You must log in or register to see imagesOriginally Posted by AloonatronYou must log in or register to see images
Ahh yes, this is more like it. I was starting to think that the old 606 childish internet tough guy talk was largely gone from here.
Eeeeexxxceellent
The thing is, When you look back at Lewis' career, what has he really done? His first season was outstanding, no doubt, but that McLaren was an awesome machine and Lewis was let down by Ron's management with the Alonso Fiasco. Then he had to beat Massa and Kimi in 2008, in a 3 horse race, and to add controversy to an already controversial comment I think that Kimi is a great driver for 50% - 75% of the season, but just isn't really consistent enough to be a great champion, and Massa has never really been good enough either. Yet still he only just managed to win by about half a mile.
Then we move onto 2009, where Lewis started low down the grid (with a poor car) and as the Merc KERS system lost weight and improved he was able to use it to pass with ease, and then in 2010 most people seem to forget that most of the time when he was doing his "amazing" passing moves it was people driving further down the grid. Usually grinding to a halt when he came near anyone with a remotely competitive car, or crashing into them as he did with someone at Monza. I forget who it was that he ran into there ;-). Then he spent some time being passed by other cars towards the end of the season, as he let them by because he wandered off track a few times, making their lives easy.
I'm not saying that Lewis' can overtake, as clearly he can. I'm not a "hater" too. I'm just looking at what he's actually achieved with my own eyes, rather then going by what I'm told by the media and fans. I'm just saying that they are oft grossly exaggerated by his fans and the media. I think that you can trace the final breakdown in Lewis' form and confidence back to a battle he had with Jenson earlier on this season, when he and Jenson were scrapping and Jenson eventually came out on top, forcing Lewis to surrender and then having to pit early, which happened to work out for him as it put him onto the right strategy, but the psychological damage was done. It was the first time that he and Jenson had gone wheel to wheel and Jenson bested him, and since then Jenson's passes him again in racing conditions.
It's a shame that Lewis has been used by the media in the way that he has, and that his fans are oft so blinkered to his weaknesses and faults that they go one and on about him as if he was the only man who'd ever overtaken anyone. I still think that he is a great driver, by the way. It's just that too much weight has been put on his shoulders, and all the exaggerated stories have created a legend of Lewis that is impossible for him to live up to, and Lewis being Lewis, he desperately wants to. Sure, it might earn him extra $$$ in sponsorship (for now) but while other drivers are allowed to quietly get on with their careers (Alonso, Vettel, Button) and watch Lewis crumble when put under some real competitive pressure within his own team.
Lewis will be a better driver when people stop going on about how great and amazing he is, heaping pressure and unrealistic expectations on him all the time, saying that he's so much better at everything than everyone else.
Some well presented points there Aloony. I don't mean I agree with every single word but, as usual, you have presented your view very well.
What a contrast to the following (which has now been toned down to something more becoming of public debate by BrightLampShade*, rather than the embarrassment to the forum which it previously was):
F111CR: if any of the things you said in your original post had a valid starting point, you completely undermined them by the way you said whatever it was you were trying to say - which was instantly forgettable - simply because of the manner in which you went about it.
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P.S. My thanks to BLS who cares about what appears in this site.
