A poor pretext to starting it up again but:

According to this article below Whitmarsh believes

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88973



The question is do you think Lewis will be able to bounce back from last year and win the 2011 WDC, and explain why?

What is he meant to be 'bouncing back' from though? He looked fine last year, drove well 90% of the time. So long as he has a car that can challenge for the WDC he has a chance.

Ooooooo a new shiny Hamilton thread.
Just what this place needed......

All the drivers could have done a better job. Lewis has nothing to bounce back from.

shhhhhhhhh! keep it down!

I agree, when i say bounce back, i mean from the disappointment of not winning the WDC; having been on the end of some bad strategy calls; having cope with the shift in dynamics with Mclaren to Jenson; and from all the personal problems he had.

With all this things going "against" him, Lewis did a very, very good job
despite all this changes and troubles, he was only a "wheelrim" away from winning it.

Sure if macca produce a flyer and he makes less stupid mistakes but if he or macca don't improve then I'm afraid it will be more of the same in 2011.

Actually i think there is no need for a flyer, if McLaren created a car on par with the leaders or just a bit under that would be enough.
and surely you are not referring to last season when the only real mistake he made, which cost him points, was the one in Monza? He lost
more points to mechanical DNFs so fingers crossed the 26 is a tank.

You obviously can't stop that. How do you keep 15 yo boys from playing with themselves.

Surely you wanted this thread to be about hammy in 2011 and not rehash the earlier (now defunct) hammy thread?

Can he bounce back?

Answer - he doesn't need to. The Mac was not quite there in the second half.
His errors were just aggressive driving being punished, sometimes you get away with it sometimes you don't. Lewis seemed to get nailed for his aggression in 2010 where he often blasted through. I and many fans will hope he doesn't adopt a more conservative style of racing as this is what makes him so good, maybe the best of the current group. His error rate was lower than Vettel's who, let's see, finished first! The only thing I hope for is he grows up a bit with regard making childish comments to the media. He seems to live in a world inhabited by popstar dreamers where his fellow drivers tend to be more grounded. Doesn't affect his performance though.

Well sure if you select that bit it seems like i am, but if you read the whole quote, you would
know i thin in order for Lewis to win he needs the car to be on par with the leaders or slighty under,
and it needs to be a tank.....relevant enough for ya

Yeah I think so. Still waiting to hear about a manager aren't we, and some news about him and Anthony would be nice, but I think he'll have a much better start to the season, at least.

This forum just cannot do with its Lewis thread

It's nice for Whitmarsh to say he thinks Lewis is a superstar.

A lot depends, obviously, on the car, the reliability, the strategies, and the general support for Lewis, all of which were lacking last year and I think that had the most to do with him not getting the title.

If McLaren provide him with what he needs, he will do the job!

Its nice to hear Whitmarsh bigging Lewis up for once.
Remember don't bite guys, we need this thread...

Do you seriously beleive that he needs a car two seconds per lap faster to acheive success, as he's never enjoyed anywhewre near that sort of car advantage since he's been in F1 ?. During which time, he's finished won a WDC, scored more wins, pole positions and points than any other driver.

Posts like yours will just descend this thread towards the same level of madness of the recently locked thread.

Anyway, back on topic. If McLaren provide Hamilton with a car that's within a couple of tenths of the fastest car on the grid, then he's in with a very good shout of becoming a 2xWDC. If the MP4-26 is as dominant as the RB-6 was, then i think the title could be wrapped up very early in the season, and as much as i'm a Macca / Hamilton fan (and Button too for that matter), i think that would be a bit boring.

There is nothing new in this (portion) of Whitmarsh's interview. He is just saying the same old thing about Hamilton, that he is immature, needs to do a better job, hasn't found his way in life etc. Same old boring Lewis analysis.

Basically if Hamilton can get a grip he will do better this season, if not expect another end of year fade.


ps. The longer season may be an issue for Hamilton in particular who has issues over the long haul as it is.

I agree, and i also liked how he admitted that the team as a whole needed to do better, which i think is a reference to certain strategic calls, and pitstops which were detrimental, especially at the beginning of the season.

Yeah I think he and Andy have their act together now, which they really didn't at the start of last year (naturally enough).

Not much to say really. Hamilton is one of the 'top tier' drivers - if he gets the right car, he will have a very good chance of another WDC. He doesn't need to 'bounce back' from anything.........

I don't think it's only niceness from Whitmarsh
I think Lewis "stardom" pays well off for Macca


With the rest I completely agree.

Hopefully he'll keep doing what he's doing - being an aggressive driver, entertaining to watch, willing to go out and give it his best in any kind of weather. What's not to like if racing is what you care about the most? From a neutral spectator's point of view.

I'm still amazed when I look at last years championship table and see he was only 2 points from webber in a red bull. Extraordinary effort. I'm not a mac or ham fan but that car was not 2nd best on the grid.

absolutely ridiculous really.

You actually think that Lewis won't deliver the goods unless the car is 2 secs per lap faster.....

ok but to say the only way he has a chance to bounce back is if he has a car thats 2 seconds clear of everyone else is pretty much saying he's on the level of bruno senna. I never said he's the second coming, and I'm not even a fan, but that pretty much is just ridiculous. But an alonso fan can only hope I suppose!

Don't hold your breath Muz, I thought it would lessen with time but it seems to intensify. I expect the first foot-in-mouth quote/moment before China. Dunno about things not affecting his performance, jetting halfway around the globe between races to see your girlfriend in some lame *ss dance show can't be the ideal preparation for a professional athlete.


That will probably be it but who knows that might still deliver another (fluke) WDC however with Red Bull, Ferrari and possibly the Mercs in the mix a higher standard might be required this year.


There can be no end of year fade (by any wannabe WDC), the last 2 months of the season will consist of 6 races with a lot of travel required, fit and focussed is what the boy(s) need to be then.

@Jack: I'm staying

Whatever arguments someone could have against Lewis
he never ever was too slow
even with the Silver donkey

no more to be said

Button should tell Lewis on the starting grid "Sorry to hear 50 cent is hooking up with Nicole".

That will only make him stronger

Did I ask you for directions in Cornwall last weekend?

I see this as another praise of Hamilton.

He finished 4th in WDC in 2nd/3rd best car, he beat Button who is nowdays a very mature and experienced WDC driver in the same team. From my perspective, I thuoght he did same amount of mistakes as Alonso, less than Webber, out of top 4 probably only more than Vettel (but even that can be attributed to RBR racing being a better car, its easier not to make mistakes in faster and less reliable car).

So, all in all - if Kubica/Rosberg or some other non-proven talent had Hamilton's 2010. season, it would be seen as sign that they indeed are great drivers. With Hamilton, it is explained that he only had 'great' season because of issues in his life. This I see mostly as praise by Whitmarsh, its - 'yeah, you had a really great season, but we know that you can do even better.'

In my opinion, his biggest problem last year was he was to soft. On more then one occasion (webber) he should have slammed the door, like he did at monza some years back, instead of keeping it open. Because in webbers case hes just to stupid to see when he has lost position, we have seen that on so many occasions. The same goes with other drivers. I say we want the old no compromise Lewis "slamthedoor" Hamilton back.

I think the Red Bull drivers were easily the most mistake prone last season and Vettel made some blinders at Silverstone, Hockenheim, Turkey, Hungary, and Belgium. He started on pole for three of those races and messed two of them up with over aggressive swerving at the starts, one of which nearly put Alonso into a wall. Lewis I feel made unforced errors like letting Alonso through when he really should have been monitoring his breaking points. Monza was one of those incidents that 90% of the time they would have banged wheels and continued the race IMO. Singapore we all know both drivers were at fault. I think Lewis can be proud of his season, along with Button, and Alonso.

Lewis has nothing to bounce back from.

He drove a brilliant season in a car which was rarely competetive.

If McLaren give him a decent car this year, you will see Lewis at his best.

IMO, he just needs to find a manager. Hakinnen would be a good choice although i think he is more involved with Mercedes these days.

If McLaren produce a competitive car (read that as you want) then he'll be back to fight for the title, again.

The reason I say this is, he had a car that was less than perfect, and was still fighting for the title anyway.

Sure, he made a few mistakes (which driver didn't?) but he was up there with a chance until nearly the end of the season.

He doesn't need a better car as some drivers do, he just needs a car as good as his rivals.

I hope Jenson gels with the new car too, it would be nice to see a constructors title this year.

If Lewis gets a car on par with the other top tier cars, he'll win again.

Couldn't have said it better myself....

Hes ok. I mean hes not in the class of an Alonso or a Vettel, but given a fairly dominant car he can win another WDC. I cant see that happening unfortunately as now Button will be fully in sync with the mclaren cars and the design and strategy will not be entirely Hamilton based. I think once he leaves Mclaren where he has enjoyed winning cars every year, he may fade into the background of other rising stars.

Not many drivers have had race winning machinery every year they have been in f1.

Lewis has a new personal trainer
His new "full-time"trainer wich spent with him the pre season training in the mountains is Antti Vierula:
"Antti Vierula is a professional Finnish Coach and Trainer, who works with drivers in F1, WRC, MotoGP, GP2, F3 and LeMans Series. Prior to working with Sense Motorsports, Antti worked at Kuortane Sports Institute in Finland and coached three Track and Field athletes to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Antti is a former track & field athlete and also played ice hockey and football."
Vierula comes from the same sport & healthcare company in Swiss in which Dr.Aki Hintsa & Adam Costanzo Lewis former personal trainer & confidant (2006 -2009)
are involved
http://www.sense-core.com/people.html

Lewis 2010 trainer Clayton Green got a senior position within the Human High Performance programme at the MTC.

( source: http://mclaren.com/home)

So Lewis is taking training very seriously this winter.

Does anyone think this might be partly due to Button being at the team ?

Button is a serious athlete, he does a lot of training and regularly competes in triathlon and "iron man" events. This winter he's been cycling with Lance Armstrong and thinks nothing of long bike rides (50km or more) before going to a gym for regular training sessions. He employs a full time trainer and has a whole bunch of friends (including other drivers like Buncombe and Priaulx) that he often exercises with.

I'm not saying Lewis was ever unfit or that he didn't train properly, just wondering if he has stepped it up a notch after seeing Jensons' exercise regime in a bid to be a better driver ?

Well McLaren needs to do a better job. They need to give him better strategy, better reliability, a better car and he will deliver.

No, it's not always about Button. He has always been fit, and trained hard. He now has a new trainer to continue the good work.

We don't know the whole story but Jenson's high profile triathlons and the Lance Armstrong link are just tiny snapshots of the programmes they each follow. They'll both be doing what Aki Hintsa tells them to, no less and hopefully no more. It's easy to over-train - pick up injuries, lower your white blood cell count, alter your muscle composition or put on too much muscle mass.

His former trainer Adam Costanzo with wich Lewis was from 2006-2009 was from the same team as Aki Hintsa & Vierula are
Adam was this tall guy who followed Lewis everywhere, he was his full-time trainer and confidandt since Lewis entered F1
Adam plays a huge role, not just in my preparation but in my life," Hamilton told the Herald Sun yesterday.
"He's made a big sacrifice in moving from the UK to Switzerland with me.
"He's almost like a brother because I spend nearly every day with him. He really is working very hard to make sure I'm in the best possible shape for the first race.
"He tries to take a lot of the stress and strain off my shoulders and make my life easier.(2008)

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/motor-ra...6-1111115783712
He dissappeared at the beginning of 2010 season together at all the reshuffling of the team
never heared about the reason why he was replaced
I think it were a bit too much changes for Lewis at the start of 2010 season

Now he's back with one of Hintsas men.

Lance Armstrong isn't a good ambassador of "clean" sport for me.
I don't know if it's good to train together with him

I have a good feeling about Lewis this season.

- Prospect of a competetive MP4-26
- Increased training.

And not to mention, somehow he seems to improve every season in my opinion although the results often dont show it.

To those who watch him closer than the other 23 drivers on the grid, he is special. I miss 2007 and 2008 where we saw his talents shown through with a competitive car. Although he would regard 2009 and 2010 as disappointing years, i have witnessed some of the best racing on his behalf compared to most on the grid.

Hopefully 2011 will give him such a chance again to take home the WDC crown.

I know it's OT, but man please stop spreading bullshit.

If you have ANY evidence to prove your claims, to prove that Lance was not clean, then show it. DISGUSTING.

Yep. Pesky bike training anyway. So much more fun hangin' out with a guy like this