Does Lewis Hamilton have any friends on F1 grid ?
Posted on October 14, 2008 by F1Wolf
As expected there have been voices slamming the Fuji race stewards for their decisions on the three racing incidents. But while many fans felt that Lewis Hamilton should not have been penalized for his first corner actions I have difficulty finding a single driver (of course with an expemtion of the ever loyal Heikki Kovalainen) coming out in Hamilton’s defence. This is the situation not too different from what happened few weeks back after Belgian GP. Hamilton was stripped off his win but there were barely any drivers coming out in his support. If a driver is indeed unfairly treated I would expect the others to rally behind him, at least some of them.
The number of drivers which do have a problem with Hamilton however keeps rising and he seems to be perfecting his art of adding more on the list after every race. Webber, Glock and Kubica have been very vocal in their criticism of Hamilton’s aggressive driving. Hamilton however does not care what others think. Alonso does not like him probably since he first met him in McLaren 
and is even ready to help Massa to win the title. Hamilton’s driving in Japan and ignoring of blue flags (and holding Jarno Trulli back for 2 laps) is to be a topic of drivers’ meeting in Shanghai this weekend. And now he alleges Felipe Massa, a driver with whom he seemed to have quite friendly relationship, of deliberatelly hitting him on that lap 2 in Japan …
What is it about Lewis Hamilton ? Does he have some special gift to alienate people ?
Discussion: 14 Comments
14 Responses to “Does Lewis Hamilton have any friends on F1 grid ?”
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Sergio
- 14th Oct, 08 02:10pm
Haha! What about Nico Rosberg? Is he still Hamilton’s friend? We could count two drivers
Sergios last blog post..6pm estrenan web con un nuevo tema y anuncian novedades
F1Wolf
(author comment)
- 14th Oct, 08 02:10pm
Nico Rosberg should be still safe … when they raced close to each other this year they always both ended up on the podium
Keith Collantine
- 14th Oct, 08 04:10pm
Most of the comments I read from the other drivers after Belgium were along the lines of “he did cut the chicane but the penalty was too harsh”. Apart from the three Ferrari drivers (Massa and Raikkonen plus Alonso…)
But apparently there’s been a backlash against some of his other driving moves – Glock was unhappy after Monza, Trulli was unhappy after Fuji. (Incidentally, I’d be amazed if Hamilton really went past that many blue flags and didn’t get a penalty, given that the pit wall is notified whenever a driver passes a blue flag without yielding. More likely the speed difference between the two – Hamilton not being your usual backmarker – was such that Trulli didn’t catch him quickly enough to get the requisite number of blue flags in succession).
What I do think is interesting is Robert Kubica. He and Hamilton did a lot of racing together in karts and F3 but Kubica had some sharp words about Hamilton’s driving before Fuji. And he’s quite close to Alonso now apparently.
We get such a small amount of reliable information about how the drivers actually get on (consider Massa’s disingenuous words after Fuji about how he and Hamilton will get on despite their collision) that it’s hard to form an accurate impression of who are allies and who are enemies. Is Hamilton really a pariah among the drivers or is it just the media’s impression? I’d love to be a fly on the wall at the drivers’ briefing at Shanghai…
Keith Collantines last blog post..Will Honda drop Barrichello for 2009?
F1Wolf
(author comment)
- 14th Oct, 08 11:10pm
well, I think that all that talk from Massa, Hamilton and Kubica may be just the mind games and noting else, who knows … if the purpose of Kubica’s words ahead of Fuji race was to provoke Hamilton into some stupid action he definitely succeded
F1Wolfs last blog post..Aldo Costa gives more hints on 2009 Formula 1 cars
draconte
- 14th Oct, 08 09:10pm
Hamilton has done in the last races some overtaking very aggressives and this behavior is angered many drivers on the grid. Undoubtedly, the pilots that he will not go forward to make that easy, the next they do not elect the grass rather than crash with him and this will make things more difficult to win the championship.
Each one takes what you sow. And the touch with Massa has been only one of many others who might have been with other drivers who are not playing nothing in the championship. I think we should not have risked so much in this race, and should go with the calculator in his hand and not “making” friends wherever he goes.
I hope kubica will win the championship he is an ant surrounded by cicadas
F1Wolf
(author comment)
- 14th Oct, 08 11:10pm
“he is an ant surrounded by cicadas”
that is a good one 
the limit
- 15th Oct, 08 10:10am
I think alot of this ill feeling is because Hamilton landed such a good race seat so early in his career, in a team that has galvanised itself around him, whose team principal treats him like a son. Some of these other drivers, the likes of Webber, Fisichella, Truilli, Button, Coulthard, have been competing for years and yet never had the opportunity to succeed as Hamilton has now.
They may have driven great cars in their careers, but non of those drivers I have mentioned had the full support of their teams when they were in a position to win. Then there is Hamilton’s young age, poster boy good looks, press exposure, of all which has dented some serious egos in the paddock.
Michael Schumacher’s six year dominant spell coming to an end may have heralded a false dawn to some of these drivers, a chance to succeed whilst the master enjoys his retirement. They never bargained on this young kid coming along, with his father in tow, and fighting for the championship whilst they fought for eighth place. Coulthard openly suggested back in March 2007 that McLaren had made a mistake by signing Lewis so soon to a race drive as Montoya’s replacement. Coulthard stated that they should make Hamilton a test driver for a year or two, to gain experience. Just shows how much D.C knows doesn’t it!
As for Alonso, I will always believe he was shafted at McLaren, and by Ron Dennis especially. Ron must have offered up one hell of a big carrot to get Fernando to turn his back on Renault, so soon after his first championship. That carrot, despite money ofcourse, could only have been number one status within the team. I don’t believe Ron anticipated Lewis achieving so much success so soon, especially with Alonso in the sister car, and it was this that proved the downfall in the relationship.
Alonso’s friendship with Robert Kubica goes back years, to their days racing together in Italy, and is nothing new. For anybody who is leading a championship, fighting for a title, to have friends among his rivals is crass.
They all want to beat him, to achieve rather than watch him achieve. When the visors come down and the lights go out, there are no friends on any race track. Just enemies! Its the old Western mentality but with automobiles, ‘there is no second place in a gunfight, only first!’
Haas
- 15th Oct, 08 12:10pm
I think its ridiculous to consider that the other drivers are jealous of Lewis’ success and have resorted to verbal bashing. There is a possibility that Lewis’ decision to stay away from GPDA could be a catalyst, but then again Kimi and Massa also are not members.
I think its got to do partially with Lewis’ lack of interaction with other drivers. He has always been a loner when it came to socializing with other driver, how often do you read about them being at parties together? Lewis even skipped David Coulthard’s farewell party!
So now we have a situation where other drivers have no idea of the attitude of Lewis coz all they see of him is in driver briefings and race interviews, so when an incident happens they assume the guy is hot headed and capable of anything to get ahead.
I know all this is speculative, there is a huge possibility that Lewis indeed deserves all the criticism from his fellow racers. They know best a racing move is dangerous or not.
Haass last blog post..2008 Singapore Grand Prix – Alonso Shines Under The Lights…
F1Wolf
(author comment)
- 15th Oct, 08 01:10pm
… he allows Heikki to come to his house and play his drums
Patrickl
- 15th Oct, 08 04:10pm
Actually, at first there were several drivers who wondered why Hamilton got a penalty at Spa.It was only later when the stewards revised the rule of “after cutting a chicane you need to give your place back” to “after cutting a chicane you cannot attack at the next corner” that drivers started complaining that Lewis had gotten close to Raikkonen only because he cut the chicane.
The stupid thin is, these drivers were talking about the normal where getting so close to another car before La Source was impossible. In this instance, Hamilton was so much faster than Raikkonen that he could perfectly wel get so close to raikkonen.
ajax jones
- 3rd Nov, 08 03:11am
haha, that is because he is the WORLD CHAMPION and they are NOT, put it down to being jealous because they are not as good as he is.
Nicolas Kind
- 3rd Nov, 08 06:11am
I think probably the main reason Hamilton is SO dislikeable is that he’s an uncle Tom and a very smug and self satisfied one at that. This makes him so indifferent to others in really unpleasant way, I think this probably also makes him very unsporting at the same time. When you combine this with his appalling arrogance you have certainly the most dislikable F1 champion we have seen so far!