No one is saying he messes up all the time. The truth is that Hamilton does more mistakes than his opponents and has lately had a habit of making bad calls in races. Also saying Hamilton outsmarted others is quite debatable. He did outrace his rivals but I remember people here saying how Mclaren is always to blame when Hamilton's tactics fail. Following that logic it was his team who outsmarted his rivals' teams. Not Hamilton himself.
Also try to compare Hamilton's flawless races to Vettel's or maybe Alonso's. You'll see that he doesn't have more flawless races than the others do. That makes comparing his bad calls to the bad calls others make quite important don't you think?
Yes in germany it was the team that outsmarted the other teams, unless the driver has a particular preference the driver will go with whatever data the pit wall has at the time, there's about 20+ guys trying to think of stratergys and analyzing data from other cars/practice runs, the drivers simply doesn't have this info nor do they have a weather radar!!!!! To expect a driver to race round a circuit in an F1 car and outsmart 20+ people on the pitwall that have been thinking of nothing but stratergys with none of the data they have is crazy. If the rain had carried on like the radars said it would the intermediate would be the tyre to be on and i'm sure if Jenson had been in front he would have taken the intermediates.
Jenson has said to press that he would not have taken the intermediates because he thought he was faster at the moment with dry tires. You are forgetting that the driver ''should'' know what tires will be the fastest at the moment. If Hamilton thought slick tires were fastest why didn't he wait for a lap and pit then if the track conditions had changed? How do you expect those 20+ people on the pitwall know how much water is there in corners 5, 6 and 7 and if they can be driven with slick tires? They don't know that from their data. They rely on driver's opinion about the situation and that's why it's 99% of the time the driver's call to use dry or rain tires. The driver is calculated tactics by the possibilities of rain continuing, increasing or diminishing but they never change the driver's tires until the driver has said that other tires would be faster and that he wants to pit.
What's the point in changing to intermediate if you expect rain after the next few laps? Why don't you change after those few laps when it starts really to rain? Hamilton was fast enough with his tires and could have continued with them for the next few laps if he thought the intermediate tires were a bad call right now. (assuming he's not just considered an idiot and just told to pit without even telling him which tires they are giving him)
You're not getting the point. Hamilton does more mistakes than the others and doesn't have enough flawless races to cover for those mistakes.
How many times has Alonso made a major mistake this season? -Not many.
How many has Hamilton done? -I've lost count already.
Mclaren has been faster than Ferrari but still Alonso is only one point behind Hamilton. All comes to the amount of mistakes he doesn't make and Hamilton does.
Button has been slower than Hamilton in almost every race and still he's only 12 points behind Hamilton. Also Webber has been driving consistantly to third or fourth and he's ahead of Hamilton with only one second place and no victories. You might say it's because of the car that Webber's so fast but that doesn't change the fact that Webber has been about as fast as Hamilton in every race and actually many times much slower. He just doesn't make major mistakes which is the reason he's a perfect second driver for Red Bull and why he's second in standings.
Sinbad; that's a good question. I'm rooting for your idea in future but somehow in every race we have users who come claim Hamilton was mistreated in almost every possible way and that he is the best driver in the history of the sport. That pretty much changes the subject every time.
If they think it will rain heavily for 10 minutes, then waiting for it to be very wet could be incredibly costly. On top of the fact that you could go off, we've seen races where those that have switched to inters first will be 10 or 15 seconds faster over the very next lap than the people that "play it safe". And when the pitstop is only 18 seconds, you only need a couple of laps on the wet tyre to make that time back and more, 4 or 5 and you've got both stops covered assuming it dries, plus your chances of crashing are far far less.
What info he got, I don't know, he obviously thought it was going to rain hard for a while. Remember that he was on the wrong tyre already, and would have to stop before the end whilst those on the prime wouldn't, but he was no faster than they were, so it was a gamble worth taking. Webber did all the same things. Less consequential when you're not in the front, though. With a bit more rain they could have been the one-two with Rosberg 3rd, though.
I don't think it was such a bizarre or poorly judged decision.
If Hamilton got info that it was going to rain hard his risk was worth taking as you said. But that's one of the things we'll never know. I remember seeing a weather machine in the broadcast that only said the rain would continue for maybe 15 minutes, not increase or diminish but just continue. I doubt that Mclaren believed it was going to rain very hard within the next lap since no other top teams had come to the same conclusion, but it's a possibility. Red Bull clearly didn't think so because they gave Webber slick tires and quite often the teams do have a similar view of the circumstances because they all have the best possible gear and people there. It's just a matter of taking risks.
Maybe Hamilton just decided that he wanted to win the race and didn't care if he was third or fourth. That's a logical risk since he knew he couldn't have won Button or Vettel because he had to pit and they didn't.
I agree with you that it wasn't a bizarre decision but we really can't be sure about the ''poor judged'' part. Also I strongly believe that it was Hamilton's call and Mclaren is just covering him trying to get him look ahead to the next race and not dwell in the last race with media bothering him.
^This, i think also you missed the part where loads of drivers were skating off the track? Including almighty Jenson and Hamilton as he dropped it. If that isn't a call for intermediates i don't know what is, especially as it was forcast to rain for 15 minutes.
Hamilton is ****ing great!! Stop moaning on and on about the guy. A slip up here and there who gives a ...., I sorta love when he slips up, just as much as I love when he pulls off some of the most amazing moves. He is allways good for massive entertainment. Appreciate him for he does best, driving his arse off.
Hamilton this, Hamilton that, gotta love him for what he is....
Not this Hamilton crap again... He has the talent, no doubt, but something is missing to make him the best driver on the grid.
I'll show more sympathy towards him when:
He will start using his brain
He won't blame anything/anyone else for his own mistakes
He stops crashing everyone and call it "passionate driving", still blame the innocent
He stops with the egocentric and other horrible interviews (Senna, coz' I'm black, etc)
People won't praise him even if he screws others' races
You might not care all about it but I do and these stick my eyes.
Seems like my "hate" comes with this team (no probs with Button). I hated Alonso when he was at McLaren too, he couldn't see from his ego. I would say he needs another team too. Not sure it would work out, people are different.
Yet Button ignored the call to pit as he clearly felt sticking with dries was better (although possibly only better than being stacked in the pitlane behind Lewis, I grant you).
He needs to move to ferrari. The team where you drive for ferrari or pack your bags. That would teach him abit more imo, when he has to perform for ferrari and do what they want, not whatever he wants.
It would be bad at redbull, I personally think they wouldn't be able to handle him.
When Hamilton loses much it's mostly about him making mistakes on the track than being perfect in every way and team making the errors. When you are telling me he won because he outsmarted someone on dry track that's being biased.
Remember; on dry conditions teams make the strategy 99% and when it starts to rain the driver has more authority in doing the strategy because he knows the circumstances around the track and the pitcrew doesn't.
Anyway I was just following the logic you have seemed to use many times. You've implied that Hamilton has nothing to do with the tactics but still claim that he outsmarts his opponents in some races. That's quite funny actually. If he loses because of his team's strategies he also must win because of his team's strategies and he is not to get credit for tactics. Hamilton has not outsmarted anyone this season and that was what I was trying to imply. I didn't say it was so I just said it was so if I followed your logic.
I never implied anything, because I've not engaged myself in that particular branch of conversation. All I said was in YOUR eyes, when Hamilton does well, it's credit to somebody else. I think this speaks volumes for your opinions on Hamilton, I request that you don't comment about Hamilton because the only ppeople that agree with you wholey are those who are also against Hamilton for no real reason.
And where did I say any victory Hamilton has had was not earned by him? I was following the basic idea you Hamilton freaks have said all along trying to prove how you comment Hamilton on his strategy when he wins and whine about Mclaren ruining his races when he loses You are just making this story of how I see things up as you go aren't you?
I did post a comment in the thread about last race how Hamilton drove well and deserved the win. That you either missed or forgot immediately. Show me ANY post of mine where I say Hamilton did not deserve his win or that his win was solely because of his team and that he is not a good driver.
Also you seem to think Vettel is only winning because of his team so what does that mean according to what you just said to me? Maybe you are the one who has issues here.
That's what happens when you have the driving style he does, it's up and down how boring would it be if we had 24 buttons or prosts, 90% of his moves come off and are pretty spectacular, then theres the 10% that don't which he's had a few of recently but even they weren't brain dead moves or even arguably his fault.
The fact people agree his talent is in the top 5 of F1 current drivers says alot, the fact the same people argue about his stupidness actually being stupid or not, speaks alot too.
Basically, going by the population of the WORLD. Hamilton is one of the best drivers for sure regardless of any mistakes he makes. I just think some people have a chip on their shoulder over Hamilton from envy etc.
I'm envious of Hamilton (not his success, but his dads dedication) but it doesn't mean I have to critizise everything he does wrong because I think I could do it better, and it doesn't mean I have to hate him because he is in F1 and I'm not either.
