HAMILTON - THE REAL DEAL

Fangio, Hunt, Villenuve Senna, Prost, Mansell, Schumacher, Alonso. These names and so many more stand out in formula 1 history. They stand out as F1 Stars and Champions. As with any sport Formula 1 is always looking for the next big thing. And this year has seen the amazing debut of Lewis Hamilton. And its easy to get lost in the amazing amount of hype that has surrounded his arrival. Although only 3 rounds in as this is written its time to take a step back and look at whats happened so far. So is this guy as good as he looks? And if he is what sets him apart from the rest?

Formula 1 is a hard sport to compare drivers of past and present. Unlike say football his machinery limits a driver’s performance. But individual performances still shine through. It’s the little thing you need to look for in the big picture. The finer detail if you will.

So the first thing i've noticed is a lot of people saying that Lewis’s results are only because of the car he is in. This is a fair point but it misses the mark a bit. There is no doubt that if Lewis was in a Super Aguri or Spyker there wouldn’t have been 3 podiums on the top. But with what he has been given he has achieved with it. For an example of this you would need to look at the 1997 season. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was teammate to Jacques Villeneuve. The Williams Renault was a top car of the field. Yet Frentzen only recorded 1 win and was in the shade of his teammate. Frentzen at one stage was thought by many people to be faster than Michael Schumacher. But in what was suppose to be his big year his season was disappointing. It was believed he had a difficult relationship with technical director Patrick Head. And that he didn’t like the atmosphere I the Williams garage after the “familly” feeling at his old team Sauber. Now while there is no doubt that Lewis has no trouble as regards fitting in with the team he still has the pressure to deliver. Which he has done superbly. If you look at the free practice and qualifying he has yet to drop out of the top 5. And more importantly is he is on par with his teammate. Reigning and double world champion Fernando Alonso. And he was able to beat him fair and square in Bahrain and run at the front.

When I looked at the season ahead in January I wondered what he could do. I had seen his gp2 drives his brilliant comeback drive in turkey his brilliant wins in Britain. I was at the autosport show where there was a karting stand where they had the young drivers awards. And there was a Mclaren MP4 21 of Kimi Räikkönen. And next to it a small go kart and a large cardboard cut out of Lewis Hamilton. Naturally showing how you can progress if you try. I got talking to one of the people in charge of helping the youngsters move forward. He had seen Lewis race. While I was looking forward to seeing Kimi in a Ferrari and thinking that this could be a new era for Ferrari he was quick to correct me. “You just watch Lewis” he said “the guy is good and the real deal, he can master any formula hes been in, Forget about kimi hes just going to destroy engines” Whilst I was not overly flattered he had just insulted my new Ferrari driver I got the message. This boy was quick. And I couldn’t find anyone who didn’t think he would make it big. Keke Rosberg has described him as “Gilles brave” And as he raced against the legendary Villeneuve he would know. And anyone that has ever seen the clips of Gilles racing against René Arnoux in the 1979 race or race his car back to the pits on 3 wheels would agree.

Then there is his “racing brain” Not just a case of driving quick lap after lap but reading race situations. Schumacher was known for this as was Prost. Knowing that the race was long and not going for the stupid move straight away. Or analyzing the car in front and the situation. Looking at Lewis’s first two race starts in f1 and you can see his race craft at play. Look at how he switched lanes in Melbourne and passed Alonso on the outside. Or how he read the situation to pass both Ferrari’s (to my displeasure I must add) He saw how Massa was preoccupied with Alonso and went for the gap he had left then left him out to dry. He has a mature head on him. Also the way he closed in on Massa towards the end of the race, the never say die attitude and the way he kept hounding Massa. He was able to drive quick enough to match and beat Massa through out the race leaving the rest behind him and keeping the pressure on.

Moving on from that is his focus. It seems to me that has solid upbringing by his dad Anthony he is absolutely focused on winning. That he wont get distracted by big boys toys like boats and planes. That material goods aren’t his burning desire. He wants to win and he isn’t going to read his press too much and get carried away. Now this isn’t a criticism of other drivers, but more a gut feeling that dammit this boy can do it!

If there is any critiscm of him is that he needs to speak to his fans before the race. I agree with the comments Eddie Jordan made recently “I don't understand what he was being protected from, and it'll only hurt his profile. Nobody in F1 is too important for 'trivialities' like the media… Lewis is good enough to stay focused. He doesn't need nannying. Ron should have let us have our piece: we're entitled to get to know him," Maybe this will come soon. But then usually when drivers are interviewed on the grid it isn’t the most in depth conversation ever. Its usually along the lines of “hope to get a good start… we have a good strategy…see what happens” Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz But I digress. Now as ive said its only 3 races in so heres what im going to look out for and to see how he reacts to truly see how good he is.

“Trial by bad race” Hes had 3 problem free qualifying and 3 problem free races. And this is F1 and one day he will have a bad race. That’s life. What you need to see is how he bounces back in both race wise and attitude. Race wise because say he has an engine failure and has to start from the back at say Monaco. Overtaking is almost forbidden so it would be hard to make up ground but it will be important to . But Attitude wise will as important that he isn’t a “helmet thrower” and doesn’t sulk. But I can’t see that. I believe he will stay focused.

“Trial by Bad car” Probably wont happen this season. Naturally he will have situations where the set up isn’t perfect and how he will drive around this. Will be key a good driver can race when the car is perfect a great driver can win even with faults on the car and it will be interesting to see how he copes with this. But what if he ends up in a Mclaren like the mp4-19 (a rebadged mp4-18 that was tested but never used due to its unreliability and problems though the mp4-19 was just as bad) or even this years Honda.. As with if he was in a super Aguri he not going to be winning. But willl he be able to show leadership skills and push forward and keep himself motivated?

“Trial by pressure” Right now he has exceeded everyone expectations and as long as he can keep at this level (no easy task in itself) But even though Ron Dennis has said he can fight for the title is isn’t expected of him this season he is suppose to learn from Alonso. In 2008/9 it will be. And depending on car he will have to string together a title campaign and he will have to beat Alonso and others to do this. And the pressure will be a lot more intense then. In his team bosses words “Second place is first of the losers”

So in my mind he will pass these 3 “trails” and I do believe that he is a superstar of the future even this early in his career. Its up to others to prove otherwise. Though I do have one problem with him and it’s a personal one. He isn’t in a Ferrari.