Shortly before second practice began this afternoon, Jason Swales, the producer of BBC Radio 5 Live’s F1 programme, received a message from Mark Webber. He urgently wanted to be interviewed. F1 being the secretive business it is, and F1 drivers usually preferring to speak only when spoken to, this was unexpected.
Not even Webber, the most quotable and approachable of drivers, had been known to push himself forward in this manner.
When pit lane reporter Holly Samos got to Webber just before he climbed aboard his Red Bull, the Australian came straight to the point. He wanted to deny a quote attributed to him in a British newspaper this morning which read: “‘He’ll kill someone – Lewis Hamilton’s style is too dangerous’, says Mark Webber.”
Reading the actual quote, Webber had been critical of Hamilton’s driving. But he had been expressing concern about cars touching during a first lap scramble. He was referring to the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in 2000 when a flying wheel from a Jordan killed a marshal (who had actually been standing in the wrong place in order to get a closer view of the action).
At no point had Webber used the word ‘kill’ or come close to the interpretation chosen by the British tabloid. Webber had introduced the Monza incident to the conversation but he was angry that his words had been taken out of context.
Either way, it was an unfortunate reflection of Hamilton’s eventful start to last Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix. Hamilton didn’t actually make contact with another car, although several left the road briefly as a result of his aggressive move. But the incident was enough to provide ammunition for Hamilton’s detractors, several F1 drivers among them.
That should be no surprise, of course. Racing drivers are deeply competitive and, whether they admit it or not, resent a young driver coming in and rapidly becoming a superstar on their patch.
When Hamilton was nominated for the Thursday FIA press conference, along with Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and Robert Kubica, he knew he was in for a difficult time. And so it turned out.
While there was no direct criticism, Hamilton was definitely the odd-man out as the other three, usually led by Alonso, engaged in winks and nudges and muttered conversations when Hamilton was speaking.
At one point, when asked a pointed question from the floor about who he would like to see win the championship, Alonso said his good friend Kubica, and then Massa. It was part of a game, and Jenson Button summed it up best.
‘Alonso was only saying that because he wants a reaction,’ said Button. ‘He’s not in the championship, so he just wants a bit of action. Quite comical, really.’
That’s probably true. It’s a pity the same could not be said about the emotive interpretation put on Webber’s words.
The quote was reported in this way in the Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror. The Mail added that “Paolo Ghislimberti’s death at Monza in 2000 was the last fatality in motor racing’s top echelon,” which overlooks the tragic death of Graham Beveridge at Melbourne in 2001.
Perhaps not as overblown as The Daily Star’s “Lewis in Nazi death threat terror” headline back in February, but still somewhat misleading and sensationalist.
This is why I hate the Daily Mail.
dont be a wordist. stop messing about and get the point
It’d be nice to watch Webber ram his fist into LORD Hamilton’s mush though. Be the highlight of the weekend.
sorry but when I read the headline I thought it was the McCain/Pailin versus Obama ‘kill-em’ what is wrong with these clowns. Hamilton has done NOTHING that Massa, Alonso, Kimmy etc have not done 100 times and worse leave the guy alone to get on with the driving, he is the first REAL driver in 10 years
jenson’s that right, he ought to win. Since when will Hamilton kill someone? How insane is that? He’s a puff
Has everyone forgotten how dangerous Sato is???
Webber is not someone who goes around badmouthing people.
Hamilton is doing a great job, and the others are just jealous!
gossip
what a crap
I’m waiting.
Hamilton WILL ruin hes title race this year too cuse he bursn hes chip and does some ridicilous kamikaze overtakeattempt again.
If i would be Massa, i would get good life insurance, if it would be possible! Companys seen Hamilton driving, nowadays no1 offers insurance for F1 driver, Thank you Hamilton!
I’d say that Hamilton is equally dangerous as Shumi on hes mad days!
http://www.formula1.com/n ews/headlines/2008/10/854 6.html
-this would be really lame. anybody else concerned?
Whilst I do think Hamilton is very aggressive with his driving style, I do think that he’s ultimately the better driver for it. His driving style is taken from that of go-karting – every competitive driver in karting drives like Lewis does. The difference is that when those drivers find they’re in go-karts that are 10 times bigger and have 800-odd horsepower V8 engines rather than 12hp two-strokes, they become much more tentative and nervous in their driving. Hamilton doesn’t. Put simply, he’s the only driver with the balls to use the car’s maximum potential. Unsafe? perhaps. But not all the time. He is marginally faster than the two ferraris, but the more he pushes it to the limit the more mistakes he’s prone to make. And boy does he make them.
My point is this – assuming the other drivers are a lot more tentative, it’s only natural that they’d lash out at him. Everyone else is scared of their cars and don’t trust the competitors around them, so to them Hamilton is a real balls-out agro freak with no apparent fear of death. Which is probably a fair statement, given what we’ve seen from him this year.
Personally i think the next driver to claim he’s going to hurt somebody should be poo-pooed by Health and Safety and be made to go everywhere in a high visibility jacket and a bright orange helmet with luminous yellow stripes. You’re in the wrong sport if you panic about danger.
Regarding comment #10:
No. In fact, i’d be all for it. Ferrari have always had the biggest money pits and as a result have always had the best engines every year, making the sport far less competitive. With a universal engine, championship wins would boil down to who has the best team management, best strategies, and best driving skill.
I think it’s also because contrary to popular belief, the FIA isn’t stupid. They know that the teams do share information from behind the scenes. This is why Ferrari sued McLaren at a convenient time (i.e. just as they were losing the championships), which prompted McLaren to sue Renault soon after. That case was laughed out of court as McLaren were seen to have sour grapes, but the FIA must realise that sharing information is almost ‘normal’ in the sport. It’s not allowed, but it happens. So with that in mind, this would actually be an ingenius solution to the problem.
can’t alonso have his own opinion?
When he says he wants massa to win, i know a lot of brits themselves would like massa to win because of lewis’ arrogance. If you were to pick freinds in the paddock and say you hate hamilton but like massa, wouldn’t you want to support massa.
As long as he doesn’t interfere with the championship i.e. collision with Hamilton, then that’s alright.
sato was mega dangerous, he would stick his nose up the inside like in Japan 2005 against trulli and mess their car and race up so bad you’d wanna smack him. He matured in Super Aguri and Toro Rosso offered him a test drive.
Coulthard’s dangerous cos he’s always crashing
These forums have always been a guilty pleasure for me, however whilst I realise that Hamilton does polarise opinion I am recently increasingly vexed by the bigoted and essentially hypocritical comments that have been appearing.
, why is it that in Britain we detest the self belief and necessary arrogance (both of which Hamilton posseses) that goes with it which unfortunately are the qualities that make a champion at the highest level of any sport. Was Senna or Prost never egotistical or arrogant? Or Schumacher? This is a British driver who is still learning his craft and is doing exceptionally well, regardless of how you feel about him, you cannot deny that. Give him a break and let the proof be in the racing.
In point, many people within this article state that they would like to see Jenson make world champion. Whilst this is an admirable goal, objectively this is naive. Why won’t Jenson ever make it as a World Champion? For exactly the same reason that Hamilton divides opinion, namely aggression and self belief. Now before all the Jenson supporters rail against me, please bear in mind that this is an objective view and if you feel that my opinion is unfounded look directly at how many times Jenson has been outdriven by his own team mate by an extremely noticeable margin.
Point 2, all the ‘Schumacher was the greatest ever’ comment makers who go on and on and on about Hamilton’s dangerous driving, please do some research and go back a couple of years when Schumacher was EXCLUDED from an entire season for dirty tricks. Also, don’t forget about the numerous times that Schumi tried to win the championship by default by ramming his rival off the road (Hill/Villeneuve).
Point 3. I am trying to be objective here and I have no axe to grind with Massa but all the people that go on and on and on about Massa’s superior talent and how he is the far better driver, please refer back to any wet race and see how poor Massa is in those conditions. This does not make for an all time great driver if they cannot handle the car in the wet. Massa is undoubtedly a great driver but his confidence can be easily dented and he is not yet an allround talent. That said, on a good day he is extremely quick
Point 4. To those who deny that there is something amiss with the FIA stewards and their dealing with Ferrari, I would like to point out the following regarding the incident with Bourdais last weekend. Controversial? Arguably the most inexplicable decision of any given by the stewards this season. With Bourdais tucked into his side of the track, the general expectation was that, if any penalty was to be applied, it would be against Massa. To add to the sense of injustice, it has since emerged that the stewards’ judgement was issued in direct contradiction of the advice given to drivers beforehand by Race Director Whiting that ‘the car exiting the pits has right of way’. It is undeniable that this lends itself to conspiracy theories given that Ferrari are marginally behind.
Another point is that when Mclaren appealed the decision to revoke Hamiltons win, they were cross examined by a FERRARI lawayer!! WTF? This was a direct appeal to the sports governing body and they were examined by a legal representative of their main competitor?? Conflict of interest anyone?
Finally, to those of you who are still awake
HSH
Look, the whole point of f1 is about RACING. (Yes I know its hard to tell sometimes) Lewis is a real racer and now he is being slated for it. Does everyone really want to back to watching a gp very other week where noone goes for it?
If they do then I suggest they watch a nice sedate parade! Otherwise everybody should lay off lewis and sit back and enjoy some real ‘balls out’ racing.
HighsideHero – While I don’t agree with one of your points, I’d like to thank you for the best bit of reading on this page.
I’m a longtime fan of Clio Cup and Formula Renault, and nobody would have batted an eyelid at the things which Lewis has been most heavily penalised for. Same goes for Bourdais – the driver of Massa’s vehicle would have almost certainly have been deducted points.
Formula 1 is simultaneously hugely enjoyable and hugely frustrating. Why these things can’t be dealt with a little common sense is beyond me.
Again, cheers for such an objective post, HighsideHero. Wish more commenters would be so thoughtful.
The FIA seriously need to revise their rule books. For the past 50 years or so drivers have always pushed their rivals off the track to stop them from overtaking. I think this is just a ploy to downgrade his reputation.
I can’t wait for Lewis to drive as he usually does when it really matters (at the end of the championship) and take out Massa in the next 2 races. Then Kubica will be the 2008 F1 Champion!!! The only truly deserving (error free) driver of this year.
couldn’t agree more
I’m not being funny though but were do work at renault?!
aaah -its good to see the kids bickering and jealous – makes for more sport if they are that competitive and childish….the drivers I mean. Alonso is a great driver but cant handle being overshadowed by a newcomer who is clearly learning the ropes still – or he would already be champion twice over.
I admire Hamilton for his obvious and prodigious talent, however (and those of you that know him personally feel free to correct me) I find myself filled with an uncontrollable loathing for the dour baboon that calls himself Ron Dennis. I’m sorry, its betond my meager control, and its this and my love of Ferrari, that renders me incapable of objectivity in this matter.
These forums always make interesting reading. Although I find the opinions that some people form quite confusing (although they are obviously and quite rightly entitled to them). I don’t see how Alonso can be viewed in such a negative way, I think he and Hamilton are very similar and that is most likely why they really didn’t get on. Yes he acted very imaturely at Mclaren last year but don’t you think that Hamilton would have acted similarly if he had been the experienced champion and had been outdriven by a rookie! From the evidence of Hamilton’s personality that i have seen I really don’t think he would have taken it well!!!
Hamilton is not good ig big schu would’ve still been racing he would’ve whoop his ass. Hamilton is good because of the carwhich is developed by Alonso, ok half of it but it is.
lol, good old Jenson, he knows exactly what Alonso is about.
good old Alonso is a buttered up little spanish upstart who cant stand the fact the superior driving of hamilton will overshadow him this season……get over it alonso
Schumacher would’ve smashed these lot this year and in ‘07. He was one man who knew how to drive. Although the standard of drivers has gone down, (overall, alonso, vettel, hamilton and kubica are good, massa and raikkonen ok)the quality of racing is entertaining and can you argue with that? Keep these fiery personalities as the drivers bring these onto the track and where hamilton will be hot headed andgo for every half chance, raikkonen is cool (unless he’s on a boat drunk) and waits for his chance sometimes even until the stops. Kubica is quiet and sneaks in consistent podiums and good results, most notably for me Valencia. It is great racing and alot better than previous years.
Obviously, we haven’t had Hakkinen passes at Belgium or Hill vs Schumacher, but we have had some great races (Belgium in particular) and hopefully, if the season so far is anything to go by, the last 2 races will hopefully be as entertaining as ever before.
It’s still lovely to read so much pro-Hamilton support…
#10 (and #12 i suppose)
yes, i am concerned. the engine deveolpment freeze was all we needed and now they’re thinking about this.
i’m sorry but this really is going to turn into 20 identical cars moving around a track. no overtaking. nothing interesting.
what’s the point?
#10, 12, 29
yes, i’m concerned. i do not want to see f1 become a spec race. bmw, honda and toyota have rightly stated they don’t want to be in f1 if they are not building their own motors. i do think there would be more overtaking, however. it’s unfortunate that to determine the best driver, the car must be removed from the equation.
rik said…
good old Alonso is a buttered up little spanish upstart who cant stand the fact the superior driving of hamilton will overshadow him this season……get over it alonso
wow, and people say I have a drug problem. your “buttered up little spanish upstart” is a 2-time world champion, and finished 2nd last year to hamilton’s 3rd. he also happened to spend most of 2008 in a shitty car. i don’t mean to take your buttery spaniards away from you…
#30
Hamilton finished 2nd last year. Alonso 3rd
It’s ridiculous. Simply and plainly ridiculous
If only Alonso’d had a decent car all year. In the last two races he’sshown his class. True greats win races in cars that aren’t the best on the grid and Alonso has shown his passion and enthusiasm in the last two races. I hope Kubica wins the titl;e, he’s been incredibly consistent and a decent driver all season
webber badmouthing others? not likly I met him and he is a extremely nice guy
#31
like i said, drugs
Unpleased at WEBBER. I want webbe to crash
All this hype and sensationalist tabloid stuff can’t hide the fact that all four drivers for the top two teams have displayed very sporadic and ultimately dispointing performances this year,proving beyond doubt that it is all about the cars, thus helping to highlight the superlative efforts of drivers in lesser cars: Vettel,Kubica,Alonso,Gloc k etc. I don’t want Massa to win the championship and I want Hamilton to win it even less but one or the other will – I will just forget 2008 and look forward to 2009!
#36
Did you actually read what was said or are you just going by what a red-top has said?
He has said that hamiltons driving is dangerous, which echoes the sentiments of many of the drivers on the grid, do you wish for them all to crash too?
I can get not liking a driver, i personally am not a fan of Hamilton. Do i want him to crash? Not a chance.
There all JEALOUS!!!
CALLING HIMSELF LIKE SENNA AND ALL THAT CRAP HE IS ONLY DOING HIS SECOND SEASON AND BEYOND THAT WHAT U PEOPLE SAY HE IS A GOOD DRIVER AND CAN PUSH A CAR 2 ITS LIMIT BUT WITH NO RESPECT FOR THE SPORT AND OTHER DRIVERS HE IS GOING NOWHERE NO MATTER IF HE WINS THE CAMPIONSHIP.UNLESS HE CHANGES HIS BIG ATTITUDE NO ONE IS GOING REALLY APPRECIATE HIS DRIVING NO MATTER WHAT.
AND HE HAS GOT THE BEST CAR THAT THERE IS IN HIS FIRST SEASON ITSELF AND GOING 2 WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP WITH SUCH ATTITUDE OTHER DRIVERS R MORE THAN DISAPPOINTED.NIETHER DOES MASSA DESERVE A CHAMPIONSHIP.
This has always been the case as drivers like Webber have always been fair to middling at best with regard to driver quality. Others who are looked at as ‘dangerous’ are the ones usually going for the Championship, not a driver who spends his day at the ‘office’.
Comparing Lewis’ average of 5.8 points/race to Webber’s woeful .82 points/race, speaks volumes. You pillocks out there fail to see that Lewis has been in contention for the WDC for the second of his 2 short years in F1. Let’s see Webber do that; let’s see Piquet Jr. do that. The fact remains is that Lewis will keep it together, dial it back a bit and win China. We will all live when he does, the world will continue to rotate on its axis. Gordon Brown will still be PM.
Appreciate the story of Lewis, his beginnings, his path despite all the ‘Haters’ out there. Schumacher is looked on as an all-time great, and he was far more egregious on the track (Remember his car park during ‘06 Monaco qualifying?) On-track aggression is one thing, unsportsmanlike driving is another. Get it str8.
BTW- Massa may be a cool guy (as a person) I like him in that regard. But he is a Ferrari ‘yes man’ that stays on message, despite obvious conditions within the team.
I will also say the Alonso is definitely an all-time great, no question. One of the best ever at setting up a car, he certainly helped advance the McLaren program; even this season. BUT HE IS A BIG BABY. He got ’shook’ by Lewis (one day also an all-time great) instead of doing what he knows how to do and win.
…and Ayrton Senna da Silva is STILL AND FOREVER WILL BE THE GREATEST DRIVER EVER.
AND sucky a** Webber has never finished No.1 in and race class ever. Career also ran…
http://www.formula1.com/t eams_and_drivers/drivers/ 21/
I am starting to wonder if I am actually watching the same sport as most of the people commenting here. Can anyone explain to me why all the Hamilton hate? He is a supreme talent (easily the best talent we’ve seen since Schumi), a nice enough guy and he stays fairley level headed despite all the dubious FIA decisions against him. As for Massa, yes he can drive fast, but I have never actually been convinced by his racing (unless he’s in front it’s unlikely he’ll do well) and (having met him personally this year) I find him to be one of the most unlikeable, hotheaded and whining driver in F1. Could it be that the current ‘old guys’ in F1 are somewhat shocked by the fact that a rookie driver has been in contention for the championship for the second time in a row?
I am also somewhat surprised that F1 fans can consider aggressive driving a bad trait and at the same time consider races like Dijon 1979 (Arnoux-Villeneuve) as some of the greatest ever. There are a lot of double standards here.
I am not a particular fan of any of the current drivers, but I used to be a huge fan of the sport and I am baffled by the current fanboyism and FIA favoratism…
i think hamiliton has brought more competitiveness to the sport overall. the number of people that are after his arse(both on an off the track)is amazing!! Case in point massa(previously thought of as lacking fight in him)nudging hamiltons car at fuji when for all intents and purposes, he’d been passed. obviously it was poor sportsmanship. but it also showed massa’s hunger and that is what i am looking for in a race driver-the ability to push the envelope of what is acceptable, at the risk of a penalty if necessary (i mean he drives a ferrari he might even have gottem away with it:-)…one way or the other, which ever way WDC goes hamilton has made my season..
I think Alonso needs to get over himself. So he got beaten by the new boy, he goes and throws a tanrum like a three year old. What a baby.
I personally think Hamilton has the most natural talent on the grid – this is only his second year and look at him! I think he can be a bit arrogant though.
And to all those people that say Massa is the most talented – I seem to remember him spinning at least 3 times in one race this year.
And I agree with HighsideHero – there’s gotta be some sort of corruption involving Ferrari and the FIA, especially with the Bourdais incident, and the controversy over Hamilton’s revoked win. He did let Raikkonen through after, so I don’t think he deserved to be penalised.
Hamilton rules. lewis is agood driver but sometimes he over does it. and when it looks like he as it. he just runs out of ‘gas’.. good luck man.
Thank the Lord for Lewis Hamilton; F1 is interesting. Alonso is a wanker; what other word is there for him? “Tosser?” Webber is cool; why didn’t he try to snaffle that BMW seat?
Hamilton is also the only driver who is interesting to watch at a press conference. Maybe Alonso was being so snide because deep inside he knows he’s met his match in driving, charisma, looks, and definitely intelligence. Hamilton is confident, and even tho he makes me cringe sometimes, I reckon life is better because he’s racing on the telly every other week. Don’t you all remember the boringness of Schumacher? He’s still making me yawn every time the camera cuts to him looking up into that screen in the pits.
Hamilton should paint his car red then there would be no problem with the FIA.
I aint being funny but spamilton is the best because of the seat beneath him. Put another driver in that car and see them perform, and as for yes men Kovalainen is defo one of them. Thats all maclaren wanted for that second seat was a yes man and thats why alonso was forced out cause he wouldnt back down to spamilton.
I fear that spamilton has taken this championship now and it sickens me to think of his mug all over the screen for the next year, over inflating his head more than it already is.
If he had had to start his F1 career like most others in a mediocre car he would be a no-one. But he was carried by maclaren all the way through and this is the only reason he is where he is. So as for all you massa haters at least he wasnt carried like a baby all the way through his career, he earned the seat he is in, the proper way.
So even though that muppet, uncle ron and his puppet father are a lot closer to their first championship, its only because of the ferrari team and nothing to do with massa natural ability as a F1 driver. I will be praying every night for the next two weeks for Spamilton to crash out in brazil and the real deserved winner of 2008, Massa to win in his home ground.
GO MASSA!!!!!
Yes.. massa will win absolutely no doubt .
and surely with FIA interfere indeed.
It’s a sad reflection on Formula One when, with two races to an undecided championship, the only headlines are invented.
Lewis Hamilton sliding the car, on what looks like the limit of control, is one of the few reasons left to watch. the so-called races. It’s his style, and the car will be set up to cope with it. Lewis is the best of an average bunch and can only be measured against the people competing against him. Though he’s not really proven himself yet (Good in the rain is not the same as being stuck with one gear and finishing second. At the moment he’s Jean Alesi but wheel to wheel with Boemi at 200mph for the title, we’ll see) he is a racer and has the makings of a multiple world champion.
Yet the championship desperately needs more characters like Alonso, if only Lewis and others would answer him back it would add a bit of spice to a bland, formulaic two hour tyre commercial where it is seen fit to criticize the current point leader’s exciting method of driving.
Bring on Vettel and Bruno!
Lewis Hamilton IS great!!! All you who can’t stand his success are petulant and arrogant beyond belief. Check the facts you clowns! He is better at this stage of his career than anyone in the history of the sport! Maybe some of you dimwits and the rest of those jealous drivers on the grid who have been shown the way by the ‘newcomer’ would like some cheese with your whine! LOL…”Spit in the sky, it will fall in your eye.”
Lewis is a young kid, of course he is going to be agresive he wants to make a name for himself. Some of the older drivers just need to stop holding on to it. Mark Webber didnt badmouth lewis it was just the press blowing things out of proportion again like so many other times total crap.
if you look at last year, then you’d see hamilton and alonso overall are as good as each other, no denying it. but, because of his attitude, alonso moved back to a team that isn’t as good and has suffered for it. mclaren have never quite been up to the same standard as ferrari ever since the Hakkinen era, so it is a testament to Hamilton’s skill that he is able to regularly beat them. sure, Hamilton is very aggressive, but he isn’t stupid. yes, he’s made mistakes, but that is to be expected of a youngster with such talent. look at Schumacher. he never grew up in that sense. i’d much rather see a race full of aggressive overtaking and near-misses than a race where everyone holds back and waits for the pits.
and he’s british. we should all be supporting him, regardless of what wwe think of him. no-one ever thought henman would win wimbledon, but every year we got behind him
Instead of arguing if he drives well, why dont we just kill him?
INGRF1 you are an ass. why comment like that. Lewis is a superb driver he has raw talent. just what the f1 series needs nowadays. now you go home and live in your sad dream world. Bet you cant even drive lol