FR Oulton Park

[Stevespurr]

If Lewis Hamilton had notthing to hide then why didnt he race at Oulton Park last weekend? One way of covering up these alagations against him would be not to drive. Surely there could be somthing in them with him not driving?

[fantasytoca]

In the words of the Tom Jones classic - it's not unusual! - if a driver has the championship sewn up then there's no need for him to compete in the last race of the season - Raikonnen sat out the last rounds a couple of years ago. Can't blame them really - why risk an accident with associated risk of injury and costs.

[Dave Brand]

Originally posted by fantasytoca
Can't blame them really - why risk an accident with associated risk of injury and costs.

If they are worried about that, why race at all? Aren't the punters entitled to see the new champion in action?

[Mr Jinxx]

The main reason is that he is testing F3 pretty extensively, and it takes a while to get back to FRen after F3. Lewis would be chucking the car off all over the place, cos he wasn't able to test, so it's not worth it.

[Paul Rayner]

Lewis said he felt like he had nothing to prove - going into the weekend, all he would have done is given the others a chance to beat him, and why should he? Really seems to be looking forward to F3 though.

One way of covering up these alagations against him would be not to drive

And one way to make more allegations would be to take a legal car and trounce the opposition in it for the umpteenth time this year. The guy had nothing to gain from the weekend, he could only lose. Even the record number of wins (beating Pizzonia's of 11) wouldn't have meant much, because it was over four more races. It was a great shame not to see the man of the year out for one last time though.

[Russfeld]

Anytime you're on the race track you have something to prove. Drivers should stop focusing on such arbitrary goals as championships and worry about the corner they're in. Its about the process, not the result.

Ive never been a fan of these fast-trackers who just want to do enough to get to F1 and nothing else. They dont fit into the category of racing drivers imo

[105octane]

Originally posted by Mr Jinxx
The main reason is that he is testing F3 pretty extensively, and it takes a while to get back to FRen after F3. Lewis would be chucking the car off all over the place, cos he wasn't able to test, so it's not worth it.

He seemed to adapt back quickly enough to the Renault after his first f3 test a couple of weeks ago or have you forgotten that. I to feel he should of done the last round as well, the guys good but coming the primadonna, he lost a few of my votes on that one.

[Frank_White]

in any event i'm sure that lewis did not make the final decision on racing at oulton. the final rounds would not have been for free and i suspect ron dennis decided that lewis would be better off utilising his time and resourses (actually ron's) preparing for the next stage of his career, namely f3.

[Mr Jinxx]

No I hadn't forgotten, 105octane. I particularly hadn't forgotten how he kept running off the track at the Old Hairpin at Donington on the morning after his 1st F3 test. It took him a while to dial back into the car - as it would anybody - but by the afternoon, he was back on it.

But what I had particularly not forgotten, and neither would Lewis have overlooked this, was that he (Lewis) was not at the test session at Oulton on Wednesday, so he would have had to go straight into qualifying. In a normal qualifying session, he would have stood no chance getting on the pace in time, but as it happens, in the truncated, greasy session that transpired, Lewis did the right thing by watching from the warm dry Renault tent

Incidentally, I agree with Russfeld, that a driver wants to try and focus on being perfect. Perfect starts, perfect gear changes, perfect corner entry speed, perfect overtaking manoevres, etc ... let race wins and championships follow. But aim for perfection in your chosen discipline - driving. It's lovely to be able to have a ladder etched out for you, but a driver must surely love driving and competition for its own sake. When F1 stops for the season, Michael Schumacher is back in a kart.

[105octane]

Come on jinxy waken up the guy was less than a tenth of a second off the pace after just 22 laps and fastest in the other two sessions, hardly a hard thing for him adapting back to Renault is it. Please.

[Mr Jinxx]

Wake up?? I'm awake 105octane, and so was Lewis. I'm not sure if you are being deliberately obtuse here or if you genuinely don't get it. He wouldn't have had 22 laps to get down to 1/10th off the pace - he would have had to go straight into qualifying. And instead of only having had a handful of laps in an F3 car, as was the case at Donington, he had since done 2 full sessions last Monday and Wednesday. He would be dialled into F3 by then. By your lack of understanding, I think you belittle the task that would have faced him. It would not have been worth it for him and you can't blame him for it. Only his insurance company would have tried to persuade him otherwise. Ask an F3 driver how hard it would be to jump straight into a FR car to qualify.

Please

[Mr Jinxx]

It is a hard thing (or more accurately, it is not an immediate thing) to adapt back to FR.

And, of course, the reality was that he would not have had 22 laps to qualify after just a few laps in F3, he would have had 9 laps at the most in horrible conditions after 3 test days in F3. He would have stood no chance of a decent qualifying, and every chance of damaging the car. It would have been stupid.

[105octane]

whatever Jinxx it took Lewis 7 laps to get into the 1.08s after driving an f3 car the week before none of the other drivers came close to that after sticking with FR all year. Im not being obtuse as you put it and i genuinely do get it. You are assuming again the guy has talent and i think you are under estimating his ability. Dont forget the amount of grip that Manor car has its probably like an f3 car anyway. Sorry.

[Freddie]

105, I'm with Jinxxy! Under the circumstances it was the right decision to not race after testing the F3 car. Chances are he would have done a 'Rossiter' on the first corner. he is a great driver but I think you over-estimate him and always have. he too can make mistakes like at Snetterton and Brands earlier in the year.

Apart from this, I was talking to his father on Sunday and he made it clear that it was McLaren making these decisions and not him or Lewis. Any issues relating to these kind of decisions should be directed at Ron Dennis and not Lewis. I am sure, as a racing driver, he would have wanted to race.

[DSM]

Not to comment either way on the particular point, isn't it interesting to compare this attitude with 20+ years ago? Then F1 drivers would race all sorts of other things betwen Grand Prix - saloons, F2, etc. without worrying about having to 'adapt'. They just drove. A sign of the times?

[Dave Brand]

Originally posted by DSM
[B Then F1 drivers would race all sorts of other things betwen Grand Prix - saloons, F2, etc. without worrying about having to 'adapt'. They just drove. A sign of the times? [/B]

Not just between Grands Prix - they would often drive in the saloon car race at a GP meeting! Maybe F1 drivers used to actually enjoy racing? Of course, today's bunch couldn't cope with real racing where overtaking is allowed!

[Jonny Apex]

Just what I was thinking, DSM. A good driver used to be able to jump into pretty much anything and be close to the pace within a short space of time. A different era.

As for Lewis, I think it is McLaren who decide what he does. He is far from being a primadonna - Manor will have made sure of that! Lay off the boy. I have no doubt that had he tested at Oulton last Wednesday he would have been the one to beat. I don't think he'd have had much problem adjusting bac to FRenault. However, he was testing F3s at Snetterton. Going into Oulton Park qualifying cold ... then again, I think there might have been a few drivers on that grid embarrassed by him still being miles quicker.

As for the Raikkonen thing - everyone involved knew there were bigger things on the horizon as soon as he'd wrapped up the title. He did test for Sauber before coming back to race FRenault at Spa in a Eurocup round and struggled in first qualifying. 20th I think he was. Next day, second session, he was fastest by almost a second and went on to thrash everyone in the race.

[105octane]

Thank you DSM,Dave Brand,and Jonny A, my thoughts entirely any driver who is going to be any good, can adapt from car to car very quickly as Lewis has showed.If you can drive a FR car quickly you can drive anything quickly. If it was a Mclaren decision then i stand corrected.