So Lewis Hamilton...leading the F1 world championship, Monaco tomorrow and he's never been beaten there (in previous formulas)...has it got what it takes to take the title this year?
I reckon, as a 'rookie' in F1, that Maclaren are more likely to ensure that thier other driver, current world champion Fernando Alonso, will have all the weight of the team behind him to take the crown, even if Hamilton is driving better.
Discuss.

I think he's got the skill and the car to be world champion, I'm just worried that the media start to apply too much pressure. Is it too much to ask that the press leave him alone in his rookie year?

It's a shame Jenson hasn't had the car under him so far. I'm sure he's talented enough to win the championship but he needs competitive wheels!

I'm surprised Kimi isn't doing so well yet this season, I expected him to be kicking Massa's arse big time.

lol, he always looks like he's sucking a lemon, never seen him smile.... is that the booze???

lewis hamilton will not be world champion this year, it is that simple. yes he has raw talent, and he will be champ probably next year, but there is no way alonsos ego will allow him to be the number one driver.
But we have to remember one thing and keep it in perpestive. Hamilton may have broken records, but he is not the first driver to come close to winning on his debut season in F1. A certain Jacques Villnerve in the williams took it down to the last race of the season against a certain Damon Hill. Also lets not forget that he is being raved about for finishing on the podium in his debut race...but Baghetti still remains the only driver to have won his first ever World Championship race (aside from Nino Farina, as the winner of the first ever World Championship Grand Prix in 1950, by default a first).
Let's keep his performance in check, wait till the end of the season before pouring fuel on the medias frenzy.

Well he's got pole position for tomorrows race in Canada so every chance to take the lead

.......And Hamilton wins
Well done to the boy
Now he leads the championship, and it's off to Indianapolis next week. I hope Robert Kubica is okay after breaking his leg in that horrendous accident.
What a fantastic race though, loads of action and incidents.
I went to watch the race with an old friend of mine, he's a techno head and has a huge high def tv etc so had great atmosphere.
I cant wait for next week.

Here is the grid for the US Grand Prix:

1. Hamilton
2. Alonso
3. Massa
4. Raikkonen
5. Heidfeld
6. Kovalainen
7. Vettel
8. Trulli
9. Webber
10. Fisichella
11. Coulthard
12. Schumacher
13. Button
14. Rosberg
15. Barrichello
16. Davidson
17. Wurz
18. Sato
19. Liuzzi
20. Speed
21. Sutil
22. Albers

Controversial thought here, but i reckon possibly a win for Heidfeld today......watch me proved horribly wrong later on when he gets black-flagged or sumthing lol
My 'pash' at work and I have a £1 bet each race, we bet on (her) Massa and (me) Fisichella.....and we know what happened to them!

Season going well for Lewis then - the debacle of the controversial tactics at Hungary recently, and shame about the puncture in Turkey, but lucky to get through the pitstop etc in one piece.

i still claim he will not be world champion this year.....alonso will get a strop on and do a prost....

if you didn't watch gp racing then it was a situation like this.
Prost led the world championship by 1 point to senna.
Senna had been faster all weekend, btw they were in the same team....McLaren.
So what does prost do?
Takes senna out in the first corner....it is blatant...he doesn't even attempt to brake....just rams him
Alonso will do the same.
Hamilton deserves to win, but he won't

I would also like to bring a point that the commentary pointed out at the end of the last race.
There is no soul in racing anymore.
Gone are the days when the driver would stop, pick up one of the flags, and do his victory lap with it in his hand....it has become essentialy boring.
In an aid to bring back a lot of what F1 used to be, they should do the following.

1. Ban refulleing.....F1 never used to be about refulling strategy and tyres, it used to be about racing...noe this doesn't happen anymore.

2. Ban traction control....and other race aids.

3. Scrap ANY form of team orders, although them to race to the bitter end.

4. Get rid of ANY track that is boring, alll tracks should be able to premote overtaking, rather than saftey. The drivers don't race because they want to feel safe, if they did they would have taken up "Crocquet" No they are adraline junkies, and we should encourage more challenging tracks...for the american gp, scrap indianapolis...it's a boring track...race at Laguna Seca....would love F1 cars to go down the corkscrew. Made Spa the circuit it once was, not the dull saftey driven thing it is now.

and lastly

5. Ban sponsership, this may sound harsh but it has ruined the racing now. It has all become about getting their name on the podium, all about the money. F1 is big business now, and the same is happening to football....it is all about seeing a return on your investment....think i will watch tennis from now on, at least they play against each other


rant over

Fair points, well put.

Yes, Alonso could 'get a strop on'...as you've said we've seen it before with other similar situations - prost/senna indeed, and 'the german'/damon hill (australia last race of the season, similar points difference. 'the german' suffered a suspension failure and knew he wouldn't make it to the end so drove into damon when he came past), however I think that Alonso would prefer to take the championship through racing for it and tactics, rather than blatant on-track 'ramming', lol.

And yes, the 'soul' of racing has been neutered somewhat (mainly for safety reasons i expect), but drivers will still take the same risks and possibly 'put it into the wall' somewhere, fortunately these days though (as we saw with Kubica recently and Lewis himself), the drivers walk away from accidents that only 5 or 6 years ago would've ended their career or worse, killed them.

so, 1; Ban refuelling? Good idea, give them all the same amount of fuel for the race, if they run out then it's tough titty, they should design more fuel efficient engines. Proposed advances in design & techology etc will mean that less fuel is required in future anyway.

2; Ban traction control? Already happening next season. Along with a whole raft of other changes - the official FIA website has the full list of changes for the '08 season.

3; 'Team Orders' have been outlawed already (although we know that teams usually defer to the leading, or most expensive/high profile driver) - I beleive that the spirit of the rules on this though are that 'team orders should not be allowed to interfere with the obvious or apparent outcome of a race'....which is a rule put in place to avoid a repeat of the days when ferrari (eg) would instruct the drivers to allow 'the german' to win, which became just ridiculous. Obviously teams tell a driver if their teammate is coming up from behind in a faster car and to let them through without incident, which is sensible and safe, and all teams know that, but not if it's extreme, eg. on the last lap and theyre fighting for position.

4; Boring tracks...thats a matter of opinion I guess - there are some fantastic tracks (like Spa, and Laguna Seca, and Kyalami etc) which are not used for a variety of reasons - access, facilities, track condition etc, but equally there are tracks that I consider boring as a spectator, which drivers might love (Magnycours....yawn)

5; Ban sponsorship? No. F1 is an international sport which carries a huge amount of 'british' technology companies around the world, and has the biggest global fanbase of any sport - its true to say that it is a big business now but it has been for years, the sponsorship money supports particularly the smaller teams which allows them to go racing with the big boys - remove sponsorship and you'll have only the biggest car companies racing (maybe only 4 or 5) or a return to the days of the 'gentleman amateur'.


It is a sport which had remained stuck in its rules and regulations for many years until the mid 90's, and there have been some massive changes, and more to come, but due to the nature of the need to evolve the changes take some time to agree on and put into place.
Some changes coming up over the next few years which I think will greatly increase the overtaking and racing;
a/ The removal of the requirement to have no moving aerodynamic parts - front wings will be allowed to have moveable flaps like aircraft wings do, which will give greater downforce on the corners and less drag on the straight.
b/ the 14seconds a lap 'boost' which will give the drivers increased overtaking opportunities.
c/ sprint race and then reversed grid positions like in touring car series racing.