Which only really applies to McLaren and Hamilton fans of course. Lewis Hamilton as we know polarises opnion. For all McLaren fans on here who were fans of McLaren pre 2007 and have enjoyed the Hamilton years, following the split, who do you find yourself more a fan of? McLaren or Hamilton. This also goes for people who have become fans since 2007 of course. I started watching F1 around 1998 and since then I've been a McLaren fan through and through, I have watched this tribute so many times now [video=youtube;SwUetemtZ_I]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwUetemtZ_I[/video] And when Hamilton joined my interest in F1 sky rocketed, to the point where I became an obsesive who posts on F1 forums all the time I still suported Alonso and Kovalainen just as much (though I havent really been able to get behind Button for some reason). Post Brazil though I find I have paid much more attention to Mercedes that McLaren, epecially in testing I've been focussed on Rosberg and Hamilton and have really paid McLaren little to no attention (despite someone going on and on about SS tyres ) What about the rest of you McLaren/Hamilton fans?
Been a McLaren fan since the mid 90's as well as having a very soft spot for Williams (come back Montoya and BMW). I'm a Hamilton fan as well so I suppose my support for McLaren will drop a little compared to the last few years, but I still want Button and Perez to finish above Rosberg. Ideal Championship 1. Hamilton 2. Button 3. Perez chance of happening... 2.1%
I agree my ideal result for the year would be WDC: Lewis Hamilton WCC: McLaren So nothing has changed on that particular front. The problem with my favourite team is that it now has none of my favourite drivers eg Hamilton, Raikkonen, Alonso etc. I really wish they had taken Hulkenburg.
Many moons ago, I was a Senna fan, he moved to McLaren, became a fan of them as well and remained a fan of that marque and most of its drivers ever since. Liked Mansell too and with that Williams, so have a soft spot for them (chuffed to bits when they won in Spain last year) In short, will want McLaren to do well as well as Lewis, McLaren 1st, Lewis Second (or vice versa) at any GP is gonna be Win-Win as far as I'm concerned.
Mclaren fan 1st and driver fan second. Was a big fan of Mika and then Kimi, probably because they drove for the team. As for the drivers, I was a Mansell fan (even though Senna amazed me), then a Damon fan, then Mika, then Kimi and Jenson. Edit & Montoya
McLaren fan who has then still supported drivers who I really enjoyed watching and found to be exciting racers even after they left the team. So this year I'll be supporting Button + Perez but also Kimi and Hamilton. I'm probably still more a McLaren fan overall but I really hope Lewis does well at Mercedes just to silence a cynical British press who seem to be prepared to lash out at Lewis when any incident involving him happens, to be honest with you I'm still waiting for a McLaren dream team of Raikkonen and Hamilton which very nearly happened at the end of 2009.
Im the polar opposite actually, In that i have been very driver orientated towards Jenson but i'm already starting to warm to the team a lot more without Hamilton in it (sorry Lewis fans the guy just rubs me up the wrong way a little bit.)
Been a Mclaren fan since about the Mika/DC partnership started, so that's about 97, 98? I've supported all the drives they've had, including Hamilton when he first joined them. However, over the last 2-3 seasons I've found Hamilton irritating, and with the charismatic Button alongside him, whom I've always liked too, I definitely found myself gravitating away from Hamilton. Now Hamilton is at Mercedes, I'll probably pay slightly more attention to them as I want to see how Rosberg (another liked driver) stacks up against him. Still very much a Mclaren fan, although over the last couple of years you could probably add Lotus and Caterham to that list.
I'm a fan of Hamilton, and think this year is a genuine test of his ability. He's had the Mclaren version of a "dog" a couple of times, but the Mercedes version (if it is indeed a dog, as I expect) is a new level of pitbull. I'm eager to see if he's as good as I think he is. Mclaren are possibly the most irritating team to support, and now Hamilton's gone I don't really want to saddle myself with the extra worry that they're going to screw over their drivers time and again with stupid pit errors or reliability problems, so I'll probably just participate in the odd nod of approval if they beat Vettel/Red Bull, but I'm going to stick to looking at the midfield where Lewis is going to be.
Senna, Montoya, Hamilton: my three favourite drivers and all drove for McLaren but any McLaren 'fandom' is definitely off/on for me, to be honest. Historically though, they, Williams and Lotus are the teams I've a more special feeling for through the years; yeah, Montoya and Senna again. I'd say I'm probably a bit more driver-orientated. Right now, I'm pretty down on McLaren and I don't think I'll feel differently until either Button leaves or Pérez humiliates him (sorry, JB fans but that's how I feel). On the other hand, I'm warming to Sauber and hoping Mercedes and Lewis can make something out of their relationship.
Max, interesting you mentioned Sauber. As an observation on the forum, I think a lot of us (myself included) have definitely warmed to them over the past 2 seasons. Which is odd as they dumped everyone's favourite Japanese driver for a (not-quite)-pay driver, and strung Kobayashi along for a while whilst they were at it. Meanwhile, Force India seem to have plummeted in popularity, and in our opinions Toro Rosso appear to be the F1 equivalent of beige.
that made me lol but lets face it, if there was a team called Mclareno who would supprt them? Hamilton has gone through phases and gets judged mainly on the bad, but he's probably the most exciting to watch, I hope he gets a reliable car this season as he might eke out a win or 2, can't see mercedes suddenly flying to the front this year, so I doubt he'll be in championship contention, but will he finish above the Mclaren drivers, dunno about Perez, but I can't see him beating Jenson. Who would I prefer, I dunno tbh, I think Hamilton probably deserves another title, but I like to see McLaren do well too, been one of my prefered teams since Lauda. So A split decision
Driver over team for me... It's the way it has always been for me in 30+ years of F1 support. Though I am not so blinded that I can't also support multiple teams.
