I think that Red Bull spy piece is purely propaganda meant to make the sponsors and die-hard fans sleep a bit more easily. Whoever is leading the championship, it makes sense to stick the boot into your nearest rivals as much as possible, regardless of the performance gap. These cars are still poorly understood, so getting Red Bull excluded for a few races gives Mercedes three free double-DNF's before they're losing ground in the WCC. If you can make your job easier, of course you are going to. Red Bull tried it last season to try and hamper Mercedes, so there's no way Mercedes were going to let this opportunity slip. It's not a case of Mercedes being unduly worried about Red Bull (who I do expect to improve as Renault get their house in order) challenging them, it's simply another example of the teams trying to twist the rule book any which way they can to gain an advantage. Red Bull were twisting it one way to try and get Ricciardo reinstated, whilst Mercedes twisted it the other way to try and increase the severity of the penalty.
Yes I figured so too...I think it's a bluff to see if they could rattle mercedes... These mind games... I wouldn't mind it happening though because I really want to see a level fight between the two and and Ferrari.
I like how you accuse others of deliberately trying to provoke debate when you are literally trying to single out negative comments about Hamilton and completely ignore the fact Vettel obviously has been, and will continue to be the most hated driver, regardless of what he does or doesn't do, the difference seems to be of all the drivers who get the most negative comments and joke made at their expense Vettel, Di Resta, Maldonardo, Hamilton, it's only Hamilton who seems to have the manic must be defended to the death mass following, as if he's so talented nothing negative can be associated with him, or him winning, or him doing any of the same stuff the others on that list do. Again with your last comment, the same can be said of those other drivers, i assume you (like a lot of others) are able to ignore it when it's a driver you couldn't care less about being slagged off.
FizzVaj Actually you'll find most posters on here are capable of objectivity, and it is generally a particular group of posters who reserve their most vehement disapproval for Hamilton rather than other drivers. In this very thread, only a few posts after the one you have quoted I was also critical of some of Hamilton's actions. Given that you will not find anywhere on this forum where I have been critical of Vettel personally and I am capable of objectivity when it comes to acknowledging both Hamilton's strengths and weaknesses I would say your criticisms of me are totally groundless. As I have stated before and am tired of having to reiterate I don't see a great deal of evidence on this forum for your claim that Vettel is the most hated driver. I see people frustrated with four years of his dominance (not four races of one team's dominance) but not a great deal of hatred for him personally. I would say those that that express hatred of any driver are generally extremists and they are only capable of interpreting criticism of a driver in their own extreme terms. Perhaps your beef is with extremist anti-Vettel fans but not with the vast majority of posters on here. Sadly when you start making wild accusations of hypocrisy and driver hatred you should have the insight to realise that this will only push people with moderate views into extreme opposition. That's what extremist debate does.
you mean that thing you just did and then accused others of provoking...i wasn't even going to bother saying anything until i read your little tear jerking story about poor Hamilton the victim of abuse, supposedly like no other driver What kind of reaction did you think/hope that would cause?
Eddie... It's not worth your breath or finger clicking. Trust me... You can use as much reason as you like, but you'll get nowhere. Especially when there is a desire to be disruptive. Best off leaving certain folk to stew in their own negativity.
FizzVaj you only have to read this thread to see the point I making re some people's problem with Hamilton. His crime has been winning in the best car as far a I can see. I suppose if he was losing in the best car that would be even worse. Supposedly the reason for all the anger is that everyone hated Vettel for being dominant but it's OK for Hamilton to be dominant. Even though nobody has ever expressed either of these viewpoints. And yet we hear that point made again and again through this thread, above and beyond debate into personal attacks on member of the forum. What sort reaction is that supposed to provoke? I am fine with debate, I'm fine with drivers I support being fairly criticised. But not with some of the **** that's been flying around on this thread. Thanks for the concern Sarge, I am leaving it there.
You make it sound like hating Hamilton is a crime. It's an opinion, if people want to hate the guy, then they have every right to, this is a discussion board, stop trying to censor people's thoughts.
When people have a strong dislikes of an individual, it can impair that persons ability to discuss the individual objectively and actually kill discussion. By all means, hate who you want... but the amount of times we go over the same old ground here gets tiresome.
OK, i'll be objective. Hamilton is a good but not great driver, who is mentally weak and desperately wants to be famous. There, that's managing to both be disparaging and accurate.
Or it furthers everything said about Hamelots. He could kill a guy and you idiots would still defend him.
Could you imagine if we took the piss out of Hamilton like we did di Resta and everyone still does to Maldonado.. We'd all be shot!
I don't give a Damn if you can't agree I mean that's the whole point of a forum. In fact the whole point of being human. But it's pretty week character if you resort to personal insults. (which breaks the house rules) so please keep the decorum. I don't want to hand out race bans. Cheers.
Hi. Maybe I checked in at the wrong moment? Once again, I find myself sidelined from the subject of the thread. And this time I feel provoked into a more direct response. I quote... Han: please forgive my interruption. You may have an underlying point but one of the difficulties where people interact only via the written word is that the rhetoric itself is all anyone else has to go on. And that means the words one choose can sometimes be interpreted differently, or even wrongly. For instance, I would agree that opinions are exactly what forums are about, and that all opinions are valid. But allow me to make my opinion clear: hatred is not an opinion! - It's an irrational emotional response to disliking something. For that reason, it is likely to provoke a retaliatory or defensive response in those holding a different opinion, whether theirs is similarly extreme or more moderate (which is statistically far more likely). Therefore one might conclude that by expressing 'hatred', one automatically ups the ante by increasing the tension within those who might be closer to sitting on the fence, such that they eventually feel compelled to counter with their own irrational response, or worse; join forces with the more extreme, projected view which they may come to feel labelled with. Defence is then more likely to be transmuted into attack (real or projected), and guess what?, we mushroom into a polarization of views which can lead people to arms and even outright war! Please don't hate. It's either a careless expression of emotion which all too easily leads to potential misunderstanding, or it is genuinely destructive and divisive. One way or another, it sure ain't cool.
