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After watching 3 hours of the Lewis Hamilton Show on ITV I'm convinced that had he been shipped out by McLaren to one of the lesser teams to learn his craft properly ("with the monkeys at the back") they would have had 2 consecutive world titles.

Had they looked after Alonso as they should have last year he would have won them the title. With the car they have this year he would have retained the crown. Alonso is immense when he's managed correctly, McLaren didn't do that and now they're paying the price.

At moment their lead driver, Hamilton, is rather like an untrained puppy. He's full of energy, gets lots of attention and is capable of some amazing tricks. However, when you really need him to behave like a good doggy he craps in the middle of the carpet.

Don't give me that nonsense about Hamilton being quicker than Alonso, Alonso just wasn't motivated when he was at McLaren. Poor man management.

You make some good points.

The long and the short of it is that Hamilton needs to mature to become a truly great driver.

Should he have been farmed out to a back marker team?  Probably, but that missed the point of what Ron Dennis was trying to do.

Look at it this way....

Lewis Hamilton is F1's version of a pop idol winner, an engineered boy band with Ron Dennis being Simon Cowel.  To relegate Lewis to a back row team misses the publicity and the pizazz of the concept, much like the Spice Girls playing gigs in a dingy pub in Walthamstow when they started out.

Like it or loath it, it has certainly bought attention to the sport, especially in the UK, where it was starting to flag.  Also what other country in the world would be able to create such a "Star" with so much press coverage.  Can you imagine Ron Dennis trying to do this with a Brazilian driver?

As for Alonso's management, unfortunately I think that was a case of the wrong person in the wrong team.  One of them things unfortunately. 

Very well said andymartin. I agree with everything you say.

Wierd, I was having exactly that conversation with my father last night. I would like to see Mclaren win but drivers wise the most deserving of the top 3 is Kubica for me.

It looks like the untrained puppy has done rather better than the rest of the pack!

Rather than Lewis winning the crown, I think Massa (or rather, Ferrari), lost it....

Anyway, congrats to Lewis - he seems to be a good kid at heart, just needs proper guidance to mature properly like Michael Schumacher - in my view the ultimate ambassador to the sport.

To all the writers above, your utter condascension beggars belief. Do you really think Lewis, a deserving champion cares a toss what you think???

The truth is you're all talking utter rubbish. Why should Alonso have got preferential treatment when a teammate is giving him the run for his life???

 By the same token you would say Massa should have played second fiddle to Kimi just because he was world champion last year. Again, complete ***.

 Have you people actually really READ your own comments and how you contradict each other??

To andymartin75, I quote you 'Had they looked after Alonso as they should have last year he would have won them the title'. Do you realise what you've just said??? What you're actually saying is this: Dennis to Lewis: Hammie old chap, since you're still a kid in diapers, please don't drive too well cos we have to lick Alonso's ass.

Amen.

 

I'm with manicm on this.  The condecension beggars belief.  I don't presume to know the guy, all I care about is that he gets regular podiums, he's bloody exciting to watch and he won the championship and could do it again.

andymartin75:

At moment their lead driver, Hamilton, is rather like an untrained puppy. He's full of energy, gets lots of attention and is capable of some amazing tricks. However, when you really need him to behave like a good doggy he craps in the middle of the carpet.

 

 

For once I agree with Autocar's Alan Henry:  "The cool and poise which Hamilton brought to bear on Sunday’s memorable result reflected the broad range of talent displayed by this remarkable young man. He had completed only 35 Grand Prixs by the time he took the chequered flag at Interlagos."  I mean, Christ he lost the last Championship by one point and won this year's Championship.  Plus he's barely out of his teens, exciting to watch and English.

Greg1:

to mature properly like Michael Schumacher - in my view the ultimate ambassador to the sport.

ah yes, a great example........................was this not the driver who deliberately forced another off the track so that he could not win the title after he himself was not in a position to win ? ........................"broke down" in the most convenient place to cause maximum disruption to his opponents etc etc........I have never been able to see what a great "sportsman" he is: talented driver, yes; ultimate ambassador, most definitely not.

pigpog:

It looks like the untrained puppy has done rather better than the rest of the pack!

I quite agree. Of course he's immature, he's only 24. He was (most probably) cheated out of last year's championship because he caused too much of an upset to the establishment, but by any measure he is a very talented driver and with more experience will have an illustious career ahead of him. I expect that he will win other F1 championships but he is only one among a new generation of young, talented drivers and that can only be good for F1, provided the FIA can sort out the stewarding and hold back from interfering too much in favour of certain teams. I am sad to see so many comments on this forum that have started to knock Hamilton now that he has won his championship. Typically British attitude, unfortunately.

Schumacher was the reason I stopped watching F1... arrogant, dull to watch and with his Terminator-like zeal for the top step of the podium justifying pretty much any indiscretion (with the FIA guarding the sport's good name with all the fury you'd expect from a two-week old Labrador puppy when he did his worst). This was the first season I've really enjoyed since he departed - after last year's Spygate ballcocks, and I have to say that the last lap in Brazil was the best bit of F1 I can remember since Mansell won at Silverstone.