Lewis Hamilton

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admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:35:33 +0000

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton: F1 driver profile

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:35:33 +0000

By Tom Cary, F1 Correspondent Published: 2:07PM GMT 08 Mar 2010 Formula One has never seen anything like Lewis Hamilton, who was named after another speed merchant, the great American sprinter Carl Lewis. Raised on a council estate in Stevenage, Hamilton has been breaking down barriers his whole life. A remote controlled karting prodigy, he transferred his skills seamlessly to the track and at the age of 10 he famously approached McLaren team principal Ron Dennis at an awards ceremony to introduce himself. Three years later Dennis had signed him up and Hamilton has been wedded to McLaren ever since. GP2 champion in his maiden season, Hamilton made the step up to F1 in 2007 alongside McLaren’s new signing, double world champion Fernando Alonso. He was immediately on the pace, setting a number of records in his rookie year and seemingly coasting to a spectacular world championship with a 17-point lead and only two races remaining. A retirement in China and seventh place in Brazil meant he lost out by a single point to Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. Hamilton made no mistake the following season, though, this time claiming the title by a single point from Ferrari’s Felipe Massa beneath the rain at Interlagos to become F1’s youngest ever world champion. The 2009 season was a big reality check for the Briton as McLaren produced a poor car and then became embroiled in the ‘Liegate’ scandal that saw Hamilton mislead race stewards in Australia. Hamilton admitted that he nearly quit the sport in despair. However, he stormed back to claim two race wins and ended the season the fastest man on the grid. Telegraph verdict: Hamilton has learned from 2009’s high-profile mistakes and appears more relaxed, and more mature, than ever. He will have his work cut out beating Jenson Button, but something in his genetic make-up means that second is just not an option. If McLaren give him the car, he should be world champion. Lewis Hamilton facts Website: www.lewishamilton.com Born: 07/01/1985 in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, UK 2010 car number: 2 World championships: 1 (2008) Races: 52 Wins: 11 Podiums: 27 Career points: 256 Pole positions 17 Fastest laps 3 First race 2007 Australian Grand Prix Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Read Article @ Daily Telegraph

Lewis Hamilton: Integrity is very important to me

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:56:11 +0000

Twelve months on from the most publicly embarrassing and even humiliating episode of his fledgling F1 career, Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he is approaching the forthcoming world championship campaign ‘in the happiest place I’ve ever been’ and adamant that he will never again fall prey to the kind of ignominy that blighted the start of his 2009 challenge. Hamilton was ostracised from the F1 family in the wake of the infamous Melbourne lies controversy last March, after he was caught out deliberately lying to race stewards in the wake of the Australian Grand Prix in Albert Park, in a bid to earn Toyota rival Jarno Trulli a penalty and thereby inherit the Italian’s third place – by fair means or foul. Forced into a grovelling apology in the full glare of the media spotlight a week later in Malaysia he might have been, but still the Briton refused to accept the blame, rather shifting it onto his team manager Dave Ryan by insisting that he himself had also been ‘misled’ – speciously seeming to argue that he had had no alternative but to meekly do as he was told, however immoral and dishonest that instruction might have been. Ryan was a convenient scapegoat, and parted company with McLaren-Mercedes shortly afterwards, in so doing bringing to a sorry and arguably unjustified end to a long and successful career in the top flight that had made the New Zealander one of the most widely-respected figures in the sport. For some time after the unsavoury incident Hamilton cast a forlorn and lonely figure in the paddock as he recoiled into his protective shell, clearly uncomfortable in the public eye – and he subsequently admitted that the spectacular fall-out from it had driven him to reconsider his place in the sport. No longer Britain’s golden boy off the back of his success in becoming F1’s youngest-ever world champion, with just a few words, the 25-year-old’s reputation had been sullied, some suggested irreversibly. Happily for him, whilst the lie will in all probability never be forgotten, it has since been forgiven, and the McLaren-Mercedes star enters F1 2010 and the curtain-raising Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir next weekend considered as one of the hot title favourites. Humility has made him stronger, and redemption, it seems, might yet be just around the corner. “There was a lot to take on-board after what had gone on,” he is quoted as…

Read Article @ Crash.net

Lewis Hamilton is No 1 ahead of Jensen Button at McLaren says Sir Jackie Stewart

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:51:03 +0000

By Tom Cary Published: 7:30AM GMT 08 Mar 2010 As interest reaches fever pitch ahead of Sunday’s opening grand prix in Bahrain, Stewart has stood by comments he made last November to the effect that Jenson Button has walked into “a lions’ den” in joining his fellow Briton and predecessor as world champion at McLaren. “Lewis Hamilton is extremely well established there,” Stewart said. “It would be like somebody coming to join me at Tyrrell back in my day when I already had a considerably stronger presence there and knew everybody. “I still believe that whatever anybody says about No 1s and No 2s, Lewis will be the natural No 1; the known commodity for the McLaren management and individuals. That for me still clearly portrays walking into the lions’ den.” Button and Hamilton have made a great play of showing a united front in recent months, appearing relaxed in each other’s presence at the McLaren launch back in January, and again at a pre-season media go-karting event last week. But Stewart says that their relationship is not the issue. “I have no doubt at all that Jenson will be made to feel welcome within the McLaren family,” he said. “My only point is that when you are going in with someone as well established as Lewis is you choose carefully. “But there are not many people who would turn down the opportunity to drive for McLaren. And I don’t know in reality where else he would have gone. “My gut feeling is that Button would have preferred to stay at Brawn-Mercedes. Whether he turned down the money while he was still in negotiations with Ross [Brawn], or whether Mercedes decided they didn’t like what they saw in the second half of last season performance-wise, I don’t know.” Stewart, a triple world champion, believes that with the ban on in-race refuelling this season Button’s smooth driving style may help him to claw back some of the deficit, but that ultimately he can only see one winner. “There is no doubt the new fuel regulations play into the hands of smooth drivers. [Jim] Clark was very good at that, I would try to be very good at that, [Alain] Prost I think was very good at that – and I think Jenson’s very good at that. “You never see too…

Read Article @ Daily Telegraph

Kevin Garside: Lewis Hamilton will flourish after after parting company with dad Anthony

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:50:53 +0000

By Kevin Garside Published: 7:30AM GMT 08 Mar 2010 The layer of separation that he has slipped between himself and his father, Anthony, was a long time coming. They both understood the requirement. That junior felt able to pull the trigger on the story with the cars loaded for Bahrain says much about his growing maturity. Hamilton followed one revelation with another last week, confessing that he might have handled his toxic relationship with Fernando Alonso differently during his debut season in 2007. He didn’t properly understand the dynamic between the double world champion and his employers McLaren. It was a tacit admission that he contributed to the mess that saw the season implode, him miss the title by a point and Alonso return to Renault. Both shifts are welcome advances in his development. They recognise the need to take responsibility for events. At 25 he is coming into his man years. Had he made the leap a year ago he might not have been corralled quite so easily into the damaging fabrication in Australia when he was persuaded to fall in line with company policy for the sake of championship points in the lie-gate saga. His instinct during the race to seek clarification from the team about an overtaking issue under a yellow flag demonstrated that there was nothing wrong with his moral compass. As Hamilton acknowledges, he owes everything to the love and dedication of his father, a man who did what the best parents do, made every sacrifice to further the prospects of his son. As a result Hamilton is arguably the most interesting if not important story in British sport today. Positive projections of Anglo-Caribbean males in mainstream media are pitifully low. The emergence of a mixed race kid in, of all constituencies, Formula One, was a significant event for a community more readily associated with negative portrayals. Here was a stereotype-buster from heaven, a black boy from a council house who did not grow into a gang member operating a reign of terror from beneath a hoodie. The message is beamed globally every fortnight; there is nothing to fear from the Hamilton demographic. Sadly, as we know from the political complexion of towns like Burnley and Oldham, and attitudes in parts of Spain, there are some even now who believe there is. The Hamilton story…

Read Article @ Daily Telegraph

Lewis Hamilton rents homes to be near Nicole Scherzinger

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:12:51 +0000

Lewis Hamilton is renting two houses in Los Angeles so he can be near Nicole Scherzinger. The British Formula One driver – who recently reunited with the Pussycat Dolls singer – is renting properties in Melrose Avenue and Park La Brea so they can be together as often as possible, despite their hectic careers. A source said: “Lewis is determined to give their relationship another go. It unraveled before because they were never together in the same place, which made seeing each other very complicated.” Nicole has signed up for ‘Dancing with the Stars’ – where she has been partnered with Cheryl Cole’s friend Derek Hough – and Lewis wants to be able to spend as much time with her as he can while she remains in the show, which is filmed in Los Angeles. The source added to The Sun newspaper: “Depending on how well Nicole does in the show, she could be in Los Angeles for months. “Lewis likes a bit of variety so he’s opted for two properties, a secluded house in Melrose and a swanky penthouse near his favorite shopping arcade, The Grove.” Earlier this week, Lewis admitted he and Nicole were determined to make their relationship work this time. The racing champion – who rekindled his romance with the pop beauty after the pair split in early January due to work pressures – said: “You make it work, you do all you can, you know? When something is worth it, you do it.” Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Read Article @ The Arizona Republic

OFFICIAL FIA 2010 ENTRY LIST

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:26:00 +0000

McLaren-Mercedes1. Jenson Button2. Lewis HamiltonMercedes Grand Prix3. Michael Schumacher4. Nico RosbergRed Bull Racing5. Sebastian Vettel6. Mark WebberScuderia Ferrari7. Felipe Massa8. Fernando AlonsoWilliams9. Rubens Barrichello10. Nico HülkenbergRenault F1 Team11. Robert Kubica12. Vitaly PetrovForce India F1 Team14. Adrian Sutil15. Vitantonio LiuzziToro Rosso16. Sebastien Buemi17. Jaime AlguersuariLotus Racing18. Jarno Trulli19. Heikki KovalainenHRT F1 Team20. TBA21. Bruno SennaBMW Sauber F1 Team22. Pedro de la Rosa23. Kamui KobayashiVirgin Racing24. Timo Glock25. Lucas di Grassi

Read Article @ Lewis Hamilton News

HAKKINEN OR BRUNDLE?

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:46:00 +0000

Rumours are swirling since Lewis Hamilton announced that Anthony will no longer be his manager and that he is looking for a replacement manager. The rumours are going round saying either Martin Brundle or Mika Hakkinen could take the role.Personally, I like both. Brundle is an ex F1 racer and has raced in various other categories and currently is a commentator on the BBC for Formula One. And a damn good one too. Mika Hakkinen needs no introduction of course. He is the 1998 and 1999 world champion and overall nice guy. Met him a couple of times, great guy to be around.If it was up to me, I’d have Mika manage Lewis.

FIA publish revised 2010 entry list

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:23:00 +0000

The official entry list for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship was republished by the FIA on Wednesday evening. Following weeks of speculation the sport’s governing body has confirmed the North Carolina-based US team will not compete, which means 12 teams will line up on the grid at next week’s season-opener in Bahrain.A subsequent statement released by the FIA said: “The US team have indicated that they will not be in a position to participate in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship. Having considered the various options, the FIA confirms that it is not possible for a replacement team to be entered for the championship at this late stage.“In the coming days the FIA will announce details of a new selection process to identify candidates to fill any vacancies existing at the start of the 2011 season.”Other points to note are that Campos have changed their name to HRT (Hispania Racing team, their website too is undergoing massive transformations and is currently under maintenance ) following last month’s acquisition by Spanish businessman – and existing shareholder – Jose Ramon Carabante. The team are yet to reveal who will be team mate to already announced driver Bruno Senna.The entry list also confirmed BMW Sauber’s place on the 2010 grid, with drivers Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi set to take up driver numbers 22 and 23.The full entry list of constructors and drivers as published by the FIA is as follows:McLaren Mercedes1 Jenson Button (GB)2 Lewis Hamilton (GB)Mercedes Benz GP Limited3 Michael Schumacher (D) 4 Nico Rosberg (D)Red Bull Racing Renault5 Sebastian Vettel (D) 6 Mark Webber (AUS) Ferrari7 Felipe Massa (BR) 8 Fernando Alonso (E) Williams Cosworth9 Rubens Barrichello (BR) 10 Nico Hulkenberg (D)Renault11 Robert Kubica (PL) 12 Vitaly Petrov (RUS)Force India Mercedes14 Adrian Sutil (D) 15 Vitantonio Liuzzi (I)STR Ferrari16 Sebastien Buemi (CH) 17 Jaime Alguersuari (E)Lotus Cosworth18 Jarno Trulli (I)19 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN)HRT Cosworth20 TBA21 Bruno Senna (BR)BMW Sauber Ferrari22 Pedro de la Rosa (E)23 Kamui Kobayashi (J)Virgin Cosworth24 Timo Glock (D)25 Lucas di Grassi (BR)

Photo: Hamilton(2)

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:25:08 +0000

Octane Photos @ Flickr

2009 F1 Belgian GP Practice 2, Lewis Hamilton, McLaren