afternoon buds up to now i have refrained from posting a topic about lewis as he can be a very emotive subject for some on here , however as he would seem to be the most popular talking point on the forum i thought i would divvy up with my tuppence worth in the hope of creating a stimulating thread for everybody - as we all know lewis in the pre pirelli / fuel stop days was very effective due mainly to his ultra competitive 07 and 08 machines and his chocolate tea pot team mate of 08 , as we also know the bridgestone tyres of those yrs were as predictable and as durable as an old army boot and the fuel stop tactitians did the drivers thinking for them in what was an era of racing which was nothing more than effectively a series of short sprints for the driver with the tactitians on there high powered computers thinking for the drivers and dictating the drivers every on track move - however with the introduction of the pirelli tyres and the banning of the fuel stops the face of formula 1 has now changed putting the onus on the driver to be more tacticilly aware than at any time since 1993 , and there maybe lies hamilton"s achiles heel compared to the likes of vettel , alonso , button , the 3 drivers he has and will be in direct competition with for the next few yrs , there would seem to be little doubt that those 3 drivers have outdriven lewis this year , as good as hamilton is and obviously he is one of the quicker drivers out there does he have the flexibility in his driving , in his thought process to adapt to be as effective as he was during 07 and 08 under the new format of racing -- -------------- after this year , for me the jury is still out ---
It's interesting that we have heard on numerous occasions throughout the season that Button, Vettel, and to a lesser extent Alonso, are always highly aware of the strategy of those around them, but we do see less of this from Hamilton. There could be many explanations for this. Firstly, if Hamilton's radio messages are usually loaded with information of tactical importance, FOM may not be able to broadcast them. Also, in my opinion the british media portray Hamilton as lightning quick, and Button as the smooth, intelligent driver. When they buck this stereotype, the media don't seem to mention it much. A third explanation would obviously be that he doesn't have the strategic nous, although I have seen nothing in interviews to indicate this. Maybe Button, Vettel and Alonso are slightly better in this department, but Hamilton isn't exactly clueless when he's out on track. When it comes to tyre management, I've felt the over-riding feel I've got this season is that the driver can do very little to reduce degradation through technique, and the only way to reduce wear is to go more slowly! With this in mind, the softer tyres next year should have an even impact across all drivers.
I've heard MB say several times this year that tyre wear is heavily dependent on mileage and not much can be done about preserving tyres. Some things must be able to be done as one of Ferrari's good points this year was its softness on tyres. But we've seen time and time again this year, the top drivers coming in one or two laps apart.
I think tyre wear seems to be a trait of the car, rather than drivers. A trend this year is that Ferrari haven't been able to get the heat into the tyres in a qualifying stint, as they are comparatively easier on the tyres, but their loss in quali is their gain in the race, as they can make the tyres last longer.
Its been a poor season for him by his standards. He said he'll spend time over the winter regrouping and training harder. I have no doubt we'll see the swash buckley Lewis every race next year.
Finally a balanced article about Lewis lol Thanks for the write up Martial and yea your i agree with what you have wrote . Them 3 do have better tyre management than Lewis and by the way pirelli are going it's going to be more crucial than this year. Lewis just really needs to grips with that, i mean there's been times like Germany and abu diabi where he has got on top of it and then others like malaysia and japan where it has come back to bit him. What im interested in is how everyone styles effect tyre wear . Is it to do with mainly driver influence , car setup ,Track temperature or is it how they approach corners like : brake and turn in (button etc) or brake and turn in at the sametime (Lewis) Pundits have had a say on it but i would love to know what the experts say.
i try to be objective when i talk about any driver not just hamilton cr , i also tend to watch and observe the different styles of the top drivers , for me lewis maybe has not got the flexibility in his style to change , i have noticed in qual and the races he will very often lock up as he comes into a corner , so i tend to think his natural style is one of deep into the corner , lock up and then accerlerate out of the corner , where as vettel for instance would seem to have a smoother style of entering a corner and accerlerating as he goes thru the corner , in the fuel stop days when the drivers carried a minimal amount of fuel and could have new very durable bridgestones every few laps hamiltons style was very effective , now the face and format of f1 has changed i am not so sure if it is anymore -
Well I do remember "not 100%" an expert during the German gp saying the reason why Jenson and Seb struggled with tyre temperatures was because they are more gentle with the steering wheel where as the likes of Lewis, Webber and Alonso are a bit more aggressive with the wheel and chuck it through the corners more so are able to get more heat etc... (If anybody has the article this would be great as I was just roaming through the posts on Autosport) It's probably why Seb looks so calm around the other 3 apart from Jenson, it's like he knows he can't outdo him with tyre management as Jenson owns that department in a way. So this is possible why they are able to do better with the tyres as they can control temperatures and to an extent wear slightly better than most in the top flight, though they are adapting as you can see from the other 3.
i have said occasionally that vettel would seem to have a very astute tactical brain that is maybe needed more than it was in the fuel stop days - your link would seem to indicate this --
THIS . At the end of the day this is the truth as to why i think him altering his style in the current regs has lost him the edge. Maybe Lewis is still trying to find his feet but one things for sure .His off season prep will be touching on his driving style which would lead into input for the 2012 car but maybe he might lose out more now because of Button putting more of his input in the car than this year . Interesting Them engineers must be gradually going away from that whole neutral car for both drivers mindset.
Hamilton needs to learn patience more than anything else, he needs to look at Button and learn some things from him. I was commenting on another thread about how I would plan my overtakes a lap in advance an position myself to arrive at a certain point, a bit like Button on Alonso, if Hamilton can copy that and couple it to his natural speed he'll be a force to be rackoned with even if Vettel has the same car advantage, but atm he throws wins away being impulsive and going for gaps that just aren't there.
I don't know, I really don't know. So many times I have heard that mileage is what affects these tyres and not driving style, I have heard that driving style has an effect the same amount of times. Over 1 lap Hamilton is faster than Button, this can''t really be argued - hence he nearly always outqualifies him. I suspect he is faster than Vettel in this area as well but as they have never been teammates this is a mere gut feeling that can't be backed up by evidence. In the races it seems Hamilton puts his tyres on and does qualifying laps until they are gone. Whereas Button pushes less than 100% at the start of a stint and gradually increases to push 100% by the time of the inlap and so the steady increase in his pushing combined with the steady decrease in tyre life generates exceptional consistency in lap times and somehow makes the tryes last a little bit longer. And this gives him a race pace advantage. And yet Abhu Dhabi would suggest Hamilton can manage the pirrelis in the race just fine as he always had pace left over Alonso. I think the main problem for Hamilton is not directly related to the pirrelis or refuelling ban, I think the main problem is crashing, steward punishments, bad tactics (Ie McLaren not giving him a banker lap in monaco Q3) and pure bad luck (which he has had a lot of this year) If you take these factors out his season would look an awful lot better. But as I think HE thinks Vettel is stealing his destiny as the modern GOAT and Button is stealing his team, he will continue to get flustered and get into incidents and 2012 will likely be a repeat.
Perhaps there is a bit of a cross-over of two threads at the moment. I have recently written about tyre management in this thread: http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/104499-Lewis-Hamilton-Hard-On-His-Tyres I have also now read Mark Hughes column which is a good read, illuminating some of the less technical, but nonetheless relevant aspects.
Anyone with eyes can see that Lewis Hamilton is forever locking up and losing the back end all over the place. The end result is he screws his tyres before the drivers that are able to manage theirs better. Combine that with the fact that he is wreckless and too aggressive on track with regard to overtaking and you have a driver that thoroughly deserves to come where he did in the championship. People that pretend that he will somehow bounce back next season have no reason to think that he will. They just hope he will because they are emotionally attached to him. The facts are that he has always thrown his car about and locked up his tyres. Back when the McLaren was a bit faster and the tyres performed differently his deficiencies were not highlighted to the extent they are now. Sadly, driving like you're in a 70s action movie car chase may excite shallow kids, but it's not enough for those that want to see a more balanced, savvy approach. Button, Alonso, and even (I absolutely hate to say it, I even hate mentioning this pillock's name, but here goes) Vettel have provided this excellence this season.
