Lewis Hamilton - Yay or Nay?

[Lee]

After seeing him today, McLaren need this driver! (3 wide + Becketts, Silverstone = )

What do you guys think, will he be Mr.Alonso's team mate come 2007?

For all of you who do not know him, check out this: GP2 Profile

 

[kikie]

After seeing him driving at Silverstone today, I voted "yes". I mean "Yay"

 

[darkfinal]

Though I wouldn't like to see a driver with such a talent running along with Alonso... Hamilton deserves that seat so much.

 

[Impreza04]

Yes with McLaren, but anywhere in F1 it'd be good to see another talented F1 driver

 

[Pupik]

Lewis Hamilton: Yay for F1; his drive at the Niurburgring earlier this year was impressive. He's got the talent for an F1 seat.

But I'm going to say nay to a 2007 McLaren ride; let's see what he can do with another car first. Of course, I'm saying this as I'm holding out for Raikkonen and Alonso together for next year.

I'm not sure where he'd go though.

 

[GM]

I'd say yay after his performance at Silverstone 👍

 

[Blake]

I'm not sure where he'd go though.

That’s the thing. There are no real entry-level teams these days.

Super Aguri are pretty much exclusively Japanese, and I don’t see that changing in the short term. MF1 has two good drivers, and the team seem pretty happy. Red Bull is all but closed off to anyone who isn’t already sponsored by Red Bull. Toyota probably wouldn’t give a rookie a run, these days. Williams is probably the closest thing to an entry-level team. That makes me sad.

That said, it really doesn’t leave Hamilton anywhere to go, other than McLaren.

 

[dkstz]

Isn't too early for him to step up to F1?? Shouldn't he be a test driver a season or two before challenging the rest? You know Ide...
At least thats what people thinks about Brunno Senna. Too early.

 

[Diego440]

Actually, Hamilton's entry into McLaren seems more plausible now that Montoya will be out of McLaren for 2007 and Kimi is probably (yet to be confirmed) going to Ferrari. More news about it, here

 

[Blake]

Oh yeah, it’s fairly likely given the circumstances. But I don’t think it will be the best thing for his career. Having a team mate like Alonso in your rookie season is almost certain to make you look bad.

Fisichella, for example, isn’t a bad driver. He’s very experienced, and he knows his way around a race track. But, when sitting in the same car as someone like Alonso, he looks very mediocre. I’m afraid that could happen with Hamilton, and it may be bad for him in the short term.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Hamilton's definitely the real deal. And he's quite similar to Alonso in terms of his relentlessness and his ability to modify his style to match the requirements at the time. I think that he'd do well at McLaren, even with Alonso as a team-mate.

I disagree with Blake's statement about Fisichella. I don't rate him at all. He can be very quick, but the window that allows him to be quick is far too narrow. At all other times he's just slow. He's mentally very fragile also, which is why he'll never win a World Championship. As far as I'm concerned he's a waste of a GP seat.

I'd rather see a Raikkonen/Kovalainen Renault next year, with Big Flav bound and gagged in the motorhome.

 

[Diego440]

My thoughts exactly. Fisi may be good, but he's not as good as Alonso or Kimi. And the placement of either driver beside him won't make him look bad. He's just not as good.

Two years ago Button was an okay driver. He even made a Brit or two hopeful about winning a race. And with Sato as teammate, he didn't look necessarily better. Now he has Barrichello as teammate and although Rubens is better (IMO), Button doesn't look much worse than last year.

 

[Blake]

My thoughts exactly. Fisi may be good, but he's not as good as Alonso or Kimi.

And you think Hamilton will be as good as Alonso in his first season?

 

[Lee]

And you think Hamilton will be as good as Alonso in his first season?

Of course he wouldn't but of everyone currentally not in F1, who would? I think it would be great for him to jump into a top end car, get some experience running at the front and then in 2008 start contesting for frequent wins.

With Alonso as his team mate I can only see it as futhering his determination to prove why he has the seat.

 

[DQuaN]

If Hamilton does get a good drive, and the following year starts getting wins.....

Button will be pissed!

 

[GilesGuthrie]

If Hamilton does get a good drive, and the following year starts getting wins.....

Button will be pissed!

It's interesting to see how everyone thinks that Jenson could win at any minute.

What has become apparent is that B.A.R. completely lucked into the performance of their 2004 car, and still don't really understand why it was so fast. The '06 car plainly has front aero separation issues - which is why they keep complaining that more front wing reduces downforce (a fact that the idiotic commentator James Allen is determined not to bring to the viewer's attention) - and they're nowhere in trying to fix it. There's some suggestion that McLaren were similarly affected, but they're now on their 8th race-ready front wing, and are now coming back to the front. Honda are still essentially a mid-grid team, quite some way off even McLaren in terms of pace and organisation, let alone being in a position to threaten Ferrari and Renault.

Saturday's qualifying farce just goes to show it: did anyone note that McLaren got both cars to do two runs in both of the first two qualifying sessions? Simply because they're better organised and more professional than Honda.

I hate to say it, because I wonder about his absolute talent for generating results, but someone ought to point out to Nick Fry that Mike Gascoyne hasn't got much on his plate at the minute.

Still, this is all rather off the topic of Lewis Hamilton. Bad Giles.

 

[Roo]

Yeah, keep it on topic, or I'll have to report you.




Seriously, I reckon a Mclaren race seat might do him good. Alongside Alonso, he'll learn a lot, and if his GP2 showings translate into the F1 circus, he won't disgrace himself. Hopefully Mclaren will stick with him too, unlike what they did with Heidfeild/Raikkonen about 5 years ago; Nick never really got the car to show his talents - last year's Williams drive was his best car in 6 years.

 

[Blake]

I hate to say it, because I wonder about his absolute talent for generating results, but someone ought to point out to Nick Fry that Mike Gascoyne hasn't got much on his plate at the minute.

That’s a good point.

 

[qwazy|06]

That’s the thing. There are no real entry-level teams these days.

Super Aguri are pretty much exclusively Japanese, and I don’t see that changing in the short term. MF1 has two good drivers, and the team seem pretty happy. Red Bull is all but closed off to anyone who isn’t already sponsored by Red Bull. Toyota probably wouldn’t give a rookie a run, these days. Williams is probably the closest thing to an entry-level team. That makes me sad.

That said, it really doesn’t leave Hamilton anywhere to go, other than McLaren.

I think GP2 is becoming the "entry-level team" these days. I like the fact that there're no teams to nurture your driver for you anymore. If you like a driver, have him put in the races under your banner. YOU groom him by either racing him or testing him. If not, keep him in GP2.

 

[Blake]

I disagree with Blake's statement about Fisichella. I don't rate him at all. He can be very quick, but the window that allows him to be quick is far too narrow. At all other times he's just slow. He's mentally very fragile also, which is why he'll never win a World Championship. As far as I'm concerned he's a waste of a GP seat.

Out of interest, what did you think of Fisichella prior to 2005?

 

[Kylehnat]

Actually, Hamilton's entry into McLaren seems more plausible now that Montoya will be out of McLaren for 2007 and Kimi is probably (yet to be confirmed) going to Ferrari. More news about it, here

I thought McLaren said that they were definetely not going to have two new drivers next year .

Of course in F1, who can be taken for their word?

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Out of interest, what did you think of Fisichella prior to 2005?

That he was a good qualifier. I'm thinking back now, and I can't actually remember even noticing him racing, although he would have been at each of the 7 GPs I've been to. I really can't think of anything significant that Fisi has done in his career. His two race wins with Renault are small beer compared to what he should have done, and his Interlagos win in the Jordan was utterly undeserved. I thought that it was a travesty that he was "awarded" that race.

I thought McLaren said that they were definetely not going to have two new drivers next year .

Of course in F1, who can be taken for their word?

I don't recall having heard or read McLaren saying that. Other than Alonso being announced officially, I don't think that McLaren have said anything other than "we know what we're doing, and we'll tell you when we're ready". The wording always suggested to me that it was more a matter of "we know what we're going to do, and we'll tell you when it's done", rather than "it's all sorted, we just don't want to say anything yet".

There are strong rumours that McLaren have let their Montoya option lapse, and that Montoya & his people are not pursuing an extension. Since there's nobody out of contract worth having, it would suggest that they're likely to either promote one of their test drivers or put Hamilton in. I can't see them doing the former. Therefore - to me at least - it looks likely that they're going to place Hamilton in the car for 2007.

 

[Blake]

Speaking of 2007 seats (I’ll make a thread in a few weeks), Fisichella has stated that Alonso’s replacement will be a Finnish driver. That strongly suggests that Heikki will be racing at Renault. However, there is also the possibility that Räikkönen has signed with Ferrari, and that Ferrari will be leasing him out to Renault until Michael retires.

The latter would be very interesting, in my opinion.

 

[Kylehnat]

I don't recall having heard or read McLaren saying that.

It was mentioned on SPEED during one of the races. I don't know where they heard it (probably a drunk Kimi Raikkonen).

That strongly suggests that Heikki will be racing at Renault.

I think so. Heikki has been in the Renault program forever, he's good (he won that race of champions thing against the likes of Schumacher, Loeb, and Gordon), and he's a heck of a lot cheaper than Kimi Raikkonen.