Lewis victory a little hollow, so says Martin Brundle. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/15723626.stm Does he not like Lewis or something, I found the article a little mean.
I understand what Brundle was getting at, although it does come across as a little harsh. I think he was making the point that it would have been fantastic if he had beaten Vettle in a straight fight (similiar to JB in Japan) it would have been far more rewarding for Lewis and would leave little room for critics to pick fault. IMO he drove a faultless race and had the measue of JB all weekend (even though quali was very close) and we will never know how Lewis would have handled a close fight with Vettle? Here's hoping Brazil gives us the opprotunity to see the 4/5 fastest Driver/Cars dualing to the finish covered by an handful of seconds!
Well a win is a win but it would feel better if you beat your competitors fair and square in the race and with Vettel getting the puncture and Button with his KERS problems he was left with Alonso driving the wheels off a much slower car that was never going to be capable of winning the race, so Hamilton was not given the opportunity to do this which is why it could be a bit hollow.
I understand what he's getting at but I would counter it with the fact that luck has been factored in to drivers actual skills this year. Yes Vettel has been reallly good and yes Hamilton has underperformed but its also true that Vettel has also had loads of good luck and Hamilton has had loads of bad luck, and the luck this year seems to be counted as skill. ie. you make your own luck, vettel is good so he naturally gets good luck, whereas hamilton has underperformed so he natuarally gets bad luck, then you can say hamiltom made his own luck in abu dhabi.
It doesn't matter what Brundle says about Hamilton, if he says one thing he's a hater, if he says the other he's an arse-licking fanboy. I think what he says is fair and accurate. I did laugh at this bit though "Hamilton was quick to spot in his mirrors that Alonso had moved into second place with a very firm attack on Jenson Button to split up the McLaren one-two" Really, I didn't think he could see anything in those mirrors, didn't the BBC spend 20 mins telling us that very 'fact' on Sunday?
Hollow is harsh. Wouldn't it follow then that many of Vettel's victories were equally hollow? Based on the idea that there were no fights involved in those races. I'm not saying this to denigrate Seb's wins but just to point out that Brundle is full of praise for Vettel when he wins in this manner but grudging when it's Lewis. It's inconsistent, to say the least.
You can only beat wants put in front of you. I too understand where Brundle is coming from but to be blunt, there was nothing else Hamilton could have done in that race.
I think it was a little hollow to be honest. Vettel was beating him in what was a slower car last weekend. If Hamilton had poled it and was leading when Vettel retired it would've been a dominant performance from a back-to-form Hamilton, but because Vettel had beaten him on the Saturday and then not raced it seems a little gifted. It's not like Hamilton and McLaren can go to Brazil and beyond using this result as a reason to think "we can beat them", because the failure happened to a component that's common to all cars. At least if a Red Bull component had failed they could take heart from a chink appearing in the Red Bull's previously bullet proof armour.
On a side note, this was kind of karma for 2009 when Hamilton suffered a brake failure while leading and Vettel inherited the win.
Hamilton probably needed a good result here as at brazil the McLaren could well be the 3rd best car and even a podium could require a massive fight.
I just get the impression that the Mclarens weak points will be exaggerated by the Interlagos circuit.
They won't be able to exploit their superior mechanical grip as much as they did in Abu Dhabi, but they still have the superior Mercedes engine which should be very useful to them. I expect Red Bull to be slightly quicker though and Ferrari to be slightly closer to McLaren.
I genuinely won't be surprised to see Alonso ahead of both Mclarens and even Massa challenging them there. But Vettel should win it and Webber really should be getting on ther podium.
Any victory is to some extent 'hollow' when one finds it to be easier than expected. This is especially applicable if one's adversary(ies) are deprived of the opportunity to fight. Nonetheless, this in no way undermines a faultless performance.
