[Official] United States Grand Prix 2015: Weekend Thread

[Paulaweybridge]

Well done Lewis ...

[djb]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

I enjoyed Rosberg throwing his hat at Hamilton. Good to see those two are best buddies.

I thought Hamilton was being a jerk throwing the 2nd place hat at him, it was basically a "rubbing his nose in it" act.....I would have thrown it back at him too, it was not a very sporting thing to do, especially after Rosberg gave him a handshake just before.

to me Hamilton came across as a bit of a prick. Am I allowed to say that here, dont come here very often anymore....?

[Paradise City]

I'd like it if the affronted sportsman decked the object of his grudge or just smiled and swallowed his pride.

This kind of half hearted sulking is unbecoming and grating to watch.

[Razzzor]

Just comes across as a spoilt little rich kid does Nico with the hat incident. $50mill net worth, driving the best car in the world, probably the best looking guy on the grid, and having a beautiful Claudia Schiffer lookalike wife not enough that you have to behave like a sulky little brat when you lose a race? gtfo.

[JeremySmith]

Nico is not a good sportsman,.. Sulking in front of the camera like a spoiled brat ..

[JeremySmith]

Originally Posted by wolfhound

Its not a complete Tilke track as it was originally planned by Tavo Helmund and he was responsible for most of the layout with Tilke finishing it off to the best of my knowledge.

The track design was by Tavio Hellmund and Kevin Swantz ... Tilke oversaw the construction ....

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by djb

I thought Hamilton was being a jerk throwing the 2nd place hat at him, it was basically a "rubbing his nose in it" act.....I would have thrown it back at him too, it was not a very sporting thing to do, especially after Rosberg gave him a handshake just before.

to me Hamilton came across as a bit of a prick. Am I allowed to say that here, dont come here very often anymore....?

I kind of agree.

Why did Hamilton need to lob the cap at Rosberg at all?!

No doubt he will come out and say it was because he was caught up in the 'moment' or immersed in the 'emotion' of his achievement.

No Lewis there was no sensible reason for that apart from ignorance and disregard.

Unless Rosberg had said something to him or dared to ignore him.

This sort of thing is why Hamilton will always appeal to younger 'casual' fans and massively split the views of hardened enthusiasts.

A great driving talent does not make a great man.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Originally Posted by chunterer

A great driving talent does not make a great man.

Just emulating Senna!

Personally I was more upset by him slowing so dramatically over the finish line, knowing that Vettel and Rosberg were racing hard and almost side by side to the line. Yes he was off the racing line, but Merhi got disqualified from an entire FR3.5 meeting for that.

Oh wait, Vettel, unlike Nicholas Latifi, has eyes that send signals to his brain telling him to slow down and move out of the way of the car ahead.

Just posting potentially inflammatory stuff here, don't worry

[Akrapovic]

Neither of them are good sportsmen. Too much sulking and postering. Throwing hats at each other and crying on the radio to their mums.

But that doesn't detract from Lewis being amazing the last couple of years. He's been the best driver by miles, and Nico only managed to keep up for about half of last year. He's really taken it to another level.

Not sure why Lewis gets credit for winning in the best car, whilst Vettel gets shot down for it. But hey.

[gert]

Originally Posted by chunterer

I kind of agree.

Why did Hamilton need to lob the cap at Rosberg at all?!

No doubt he will come out and say it was because he was caught up in the 'moment' or immersed in the 'emotion' of his achievement.

No Lewis there was no sensible reason for that apart from ignorance and disregard.

Unless Rosberg had said something to him or dared to ignore him.

This sort of thing is why Hamilton will always appeal to younger 'casual' fans and massively split the views of hardened enthusiasts.

A great driving talent does not make a great man.

Well said.

I like Lewis-the-racer, but I'm just not fond of Lewis-the-person.

I had the same with Vettel in his glory years, but now he seems to come accros much less arrogant and seems to be a much more likable character.
Likewise, Lewis seemed to be much 'nicer' during his last years at McLaren and his first at Mercedes?

Is it the winning and the success that makes them behave like this?
I can't remember Hakkinen or Hill for instance being like that. Of course that were different times, we didn't have the camera's on them between the end of the race and the podium ceremonies back then, did we?


BTW: I don't think Nico ignored him, he gave him a handshake just before.

[bella]

Originally Posted by chunterer

I kind of agree.

Why did Hamilton need to lob the cap at Rosberg at all?!

No doubt he will come out and say it was because he was caught up in the 'moment' or immersed in the 'emotion' of his achievement.

you lot are like teenage girlfriends trying to figure out what a boy is thinking by what he likes on instagram...

he passed him his cap. both were feeling post-race feels. both the manner in which the cap was passed and the way the cap was chucked back were influenced by those feels.

put yourself in both their shoes. if i was in rosberg's position i'd be a pretty crap loser. but if i was in hamilton's position i'd be a pretty obnoxious winner too. let both of them feel how they want to feel and react how they want to.

[Greem]

Originally Posted by bella

he passed him his cap. both were feeling post-race feels. both the manner in which the cap was passed and the way the cap was chucked back were influenced by those feels.

put yourself in both their shoes. if i was in rosberg's position i'd be a pretty crap loser. but if i was in hamilton's position i'd be a pretty obnoxious winner too. let both of them feel how they want to feel and react how they want to.

Amen to that, bella.

F1, COTA, the weather combine to produce the best race in *years* and all everyone concentrates on is the new WDC having an alpha male moment, and his vanquished foe being a bit teed off about it.

Personally I thought it was nothing like what it could have been. Rosberg did the sporting thing, congratulated his team mate and then slunk off to lick his wounds in the corner. Most of us would've done something similar.

[chillibowl]

also agreed Bella.

i am an obvious LH fan boy but i have to say im a little disheartened that NR is being called a poor sport rich kid etc.

imo he shows his class and integrity on track. he messed up and was obviously a bit rattled from his error but still defended against Vettel. if he really was a poor sport he would have yielded that position and denied LH a victory in the US and, maybe more importantly to LH, during a US national tv broadcast. and its not just this one time he showed his class. on track, LH has been pushing Nico around all season and always Nico goes about his business, does not retaliate, and does whats best for his team, which unfortunately for him, is having LH winning titles. he is clearly a very good sport imo.

but i guess people see what they want to see and there is not much anyone can do to change that.

[rwintle]

Originally Posted by bella

you lot are like teenage girlfriends trying to figure out what a boy is thinking by what he likes on instagram...

Post of the year candidate right there methinks.

[bella]

rosberg's had a charmed life, but so has hamilton. i don't think anyone can say they're not jealous of a kid whose father sacrificed day and night for them to be able to pursue their dreams. i think we're all jealous of people who have the luxury of being able to work directly towards their end goal every day, whatever that goal is. it's just how you choose to express that jealousy, if at all, i guess.

i think people forget that everyone holding a steering wheel in motorsport is privileged one way or another. we just tend to resent the ones who had in abundance what we had a shortage of. takes a big bit of perspective to put aside those resentments and look at what matters, which for f1 drivers is the job they're doing.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by bella

rosberg's had a charmed life, but so has hamilton. i don't think anyone can say they're not jealous of a kid whose father sacrificed day and night for them to be able to pursue their dreams. i think we're all jealous of people who have the luxury of being able to work directly towards their end goal every day, whatever that goal is. it's just how you choose to express that jealousy, if at all, i guess.

i think people forget that everyone holding a steering wheel in motorsport is privileged one way or another. we just tend to resent the ones who had in abundance what we had a shortage of. takes a big bit of perspective to put aside those resentments and look at what matters, which for f1 drivers is the job they're doing.

I know Anthony Hamilton sacrificed day and night for Lewis but I didn't think there was much input from Keke regarding Nico.

[bella]

he didn't need to. my point was just to suggest that hamilton's family worked to hand him the same opportunities that nico had, it just came in a different package and with a lot more sacrifice. it's a bit awkward for some (not necessarily anyone here, but everywhere) to choose to criticise rosberg for his fortunate life circumstance and to not realise that hamilton was afforded a similar fortunate situation albeit through a different route.

when someone's seriously (and not just pie in the sky) discussing which private jet they'll own first at the age of 17, you know they're in a certain situation that isn't the same as your everyday person.

(and i say all that as a raging hamilton fangirl)

[Mike Harte]

One thing that can be said about Hamilton is that he is driven; there is no doubt about that fact, and the proof of that is that he was able, at a young age, to tell Ron Dennis that he wanted a McLaren drive. My own view is that up until his first world championship that he was a fairly decent young man.

However, being of an age that I am, I find that his current personality grates on me. We seem to see him in the media more for his off track pursuits than his on ones, and there is too much attention to what he wears, what and who he sees and what his latest bit of bling is. His life seems to lack dignity; mind you, the same could have been levelled at James Hunt, but I happened to like him though!

As far as his driving is concerned, though, I would put him in the same catagory as Senna and Michael Schumacher; like them, he achieves what he wants at almost any cost, often regardless of the consequences. Like them, there are flashes of genius, but far too often there are times when their ruthlessness knows no bounds. Senna and Schumacher both took out opponenents to win (and M.S. forced his own brother to a point that was only the thickness of a paint job from a pit wall), Senna explioits are also well known whilst Hamilton was quite at ease forcing his team-mate at the time, Button, off the track at Canada a few years ago.

Forcing a rival to make a mistake by just your near presence is one thing, but to force a driver to have to leave the track's limits to just avoid an accident is another, and should be banned. And it would seem as though Raikkonen agrees with me on the subject, according to interviews yesterday.

[chillibowl]

after his reaction to his incident Bottas, im not sure Kimi is the voice of reason as to what is and what is not an acceptable standard.

that said, Kimi's technique to get out of the gravel was pretty inspired.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

after his reaction to his incident Bottas, im not sure Kimi is the voice of reason as to what is and what is not an acceptable standard.

that said, Kimi's technique to get out of the gravel was pretty inspired.

Likewise, Hamilton's extraction from the kitty-litter, in Interlagos I think, some years ago, where, because he had kept the engine running, he was allowed to be be towed/lifted back on to the track and still continue to race. That, if it was his idea and not of those on the pit-wall, was brilliant and brought about a change in the rules about outside assistance.

[chillibowl]

2007 German GP i think was when LH was 'craned' back onto the track. i recall something similar happening to schumi once but he had got the marshals to push him out which i thought was brilliant at the time. Alonso tried something similar while driving for Renault but it was at Monza and 'they only like red cars' i think was FA's response.

Kimi's was great because he had the wherewithal to slide his car sideways (maybe lucky there) but then managed to juke his car out on his own. cant say i recall seeing a driver ever trying that before. rally experience maybe.

he is getting older and losing a bit on the speed front but he still has such a command of his car and a hyper awareness of his surroundings (with the exception of seeing fellow Finns). this was better then him using the old track/run off area to get back on track in Brazil 2012.

anyways i guess thats where he toasted his brakes but still brilliant to get his car back on track.

[S griffin]

The race had so many good qualities. Red Bull fighting up the front, Ferraris coming through, McLarens staying at the front on pace, Verstappen's drive Kimi's recovery, Rossi not far from the points and a great title to Lewis. Nice to see a driver paying homage to a driver of the past in Senna

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

I'll be honest, a lot of the calls about Nico and/or Lewis having it all easy is the same sort of jealousy behind most of the anti-establishment lot (oh god, how do I continue to be impartial in anyone's eyes now I've typed that).

The basics are: they had a head start, and that's not fair, not realising that the endeavours that all involved put in combine nicely with their ability to get things done (whether it's on track or off) and end up with results that most couldn't achieve. Of course, it's natural for some to envy this. I personally don't care at all. It's life. At just about anything, someone will be better than you at something. People just don't seem to like that fact, but it's impossible to eradicate.

This envy then leads to people to scrutinise the individuals they envy and put them down, to make them seem worthless in their mind, to 'undo' success as it is their own 'justice,' resulting in annoying comments saying that Rosberg acted like a spoiled rich kid on the podium, and that Hamilton was an annoying arse with how he acted. I don't understand these claims. Rosberg comes across as a nice guy most of the time, and is usually far more gracious in defeat than the majority of people I know would be! Hamilton, on the other hand, is the majority of other people - it just so happens he's the winner.

Personally I think it's nice to see emotion from these 'robots' and to me highlights another wonderful hypocrisy from F1's fanbase. "We need emotion from the drivers!" they cry, only to criticise every action of emotion when they see it.

[mikuni]

If Hulkenberg's clash with Riciardo was investigated, why was Hamilton's on Rosberg's not? The only difference is that Hamilton actually had intent, while Hulkenberg was out of control. Both incidents caused a collision, only one stopped a car from running and then the same driver gets investigated after the race.

That said, the rest of the race made up for it. What a fantastic event. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it, and while I wasn't entirely happy with the end result, the fact this race turned into a title decider makes it a further spectacle.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by mikuni

If Hulkenberg's clash with Riciardo was investigated, why was Hamilton's on Rosberg's not? The only difference is that Hamilton actually had intent, while Hulkenberg was out of control. Both incidents caused a collision, only one stopped a car from running and then the same driver gets investigated after the race.

surely its normal for more leeway to be given towards first corner contact combined with less incentive to penalize when the involved parties are in the midst of a a title decider no?

glad NH was not penalized though. fault was his as he lost control of his car but a racing incident nonetheless imo.

agreed though it was a great race. lots to be happy about. im also happy with the NR/LH tiff. as much as i am a LH fanboy im an underdog fanboy even more! i hope NR comes back fighting, maybe put a wheel or two into LH, and takes some wins before season end so we have even more to look forward to next year.

earlier this season i thought i would be done watching F1 by this point in the season but i find myself now with even more incentive to watch. i both love and hate this sport!!!