Hamilton was ready to quit F1 rather than stay in McLaren: Ecclestone

[Bagwan]

For me , the antics off the track go a long way to explaining some things that happen on track .
They go a long way towards getting into the reasoning behind some of the moves we see .

Sometimes there's a loss of respect , and other times it's mind games between them , but there's a lot to be learned about one's character when one's in front of the press and when one's not .

For instance , since we're in a Hammy thread , the incident where he tweeted potentially delicate info showed he was rattled at being behind , or at least I think so .
It gives a little more insight into the man , himself .
Personally , I think he was set up , but that's a debate that's in the past perhaps .

And , it did get a lot of press , it's true .
But then , would there have been as much press about it if he wasn't near the front of the pack ?
Or , would he have had it easier if he wasn't already a bit of a character already ?

Lewis is Lewis , and as a fan I think you have to embrace his character , or understand that you'll have to endure lots of controversy and the press that follows , as it will , unrelentingly .

Right now , he's in a very small group of the elite drivers who can win any time out , but he's the absolute king of the entertainment factor in F1 . The dog proves that .

[Tazio]

For me
It gives a little more insight into the man.

Me too! tareup: ailor:

[wedge]

Equally I don't think fans should jump on a drivers back and cast judgement every time a sensationalized story about a driver (any driver) hits the press. Lewis may well have threatened to do a Casey Stoner and walk away, but it wasn't a conversation that was made public until Bernie decided to use it as publicity. We don't know the full details and its irrelevant now Lewis is settling in to a new team. The likes of Hamilton and Alonso are still respected for their talent regardless of their well publicised 'Pre-Madonna' antics of the past. I think fans are far too sensitive to anything that isn't considered perfect PR and is the reason we have so many fan threads discussing trivial comments from drivers. I think its a sign of the times and we either have a football supporter style mentality that has crept in, or there is not enough to be talking about on the track.

Drivers are in the public eye that its hard not to pass judgement like posting telemetry on Twitter or walking into a rivals's motorhome ie. RBR.

What I love about Kimi is that he is apolotical. His had disagreements with Ron The Don and Luca de Montezemolo but you would not have known it at the time. Senna had his tantrums but regarded as a tough negotiater eg. going into the 93 season you were never quite sure what has MO was - he didn't like the direction of the sport was going yet you had an idea that he knew McLaren were on a downward curve and then ended up being paid $1m.

Alonso - Jody Scheckter an Jo Ramirez have openly said that they detest him as a human being and lost respect for him as a driver. No doubt there are fans who detest him just as many fans detest Schumi, Senna and even Moaning Mansell had haters back in the day.

Stoner - the guy has principles firmer than Hamilton's. He achieved all there is to achieve. Multiple champ, raced against the GOAT, man handled the Ducati when no one else could - with that on his cv he coukd ride for anyone and earn more but chose not to. Hamilton isn't quite in the same bracket.

[wedge]

Lewis is Lewis , and as a fan I think you have to embrace his character , or understand that you'll have to endure lots of controversy and the press that follows , as it will , unrelentingly .

Mansell is my all time hero and I refuse to embrace his ego.

[henners88]

Well we all have different tastes so that's about it. I'm not on a crusade to convince anyone else otherwise as its not something I need to do to increase my enjoyment of the sport. There we go.

[wedge]

I'm not on a crusade to convince anyone else otherwise as its not something I need to do to increase my enjoyment of the sport. There we go.

Criticising fan mentality akin football suggests you're on a crusade to sound righteous.

Fanboys have existed long before social media.

[AndyL]

Why has Nicole got Jenson's number on her hat?

[henners88]

Criticising fan mentality akin football suggests you're on a crusade to sound righteous.

Fanboys have existed long before social media.

I'm just sick of reading Kimi is miserable, Hamilton is cocky, Vettel is arrogant, Fernando is stroppy etc. If pointing this out makes me sound like I'm trying to be righteous then I have no problem with that. Not sure what 'fanboys' has to do with this, we were talking about criticisms based on tabloid content I thought?

[Natalie.S]

Criticising fan mentality akin football suggests you're on a crusade to sound righteous.

Fanboys have existed long before social media.

Lol some folk just like silly crusades
Be it about F1 on Sky or about sounding righteous

[Dave B]

Why has Nicole got Jenson's number on her hat?

She's a massive Nigel Mansell fan. Little known fact: the reason she split up with Lewis last year was his refusal to grow a moustache. They got back together when, as a compromise, he agreed to adopt a Brummie accent while in the throes of passion.