Aagh - no! I'd prefer to wait a few days and be sure the Hamilton thing has died down. Don't want to carry that over onto a Canadian GP sticky.
Yeah, I'm sure we all need to calm down on this forum lol. I'm nearly there, but will probably need another 2-3 days
You expected Button to do better? Do you think Button is a god - and only to be afforded praise when performing some sort of miracle? What exactly could he have done better? - Absolutely nothing! He was the best driver in the race and put in the most 'fastest laps', and was only closely matched by Alonso - who did not suffer the poorly conceived strategy of a wholly unnecessary 'insurance' pit stop which allowed the possibility of Lady Luck's scuppering of such an insurance policy with a Safety Car, thereby completely screwing his race. Vettel also drove very well but Red Bull and Ferrari did not out-think themselves as McLaren did. The pit-stop was not Button's call. His driving had no bearing on the matter whatsoever, except that it may have contributed to McLaren's corporate thinking that they had a big enough lead to be able to afford to play safe! Indeed, perhaps Button would have gained more of your appreciation if he'd not strung out such an impressive lead, because it would not have allowed his team to consider such a tenuous strategy. I have to say that anyone who genuinely thinks Button could have done better shows very little knowledge of motor racing. This is modern day Grand Prix racing at Monaco. It might be worth conducting some research into what that actually means.
Yeah and they hate Hamilton, they hate Schumacher, they are biased towards Red Bull, they love Webber, have I missed anything else?
With the Red Bull bias, might it simply be a case of access? DC has a lot of links with Red Bull, so he might be able to pull strings to allow exclusives with Red Bull in a way that he can't with, say, Ferrari. Couple this with the current dominance of Red Bull, then it makes sense for the BBC to cover them more. The extra coverage may be bias, but if it is what the general public want to see, then the BBC have to pander to this in order to maximise viewers.
I don't see this at all, you know. I am aware from 606 that there is a perceived bias towards Button among some F1 fans but I never pick it up from the show. Do you mean they have more coverage of Button, or that they're overly effusive in their praise of him, or that they compare other drivers unfavourably, or they berate his team for not giving him the support they think he should get, or what? They want ratings and I suppose the majority of the so-called casual viewers will support British drivers and teams, so naturally the coverage will lean towards them. In 2009, Hamilton and McLaren were nowhere and Button and Brawn were going for the championships, so it's normal to cover them more. In 2010 Button was the world champion but I felt there was a equitable amount of focus on both him and Hamilton. This season they may have shifted a bit more towards Red Bull as world champions but I don't sense that Hamilton's getting less attention than Button, and they are trying with Di Resta (track guide, grid interviews, etc.). Where is the perceived additional hype for Button coming from?
Mifune Yeah it might be Genji Ever since the BBC got the right in 09 they have always IMO showed al little bit more to Jenson. Maybe because they were aware of the criticism ITV got when they turned the show into the Lewis Hamilton F1 Show in 07 and 08. Maybe because it was Jenson's first real chance to win the title. Maybe because they were really good friends with him at the time. We will never know. But since the start of this year it has toned down a bit and they do not show the baisy like they did in previous years, but I feel everytime Lewis does something wrong or bad they are on it straight away and are quite a bit more critical than if it was Jenson. PS. I have always wanted to try this colour thing as I saw Genji use it in all his post so from now on I will post my posts in Red Colour..
That's a matter of opinion regarding how they talk about each driver. Maybe it's because Jenson is the kind of person the kids should be emulating for their future. Jenson is the people's champion, bought up in lower teams to finally get his shot at the WDC after years of being the laughing stock, always being compared to Lewis when he came in. Jenson is a perfect example of sticking with it and reap the rewards later, he relates to the public more. Yes Lewis had serious talent from a young age up to F1, but that doesn't relate to the wider majority. Lewis' persona would relate to the "highly gifted" and "elite few" around the country. It just shouts: "look at me, I'm gifted your not, that's why I'm at the top and you're down there", something like the royal family, what makes him so much better than me and the other guys?? With Jenson it's: "If you work hard, stick with it, and enjoy yourself, you'll eventually get there." Jenson's more lovable on a wider audiance than Lewis, yes he might be a better driver, but the public majority will see Jenson as themselves and will wan't him to succeed and beat the guy who was pritty much groomed into it etc... Nothing knocking Lewis I'm just giving my thoughts why it might be that way on the BBC.
Take it as a compliment that they storm down on Hamilton more often, most likely because they dont expect the mistakes as he is in the top 3/4 drivers in the world right now.
Red suits you. Not sure about the bold, though. I wonder if a firm Hamilton fan maybe sees a bias that isn't there? I wouldn't say I favour either of them above the other, or any other driver, so I'm not as sensitive to that. If they didn't mention Button for the next four races it'd take me a while to notice. As regards jumping on Hamilton's mistakes - when he does make mistakes (like Italy or Singapore last season, or the Monaco race yesterday) they tend to be a lot more dramatic than (e.g.) driving into the wrong pit box, and have greater consequences. I don't think it's unfair to say that Hamilton probably makes more mistakes than Button, too, by the nature of his driving, which can also bring greater rewards (e.g. three victories to two last season, one up so far this season). So, if it sometimes feels like they're criticising Hamilton's mistakes more often than Button's it might be because he's making them more often. Hamilton does get praised fairly regularly, too, of course. He got all the plaudits last week in Spain (and rightly so, I think) and in Turkey too, where he, like Button, only finished in his starting position. So, if his mistakes perhaps attract more comment I'm pretty sure his achievements do as well.
I will set up a new prediction vote tomo and a canada chat on weds... Im glad you have all calmed down a bit
