Am I the only one?

[Ian McC]

Well, I have admired Fernando evr since he qualified that Minardi at Albert Park, and it has nothing to do with the fact that my grandmother was Spanish.

However, to judge someone's character by what one sees so fleetingly in the Telly seems to me to be a shallow form of judgement; and there was nothing wrong with his driving - he was merely protecting his lead and he did not swerve or chop like another former champion which was mentioned above in another post.

So, to answer your question, "No! it's not only you - there are several other ill informed individuals here who agree with you."

Nicely put Valve

[Cart750hp]

That doesn't really like Lewis Hamilton? He's way too arrogant/cocky for my tastes. I highly prefer the mostly humble champion that is Alonso. As far as driving skill, I call it even. Alonso had one fluke race is all. Plus, Alonso won 2 WDC's racing against the greatest of all, Michael Schumacher... OHH but I guess everyone already forgot about THAT... :/

I am not trying to change the topic here but.....why people are concerned about Lewis' attitude? If he's an arrogant that you claimed don't you think that is his own problem? And not liking him because of his attitude makes you a broad minded person, sorry to be frank. My point is that fans tend to get into the personal side of the drivers instead of watching their results and performance on each weekends. Let them talk crap at each other, dress a like a drag, pick up on boys, go naked on magazines, etc. but that is their personal characteristics. It has nothing to do with their professional life as a driver, a race car driver. On top of that, this guy is kicking Alonso's butt as the season goes on.

If you would've claimed, "I don't like Lewis just because he is kicking Alonzo's butt" then that would be more about the racing more than their personal life.

Or I could be wrong.

[Kevincal]

I'd think I was the hottest **** since sliced bread if I jumped into an F1 car and was leading the title in my rookie season against a WDC in the same car. But the thing that gets me most is the insufferable extent to which the British media paint Hamilton as a god, after only 7 races.

It's nearly the whole world now...painting him as a god after 7 races... This is really my point...after 7 races, people are calling Alonso garbage and Hamilton god and really...it's ridiculous.

[wmcot]

I think one of the best descriptions I've seen of any F1 driver was given by a sports psychologist in one of Jeremy Clarkson's "Speed" episodes. He stated that any successful F1 driver has to be a sort of social misfit and without a usual sense of "guilt". That pretty well describes most of the F1 WDC's I've seen. They all have one sort of character flaw or another. Perhaps the most "normal" WDC I can think of is Mika Hakkinen and even he had his quirks (just not so many or so obvious.)

So to answer the original question, yes, there are quite a number of F1 fans who don't like Hamilton, just as there are those who don't/didn't like Alonso, Schumacher, Hill, Villeneuve, Hakkinen, Senna, Prost, Mansell...mostly because they see the "flawed" part of the driver rather than his skill. I admit that I have my own prejudices against certain drivers for exactly those reasons.

[Kevincal]

I am not trying to change the topic here but.....why people are concerned about Lewis' attitude? If he's an arrogant that you claimed don't you think that is his own problem? And not liking him because of his attitude makes you a broad minded person, sorry to be frank. My point is that fans tend to get into the personal side of the drivers instead of watching their results and performance on each weekends. Let them talk crap at each other, dress a like a drag, pick up on boys, go naked on magazines, etc. but that is their personal characteristics. It has nothing to do with their professional life as a driver, a race car driver. On top of that, this guy is kicking Alonso's butt as the season goes on.

If you would've claimed, "I don't like Lewis just because he is kicking Alonzo's butt" then that would be more about the racing more than their personal life.

Or I could be wrong.

But see...he's not "kicking his butt"...he's BARELY BEATING HIM!!! That's another annoying thing I've been seeing everywhere. People are blowing this thing way out of proportion. Alonso was quickest the whole weekend except for a few small tenths in qualy...and in the race he caught LH and would have passed him if not for blocking...And Alonso would have probably pulled away after that and won...

[Storm]

I don't especially like the guy (yet), for sure he is turning out to be a cool and very good race driver...but neither have I seen much in him to dislike (apart from the Brit hype - mostly justified till now).
Much better than having to hear about Button, Coulthard and Ant.

[ArrowsFA1]

It's nearly the whole world now...painting him as a god after 7 races... This is really my point...after 7 races, people are calling Alonso garbage and Hamilton god and really...it's ridiculous.

I'm not so sure that's true. In the first couple of races, yes, there was the thought that 'how the hell could a rookie beat a 2xWDC, perhaps Alonso isn't as good as we thought.'

Now there's a growing realisation that Alonso is still a great champion, but Hamilton really is exceptional. I think Fernando is even beginning to recognise that, and will probably be stronger in the coming races as a result.

[tacksharp]

I think one of the best descriptions I've seen of any F1 driver was given by a sports psychologist in one of Jeremy Clarkson's "Speed" episodes. He stated that any successful F1 driver has to be a sort of social misfit and without a usual sense of "guilt"

Back when Jacques Villeneuve was in CART, there was a race on the short oval in Phoenix, and two cars were spun out on the track. Jacques failed to see the yellow flags and came around a curve at high speed and cut Hiro Matsu$hita's car in half when Jacques's nose hit the spot where the tub meets the engine. If he had hit Hiro's car a little further forward, Hiro would have been dead for sure, but he ended up with just an injured shoulder. When Jacques was interviewed, he just complained how the yellow flags (or maybe it was yellow lights) were impossible to see. Not once did he express concern about Hiro's condition. At that moment I thought to my self, "this dude is cold enough to be a champion." Seriously, that's when I thought he was ruthless enough to make it to the top. I never really liked him after that.

So to answer the original question, yes, there are quite a number of F1 fans who don't like Hamilton, just as there are those who don't/didn't like Alonso, Schumacher, Hill, Villeneuve, Hakkinen, Senna, Prost, Mansell...mostly because they see the "flawed" part of the driver rather than his skill. I admit that I have my own prejudices against certain drivers for exactly those reasons.

Very thoughtful and self-aware. We all choose which incidents and perceived character flaws to amplify or minimize in our minds to help justify our dislike or admiration for certain drivers. When Schumacher took out Hill at Adelaide in 1994, I knew he was no good. There was some doubt, but when he tried to take out Jacques at Jerez in 1997 it just confirmed what I thought about 1994.

Funny how some people think 7 races, 7 podiums, 2 wins is too early to judge Hamilton's greatness as a driver, but is plenty of time to judge his sportsmanship and character because of one perceived blatant block.

[Valve Bounce]

That doesn't really like Lewis Hamilton? He's way too arrogant/cocky for my tastes. I highly prefer the mostly humble champion that is Alonso. As far as driving skill, I call it even. Alonso had one fluke race is all. Plus, Alonso won 2 WDC's racing against the greatest of all, Michael Schumacher... OHH but I guess everyone already forgot about THAT... :/

OK, I've watched the post race celebrations and the post race conference. I failed to see where there was any arrogance. Perhaps you would like to tell us which two words you objected to.

It is also interesting that you should mention SchM in your lead post - "the greatest of all". Well, I don't remember Lewis Hamilton running anyone into a concrete wall, ramming another driver so he could win a race and then lieing about it afterwards, running another driver (his own brother) towards a pitwall, swerving all over the track to stop anyone from passing (hey!! You want to talk about blocking?), and asking his team to tell the team mate ahead to pull over so he could win a race, and finally stopping across the track so the guys behind couldn't post a better time at quals? Did I miss something here?

Perhaps you'd like to focus on who the arrogant driver really was.

"... OHH but I guess everyone already forgot about THAT..."

[raikk]

I just wish LH was a bit more humble is all. He just acts like he's the greatest thing, which may become true ONE DAY...My point is, that day is still far off... It should be interesting to see where everyone stands in a couple of years.

''Humble''

Hugley Humble Hamilton by F1 RACING mag -June 2007
''At the Malaysian Grandprix I spotted Hamilton coming into our hotel so I asked if he'd sign the flag I made.''Where did you get this, with my name written on it?'' He said. ''Ive never has an F1 flag before!'' He spelt my name wrong but I didn't mind. In the bar about 45 mins later I got a tap on the shoulder. It was Lewis, asking to take some pictures of me, him and the flag. He said sorry for spelling my name wrong but said he was just overwhelmed that someone has made a Lewis flag. H sat down and re-signed it ''To Apple (my nickname) ,thanks for the first Official Lewis Hamilton flag.'' For the rest of the weekend whenever he came out of the pits he looked up at the flag opposite and gave us all a big wave. He's the most humble driver Ive ever met and I look forward to seeing him and his wondeful father again at Monza and Spa.''
If your still not convinced they show a picture of Hamilton with the lady that made his flag, signing it..

good day.