Lewis Hamilton, master of Montreal
There is a spring in the step of Lewis Hamilton that suggests a surge in his self-confidence; an assuredness of manner that should strike fear into the hearts of his competitors. Having won the world championship by the skin of his teeth in 2008, Hamilton then had a woeful 2009 season. Before the beginning of the current season there was reason to feel concern as to whether the young man’s state of mind was up to the challenges of another world championship campaign. He had severed professional ties with his father – a man who had moulded him from a tender-aged go-karting boy to a Formula One world championship – which seemed to suggest that something wasn’t entirely right with the lad. As if that was not unsettling enough, Hamilton had also split up with his girlfriend, Nicole, which added to the speculation about his frame of mind.
But Hamilton is clearly made of sterner stuff than the pundits believed. His performance in Canada this past weekend was faultless, extraordinary even. He qualified on Saturday - in a manner made famous by Ayrton Senna – by squeezing out a super-quick lap at the very last minute and nailing pole-position. He then drove a race on Sunday that demonstrated his superlative skill. If Hamilton has been accused of having a flaw it has been an inability to conserve his tyres and, by so doing, stay out of trouble. Whatever the gremlins were in Hamilton’s driving style which attacked tyres with alacrity, they have been despatched to the outer darkness where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth. A gamble by Red Bull that Hamilton would have to stop early for tyres was proved to be hopeless by a tyre conserving Hamilton who stayed out until well past the twentieth lap. Again as the race wound down, Hamilton cleverly managed rapidly graining tyres for twenty odd laps to the end. This is the sort of stuff we have previously seen from Jenson Button and it was feared by Hamilton fans to be the thing that would give Button the edge between the two. Not any more.
Perhaps some of this can be explained by the re-emergence of Hamilton’s Pussycat Doll. She was in Montreal after yesterday’s race looking radiant and brandishing a fan’s baby (a clever hint perchance?) as she watched her man squirt the podium with expensive champagne.
Button, meanwhile, drove as smooth a race as ever and we were treated to another all Brit McLaren one-two. In the post race interviews, the McLaren boys were giving every appearance of belonging to a mutual admiration club:
Hamilton: “Jenson did a great job and another one-two for us, so I am very happy and proud of the team.”
Button: “Another one-two for the team. Another one to this guy. I’d rather it was the other way around but I must say the team did a great job this weekend. Lewis put in a phenomenal lap yesterday which I couldn’t touch. But it is great to be here.”
The gap between the two is now so razor thin that either McLaren driver could emerge on top in November. What emerged from Canada, though, is that McLaren have now caught up with Red Bull.
Where this leaves the championship now is that any one of the top five could win it, methinks. We have had five different championship leaders thus far this season and it surely counts as one of the most challenging and difficult to predict ever. The momentum seems to be with Red Bull and McLaren for the moment, so unless Ferrari get their act sorted pretty quickly, it will be their third year in a row without winning a world championship.
The top 10 table looks like this:
1. Lewis Hamilton 109pts
2. Jenson Button 106
3. Mark Webber 103
4. Fernando Alonso 94
5. Sebastian Vettel 90
6. Nico Rosberg 74
7. Robert Kubica 73
8. Felipe Massa 67
9. Michael Schumacher 34
10. Adrian Sutil 23
From this it is becoming ever clearer that Michael Schumacher should hang up his helmet for good without further delay. Whatever it was that persuaded him to come out of retirement to mix it with the youngsters, it was a mistake. His performance yesterday was embarrassing. He did not even finish in the points while his Mercedes team-mate, Nico Rosberg, came a worthy sixth. Spare us any further misery, Mr Schumacher, and enjoy your millions quietly and in peace.
If you’re a Hamilton fan, send an urgent letter to Nicole Scherzinger imploring her not to miss any of the remaining races this year. Whatever magic Hamilton is getting from her, it is clearly working!
Gitau
14 June 2010
But Hamilton is clearly made of sterner stuff than the pundits believed. His performance in Canada this past weekend was faultless, extraordinary even. He qualified on Saturday - in a manner made famous by Ayrton Senna – by squeezing out a super-quick lap at the very last minute and nailing pole-position. He then drove a race on Sunday that demonstrated his superlative skill. If Hamilton has been accused of having a flaw it has been an inability to conserve his tyres and, by so doing, stay out of trouble. Whatever the gremlins were in Hamilton’s driving style which attacked tyres with alacrity, they have been despatched to the outer darkness where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth. A gamble by Red Bull that Hamilton would have to stop early for tyres was proved to be hopeless by a tyre conserving Hamilton who stayed out until well past the twentieth lap. Again as the race wound down, Hamilton cleverly managed rapidly graining tyres for twenty odd laps to the end. This is the sort of stuff we have previously seen from Jenson Button and it was feared by Hamilton fans to be the thing that would give Button the edge between the two. Not any more.
Perhaps some of this can be explained by the re-emergence of Hamilton’s Pussycat Doll. She was in Montreal after yesterday’s race looking radiant and brandishing a fan’s baby (a clever hint perchance?) as she watched her man squirt the podium with expensive champagne.
Button, meanwhile, drove as smooth a race as ever and we were treated to another all Brit McLaren one-two. In the post race interviews, the McLaren boys were giving every appearance of belonging to a mutual admiration club:
Hamilton: “Jenson did a great job and another one-two for us, so I am very happy and proud of the team.”
Button: “Another one-two for the team. Another one to this guy. I’d rather it was the other way around but I must say the team did a great job this weekend. Lewis put in a phenomenal lap yesterday which I couldn’t touch. But it is great to be here.”
The gap between the two is now so razor thin that either McLaren driver could emerge on top in November. What emerged from Canada, though, is that McLaren have now caught up with Red Bull.
Where this leaves the championship now is that any one of the top five could win it, methinks. We have had five different championship leaders thus far this season and it surely counts as one of the most challenging and difficult to predict ever. The momentum seems to be with Red Bull and McLaren for the moment, so unless Ferrari get their act sorted pretty quickly, it will be their third year in a row without winning a world championship.
The top 10 table looks like this:
1. Lewis Hamilton 109pts
2. Jenson Button 106
3. Mark Webber 103
4. Fernando Alonso 94
5. Sebastian Vettel 90
6. Nico Rosberg 74
7. Robert Kubica 73
8. Felipe Massa 67
9. Michael Schumacher 34
10. Adrian Sutil 23
From this it is becoming ever clearer that Michael Schumacher should hang up his helmet for good without further delay. Whatever it was that persuaded him to come out of retirement to mix it with the youngsters, it was a mistake. His performance yesterday was embarrassing. He did not even finish in the points while his Mercedes team-mate, Nico Rosberg, came a worthy sixth. Spare us any further misery, Mr Schumacher, and enjoy your millions quietly and in peace.
If you’re a Hamilton fan, send an urgent letter to Nicole Scherzinger imploring her not to miss any of the remaining races this year. Whatever magic Hamilton is getting from her, it is clearly working!
Gitau
14 June 2010
posted by Gitau at 4:31 pm
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