Chasing the dream or running from the nightmare?

Dreams we love them, its when they turn to the nightmare you panic, There you are all happy in nice place next moment your falling down a pit and wake up thinking what the hell when did that go wrong. And possibly that’s what’s happening to Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton’s debut year was one like no other. 12 months on from his debut so much has happened and been said. Lewis Hamilton now faces one of the biggest challenges of his career, leading a front running team in only his 2nd season. All whilst living in the spotlight of the world’s media.


I've already stated that I didn’t want to write too much about Lewis Hamilton. Why? Not out of disrespect but more to give him and you the reader a break! Hamilton’s rise has been meteoric since that debut in Australia, and now he is on everything. Newspapers front and back page men’s magazines have him as the cover star and if seen with any female he is instantly in the gossip columns whit the “who is the mysterious girl” tag line. There are two downsides to this. The first is overexposure, like hearing that smash hit song on the radio and the TV over and over again, whilst it maybe a good song you just wish they would play something else. The other is on Lewis personally which is from a gp2 star who was used to attention at the race weekends and occasionally spotted by the dedicated fan to being spotted everywhere he goes especially in the UK, Whilst Lewis can prepare himself for a race and deal with whatever is thrown at him the fame game has probably caught him off guard a little. Paparazzi hanging around his house, following him taking endless pictures took its toile on the his family and himself which led to his move to Switzerland and a media backlash in the UK.

That is the other side and the annoying part of tabloid papers. They will build a star up and then tear them down as when they see fit. Lewis Hamilton’s move to Switzerland was covered poorly, a lot of focus was put on the fact he was doing it for tax reasons and he was deserting the UK. Totally missing the point that a lot of star drivers have done the same, Michael Schumacher lives there as does Alonso and Raikkonen, Jackie Stewart also moved over during his F1 career as did many more. To say in anyway that Lewis was deserting his country is laughable when you consider he is one of the UK’s best sporting hopes at present and for the future. The whole move was just another case of how something that was fairly obviously going to happen one day got blown out of proportion to just sell more papers. And people wonder why stars leave and are less open with the press.

On the professional side of his career he also has to be careful on how he goes about things. Its noticeable that how Alonso has cleverly played his cards in the off-season. He has stayed quiet about any feelings he has towards Lewis personally and said it was more a “Mclaren problem than a Lewis problem” At the launch of the new Renault the press were after the killer line from Alonso, Something they could use that would create a rivalry between the two drivers, instead Alonso instead gave them the opposite, while he thinks Raikkonen is the favourite he sees no reason why Hamilton cant win it. Hamilton however had a small snipe at Alonso however ““He was [the leader] at the beginning, wasn't he, adding, “He showed me just how not to behave as an F1 driver.” This led the Spanish press to use this story as Hamilton showing a lack of respect to Alonso their national hero. Which is thought to be one of the reasons for the ugly scenes of the racial slurs at the Spanish test. Much was made of this too but to put it simply is the fact that a few people who are absent minded decided to act very stupidly, Hamilton however knows importantly that this is the case, for while pictures showed angry fans hurling insults less well seen were pictures of Lewis signing Autographs for Spanish fans happily all concerned with smiles on there faces enjoying the day.

Then we get to his performance for the year. I wrote this next paragraph as part of the preview. It got cut out as it was too long to fit in with the other 21 drivers to write on, it was simply on about how the media will expect from Lewis and how they’ll look for any fault be it arguments with his team mate or his pace

“If there is no chance of rivalry there for any headlines that the slightest hint of performance drop off certainty will be picked up on. Similar to what happened with Raikkonen last year if the results don’t come people will ask why? What’s worse for Lewis is unlike Kimi he wont have the excuse of new tires or new team to get used too. Hamilton has stated he aims to win the title this year and with the Mclarens quick times its fairly obvious that he will be quick again this year. But nothing is a given and historically the second year for a driver is a lot harder than the first. There is no excuse of being a rookie anymore, and with such a strong debut season big things are expected of him last year was maybe too successful, by the second half of the year there was disappointment with 3rd place!"

By the time you will have read this the Spanish gp will of happened and will it be worse for Lewis or better? After his win in Melbourne it seemed that with the hype Lewis had already won the title “Best race of his career” it was hailed as followed 2 races later by “Worst race of his career” I could sit here right now feeling happy I was right about what would happen but then its like predicting falling of your bike and slamming in to a wall at high speeds will hurt. Stating the obvious to say the least. What I am not so sure about now is how will Lewis react now. His clash with Alonso was helped by him damaging his front wing earlier in the lap the wing then detaching and giving him a speed boost as it lost drag and straight into the back of the Renault. Now whilst ITV most the UK were crying “brake test” lets look at the other point here. This happened whilst fighting for 10th. Outside the points. Why was Lewis so far back? Because he had already made a big mistake by fluffing the start and dropping down the grid. He also made a nice mess of his car on the Friday getting too far on the curb and therefore spinning him into the barrier. This was defiantly Lewis’s worst race of his F1 career. But now this is where a drivers metal is tested. It’s all well and nice doing well when you’re on a roll podium after podium but what happens when a driver loses the momentum is key in how good he/she is. A good example would be Michael Schumacher in 1996. At Monaco he lasted just a lap after embarrassingly sticking his car into the barrier whilst leading. Then he came back and took one of his best wins in the next round at Spain in torrential conditions after having start line trouble and dropping out the top 10 he just easily passed cars left right and centre to take the lead demoralising all the other drivers in the process and making them wonder why they were even trying. This is what Lewis has to do.

Of course this will be no easy task. For one it is not sure right now where the Mclaren really is in terms of speed, the fastest maybe or behind Ferrari and BMW? Then there is the question of is Lewis putting too much pressure on himself? He said at the start of the year he wants to win this years title or this season will be a failure. Did he go into panic mode and think “I must protect my championship lead” “I must just get points get points” The 3 week break between races may just be what he needs to sit back and take it 1 race at a time and refocus. But then again it may be no more than a blip, your only as good as your last race in F1after all before we came into Bahrain it was Massa that was the under performer, now its Lewis who knows after Spain it could be Raikkonen or Kovalainen that’s being judged harshly. Lewis probably doesn’t read his press. It would also be best not to. Maybe his Bahrain performance was just the thing to kick him back into gear just like when Michael sat there back in 96 looking at his bent font suspension. A bad weekend for Lewis could turn out to be the worst thing for his rivals.