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Journalism of Courage
He described the feeling after his maiden pole position as better than sex; reportedly swore at his mentor for allegedly preferring the other driver; put pictures of classified team data on a social networking site; and hit out at his teammate for unfollowing him.
In an increasingly mechanical world of Formula One drivers,Lewis Hamilton is a refreshing throwback.
Then again Hamilton,too,perhaps could do a lot more without being himself. The Brit was a racing prodigy of the like never seen in a long time. At 13,he had told McLaren chief Ron Dennis that he wanted to drive for the team in F1 one day. And when he eventually did,nine years later,the 22-year-old Hamilton produced the finest performance by a rookie driver,missing out on the world championship by just one point. One year later,he won by the same difference.
Four years later,he hasnt even come close to repeating it,despite showing enough flashes of brilliance to indicate that those two seasons werent freak. That the subsequent dry run is.
No complaints
Hamilton explains: When I won the world championship,I wasnt as lucky as Sebastian Vettel has been to have a car thats as dominant the next year as well. Im definitely very sad that weve not been able to win another world championship8230; I feel that we,as a team,are good enough to have done so and I feel that Im good enough to have done so. It hasnt happened and Im not going to complain.
There may be issues with the car,but there surely have been issues in his head as well. Multiple break-ups with the same girlfriend,Nicole Scherzinger,and split with his father Anthony Hamliton,who shaped his career,are likely to have played a role too.
For,that he is vulnerable to emotions is evident in the way he speaks about the latest break-up: with McLaren,with father figure Ron Dennis. The duo apparently didnt talk for over a month after the driver announced his decision to move to Mercedes next year.
Hamliton takes a deep breath and lets out a sigh. I spoke to Ron and were planning to meet up in Abu Dhabi. Well go for dinner,have a good chat.
All that makes you wonder if Hamiltons decision to leave the nest and fly out is a spur-of-the-moment one. After all,he wont be launching himself back into title contention straightaway,not in a car that has won only once in the last three years.
Its a new relationship,with Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn,that he is banking on. With radical engine changes being introduced in 2014,Hamilton thinks he and Mercedes will be in a position to contest for the crown under Brawns stewardship. Its gamble,but perhaps one easier to take when you are being paid 60 million for it.
And how much worse can it possibly get? In a year where Hamilton has had a fast car,the one that looked like beating the Red Bulls and the Ferraris,he is still languishing fourth in the table,thanks to reliability issues. He won five pole positions one more than championship leader Vettel,three races second only to Vettel,but also had four retirements. Another season gone,practically if not mathematically.
Its not impossible but realistically were too far away to win the drivers championship, he admits. It will need some kind of a miracle.
Job at hand
However,with four more races to go in the season and with McLaren his job isnt done yet. He wants to give his boyhood team a parting gift. The focus is on scoring points and helping the team win the constructors,which we havent done in a long time, he says of 1998. We had a chance in 2007,but that was taken away from us after the Spygate incident. So,yeah,to have that again and go out on a high like that would be fantastic.
Loyal lewis: For all F1 drivers who have driven with just one team through the entirety of their careers,Lewis Hamilton has the most number of Grand Prix starts ever,by a fair distance. In Malaysia last year,the 2008 world champion went past fellow Briton Jim Clarks record of 72 who drove until his death with Lotus in the 1960s. Currently on 106 starts for McLaren,Hamilton will end his association with the team that groomed and invested in him since the age of 12 with 110 races,at the end of this season.
Sidelights
Ferraris homage
THE two Italian marines facing jail in India for the killing of two fishermen off the Kerala coast in February on Wednesday found support from Formula One team Ferrari. The Italian team said it would show its support for the two by racing with military symbols on its cars8217; livery at the Indian Grand Prix this weekend.
8220;Scuderia Ferrari will carry the flag of the Italian Navy on the cars driven by Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa in this weekend8217;s Indian Grand Prix. In doing so,Ferrari pays tribute to one of the outstanding entities of our country,also in the hope that the Indian and Italian authorities will soon find a solution to the situation currently involving two sailors from the Italian Navy,8221; the team said on its website ferrari.com.
The two marines,Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone,were arrested in March and charged with murder. They were later granted bail by the Kerala High Court on strict conditions.
Heikki stays realistic
Heikki Kovalainen has no points for the season. The driver for bottom-placed Caterham,is looking for a strong showing. He considers BIC different from the other new tracks and wants to do well at its second edition.
Its our second time racing in India. Last year we were all impressed with what they did with the circuit, Kovalaine said.
Performance-wise I think were all realistic about what we can do in India. The guys behind us are putting up a good fight. While we have clear air between us on track,we need to make sure we keep that gap, Kovalainen said.
Marussia,aiming low
While attention is focussed on the race for No.1 between Vettel and Alonso,Timo Glocks team Marussia-Cosworth have their own slightly different target,of a lower target.
It is very difficult to close the gap. The big guys have 200-300 million euros and we have 60 million euros. So it is very difficult, says Glock pic below of the gap between his and the successful teams.
Glock,however said the team will look to finish within top-ten among the 12 participating teams,which will ensure a better budget for them next year.
Every race which comes up now is very important for us. We are trying to keep the tenth place in the constructor standings this year,which will give us more money for next year. The only way to move forward is to have a better budget. This is what we are targeting, Glock said.
Agencies
