Lewis Hamilton has won the 2008 British Grand Prix and now the press has gone into overdrive labeling him with superlatives Schumacher could only dream of.
Coming from India, we're fed British oriented media through Sky's sister network Star. I couldn't help wondering, if Kimi had won in similar fashion, would there be a single piece of news on him, except that he led the race and won?
But he didn't. Neither did Massa.
So here comes what I've felt for a while this season. Despite all the hype, Hamilton pales in comparison to a Schumacher or a Senna or a Prost or any other great legends as opposed to what the British press would have you believe. Kimi and Alonso also fall short here.
They're all great drivers in their own rights, but you don't sense that you're watching something unbelievably spectacular on a consistent basis. Schumacher and Senna provided, Kimi and Alonso would do it once in a while.
If you look back, Schumi arrived in F1 with a bang, and with midfield machinery he excelled right from the word go. Some of his driving was labeled unbelievable even by the British press. But of course he started winning, and then those comments dried up.
In 1996, when Hill and Villeneuve were dueling it out, you always knew that the great driver and the class of the field lay with Ferrari.
I remember a few years ago Alonso described beating Schumacher as an incredible task for which you needed every single aspect to be correct. You had to be on the limit at all times. Sadly, you don't feel the same when you see any of the top runners today.
So while the championship is at an interesting juncture with three drivers tied, you don't feel half the excitement you did for the Mika-Schumi battles or the 2005 Alonso-Kimi battle. It's been a championship constantly questioning "Who will falter next?" I feel a Schumacher in his prime would never have made so many mistakes or had so many slip ups.
So while everyone was rubbishing Schumacher and Senna, the truth of the matter is that F1 fans would love to watch drives from mesmeric and genius drivers rather than watch a bunch of faltering drivers fight it out in a close championship.
It's always been the case with sports. Basketball had its Michael Jordan, football had Zidane. When you watched these greats you always knew that you were part of something special, and probably that comes very rarely.
So as the British press all hail Lewis as the next big thing, I feel the real champ may be elsewhere—maybe Kubica, or maybe even Alonso. They seem to be doing more to deserve the merit they receive than any of the championship leaders.
So we might have to wait a few more years till a driver of calibre and tenacity equal to a Schumacher or Senna or Lauda comes along and truly lights up the championship ring year after year. Only then can F1 again claim to have a true Great.
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about 1 month ago
Ouch, in a way I agree but I also disagree with you:
I agree that the British Media are way overcooking Hamilton I mean if you watch the race on ITV the commentators just can't seem to stop talking about Lewis all the time and even as one of his fans it just gets to you; furthermore comparing Lewis to Schumacher or Senna is way too early let's see about that after 3 world title belt at his command lol
I disagree with you for the championship is not dull, quite the contrary back in the Schumacher days people were bored why because Schuey was so dominant yes he did have a hiatus for four years he did not lay claim to any world title but came 2000-2004 Schumacher just took so much silverware and people were getting bored cos the championship was so predictable whilst I appreciate your point Schumacher was a true legend making no where near as many mistakes as today's top drivers makes.
We now have a four way championship actually five with Heidfeld 12 points adrift of the top, so the more unpredictable it gets the better right??? only problem is I reckon towards the later stages of the championship Raikkonen and Hamilton will break away from Massa and Kubica and these two will be the only ones vying for the title comes Interlagos and that's a shame for Massa could really fire it up then!!!
what do you think??
from about 1 month ago
I think that if I didnt write so much we would have posted at exactly the same time making pretty much exactly the same points ... Wierd, we are almost on the same wavelength. Great comments Alex, agree with you 100% but lets be fair ... I thought today they were'nt as bad talking about Lewis ... They where concentrating more on the midfield battles which I thought was cool ... I have watched the race again since and the only comments that where made I felt where bang on the money to silence the Lewis haters. I say fair play to them anyway, we are British and lets celebrate a GREAT British talent ! Ohhhhh I am riled up now !
about 1 month ago
Hey Ashwin, first of all let me welcome you to Bleacher Report ... Secondly let me say I hope you enjoy your time here ... Thirdly, prepare for the backlash on your comments, you have been very bold my friend and a lot of people will disagree with you.
First of all Sky TV is ran and owned by a company called BskyB ... BRITISH sky broadcasting ... That is why Lewis Hamilton maybe gets the coverage he does, plus a British driver winning the British grand prix is a BIG DEAL and yes we will make a song and dance over it ! More where that came from too.
If boring Kimi won or Alonso the dirty sour cheat won then no they wouldnt get the same coverage BUT if the company was called FskyB for Finnish Sky Broadcasting then it would be Kimi, Kimi, Kimi ... Or if it was SskyB for Spanish Sky Broadcasting then it would be Alonso Alonso Alonso all the time ... Why shouldnt we as British people watching TV in Britain ran by a British company make a song and dance over a British driver winning the British Grand Prix ?
The British press, regardless of whether they are saying good or bad things about any driver shouldnt be listened to as they will only write what they feel will sell newspapers, they create and ruin sportsmen and women by their headlines, its not great but thats how the press work in this country, even if its a home grown talent they will rip them apart before getting behind them if it meant selling papers. So ignore all of that.
As amazing as he was, Schumacher was BAD for the sport, read my article on Bernies master plan and see what I say about the future of F1 ... Right now F1 is going through some exciting times, when Schumacher was dominant he made the sport boring, you ask anyone and they will agree, whether they like him or not. I personally like him and think he is a great driver and his records are amazing but he was bad for the viewing figures and the name of the sport.
Yet right now you call this championship boring ? ... 9 races in and we have had 4 championship leaders at different times, there are 2 points between 1st and 4th, in the constructors championship there are just over 20 points between the top 3 ... This season is quite possibly the greatest season yet, bar none, there have been some classic races this season including Monaco and Silverstone, these races will go down as classics in the eyes of pure F1 fans.
Your last paragraph is just silly ... Saying that we will have to wait years for a driver of any calibre or tenacity to win the championship comes along, so if Lewis Hamilton or Felipe Massa win the championship are you saying that they wont be up to the same calibre of Schumacher or Senna ... I think you might be a bit off the mark with this one. As for the tenacity do we really want another driver like Schumacher who will win a championship at all costs by taking his opponent out of the race or do we want someone like Lewis Hamilton who will beat his opponents with pure driving talent and beat his nearest rivals by over 1 minute over the full race. Or how about a Kimi Raikkonen who is 17 points down with only 3 races left to go but he still goes on to win the world championship ... Are you telling me that he isnt of the same calibre of audacity ? Surely you are watching something different to what we are ?
This years championship my friend is far from boring ... I cant believe how exciting it is ... halfway through and there is no clear cut winner ... Things are tough at the top ... You ask Michael Schumacher what he thinks of this years championship and he will either tell you that he is glad he still isnt racing because of the competitivness or he will say let me at them because he wants to put himself against drivers of such high calibre ... I can promise you that.
So again welcome to the site but I disagree with the vast vast majority of your article, infact I disagree with about 99% of it, the part where you say Lewis Hamilton won the British Grand Prix ... Well that was right ... So well done there ! Thanks for listening.
from about 1 month ago
i have just word counted this and you have actually written 200 words more in response than the actual article. BRILLIANT !!!
from about 1 month ago
OKAY OKAY ... So I got carried away ! Ha ha ha !
from about 1 month ago
Good point there NIck.. whilst we all like it short and sweet it seems Ben can't hold himself and gives it to us long and h.rd hahahaha good old Ben what would the F! community on Bleacher be without him!!!
from about 1 month ago
ill be honest. i started to read it and wondered just when it was going to end. when i noticed it took considerably longer to read the response than it did the actual article - i thought i best check it out !
from about 1 month ago
Ha ha ha ha ... very funny ... You know what I am like once I get going !
As for what would the comunity be without me ... I dont know ... Maybe it wouldnt take half as long to read new articles !
about 1 month ago
As much as I didnt want to I have slightly edited the article, I didnt want to change to much because I dont want your point to be effected but I should offer some advice, please proof read your article ... Give a another once over to check if it makes sense because a lot of it still doesnt but like I said I dont want to change it too much as it is your article and you must have a point in there somewhere. If you are unhappy please revert to original article.
about 1 month ago
dull? where have you been this year? this season has been simply brilliant. the schumy era was the definition of boring.
I am bored of the british media bias, but it's expected, he is BRITISH AFTER ALL.
basically, i agree with everything ben said. at least i don't have to write all that out.
from about 1 month ago
I do find it funny that people can still doubt the ability of an f1 driver. you try handling a 750bhp car with no driver aids in torrential rain!
from about 1 month ago
Yeah thanks mate, ill just do all the shouting and you can stand behind me looking over my shoulder shouting "YEAH!" ... "WHAT HE SAID!" ... Then you can run away laughing to yourself triumphantly ! But glad you agree anyway ! Thanks for that, ha ha !
from about 1 month ago
Oh and as for your 2nd comment ... Maybe he should read my F1 drivers = Athletes article ... Would be an interesting read for him ?
about 1 month ago
Thanks for the great feedback and I do appreciate it.
It is cool that there have been so many twists and turns in this F1 championship, it's more of a case of one after another making blunders after another. And you look through any drive this year, I don't see any that particularaly stands out, whether it's Kimi, Lewis or Felipe. Maybe the few that do come in mind is Kubica in Canada or Truli in France. But there have been no drives of the calibre of Schumi Hungary 98 or Senna Donnigton 93.
As for your point on the British press. Yes, I do understand the patriotic aspects. Even if an Indian won, I'm sure the Indian media would go like saying it's bigger than our Independence day. No doubt. But, the British media is probably one of the most far reaching media powers in the world, especially in countries in Asia and also rest of the world. So when you've such far reaching influence, less biased and objectives views would be better. Of course you would want to market the British star, but at the end of the day it starts to wear thin. Whether it's Star Sport's Steve Slater or F1 Racing's Peter Windsor. And I do know so many legends who've not been given their due in history because of this and so many other drivers have been overrated because of the same system.
Yes, the racing field was predictable in Schumi's heights, but even during Schumi-Mika duels you knew that these were 2 highly competitive drivers and it was more a case of a straight fight, in the sense that Schumi didn't win because slip-ups, rather he won it in a straight fight. Sure there were slips ups, but not nearly so many. I'm sure if that was the case in those years both Rubens and Coulthard would've been in the fight.
from about 1 month ago
Quote - "And you look through any drive this year, I don't see any that particularaly stands out"
Response - "WHAT ? ? ? ... How about the 2 I mentioned off the bat:
Lewis Hamilton in Monaco, 40 seconds ahead of the field on the streets in the wet after crashing early doors.
How about Adrian Sutil from the back of the field in Monaco up to 4th place in a Force India for gods sake !
What about Hamilton yesterday, 4th on grid, 1st by lap 5 and then won the race by 1 minute and 8 seconds over Heidfeld and 1 minute 22 over Barrichello, he lapped everyone else !
What about Barrichello yesterday, 16th on grid to 3rd, would have been 2nd if his pit crew and fuelling rig didnt break.
I could possibly go on if I researched a bit further but these are ones that just jump to mind!?
As for Kubica in Canada, that wasnt a good drive, he was handed it on a platter in perfect driving conditions, even he will tell you that, if he didnt win that race he wanted shooting, so my friend I think your argument is an empty one, your points lack substance, I think you should maybe research your answers a bit more before laying them down ?
about 1 month ago
I do also disagree with the general view of Kimi the Boring man and Alonso the cheater. After all this is what has been fed to you and lot of times made to believe that. Sure Kimi isn't the most expressive person on the track, but so many of quotes are classic which I don't see anybody in this field doing or even some of antics, like snowmobiling or the guerrilla suit.
About Alonso, nobody is quiet sure what happened @ Mclaren. Ron Dennis can claim about his fairness, but over the years drivers like Prost, Coulthard have said against it. And other than the British media who else says Ron Dennis is fair. So nobody is quiet sure what really happened @ Mclaren and what he was promised. Even Bernie says the same about what happened to Alonso. And let's not forget Mclaren was a dream for Alonso, this was the team he always dreamt of driving for. So to fall so far from that, something of hugely proportional must have to happen. Sure he was shaken by the competition given by Hamilton, but I'm sure there is more to story that we know.
from about 1 month ago
Going to disagree with you once again, sure Kimi might be a bit of a rebel off track but he doesnt carry that to the track, he drives like he talks, monotone, dont get me wrong, he is a GREAT driver and thoroughly deserved that world title but he doesnt ever do anything outstanding for me ... He is very clean and clinical, a calculated driver who gets the job done but I dont see risks or any kind of flair ! As for classic quotes, like what, he deals with the media awfully, the media must kick themselves when the big boss says, "Go get an interveiw off Kimi"
As for Ron Dennis being fair I am pretty sure Ron Dennis is one of the fairest there is, he only wants the best for the McLaren family and if a driver is a bad egg trying to give his company a bad name then he will take them down as he did, Ron Dennis is a very clever and forward thinking gent with a vision for the future of his company and a cheat such as Alonso does not fit in, there will be no place for people like that !
McLaren was a dream for Alonso so why be such a big girl over the Hamilton situation, whats wrong, didnt he get enough attention from big Ron, how unprofessional, he was given the chance and even then I wouldnt say he blew it, he was 1 point within the championship and he finished equal with his team mate. Cant say fairer than that. But he burnt his bridges the minute he started e-mailing Ferrari technicians and engineers ... He was dragged through the courts just like Ron was but you didnt see Fernando getting slapped with a £50 million fine !
Sure he is innocent until proven guilty but he tarred his name and reputation in that saga whether he did it or not, not great to be honest. Thats my thought for now, anyone else ? Ha ha
about 1 month ago
I think to be honest the reason we are seeing these "unspectacular" and "unspecial" drivers now, making mistakes and taking advantage is for these reasons.
1. Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen, Heikki Kovalainen, Robert Kubica and one or two others up and down the field are all new drivers. New, young talents who have made it into Grand Prix racing very early. They need time to get up to the standards of Senna and Prost because if you have ever seen footage of some of the races in the Schumacher and Senna eras, not every race was a master stroke for them. China 2006 Schumacher anyone? Lets not forget, Michael Schumacher binned his first World Championship bid in 1994, he only won it because he also elimenated the competition.
2. It's tight at the front today. Nobody has manufactured a world beating car yet. Which is GOOD! Drivers have to capitalise on opportunities when others make mistakes. To not do this would be lunacy and actually, I think probably impossible. You can't say that races today don't have that same flair as old days. Yesterdays British Grand Prix was a classic and Hamilton won by millions over the others. Kind of reminiscent of Donnington 1993 dont you think?
I'm really sorry but I also am going to have to disagree with you I'm afraid. Reconsider those couple of races and then have another think.
from about 1 month ago
Well done, cheers mate ... Glad I am not the only one not seeing the point here, ha ha ha !
Have you checked out my 1993 article ?
about 1 month ago
Also about the British thing, come on, give us a break, we don't win much!
from about 1 month ago
But when we do its done in style !
from about 1 month ago
hehe yeah! Ooooh hasnt this one opened a can of worms!?
from about 1 month ago
Ha ha yeah but its worth it because his argument has no valid points, seems like he is just ranting for rantings sake ?
from about 1 month ago
Not to be harsh but yeah it does.
about 1 month ago
This championship is extremely exciting and we can't predict which way it is going to og. Anyone could win it, you never know what could happen next.
The British press all give Hamilton too much coverage but thats the why it is has always been with British sportsman, in Spain its the same with Alonso and all the other examples we can think of.
It would be nice if the press were impartial but thats never going to be a reality.
from about 1 month ago
Thanks for this Dan, I was getting worried that it was only me seeing this way, ha ha !
about 1 month ago
this season has been absolutly fantastic and no1 can deny that. there have been so many twists and turns in it nobody can say "its boring". the "facts" that you are putting across are just empty and pack no punch. do a little research before you post / comment and you might give yourself a half decent name around here. untill you start to do this your name is going to be mud to be quite honest.
from about 1 month ago
YEAH !
about 1 month ago
Well, it's great that there is so many twists and turns. But I would wish that somebody actually became more consistent and then we would've a straight out fight between the drivers instead of grandprixs where 1 driver gets it on spot, the rest don't. Most of the grandprix's have been like that. It provides twists and turns, but for me it is quiet boring.
Last season I felt was better in the sense, Lewis was more or less consistent, Kimi stormed backed in the 2nd half and Alonso was also way better. Drivers weren't being so error prone like this year.
from about 1 month ago
A lot has changed though ... The lack of traction control is a big one ... The drivers are bound to make the odd error ... You cant expect them to be flawless at every race and under the intense pressure that they are cracks are bound to appear ... It happens to the best of them ! I think you are expecting too much ?
about 1 month ago
I'm more interested in F1 now that the German missile launcher and traction control is gone.
I'd rather watch 10 good drivers in barely good cars battle it out rather than 1 or 2 marques that have better electronics or software.
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