Formula One, Lewis Hamilton and Liegate: D-Boy's Take

Generally, I don't like to stick my hand in the pot of boiling oil that incidents like this generate. But once in a while I see things so annoyingly moronic that I just can't stand away. I feel a burning need to slap someone upside the head for making such statements.

More on that in a moment.

First off, I'll confess right now that I have a bias towards Hamilton as a fan of his. And though this incident has hurt my opinion of him, I still am a Hamilton fan. The reason I am still a fan is simple:

He came clean, he apologized, and most importantly, as I can tell, HE MEANT IT when he apologized.

I'm not sure what to think about Hamilton and his team trying to shove the majority of the blame onto someone else, but the FIA certainly seems to agree that Dave Ryan bears more blame than he, so it's not my place to speculate further.

This isn't like the bad call at Spa last year, which was quite a subjective matter. There are facts and information far better than what they had to go on at Spa that the FIA had access to which lead them to this decision.

At Spa, the decision was simply the opinion of the stewards as to what constitutes an advantage in cutting a chicane. While my personal racing experience made me side with the stewards on that one, I never was convinced that it was a sound decision.

Now, back to what's gotten my blood boiling over the discussion on this matter.

In several places, including on this very site, I have seen Hamilton compared to some real scum: Thieves, murderers - I even saw him compared to a rapist on one forum.

ANYONE who has made such a comparison needs a serious reality check. Go talk to a victim of thievery or rape, or the family of a murder victim. Tell them this story about Hamilton and then make that comparison.

Make sure to send me the medical report detailing how bad the resulting beating was.

HAMILTON DID NOT STEAL ANYTHING. HE DID NOT MURDER ANYONE. HE DID NOT RAPE ANYONE. HE DID NOT HARM ANYBODY IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM.

Many comparisons people have made come down to his apology - many note that even thieves and murderers apologize.

Their point is what? Most of the time, the people who commit these crimes are NOT sincere in their apology - they're just hoping for a lighter sentence.

"Oh, but they still get punished!" Yes, they do: They get a punishment proportional to the harm they caused.

And yes, even LIARS go to jail when the lie causes serious harm (two words: Bernard Madoff).

Hamilton's apology was the most sincere I've ever seen in regards to any sporting scandal I've ever seen. His lie caused no harm in the end, and based on that account the punishment he's been handed is NOT proportional to the damage caused.

Even so, I think it was appropriate.

That said, the fact remains that the comparisons people are making are completely out-of-line, and they should all be ashamed for it.

Formula One is a sport, and by comparing Hamilton's lies to thievery, murder, and rape, people are TRIVIALIZING every single one of those crimes and insulting every person who has ever been a victim of one.

And in my book, that makes them almost as bad as the people who commit those crimes.