[oldman100]

Is it just me or is anybody else fed-up of the Lewis Hamilton hype, blimey I'm sick to the back teeth of Martin & James harping on about the wonder Brit, it's totally put me off the kid.

I'm fed up of the biased commentary assuming everybody wants Lewis to win every Grand Prix, well I don't and quite honestly I hope he doesn't win a race this season, unlikely I know but all the same, come on Alonso.

Now that's off me chest I feel a eck of a lot better.

I'm switching to RTL coverage to take a break from it all.

[KevD]

Yeah, I agree. Listening yesterday, you would think that Lewis Hamilton is the only driver. Anytime the host broadcaster showed anything other than Hamilton, the commentators seemed shocked, despite there being some quite good battles for position, not just Hamiltom 7 seconds off Alonso and rarely threatning him

I wish the kid all the best and hope he gets his first win soon, and I wouldnt let the hype stop me from wanting that, afterall he didnt create the hype!

[thfccambs]

Prefer that to all the Jenson Button hype we've had for the last 4 years.
At least Lewis Hamilton looks like he can become a world champion.

JB won the Hungarian GP and you would of thought he had become WC.

[KevD]

Originally Posted by hunts1uk

JB won the Hungarian GP and you would of thought he had become WC.

That won the Bafta for best Sports Coverage on TV in 2006

So in a year with the Cricket in Australia, Commonwealth Games, All the Tennis & Golf Majors and the World Cup, the best Coverage went to the F1 for the race Button won. Wonder what would have won had Button not won the race

[Steven]

That's hilarious Kev

Yes, the Hamilton PR machine is in overdrive. Is it hype? Only time tells - but at the moment he's finished on the podium for every debut race this season and is record breaking

But there is OTT coverage everywhere in the British press; Beckham, football, over-hyped Spidey 3, Beckham and Hamilton

[thfccambs]

Originally Posted by KevD

Wonder what would have won had Button not won the race

Paula radcliffe taking a dump whilst running a marathon?

[bekko]

Originally Posted by hunts1uk

Prefer that to all the Jenson Button hype we've had for the last 4 years.
At least Lewis Hamilton looks like he can become a world champion.

JB won the Hungarian GP and you would of thought he had become WC.

I couldnt of put it better saved my typing it all out lol.

[Matt_C]

Personally I'm not, no....

The chap is a truly incredible driver, especially for his age and level of expirience.... No-one harked and moaned about the Alonso-hype when he came on the scene, nor Kimi, nor Montoya... I'll allow Jenson as he was over hyped, but I think Hamilton is a superb driver...

I was actually gutted for him that he didn't win yesterday, and I hope he gets a win soon as he is doing everything right!

5 races, 5 podiums, first ever season in F1? Who else has ever done that? In like the last 10 years?!?!?!

That is some achievment! Even Alonso and Kimi didn't do that!

[thfccambs]

Originally Posted by Matt_C

Personally I'm not, no....

The chap is a truly incredible driver, especially for his age and level of expirience.... No-one harked and moaned about the Alonso-hype when he came on the scene, nor Kimi, nor Montoya... I'll allow Jenson as he was over hyped, but I think Hamilton is a superb driver...

I was actually gutted for him that he didn't win yesterday, and I hope he gets a win soon as he is doing everything right!

5 races, 5 podiums, first ever season in F1? Who else has ever done that? In like the last 10 years?!?!?!

That is some achievment! Even Alonso and Kimi didn't do that!

Haven't seen anyone say he's not an excellent driver mate,stick him in a Toyota and see if he's still up there.

Also Alonso was far from in the best car the last 2 season.

5 races, 5 podiums, first ever season in F1? Who else has ever done that? In like the last 10 years?!?!?!

That is some achievment! Even Alonso and Kimi didn't do that

Alonso started in a Minardi for god sake.Kimi a Sauber hardly the same.

[danaldinho7]

it's no different from watching Man Utd on Sky, there seems to be a natural bias to them aswell...especially with Andy Gray

[Woodywizz]

Undoubtedly, in his debut year, Hamilton has a great car and a great team to accompany it. However, let's not be too hard on him - he is - after all - level on points with the double World Champion, who is driving the same car with same team. He is a talent no doubt, let's applaud it rather than be derisory.

[Graham27]

Totally, utterly, sick to the back teeth of the hype. Coming round to Lewis though

I didn't warm to him initially. I didn't like his comments about "tricking" Massa and a few of his remarks since have been a little thoughtless IMO, such as saying he could have been half a second (!) quicker in Quali, and commenting about "backing off" from Alonso.

The more I think about it, the more I think rather than being arrogant, it's just total self-belief and maybe a little naiivety.

He did try and clear up his remarks about Massa, but if he thinks Alonso was there for the taking had in not been for team, erm, tactics, he needs to wake up and smell their "patners" Nescafe!

I think he's just slowly learning that he's playing with the big boys now, and needs to be a little more respectful. I suppose he's risen through the ranks as "driver most likely to..." but he's at the top now, and it's crowded there.

He speaks very like Tiger did when he first burst onto the scene, and we all know how that worked out. People thought Tiger was arrogant but he was just incredibly confident and sure of himself. Even if he wasn't quite as good as he thought he was. Or his father thought he was, which is another parallel. Boy, didn't Lewis' old boy look narked after the race ?

I think the main problem is just the usual, typical British press. If we have anyone who's in any way decent at anything, they're a national hero until they screw up, then they're forgotten. I mean, look at Beckham. You're a hero, nah you're not, ok you are again. Bloody papers are picking the team. It bothers me and I'm a Scot

The TV coverage seems to be aimed at the casual fan who's tuning in just to see Hamilton, rather than the race. I appreciate that TV, like anything else, is a business, and that they're trying to get new punters. Fair enough, but they're alienating their core customer by not being impartial, and by not giving us coverage of the rest of the field. I've closely followed Ant's career but had it not been for a drive-through we woudn't have seen him at all.

The final straw was a feature with Hakkinen. Great ! What did they ask him about ?

I do like Lewis, but I'm hating this years coverage.

*Oops, sorry for rambling/ranting *

[Epicurus]

No i'm not fed up of the hype, but yes it can be a ltitle tiresome at times, kind of like the ridiculous hype that always surrounded Tim Henman at Wimbledon, or Jenson Button.

But unlike either of those, Hamilton really does have the ability to be a champion, he's cool as cucumber, extremely capable, and has his head screwed on properly, unlike Jenson Button who got caught up in the high life, just like David Coulthard.

So I'll tell you what really annoys me, it's Alonso. When he was the new kid on the block he seemed like a nice guy. When he won his first Championship he couldn't have been more happy or friendly. Now look what happens when someone steals his limelight and puts in better performances in the same car. He treats Hamilton with such disdain, virtually refusing to talk about him when asked by the press, and even worse displaying signs of a complete lack of working relationship between the two. Latest example was Sunday, Hamilton goes to hug Alonso and congratulate him, Alonso is totally uninterested and shrugs him off.

Seriously what a selfish, ignorant, bad sportsman he is.

[ash]

How many years has Alonso been in F1?

And has Hamilton raced @ Monaco before i.e. before F1/

[thfccambs]

Originally Posted by ash

How many years has Alonso been in F1?

And has Hamilton raced @ Monaco before i.e. before F1/

Alonso made his debut in 2001 for Minadi,moved to Renault as test driver 2002,made debut in 2003 after Flavio dropped Button and stuck FA in with Trulli.
Hamilton raced there twice before (not F1) and won both.

Suppose you could really only say FA had been racing in F1 since 2003,Minardi hardly counts as racing.
Only finished 9 out of 17 races.11th being highest position i think.

[Epicurus]

Originally Posted by ash

How many years has Alonso been in F1?

And has Hamilton raced @ Monaco before i.e. before F1/

Hamilton has done F3 and before that karting like a lot of former champions, ie Schumacher. I'm certain we are looking at a future champion in Hamilton, I never felt that way about Button.

[T0MAT01]

Originally Posted by ash

How many years has Alonso been in F1?

And has Hamilton raced @ Monaco before i.e. before F1/

Yes, Hamilton has won all 3 of his previous races at Monaco before F1 according to ITV last Sunday.

Alonso joined Minardi in 2001. You really can't compare his debut to that of Hamilton jumping straight into a McLaren.

As for the overhype, I hope he wins his first race soon.
He'll probably be relegated to 'just another driver' then.

It has had the bonus of getting more people interested in F1 though, people who I never expected to have an interest are now watching GPs, so it's not all bad.

[eFGee]

Originally Posted by oldman100

Is it just me or is anybody else fed-up of the Lewis Hamilton hype, blimey I'm sick to the back teeth of Martin & James harping on about the wonder Brit, it's totally put me off the kid.

You're on a fishing trip, right??

This kid is the hottest thing since Senna and unlike Button, and all the Brits who went before excluding Mansell, is actually living up to the hype.

I suppose it's the fact that he's finished every race on the podium that's done it for you.

Sheesh

[Graham27]

Originally Posted by Epicurus

So I'll tell you what really annoys me, it's Alonso. When he was the new kid on the block he seemed like a nice guy. When he won his first Championship he couldn't have been more happy or friendly. Now look what happens when someone steals his limelight and puts in better performances in the same car. He treats Hamilton with such disdain, virtually refusing to talk about him when asked by the press, and even worse displaying signs of a complete lack of working relationship between the two. Latest example was Sunday, Hamilton goes to hug Alonso and congratulate him, Alonso is totally uninterested and shrugs him off.

Seriously what a selfish, ignorant, bad sportsman he is.

He is still an incredibly nice guy, but I was surprised too by the post-race thing. It did seem a little off. Don't know what to make of it But I don't think it's to do with Alonso being ignorant or a bad sport. He must be selfish though, as all great sportsmen need a little of that.

I don't think the problem is he's bothered about Lewis stealing his limelight, Alonso wants as little of it as possible, seemingly Lewis is the same. I also don't think it's to do with Lewis putting in better performances, I don't think he has IMO.

As to why he seems grumpy in interviews, well I think it's mainly just British interviews he seems grumpy in I guess he's p'd off, as double world champion, and one of the leaders of this years championship, to spend the whole of his interviews talking about his team mate.

He put up for it for a reasonable length of time, then respectfullly told our press that if they asked for his time for an interview, he'd prefer not to spend all of it talking about Hamilton. Our press took this as a sign of hostility and rather than respect his wishes, they just kept asking him about Lewis anyway. This seems to have led to bad feeling between the two camps and Fernando being painted as some kind of villain.

Pre-race in Monaco, Lewis was constantly saying how he wanted to win, how he was good enough, how he was as fast if not faster than Alonso, etc. etc. He's making a lot of rookie comments that we lap up, and tend to believe, but which would maybe annoy a team mate of Alsonso's calibre.

I don't think Alonso is as nice a guy in public as he used to be, but I think that's maybe the pressure that comes with the job. When he first won the championship he was still relatively unknown outside of F1 and he used to happily play footy in a park Oxford. Now that's all changed I don't think he likes it so much.

[Epicurus]

Good post.

You could be right about the effects of pressure which comes from being a Champion and celebrity, but I'm sure all the attention going on Hamilton IS being irritating.

You are certainly right that the greatest champions have and need a selfish, brutal streak. But it's possible to have that while still maintaining a friendly public face. Schumacher was good at that, most other drivers hated him because he was so ruthless and selfish on the track, yet out of the car he could be quite charming and magnaminous.

It will be interesting to see how the season develops. I have to disagree about Alonso putting in the better performances, sure he has a couple of wins already but he has been inconsistent. Hamilton seems to be steadily working his way up the podium.

First win at Silverstone anyone?

edit: I should point out I used to really like Alonso, he seemed a really nice guy. It's only his behaviour this season which has changed my opinion.

[Graham27]

Originally Posted by Epicurus

Good post.

Thanks. And to you

You are certainly right that the greatest champions have and need a selfish, brutal streak. But it's possible to have that while still maintaining a friendly public face. Schumacher was good at that, most other drivers hated him because he was so ruthless and selfish on the track, yet out of the car he could be quite charming and magnaminous

Totally agreed. I guess maybe I've just not witnessed Alonso sulking yet The post-race events were the first time I've noticed anything at all seemingly amiss.

It will be interesting to see how the season develops. I have to disagree about Alonso putting in the better performances, sure he has a couple of wins already but he has been inconsistent. Hamilton seems to be steadily working his way up the podium.

Very true, maybe as an (ever-so-slightly) blinkered Fernando fan I just put his bad race down to the Massa incident.

First win at Silverstone anyone?

Now that would be good to see I'd enjoy that very much as the missus is dragging me to the race again Women !

edit: I should point out I used to really like Alonso, he seemed a really nice guy. It's only his behaviour this season which has changed my opinion.

Fair enough, again, maybe it's just I've not witnessed it yet. It'd really disappoint me if he has changed, as one of the big things I liked about him was that he seemed a nice, humble, ordinary bloke who just happened to be able to drive fairly well.

I've always rooted for decent blokes, that's the reason why I've followed Ant Davidsons career with interest, and that's why I'm a little annoyed with the coverage at the mo. I'd just like to see a wee bit more coverage of everyone else.

[Fast Jon]

Yes, the media hype is becoming very tedious, but that's the way the British media works.
Having said that, Hamilton doesn't do himself too many favours when he opens his mouth. He now reckons that God is in the car with him when he's driving. Oh dear.
And as for the "I would have beaten Alonso [at Monaco] were it not for team strategy" what a load of cobblers. Ron needs to take him to one side for a quiet chat.
There is no question that he has talent, but he is in the best car. My advice would be to keep his mouth shut and concentrate on driving.

[bjd]

What, exactly, does it take for a sportsman/woman to get the respect of the British public? If they're crap (football et al) they are derided........now we have one of the most refreshing British talents to appear for some considerable time, we're already getting "sick of the hype" posts.
I certainly wouldn't like to be trying to please you armchair pundits.

[Graham27]

Originally Posted by bjd

What, exactly, does it take for a sportsman/woman to get the respect of the British public?

I think he already has the respect of the public, and probably of pretty much everyone in this thread.

If they're crap (football et al) they are derided........now we have one of the most refreshing British talents to appear for some considerable time, we're already getting "sick of the hype" posts.

Yup, but we're sick of the hype, not of the guy. I could llisten to facts and info about Lewis all day, but there's not a lot of that about, it's mainly just hype, bias and speculation.

I certainly wouldn't like to be trying to please you armchair pundits.

Lewis is pleasing me enormously, some of the coverage of him isn't. Im an F1 fan, not just a Lewis fan.

[arthurdentpc]

Originally Posted by oldman100

Is it just me or is anybody else fed-up of the Lewis Hamilton hype, blimey I'm sick to the back teeth of Martin & James harping on about the wonder Brit

Yes, yes and a 1000 times yes. But then, the whole of F1 is just a massive hype machine anyway - there's no longer any racing involved, and there hasn't been for a number of years. On the rare occasions I watch a race now, I use Setanta for a more level view of the whole pack, and not just Hamilton.

Oh, and one other thing - most other drivers are and have been called by their surname (or a single name) most of the time - Alonso, Schumacher, Kimi, Montoya, etc. But have you ever heard him called plain Hamilton ? It's always LEWIS Hamilton. Presumably to distinguish him from the plethora of other Hamiltons on the grid .......

[ash]

Originally Posted by arthurdentpc

Presumably to distinguish him from the plethora of other Hamiltons on the grid .......

The even call David Beckham, Beckham

[Epicurus]

Seems like a good time to resurrect this. Not that I like to blow my own trumpet but boy did Hamilton show he deserved the hype.

First a staggeringly good effort to get pole, then he maintains his calm through one of the most disjointed and chaotic Grand Prix races I've ever seen to claim a derserved victory.

Imagine how frustrating it must have been, all the hard work to build a lead only to have it snatched away several times by safety cars. Yet he held his nerve and his lead.

Alonso meanwhile made more mistakes in one race than he probably ever has just trying to keep up with Hamilton.

[DJT75]

Originally Posted by T0MAT01

Alonso joined Minardi in 2001. You really can't compare his debut to that of Hamilton jumping straight into a McLaren.

The fact McLaren are prepared to give him a team place in his 1st year speaks volumes IMO - I wouldn't be surprised if they go on & let him go for the title now too, the constructors prize is surely in the bag already anyway.

[Uridium]

I suppose the hype is to be expected, anything that livens up the dull format that F1 has become is bound to get some coverage, especially in the british tabloids who are always seeking to make or break a new personality

[Mooky55]

Well he has won a race now. lead the world champs....

I guess Alonso is believing the hype too.

There is always racing in F1, maybe just not between teams!!!

Its still a great sport IMO