I read about this book on some f1 news site (I think it was f1-live)...

Synopsis
This is the story of the boy who proves fairytales do come true. The boy who grew up on a council estate, who, at the tender age of 22, came through against all the odds to dominate and revolutionise the world of motor racing.Thrown in at the deep end 'on a mighty whim' by F1 team owner Ron Dennis, Lewis Hamilton crowned his 2007 debut season by winning the title in Japan in October - and was in the running for the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year 2007. It was an outcome no one seriously could have predicted: not only did he have to combat his own nerves and fears; he had to overcome a dissenter within his own camp.With behind-the-scenes insight into the intense rivalry between Hamilton and his team mate Fernando Alonso which threatened to derail the young Briton's dream, bestselling sports author Frank Worrall describes how the rookie rose above his critics, keeping his dignity and emerging triumphant as he racked up sensational wins around the world.But the boy-wonder's stellar rise through the motor racing ranks from karting to the hotly contested F3 Superprix and onto the F1 podium was by no means straightforward.

No, the author is not that ITV commentator you guys keep mentioning (and thankfully I've been spared so far).

It would be something special if he was to win but still he hasn't won. As Murray used to say F1 is if spelt backwards.

James Allen is the commentator.

That really is ridiculous.

at least its only on preorder, they still have time to change it if he doesnt win.

http://www.f1-live.com/f1/en/h ... detail/070813160928.shtml

"Ironically, the book's description continues with a quite relevant phrase: "It was an outcome no one seriously could have predicted.""

Quote from tristancliffe :

Ironically, the book's description continues with a quite relevant phrase: "It was an outcome no one seriously could have predicted."

ROFL!

He may as well put his feet up now, he's done half a seasons reasonable driving in the fastest car on the grid and he's the greatest driver that's ever lived :yawn:

Although i don't doubt the lads talents as a driver, he hasn't done anything yet that's made him really stand out from his nearest rivals and drivers from the past.

Something that's starting to bug me is that whenever itv broadcasts the race - the build up is always "lengthy hamilton interview about his last race"..... "lengthy hamilton interview about his current race"..... "lengthy hamilton interview about what underpants he is wearing today".

It's growing kind of thin, i know he's british and they really love the media around him at the moment - but i would prefer a more general overview of f1 on there boadcast.

There's plenty of races left.... we'll have to wait and see

A biography at 22- talk about cashing in, and so bleedin stupid to use a summary like that to describe the thing.

Quote from DejaVu :

Although i don't doubt the lads talents as a driver, he hasn't done anything yet that's made him really stand out from his nearest rivals and drivers from the past.

leading the F1 championship in his rookey year?
but i totally agree with you. button could of done that if he were in a mclaren too. and the fact that he is teammate with alonso kinda gives him a slight advantage. after all alonso has to rub off on him somehow

Quote from dadge :

leading the F1 championship in his rookey year?
but i totally agree with you. button could of done that if he were in a mclaren too.

Hmm. I remember Button spending a while with a certain Mr Fisichella as his teammate and not exactly coming away from it smelling of roses.

fisichella was never a F1 champion

Well, tbh, Fisi was champion material during the late '90s. He had tons of trouble with Benetton (Renault now obviously ) and then moving to lower teams like Sauber and Jordan who wouldn't contend for the championship so he went back to Renault at a couldn't be worse time where Alonso just made him look shit and then Alonso getting all the support from the team and Fisi almost none. I feel sorry for him, he lost a lot of confidence because of that support thing. Now, compared to Kovalainen, he's more important but Renault are sh*t this year so no chance for a championship. Fisi just needs the right environment and right car and he'll get somewhere proper but really, you could say that about all the drivers. Throw Yamamoto into the Mclaren and he'll start winning races

Quote from dadge :

fisichella was never a F1 champion

Point being: Fisichella shared a garage with Button, Fisichella made Button look a total chump. Alonso shared a garage with Fisichella, Alonso made Fisichella look a total chump, Hamilton shares a garage with Alonso, Alonso has a narrow margin over Hamilton in his debut year. I think it's fair to conclude that Hamilton will turn out to be a considerably better F1 driver than Button.

But I still think Alonso is faster than Hamilton. By about two tenths on average this year, from what I've seen.

To be honest Kev, speed is of little importance in racing and I thought you'd know that . Its about the right strategy and driving consistently and knowing when to push and not to. Also, having good racecraft. Speed is important, I never said it wasn't but compared to the other things I mentioned, it is the least important.

I did some quick calculations of average position of each driver.

Here are the average positions for the top 4 runners (Hamilton, Alonso, Raikkonen and Massa)

Hamilton: 2.6

Alonso: 3.1

Raikkonen: 5.6

Massa: 5.6

So then, Hamilton is averaging between 2nd-3rd place during most of his races. When you look at all his positions, its scary to see all those 2nd places :eek: . Alonso is averaging 3rd place in most of his races and tbh, the Ferrari boys are disappointing for averaging between 5th-6th place.

True, I did throw in the retirement positions but still, Hamilton is mauling the Ferrari boys and still is performing better than Alonso. If Hamilton chose the right tyres at the right time in Nurburgring and do his magic, he could've gotten into the top 5.

So in conclusion, I leave you with this...



HAMILTON FTW!!!

I just want to say that I'm against the whole British pride thing, I bloody hate it!!! :mad:. I remember being at Silverstone in '03 and everytime Button past Copse (was standing at Copse obviously ) the crowd just jumps up and go nuts and when Schumi goes round, BOO!!!!. Talk about sportsmanship so don't think I like Hamilton because he's British, he's English and thats how he'll stand in my eyes. BOO! to the British Empire!!! . I like Hamilton because I believe he's different, just better than the rest, its as simple as that.

Hamilton deserves respect. Alonso's streak was short lived and I feel sorry for him (at least Schumi shone for 13 years ) but thats F1 and like any sport, each driver has his time and it passes. No sportsman will ever be the eternal best, only the best of his era because he'll soon get booted out of the sport because someone else comes along and can do what he do but much better. Its Hamilton's time now and anyone who thinks otherwise, well, I disagree

what i was trying to say was the hammilton has all the best opertunities to be even better than he is now. with the champ as a team mate, he can learn alot from him. a bit like ervine did from schumacher. (basically, the team mate of the champion usually does a good job too)
i don't mind the british pride thing tbh. with tim henman being pants and button being a no hope.

I think people are confused now that we have someone good to cheer for, but you can support your country and be sporting at the same time. Its just like football, we will boo Germany just because they are German, but if a German player scores a great goal we will applaud it. I agree with most that Hamilton still needs to prove himself fully, and I don't like how crazy the media has gone, but him being in F1 has been entertaining so far.

Quote from ATC Quicksilver :

Its just like football, we will boo Germany just because they are German, but if a German player scores a great goal we will applaud it.

http://teop.org/media/klinsmann.jpg

Well, I haven't read much about Paffet except that he either raced or still races in the DTM which then got him promoted to being a Mclaren test driver. I have to say though, there can sometimes be new blood and everyone is like "ooo! I bet he'll do well" (Vettel & Speed are examples of it). I remember reading a couple years ago about how everyone was stunned by Speed's performance (I was a bit too actually ) when he did an F1 test with RedBull and everyone thought that he'd be serious stuff but as we all saw, Speed didn't go anywhere (obviously, the car is to be blamed as well). Vettel is also quite the same story although, I still think Vettel has more to offer. He was meant to amazing in some of BMW's testing and like Speed, everyone thought that he was gonna be something serious when it came to competing for the champ but Vettel had already done a few races with BMW and compared to Kubica and Heidfeld, I don't think he's as good as they are.

Still, no one person is the same as another so maybe Paffet will be an exception

Quote from Alan Dove :

all he has learnt with Alonso beside him is that to win 2x WDC you don't actually have to be that good

Yeah surethat s why he used Alonso setups at many races before Alonso stopped to help him.

I don t really liked Alonso but since Hamilton is here,i really changed my mind.

Well, you know, lemme tell you a little story about the proud Spaniard. A friend of mine took a racing course over in Bahrain where he raced a Zip Formula car. Now, my friend is a HUGE Alonso fan and he wore the Renault T-Shirt when he was there and then a bunch of guys there who had been to the Bahrain GP that year told him to take off the shirt. He asked why and they told him that during the Bahrain GP that year, they saw Alonso around so they all went up to him to greet him and shake hands with him, Alonso didn't put his hand out to shake and simply looked away. Now, that kind of behaviour for me defines an ****.

Also, Raikkonnen is drunk and party boy. He isn't committed and then Massa, well, I don't like Massa because of how he got into Ferrari (his manager is Jean Todt's son) because there are many others on the track that deserve that place more than Massa. So, way I look at it, Hamilton is the friendliest of the 4, does better than the 4 (as I proved with this post with the average positions thing). So simply, Hamilton is better as a person and as a driver

@Ghostracer: How'd you know Hamilton used Alonso's setups? . You're a Mclaren mechanic, are ya?

Quote from Leprekaun :

Now, my friend is a HUGE Alonso fan and he wore the Renault T-Shirt when he was there and then a bunch of guys there who had been to the Bahrain GP that year told him to take off the shirt.

So they told someone to take off a shirt just because they were played down by the subject of that shirt?

Been watching a few movies recently, and noticed that Don Cheadle has a striking resemblance to Hamilton's father.... lol!

Yes Hamiltonmania is rubbing off on me

I smell a tv/movie documentary in store..........

Quote from Leprekaun :

@Ghostracer: How'd you know Hamilton used Alonso's setups? . You're a Mclaren mechanic, are ya?

I just follow F1,it s not hard,you should try maybe before you begin to talk about it.

I follow F1 . Don't start being a smart-ass with me.

If you what your saying is true, then how come Hamilton is able to out perform Alonso on a number of occasions? since you tell me I don't follow F1, how come Hamilton stated that he was able to do his qualifying lap at Hungary on the super soft while Alonso felt more comfortable with going with the soft prime? Sure, each driver has their own driving style but if Alonso gave Hamilton his setups, it would make more sense that Alonso would be able to maximise the car better than Hamilton.

Oh and so you know that I didn't get that info from thin air like you claiming that Alonso gave Hamilton his car setups, heres where I found the piece of info on the tyre choice in qualifying at Hungary

"It was intriguing that Lewis Hamilton could get his super-soft Bridgestone option tyres to last a complete lap in qualifying, and that Fernando Alonso preferred to rely on the soft prime tyre, which he felt was rather more durable for his distinctive driving style."

I got this info here