Is Hamilton up to the task?
Many people have recently been doing the time-honoured British press ritual of slamming one of our sporting heroes when he puts a foot wrong. Lewis Hamilton had an absolute shocker in Bahrain; there is no arguing that, but does he really deserve the press he’s been getting?.
The fact that he had a bad race doesn’t mean that he is on the brink of a mental collapse. Yes, Kovalainen is going about his business and perhaps Hamilton didn’t think he would be quite so consistent, quite so quickly. Yes, the McLaren is suddenly not such a force to be reckoned with. But are we not forgetting that these drivers have spent the whole of their lives dealing with such situations?
As Massa showed in Bahrain, however much pressure is put onto their shoulders; most Formula 1 drivers have the mental and physical ability to block out all the nonsense and get on and do what they do best – driving fast.
Hamilton was never going to walk the 2008 Championship. That much was clear near the end of last year when the Ferraris got quicker and quicker. And indeed when the BMWs revealed their true pace in Australia. So why are we all so worried that Hamilton is 5 points behind at the moment? Taken out of context, for a man in his second Formula 1 season, that’s not bad.
I can’t talk too much as I did also ask a few weeks ago whether Massa was up to the job. Of course, he went on to win the next race. But that has at least made me think – these guys spend their whole life training for this type of pressure. OK, Hamilton has a tendency to make bad situations worse when things start to go wrong but I definitely wouldn’t count him out yet.
I wouldn’t have thought that anyone at McLaren would be happy being shown up by both Ferrari and BMW and they’ll be doing everything in their power to gain an extra edge. As will Hamilton. Is Hamilton up to the task? I certainly think so. The season is just beginning.
Filed under: Blogs, Formula 1, Personalities
Tags: Bahrain, BMW, Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Formula One, Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren
Ed returned from a stint in Milan, working on the Italian version of Autocar, and joined the team in August 2007. After two years of countless scooter accidents and a constant battle against coffee addiction it was a relief for him to start writing in his mother tongue. As well as managing the website, Ed is responsible for writing the Auctions and Desirables pages, the occasional features article and made his TV debut on CNN at the end of last year commenting on the F1 season.
George Murphy:
April 21st, 2008 3:06pm
Lewis is facing a different challenge to last year. In your rookie season expectations are much lower, you have the element of surprise. But in your second year, you have to perform - especially when you have done what Lewis managed in his first year.
Also, he doesn’t have a two-time world champion leading the team on development. I reckon that could be significant. He’s seen as team leader this year, and that is a whole lot of added pressure.
Lewis is great, we all know that. He’s too good to struggle for long, but perhaps it should be no surprise that not everything is going his way at the moment. It looks like Jackie Stewart’s words of warning before the season began might be spot on.
Steve Moore:
April 22nd, 2008 10:57am
The second season is always the hardest… especially if you suddenly have to lead the team (as you so rightly said George). But let’s be honest, Hamilton is a cut above most and it is only a matter of time before he’s back on top again.
Michael Ivans:
April 22nd, 2008 11:04am
Hamilton… a cut above the rest? Would you really put him above Raikkonen, Alonso, Massa etc.? I’m not so sure. He’s certainly quick but he’s not ready to lead a team’s development.
Max Richards:
April 22nd, 2008 11:28am
I reckon McLaren’s struggles stretch further than Hamilton lacking the F1 car development experience of an Alonso. That’s something he must surely being getting to, or have gotten to grips with, given that there will be a few folk at McLaren who know a thing or two about set-up and are able to guide him…
I believe, as Nigel Roebuck highlighted in his excellent season preview, that McLaren is simply still feeling the shock waves of its traumatic 2007. We’ll probably never know the full extent of the effect that the events of last year had on the team, but we’re seeing the fallout now. Yet I have no doubt that McLaren and Hamilton will bounce back – it’s just a question of when.
Ales Norsky:
April 22nd, 2008 1:23pm
It was just a matter of time before Hamilton came down to Earth from the statosphere where he was catapulted last year. But there is no crash landing here. He remains a title contender. What does worry me a bit is that I hear traces of entitlement in some of his statements. Maybe it’s just me, but he cannot afford to make the mistake of thinking that the title is inevitably his in 2008. Hamilton makes it clear that he does not like comparisons to Tiger Woods, but I would hate him to become another Eric Lindros (as in ice-hockey).
Ed Foster:
April 22nd, 2008 1:33pm
Max,
I think the technical side is an extra worry that he didn’t need to think about so much last year. He just needs to make sure that he can tell his engineers exactly what is going on with the car.
After only a year and three races in Formula 1, common sense must tell us that he isn’t as good as Alonso at this…
I really don’t think Hamilton fans need worry though. He has had tough races before and he is an ultra-competitive driver. Exactly what you need to be in the cut-throat arena of F1.
EF