Having seen what Hamilton has to offer McLaren, in my opinion the team should release Hamilton and bring in someone else immediately or if that's not feasible, let him go when his current contract ends next year. Hamilton has become a liability. His many crashes and general driving inconsistencies have caused McLaren problems and cost the team a lot of points. He now has the record for most penalties in a season. If the stewards are investigating an incident, Hamilton is often involved and outbursts like the one in Monaco don't help. If he can't see that he's at fault, how does one expect him to improve? It makes you wonder how much longer McLaren are able to rely on Hamilton. Even his good strong performances appear to be less frequent now, so what can he offer to McLaren that makes up for all his deficiencies? To add to Hamilton's bad points - without the ultra-conservative Bridgestone tyre hiding Hamilton's inability to manage his tyres, Hamilton has stuggled. I can't see Hamilton being very successful in the Pirelli era. Though he's has overtaking skills, his record of crashes make his 'great overtaker' reputation tainted. Let's not forget the always lingering thought that Hamilton will make mistakes when the pressure is on. That arguably cost him two titles and almost stopped him winning in 2008. Before 2009, Button to me looked like a journeyman - never looked deserving of a top car, like Webber - it just happened that he was in the right place at the right time. I know Button has improved a lot since his playboy racer days but recently so have others, including Vettel and Alonso. The fact that Button is now beating Hamilton tells me that Hamilton's repuatation for outright speed is more hype than fact. This isn't a dig at Button - he deserves credit for his recent improvement and I currently regard him as best of the rest behind Alonso and Vettel, which leads me to my next point. Vettel and Alonso have proved on several occasions this year that they are the best out there, which ultimately means that they are better than Hamilton. Many races this year the MP4-26 has been very close or equal or sometimes better than Red Bull. Even a few qualifying sessions they've been quickest. In spite of this, Hamilton continues to get outdone by Vettel (even when Hamilton seems to be "old Lewis"). Throughout the season McLaren have had a better car than Ferrari, and Alonso has outdriven Hamilton, which reflected in the WDC standings and the fact that Hamilton has finished ahead of Alonso only six times this year - three of those were in the first five races (where Ferrari had significantly less downforce than McLaren). Vettel and Alonso have proven themselves to be quicker and more complete than Hamilton. As a result Hamilton is going to find it very difficult to have major success in the future with these two in top teams on the grid. I've said before that Hamilton won't win another Championship in his F1 career and I stand by that comment. I see his "personal problems" and need for a "happy bubble" as an excuse for Button beating him and Vettel and Alonso humiliating him. Most people (myself included) had high expectations for his future at the end of 2007, but four years later and his rookie year remains his best season to date. He hasn't made the expected improvement after 2007 and he's arguably in decline - therefore I find it hard to see why McLaren should retain Hamilton's services any longer. The way I see it, Mclaren have the experienced team leader in Jenson Button and without Hamilon, Button's chances in the WDC are maximised and as long as the other driver is decent enough, they shouldn't have much to worry about in the WCC either. Guys like Rosberg or Sutil would be a good replacement but my personal choice would be Heikki Kovalainen. Ignoring the drivers in the three top teams, the standout performer of 2011 is Kovalainen. He was out of his depth in his previous McLaren stint but he's improved a lot since then and I honestly think if he went back to Mclaren, he would acheive very respectable results. I imagine he'd be a lot cheaper than Hamilton as well. I don't expect many to agree with me, but there's my opinion. Your thoughts?
Hamilton's had a truly terrible season, but has still managed to finish with 84% of Buttons points, Button who's had a very good year and is a very good driver. He may have gone down in some peoples opinions this season but he's still a top driver. He may well come back next year and fail, or he may blow the field away Vettel style. If he did become available I can see a quite few teams willing to offer him the chance to redeem himself.
I've not bothered reading the huge leading comment in this article. However, McLaren would be ill-advised to get rid of one of the best drivers on the grid on the basis of one (relatively) poor season (by Hamilton's standards.
So it's post worthy to say Seb allowed Mark past and it's a possibility for most of you. But when Forza says he thinks McLaren should drop Lewis for not performing and being inconsistent all year it's considered ridiculous?
I think it would be harsh to drop him just on the basis of this season, if he has a similar season next year then maybe it would be best to replace him. I do not agree at all that the Mclaren has been a match to the Red Bull, in a few races they have been but for the majority of the season Red Bull have been easily the best car. That said Hamilton still got easily beat by Button and also by Alonso who has been driving a slower Ferrari. The problem with Hamilton is that he seems to be too bothered about his image and how people percieve him, he should just concentrate on his racing like his competitors do. Hamilton is too busy making excuses and rationalisations instead of analysing what he is doing wrong and learning from that. I also think that because Red Bull and Ferrari are utilising essentially teams with one driver to focus on and the other to pick up enough points to help with the WCC, unless Mclaren produce a car that is much better than the Red Bull and Ferrari, Button and Hamilton will find it hard to win the WDC.
There is no two ways about it, Hamilton has had a complete howler of a season by his standards, but I think McLaren would be nuts to offload him. Imagine if they did that and he went on to another team, found his form and started beating them. They'd have some serious egg on their face. Hamilton obviously has talent, even if we've not seen it this season and if he's able to refocus and concentrate on his racing then we still may see him blossom in to great. I have no idea if he will do this or not, nor any idea if he'll ever win a championship, but if I had to put money on it, I'd bet he'll take at least one more. I think early success may have gotten the better of him and he hasn't really reached his full potential... As a fan, I hope and believe that there's more to come.
One bad season does not make a bad driver (by bad it is by his standards anyway, just the 3 wins which is more than Alonso, Webber and same as his team-mate so is it that bad?) Why would they replace Hamilton with Heikki after what happened in 2008 & 2009!? That showed how much better Hamilton was than Heikki so would be a strange move. I see this as being one of many articles that will appear over the close season on a similar theme. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and are free to speak it. Yes he has had incidents, but he could go next year without one. Crack under pressure? Suprised you didn't say 'choker' as you used to. Anyway, I see no reason why he should not stay for 2012. 2013 maybe he will be in a Red Bull?
Thing is, I can't see him having another 2007 season. Next year with the car designed more towards Button I expect Hamilton to become even more frustrated and have more issues. If he leaves McLaren, I can't see Red Bull or Ferrari taking him (and if they do, I expect Vettel or Alonso to give Hamilton a beating). As far as winning teams go, that only leaves Mercedes (and there are no guarantees that they will become a top team).
Alonso seems to rate Hamilton. I guess he has a pretty good idea since they are former teammates. I'm not sure why he'd blow smoke up Hamilton's backside if he didn't rate him.
He's not showing many signs of being one of the best -whereas Vettel, Alonso and Button are consistently putting out strong performances and solidifying their position as the best in F1.
Are you referring to the recent praise he gave Hamilton? Alonso is the master of mind games - and he was targeting Vettel. No sane driver would ignore the current world champion if they were being serious. Remember when he told the media that Schumacher was the biggest threat for 2011? - just mind games.
So should McLaren have ditched Jenson after 2010. Poor qualifier, slower than Hamilton and finished behind him in teh WDC? Bet they're gald they didn't. No reason why Hamilton can't bounce back in 2012. None at all. You may say otherwsie, but it is just pure opinion with nothing to back it up from a factual point of view. 12 months time we'll see whether you were right.
