And who broadened the fanbase? Why, Hamilton of course. It's partly his idiot fans which cause me to seethe when he wins. Not so much people like you Sarge, you're a regular on here and you know your stuff, so i have no real issues with you supporting him, but clowns such as Garth Gayder's personal rentboy etc.
So what you're saying is you dislike him for complaining about things beyond his control, to the extent that you believe him to be 100% undeserving of his win? For the record, I genuinely don't think there's anything different, with the possible exception of media coverage, between Hamilton's complaints about Red Bull and Alonso's over the last couple of seasons. Which implies to me that, surprise surprise, Hamilton is too popular to be a good F1 driver.
You know what? I don't recall a single person on here gloating about Hamilton winning until "the haters" started complaining about that fact before the race had even finished. Also homophobia, stay classy mate. Wonder where the real problem lies in the F1 fanbase?
A personal grudge that meant you decided to use homosexual terms in a clearly insulting manner. That's homophobia.
The fanbase was broadened by the commercialization of the sport by Bernie, who then pocketed all the coffers. I get you don't like Hamilton, Kyle and most of the time your dislike of him has me laughing. What I don't like are fools waltzing in and calling me a blind fan... I'm sure you can back me up when I say I'm not. That drives me mad.
It's only homophobia if the receiver of the insult is homosexual, and as Garth is a mindless robot, i doubt he as any sexual preferences.
For the record, I don't believe that F1 should be a minority sport but I despise more the anti-whatever's-popular backlash (today, the wheel has stopped on Hamilton) that seems to be the norm at the moment among quote unquote "true" F1 fans. We were all new to the sport once. I used to support Zsolt Baumgartner because he had a cool name. Surely the most important thing is that we all enjoy the racing?
That's one of the problems though. In amongst all these testing FIAsco's and pay-drivers and stupid venues, the racing is suffering.
If you don't see the issue with resorting to homosexual terms as insults and the implications that carries then I don't think there's much I can do to help you. Just remember that it isn't just Darth who'll read that post, it's quite possible that a load of guests will see it. Does that make them want to sign up?
That's a much more general issue that I won't dispute. Time will tell how the new Concorde Agreement will work. The point is what does it matter if someone enjoyed today's race because they wanted Hamilton to win or because they've watched the sport for years?
That's what I'm saying Lewis "moaning" about wanting to have the best car and trying to influence the rules in their favour is nothing new, they're all like that. Recent news is that Mercedes are demanding wider tyres for 2014, the rest of the grid don't want that.
I'm not trying to say it should be either really... but when it was, it was more fun. There wasn't this level of hate. I wish it would go away.. I don't see it in other disciplines.
Was the same with Schumacher and Germany tbh, maybe those guys could teach us something about which direction this is going.
As I say though, I wouldn't want F1 to drive away any potential new fans. I think the problem lies more in the members of the existing fanbase who refuse to accept new members on account of them "not being true fans" - because, as I said above, I didn't notice a single one of these annoying Lewis fans gloating before people decided to pre-empt them, and I'd imagine that's because they didn't want to have to put up with the vitriol directed at them and Hamilton. And this forum is quiet enough without even more people being put off signing up. <tongue>
Name me a top driver that hasn't moaned when crap goes wrong and I'll show my bare arse. (Not that anybody wants to see that). Schumacher, Clark and Senna all had their moments... as does Vettel? Who wouldn't? I would.
I agree with you, Seb moaning about changing the Pirelli tyres wasn't entirely based on "safety" was it. I know they're all the same and I would too do the same. Also you must excuse me, it's like 1:15am over here so my head isn't 100% at the moment but I entirely agree with you.
Oh I hear ya.. as a Hamilton fan I had to be very reserved in my celebration. And that's sad and down to those people who chose to make it like this.
