Lewis Hamilton

[Clyde Ankle]

Any doubts I may have had about Hamilton's ability to cut it in the main FRenault Championship were blown away this weekend. His performance in qualifying and the race was impressive.

I was also delighted to see a Watts-McLoughlin 1-2. Two under rated and under funded drivers beating the over hyped and over funded.

[hysen]

Originally posted by Clyde Ankle
Watts-McLoughlin.

Two over rated, adequately funded and over experienced drivers beating the inexperienced but talented.

[bella]

lewis performed very well, despite a minor off in qualifying. at least he finished and scored points.

admittedly, both watts and mcloughlin have been in the series for a while, so if they didn't perform well at the beginning of the season there really is something wrong. i expect them to be caught up by those who are in their first year after a few rounds, maybe oulton will be the last round dominated by the experienced.

lewis' attitude and mental state is brilliant, and a lot of other drivers should learn from the way he approaches races and testing. mclaren have picked up a very talented young driver.

[gomick]

how good was will davison who finished 7th

[bella]

he's done well in testing, and once he's got the hang of the races and everything, i expect him to be in the top 6 a lot.

[Paul Rayner]

Will was disappointed to have not done better in qualifying, but 7th in a first race was impressive. It looked like a good race, should be very good when on T.V.

[sgrok]

I thought the laugh of the weekend was to hear that Little Lewis' car had been specially painted silver for him at the McLaren factory.

Nice thought Uncle Ron, but did you notice the two cars at the tail end were also a very similar silver?

What a waste of that hard earned Hamilton budget.

And Hysen :

"Two over rated, adequately funded and over experienced drivers beating the inexperienced but talented."

Should have read -

Two long suffering, bare minimum budget, experienced drivers beating an inexperienced, mediocre talent with a bigger budget than the rest of the renault field put together.

[bella]

i'll assume you know something we don't know, sgrok, because i certainly don't see the same picture.

[hysen]

Originally posted by sgrok
Two long suffering, bare minimum budget, experienced drivers beating an inexperienced, mediocre talent with a bigger budget than the rest of the renault field put together.

Well we all have our favourites, can't understand why you picked those two tho.

[Paul Rayner]

Originally posted by sgrok
Two long suffering, bare minimum budget, experienced drivers beating an inexperienced, mediocre talent with a bigger budget than the rest of the renault field put together.

Maybe I've been reading too many Renault technical regulations, but I'd really love to know (whether on the bulletin board or off the record so that I'm better informed when I make statements like this) what loads of money could get you in the series.
Sure, lots of money will get you a drive for Manor or Motaworld instead of a lower team, but what else can you buy?
Even if Lewis had £200,000 more than Long, Griffin, or Viso what could he do? More testing? No. That's limited. More tyres? No. They're limited. Better engineer? Surely a team like Manor already has the best.
I've seen nothing yet to indicate that Hamilton isn't talented. From talking to the guy I have seen that he's got his head screwed on, is intelligent, focused, and although I might be insanely jealous of him for getting a McLaren deal so young, I can't hold that against him.
He's good. At least.

[Takuma]

It might just me been a cynic, but remembering how Mclaren "rebuilt" Nick Heidfeld's f3000 Lola, is it perhaps possible that Lewis's car had more than just a "paint job" when it was in Woking????????????

[bella]

the only advantages that money can get you (as far as my little innocent mind is concerned) is better preparation skills. i can't see how a rebuild would help, unless they mysteriously knew how to make a formula renault car quicker.

[sgrok]

Simply that Lewis Hamilton's budget for this year and the next few years is watertight and will cover everything he needs both on the track and off.

I knew when I went back to these boards that the renault discussions would not be about the man who qualified on pole and won the race by a mile, nor the second placed man who got the fastest lap, but about a little boy with a racing career in his lap.

[BennyBoy1978]

now why does everyone have to be so sceptical! Whats would be the benefit to Ron Dennis to spend extra money on the car when his already spending loads on a driver surely he'd be best living the car as it is and making sure his not wasting his money on whats in the seat!

[bella]

i think it's time everyone gave lewis a break. he's just doing his job. anything else that's going on largely isn't our business. ron has invested his money wisely.