Compare this ingrates's response to being caught with that of Schumacher's in monaco 2006. Schumacher didn't say that Ferrari made him do it and that as a result he is contemplating leaving the team. He took the grid penalty, got on with it, and finished 5th. An example of a true racer.
Now, Hamilton on the hand, is a political backstabber on par with Brutus. He will say anything to get himself out of or others into trouble. "It was all Ryan's fault he made lie." I bet he used this one a lot at school: "Miss, it wasn't my fault, my dog ate my homework."
Trulli is just another one Hamilton's victims, just like Alonso was at Hungary 2007.
And this whole spy story that hamilton had no clue that mcclaren were stealing ferrari's data is as believable as his latest lie. Why would mcclaren tell de la rosa and alonso but not hamilton?
And every time the FIA doesn't comply with his petulance he threatens to quit.
In Japan 2007 when his behavior behind the safety car was rightly questioned, he threatened to quit. in the 2008 pre-season when he encountered racists he threatened to quit. And now, when he is about to be punished for cheating and defrauding trulli out of a podium, he has once more threatened to quit.
I say enough with his empty threats and that, for once, he should follow up on them.
Lewis has proved himself to be a very immature young man with this stunt. When you think about it, it's not surprising as he has had his father holding his hand for all these years and McLaren Management dong the same in his F1 career to date. Very few times has he had to make any decisions off the track without these people. Along comes Dave Ryan, unaware that Lewis had already talked to the press about allowing Trulli by, and tells him to lie..Lewis makes the wrong choice....Good for him that he made the apology but THIS FORMER McLaren and Lewis Hamilton fan doesn't buy any of it.
I do sincerely hope the FIA punish both Lewis and McLaren to the effect that they will not be able to compete for the Championships this year, although having said that, the shitbox they have built looks like it doesn't made a sod of difference.
If Mr. Hamilton has half a brain he would leave McLaren at the earliest opportunity.
Michael Modgill - 15 years ago
I think that Lewis is an ultra competitor in the mould of MS and he struggles to know when to stop competing.
Nothing wrong with it, and as with MS it takes nothing away from his skills as a driver.
He knew exactly what he was doing.
Gruppe B Wagen - 15 years ago
The reader ( "SmelldaRoses" ) who claims similarity with the scene in 'Scent of a Woman' needs to watch that film again, and perhaps to read up a bit on basic logic. he also needs to acquaint himself with the actual initials of the sport's governing body, which are not IFA, but FIA. And if you think that acceptance of lies is better for "the sport", you, sir, have not the faintest idea of what sport means.
The difference between the conduct of the character played by
Chris O'Donnell and the conduct of Lewis Hamilton is that O'Donnell's character refused to snitch on people, whereas Hamilton said what he was told to say when he knew that in
so doing he was lying. The two cases are far from being similar.
Characters like Hamilton are the sort which detract from the goodness of sport. Ask yourself this : do you think that Stirling Moss would have lied when told to do so ?
F1 used to be a gentleman's sport. But these days it's all about
money, thanks to the likes of Bernie and Max, and all I can hope is that these two will leave the field sooner rather than later.
Roberto - 15 years ago
What is amazing is how Mclaren got themselves into this mess. As far as the liars, i think not only Dave Ryan should have been suspended i think Whitmarsh needed to make a step to the front and make some disciplinary action againste Hamilton too, even if he was "mislead" by Ryan. The apology press conference was a big mockery, Mclaren CEO should have take matters internally not through the media a penalised both Ryan and Hamilton for bringing the team into disrispute
pSynrg - 15 years ago
It doesn't really matter what I or anyone else thinks now. Lewis will get in the car and drive to the best of his ability, that's all that's needed.
As for John above, well you of course are an inspiration to the world. Succinct sentencing, prose and rhyme. It is no wonder you are headline news every other day of the week - be it for good or bad. You really do deserve the position you've earned through hard work and dedication.
You know, not like the WDC of Lewis Hamilton or the successful F1 journalist James Allen. You have reached the heady heights of an insignificant comment on a small poll-blog somewhere in the internet. Please, let's see your amazing trophy cabinet!
It's not Lewis or James that are wankers - it is of course an award you alone can have all to yourself...
darwin - 15 years ago
Oh, John ... clearly natural selection has not done YOU any favours ...
John - 15 years ago
Hamilton is a wanker and so are you James, piss off and go cover the Chess
world championship.
John - 15 years ago
Are we forgetting that this is the guy who wouldn't let Alonso go by when instructed to by the team in Hungary 07?? I for one don't believe his "I'm sorry" routine. I think he knew what he was doing and the fact that he claimed he didn't lie after the stewards had taken away 3rd from him proves it. But really, who cares!!!! fine take away 3rd, give it to him, do whatever. Its not like he's gonna get another podium finish this yr. Don't kid yourselves. They are all ruthless. That's why we love to watch them race against each other.
dab - 15 years ago
pple kicking up so much fuss like F1 is so saintly and run by the vatican. Compared to F1, football is much more honest and even they dont kick up that much fuss over a bout of dishonesty or in ronspeak, *information shortfall*
Luciano - 15 years ago
Well, he's admitted he has lied, but has said he is a liar.
Therefore whether you belive him or not, he is a liar.
McLaren have cocked this up beyond belief.
Derek Lorimer - 15 years ago
On reflection the Lewis incident is
a symptom of the nature of modern
sport which is driven by business
interests. The pressures on sportsmen
to win at all costs makes them likely
to make decisions or accept advice
that they would otherwise reject.
Lewis was instructed to lie by senior management. Like any other man his age in a large company, he took instruction from that manager and did what he was told. Although he probably questioned it in his head, he trusted Ryan, with 34 years at McLaren, had better judgement of the situation. I think he was truly sorry for what he had done. He is still learning, still growing up, and it was wrong, as it is for anyone in the position Ryan was, to take advantage of his naivity, and possibly his trusting nature, after all, Hamilton said last year he sees McLaren as a family. If you can't trust family who can you trust?
Alen - 15 years ago
I am a huge Hamilton fan and I simply can't believe McLaren guys thought that they could get away with this knowing that FIA will do anything to put them down... such a shame for Hamilton, but I'm sure he will only come stronger.
Jason - 15 years ago
If it were possible, I'd love to see how people were voting by location (e.g. 90% of Italian voters think Lewis is a liar)
Bored, bored, bored. Can we go racing now. Please.
jpm - 15 years ago
I suppose either way you read it, Whitmarsh is either lying, in which case he should be gone, or he has no management skills, in which case he should also go. It is just inconceivable that even if Ryan and Ham lied to the stewards as alleged, that Whitmarsh would not question the severity of the outcome (to Trulli) at all or was happy to accept it .. The whole thing smells like a botched job which they just made worse by attempting to cover it with another layer of lies...
Kent - 15 years ago
I think what happened was exactly what LH said happened: he was in a whirl of activity, he didn't think, he did what he was told to. However, he SHOULD have stepped up and said he'd made an "error" BEFORE he was busted.
Hamilton sounded genuine and contrite at his "apology" press conference, but one can't help wondering if there is still another layer...did he really go into the stewards meeting intending to tell the "whole truth" only to be led astray at the last moment? he claims that it all happened so fast that there was no time to think, but I feel there might have been complicity by Hamilton to a greater degree. I think Ryan might be taking the fall for the team, and anyway even if no-one else was involved, as soon as the stewards hearing was over the team must have de-briefed Hamilton/Ryan. How they thought they could get away with it and just stay shtum is beyond belief. If at that stage Whitmarsh had gone back to the stewards and said listen guys this is the real story, it might have ended there and then.
Rich Coops - 15 years ago
I am still actually stunned that Dave Ryan has ben suspended, I bet the guy is gutted after being at McLaren for 34 years. Yes they made a mistake, however look at Ferari under Todt , they were equally economical with the truth for years.
SmelldaRoses - 15 years ago
This Stewarts enquiry reminds me of the final 'big' scene in the film "Scent of a Woman".
How dare the IFA discard the integrity of any person, especially a young man's by calling his dedication to his team into question. It's precisely this sort of accusatory official humiliation that breeds back-stabbing and underhand favouritism in so many walks of life and strangles the spirit of what sport has always been about - fun. Shame on you, IFA - You're ruining the sport.
Gilraen Ivorwen - 15 years ago
Lewis is a smart driver Dominic J who understands and knows the rules well. Ryan may have made a huge mistake being a manager, but Lewis has lied. Nothing more, nothing less. And I do hope that he learns, but I doubt it.
And as far as admitting it blongden? Not until there was no way out and then quickly the blame was put entirely onto Ryan's place by the team. Politics :-(
And Stephen Durrant no need to belittle the comments made. It is by no means a small thing. Esdpecially in the light of all that happened in 2007. And before you start: I am one sad McLaren fan and not of the opposition.
Seems to me that he hadn't thought things through before the stewards meeting. Then followed a comedy of errors, worsening the situation at every stage. I don't think he needs any further punishment (but then I wouldn't have punished Bourdais at Monza or Vettel last week).
blongden - 15 years ago
Everyone makes mistakes. At least he's admitted it. Time will tell if he's learnt to be able to stand up for himself now!
toastiejoe - 15 years ago
He's an immature young man that should not have listened to his team boss. He will learn a lot from this. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that it was team orders not his idea to be try to get away with the BS line they pulled with the FIA.
Crikey. Calm down everybody. This can't be the first F1 untruth, and it won't be the last with characters like Mr Beccles and Mos Eisley around. Let's just brush ourselves down and go racing.
syjones - 15 years ago
How they ever thought they could get away with it is beyond me! You wonder how high in mclaren this decision goes?
Compare this ingrates's response to being caught with that of Schumacher's in monaco 2006. Schumacher didn't say that Ferrari made him do it and that as a result he is contemplating leaving the team. He took the grid penalty, got on with it, and finished 5th. An example of a true racer.
Now, Hamilton on the hand, is a political backstabber on par with Brutus. He will say anything to get himself out of or others into trouble. "It was all Ryan's fault he made lie." I bet he used this one a lot at school: "Miss, it wasn't my fault, my dog ate my homework."
Trulli is just another one Hamilton's victims, just like Alonso was at Hungary 2007.
And this whole spy story that hamilton had no clue that mcclaren were stealing ferrari's data is as believable as his latest lie. Why would mcclaren tell de la rosa and alonso but not hamilton?
And every time the FIA doesn't comply with his petulance he threatens to quit.
In Japan 2007 when his behavior behind the safety car was rightly questioned, he threatened to quit. in the 2008 pre-season when he encountered racists he threatened to quit. And now, when he is about to be punished for cheating and defrauding trulli out of a podium, he has once more threatened to quit.
I say enough with his empty threats and that, for once, he should follow up on them.
Lewis has proved himself to be a very immature young man with this stunt. When you think about it, it's not surprising as he has had his father holding his hand for all these years and McLaren Management dong the same in his F1 career to date. Very few times has he had to make any decisions off the track without these people. Along comes Dave Ryan, unaware that Lewis had already talked to the press about allowing Trulli by, and tells him to lie..Lewis makes the wrong choice....Good for him that he made the apology but THIS FORMER McLaren and Lewis Hamilton fan doesn't buy any of it.
I do sincerely hope the FIA punish both Lewis and McLaren to the effect that they will not be able to compete for the Championships this year, although having said that, the shitbox they have built looks like it doesn't made a sod of difference.
If Mr. Hamilton has half a brain he would leave McLaren at the earliest opportunity.
I think that Lewis is an ultra competitor in the mould of MS and he struggles to know when to stop competing.
Nothing wrong with it, and as with MS it takes nothing away from his skills as a driver.
He knew exactly what he was doing.
The reader ( "SmelldaRoses" ) who claims similarity with the scene in 'Scent of a Woman' needs to watch that film again, and perhaps to read up a bit on basic logic. he also needs to acquaint himself with the actual initials of the sport's governing body, which are not IFA, but FIA. And if you think that acceptance of lies is better for "the sport", you, sir, have not the faintest idea of what sport means.
The difference between the conduct of the character played by
Chris O'Donnell and the conduct of Lewis Hamilton is that O'Donnell's character refused to snitch on people, whereas Hamilton said what he was told to say when he knew that in
so doing he was lying. The two cases are far from being similar.
Characters like Hamilton are the sort which detract from the goodness of sport. Ask yourself this : do you think that Stirling Moss would have lied when told to do so ?
F1 used to be a gentleman's sport. But these days it's all about
money, thanks to the likes of Bernie and Max, and all I can hope is that these two will leave the field sooner rather than later.
What is amazing is how Mclaren got themselves into this mess. As far as the liars, i think not only Dave Ryan should have been suspended i think Whitmarsh needed to make a step to the front and make some disciplinary action againste Hamilton too, even if he was "mislead" by Ryan. The apology press conference was a big mockery, Mclaren CEO should have take matters internally not through the media a penalised both Ryan and Hamilton for bringing the team into disrispute
It doesn't really matter what I or anyone else thinks now. Lewis will get in the car and drive to the best of his ability, that's all that's needed.
As for John above, well you of course are an inspiration to the world. Succinct sentencing, prose and rhyme. It is no wonder you are headline news every other day of the week - be it for good or bad. You really do deserve the position you've earned through hard work and dedication.
You know, not like the WDC of Lewis Hamilton or the successful F1 journalist James Allen. You have reached the heady heights of an insignificant comment on a small poll-blog somewhere in the internet. Please, let's see your amazing trophy cabinet!
It's not Lewis or James that are wankers - it is of course an award you alone can have all to yourself...
Oh, John ... clearly natural selection has not done YOU any favours ...
Hamilton is a wanker and so are you James, piss off and go cover the Chess
world championship.
Are we forgetting that this is the guy who wouldn't let Alonso go by when instructed to by the team in Hungary 07?? I for one don't believe his "I'm sorry" routine. I think he knew what he was doing and the fact that he claimed he didn't lie after the stewards had taken away 3rd from him proves it. But really, who cares!!!! fine take away 3rd, give it to him, do whatever. Its not like he's gonna get another podium finish this yr. Don't kid yourselves. They are all ruthless. That's why we love to watch them race against each other.
pple kicking up so much fuss like F1 is so saintly and run by the vatican. Compared to F1, football is much more honest and even they dont kick up that much fuss over a bout of dishonesty or in ronspeak, *information shortfall*
Well, he's admitted he has lied, but has said he is a liar.
Therefore whether you belive him or not, he is a liar.
McLaren have cocked this up beyond belief.
On reflection the Lewis incident is
a symptom of the nature of modern
sport which is driven by business
interests. The pressures on sportsmen
to win at all costs makes them likely
to make decisions or accept advice
that they would otherwise reject.
Lewis was instructed to lie by senior management. Like any other man his age in a large company, he took instruction from that manager and did what he was told. Although he probably questioned it in his head, he trusted Ryan, with 34 years at McLaren, had better judgement of the situation. I think he was truly sorry for what he had done. He is still learning, still growing up, and it was wrong, as it is for anyone in the position Ryan was, to take advantage of his naivity, and possibly his trusting nature, after all, Hamilton said last year he sees McLaren as a family. If you can't trust family who can you trust?
I am a huge Hamilton fan and I simply can't believe McLaren guys thought that they could get away with this knowing that FIA will do anything to put them down... such a shame for Hamilton, but I'm sure he will only come stronger.
If it were possible, I'd love to see how people were voting by location (e.g. 90% of Italian voters think Lewis is a liar)
Bored, bored, bored. Can we go racing now. Please.
I suppose either way you read it, Whitmarsh is either lying, in which case he should be gone, or he has no management skills, in which case he should also go. It is just inconceivable that even if Ryan and Ham lied to the stewards as alleged, that Whitmarsh would not question the severity of the outcome (to Trulli) at all or was happy to accept it .. The whole thing smells like a botched job which they just made worse by attempting to cover it with another layer of lies...
I think what happened was exactly what LH said happened: he was in a whirl of activity, he didn't think, he did what he was told to. However, he SHOULD have stepped up and said he'd made an "error" BEFORE he was busted.
Hamilton sounded genuine and contrite at his "apology" press conference, but one can't help wondering if there is still another layer...did he really go into the stewards meeting intending to tell the "whole truth" only to be led astray at the last moment? he claims that it all happened so fast that there was no time to think, but I feel there might have been complicity by Hamilton to a greater degree. I think Ryan might be taking the fall for the team, and anyway even if no-one else was involved, as soon as the stewards hearing was over the team must have de-briefed Hamilton/Ryan. How they thought they could get away with it and just stay shtum is beyond belief. If at that stage Whitmarsh had gone back to the stewards and said listen guys this is the real story, it might have ended there and then.
I am still actually stunned that Dave Ryan has ben suspended, I bet the guy is gutted after being at McLaren for 34 years. Yes they made a mistake, however look at Ferari under Todt , they were equally economical with the truth for years.
This Stewarts enquiry reminds me of the final 'big' scene in the film "Scent of a Woman".
How dare the IFA discard the integrity of any person, especially a young man's by calling his dedication to his team into question. It's precisely this sort of accusatory official humiliation that breeds back-stabbing and underhand favouritism in so many walks of life and strangles the spirit of what sport has always been about - fun. Shame on you, IFA - You're ruining the sport.
Lewis is a smart driver Dominic J who understands and knows the rules well. Ryan may have made a huge mistake being a manager, but Lewis has lied. Nothing more, nothing less. And I do hope that he learns, but I doubt it.
And as far as admitting it blongden? Not until there was no way out and then quickly the blame was put entirely onto Ryan's place by the team. Politics :-(
And Stephen Durrant no need to belittle the comments made. It is by no means a small thing. Esdpecially in the light of all that happened in 2007. And before you start: I am one sad McLaren fan and not of the opposition.
Believe what? What he told the stewards or what he said in his apology?
Seems to me that he hadn't thought things through before the stewards meeting. Then followed a comedy of errors, worsening the situation at every stage. I don't think he needs any further punishment (but then I wouldn't have punished Bourdais at Monza or Vettel last week).
Everyone makes mistakes. At least he's admitted it. Time will tell if he's learnt to be able to stand up for himself now!
He's an immature young man that should not have listened to his team boss. He will learn a lot from this. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that it was team orders not his idea to be try to get away with the BS line they pulled with the FIA.
Crikey. Calm down everybody. This can't be the first F1 untruth, and it won't be the last with characters like Mr Beccles and Mos Eisley around. Let's just brush ourselves down and go racing.
How they ever thought they could get away with it is beyond me! You wonder how high in mclaren this decision goes?