We all know the facts that Alonso has, generally, been outclassed by new boy Hamilton, who is pretty much only just out of nappies (diapers, for those who don't speak English).

Yet we all thought that both FA and LH were getting similar treatment and identical machinery to compete in the 2007 F1 World Championship. But it turns out this is not the case at all. And I have proof!!!!!



Fernando Alonso is driving his McLaren with the standard F1 steering wheel, which looks something like this:


With this Alonso is able to control his McLaren with absolute precision.



Lewis Hamilton, however, has chosen a rather different wheel. One that keeps him alert throughout the whole race, and doing away with all the fancy but ultimately pointless gizmos that his team mate uses (scroll down to see...):
























I thought of this all by myself, which has made me very pleased with myself...

And there was me thinking you were incredibly busy with life atm. Guess I was wrong.

why is there a layout of the track inside the cockpit in the first pic?

Quote from Jakg :

why is there a layout of the track inside the cockpit in the first pic?

By heck that's sat-nav is that.

Quote from Jakg :

why is there a layout of the track inside the cockpit in the first pic?

Just incase he forgets what track he is on...

They probably also have a secret radio channel open, with one dedicated guy telling him "left, left, right, LEFT, right... no the other right, left...". Throttle and brake are remote controlled with a hacked RC car controller.

LOL

seriously though, if you don't know the track, looking down as you blast through it at 170 mph is surely just gonna make things worse?

Quote from Jakg :

why is there a layout of the track inside the cockpit in the first pic?

they've used such pictures for years now, in case the drivers forgets a turn number I guess (they must be pretty dim to forget that...).

In the lower SS classes (FRenault, F3, etc) they have the maps in the middle of steering wheel. It seems a bit pointless having it to the side.

Hamilton drew Alonso a picture of the Sepang circuit one afternoon while he was in playgroup, and so Ron stuck it inside his cockpit with blu-tac.

I'd guess the drivers will only look at the map while the car is stationery either in the pits to see what corner number a car has gone off at etc or if they break down on the track so they can tell the team exactly where they are.

I wouldn't say it was fact that Alonso has been outclassed. He had the better of Lewis at Melbourne and thrashed him at Sepang by a far larger margin than Lewis managed to beat him at Sakhir. Seems roles reversed from Sepang to Sakhir me thinks.

I'm looking forward to the team battles between Ferrari and McLaren. It's been a while since I can remember two drivers within a top team getting to dual it out like we've seen so far.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

Hamilton drew Alonso a picture of the Sepang circuit one afternoon while he was in playgroup, and so Ron stuck it inside his cockpit with blu-tac.

in an attempt to keep it off his fridge at all costs ?

Quote from Jakg :

why is there a layout of the track inside the cockpit in the first pic?

It's really only for if a driver goes off and needs to report where exactly on the track he is. It also shows sector lines and exit roads... nothing important. Just incase you forget.
They find themselves driving so many different tracks it's easy to forget where some vital info is every now and then.

Quote from Jakg :

why is there a layout of the track inside the cockpit in the first pic?

So that when they retire they can use the map to say where the car had broken down. Sometimes it's easy to forget what corner number (and they all use numbers in F1, never the names) they are at without the rhythm of driving. Just a simple reminded.

However, the idea that it's a Hamilton masterpiece on display with blu-tak is also feasible!

Bah at Niki!

I bet Hamilton has some hard time using that pit radio! (the red aquare gizmo on the left) Or is it a phone?

"Daddy, I'm racing, call later" *puts helmet back on*

Why do some of you guys hate Hamilton so much, especially Tristan?
I did not follow his career until now, and i am not familiar with his history, the relationship with Ron Dennis, etc, but the guy is incredibly fast, and a true racer. I also like his personality, his behavior on the track, behavior after the race... He's really a nice addition to the F1, and he is the reason this season is going to be this interestring.
At least he smiles, he congratulates other drivers, not like mister Iceman and his speech (i almost fell asleep on that press conference) and Alonso the clown with his totally redicolous "celebration" moves.. What's up with that..
LH seems like a nice guy to me totally and a great person, so can someone clarify as why do some of you kinda hate him? i am courious..

I don't hate him at all. I'm reserving judgement on how good he is, and he seems to be a bit of a charisma-free McLaren drone on the face of it which isn't good, but I'd still like to see him do well.

As for Alonso, I think he's pretty cool personally. And I like his stupid celebrations. They're better than that gay jump Schumacher used to do.

Quote from Boris Lozac :

Why do some of you guys hate Hamilton so much, especially Tristan?
I did not follow his career until now, and i am not familiar with his history, the relationship with Ron Dennis, etc, but the guy is incredibly fast, and a true racer. I also like his personality, his behavior on the track, behavior after the race... He's really a nice addition to the F1, and he is the reason this season is going to be this interestring.
At least he smiles, he congratulates other drivers, not like mister Iceman and his speech (i almost fell asleep on that press conference) and Alonso the clown with his totally redicolous "celebration" moves.. What's up with that..
LH seems like a nice guy to me totally and a great person, so can someone clarify as why do some of you kinda hate him? i am courious..

Where has this come from... have I missed another thread or something? I can't see much hate here.

I've followed Lewis (although not race by race through out his career) since I saw his name splattered all over `karting magazine` every month.

The thing I'm hating about the whole Lewis situation is the way people keep calling him a rookie (especially ITV) as if he has just started racing for the first time.

He is probably the best prepared driver on that grid, maybe even in F1 history. He has been groomed practically his whole racing career. In an interview Ron said he wanted Lewis to not only be able to drive quickly but to understand what is happening with the car when he is driving it and how he influences it.

So for me personally although his debut is good so far I'm not exactly `wowed` by it as to be frank train any talented driver up from such an early age and 9 times out of 10 your probably going to get a great driver.

It's the best apprenticeship you can get.

Keiran: Isn't every driver who makes it to F1 pretty much equally well prepared for it? I mean, they've all been karting since childhood, they're all loaded with sponsorship, they all come from reasonably well-off backgrounds - it's not like half the field are working class heroes who never got a chance to race until they were old enough to pass their driving tests and take their mums' Novas around Sainsburys car park.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

Keiran: Isn't every driver who makes it to F1 pretty much equally well prepared for it? I mean, they've all been karting since childhood, they're all loaded with sponsorship, they all come from reasonably well-off backgrounds - it's not like half the field are working class heroes who never got a chance to race until they were old enough to pass their driving tests and take their mums' Novas around Sainsburys car park.

That's not what I'm saying though.

Hamilton has been brought up in such a manner that he has always been in top teams (to my knowledge), many drivers haven't been so lucky. As ITV showed Kubica wasn't exactly in the ideal place to start his career.

But the point I'm making that I feel sets him apart to any other `rookie` as Ron said he has been made to fully understand why everything he does in the car influences it and how it influences it.

To drill that sort of knowledge into a drivers head is going to be very beneficial. You don't have time to think what to do you just have to do it and I think Lewis is probably the best prepared in that regard. Okay, all the drivers he is racing just now probably know as much as they need to know to go quick but chances are they learnt it through trial and error rather than from the `book`.

I just personally feel he has had a head start in that he has been very well trained compared to most `rookies` such a Rosberg (only recent driver I can think of who has gone straight from one category to another).

Can I just say that I DO NOT HATE Hamilton. This post was just a bit of fun based on his age and inexperience in F1.

However, I refuse to be overcome by hype, and will only acknowledge him as a fine driver after at least half a season. Admittedly he's looking good at the moment after 3 superb results, but we hae yet to see how he reacts to car failures, accidents (either his fault or someone elses), and how it all gets to him. Remember Rosberg - great for a few races, then the pressure got to him and he went luke warm for a while (but he seems to be back this year to an extent).

My jury remains out on Hamilton as I don't think 3 races with no real problems is enough to start calling him the next Schumacher. But I don't hate him. And I'll still support Button over him as Button just seems more human at this point in time.

This might show that if you can physically take the beatings of driving an F1 car, have good timing and keep concentration levels high throughout a race, it really isn't that difficult. The competition in GP2 was pretty harsh and those cars seemed to require more skills to drive, though not quite the physical stamina..

Quote from tristancliffe :

However, I refuse to be overcome by hype, and will only acknowledge him as a fine driver after at least half a season.

There's no question he's a fine driver - he's already spent years demonstrating that. Its really a question of whether he can survive all the other F1 shite. As you so rightly put it in relation to Button, its about whether he can retain his humanity and not be turned completely into a human billboard for various vested interests.

So far what i've seen i've been very impressed, to Quote Ron Dennis "confidence void of all arrogance", as long as he maintains his confidence and doesnt become arrogant then he will be a world champion as he certainly has a gift. The driver who excited me the most on Sunday was DC, he's been on the road to retirement for some time now but he was driving like a man possesed.

Im just glad the UK has a driver who can win races, as much as we all love JB, I dont think hes ever going to win a championship.

I didn't want to start a new thread and this is kinda on topic

"Sir Jackie Stewart has said that it is not 'inconceivable' that Lewis Hamilton could win the title this year in his debut season."

If he had said that before the season started then, yeah, I wouldn't be posting this and I wouldn't be thinking that he is a total, stating the obvious muppet, but saying it 3 races in when he LH has finished 3rd, 2nd and 2nd......

.........NO SHIT SHERLOCK!

Oh I thought this was going to be amusing, I was mistaken