to an already controversial comment I think that Kimi is a great driver for 50% - 75% of the season, but just isn't really consistent enough to be a great champion, and Massa has never really been good enough either. Yet still he only just managed to win by about half a mile. Then we move onto 2009, where Lewis started low down the grid (with a poor car) and as the Merc KERS system lost weight and improved he was able to use it to pass with ease, and then in 2010 most people seem to forget that most of the time when he was doing his "amazing" passing moves it was people driving further down the grid. Usually grinding to a halt when he came near anyone with a remotely competitive car, or crashing into them as he did with someone at Monza. I forget who it was that he ran into there ;-). Then he spent some time being passed by other cars towards the end of the season, as he let them by because he wandered off track a few times, making their lives easy. I'm not saying that Lewis' can overtake, as clearly he can. I'm not a "hater" too. I'm just looking at what he's actually achieved with my own eyes, rather then going by what I'm told by the media and fans. I'm just saying that they are oft grossly exaggerated by his fans and the media. I think that you can trace the final breakdown in Lewis' form and confidence back to a battle he had with Jenson earlier on this season, when he and Jenson were scrapping and Jenson eventually came out on top, forcing Lewis to surrender and then having to pit early, which happened to work out for him as it put him onto the right strategy, but the psychological damage was done. It was the first time that he and Jenson had gone wheel to wheel and Jenson bested him, and since then Jenson's passes him again in racing conditions. It's a shame that Lewis has been used by the media in the way that he has, and that his fans are oft so blinkered to his weaknesses and faults that they go one and on about him as if he was the only man who'd ever overtaken anyone. I still think that he is a great driver, by the way. It's just that too much weight has been put on his shoulders, and all the exaggerated stories have created a legend of Lewis that is impossible for him to live up to, and Lewis being Lewis, he desperately wants to. Sure, it might earn him extra $$$ in sponsorship (for now) but while other drivers are allowed to quietly get on with their careers (Alonso, Vettel, Button) and watch Lewis crumble when put under some real competitive pressure within his own team. Lewis will be a better driver when people stop going on about how great and amazing he is, heaping pressure and unrealistic expectations on him all the time, saying that he's so much better at everything than everyone else.
