Frustrated Hamilton Apologises

Lewis Hamilton has gone back to the FIA stewards at Monaco and to explain and apologise for his comments in live interview with BBC TV.

The Frustrated driver was being asked how his race went when he commented that he is the only driver being called in to the stewards after almost every race. He wondered if he was being victimised and when asked why he thought that was he replied, "I don't know, maybe its because of I'm black. That's what Ali G says."

Lewis was clearly fed-up with the way the race turned out for him but, apart from his poor qualifying, there is nowhere to place the blame but on himself. He claimed that Massa and Maldonaldo turned in on him deliberately as he tried to pass, but it was obvious from the TV coverage that he was nowhere near alongside at the point of contact. It was clear that Hamilton was trying far too hard to get a result from a race where he felt he had a chance of victory, and instead cost himself a good result.

Hamilton's post-race outburst could be the thing that costs him more though. His comments, although spoken in a humorous way, won't be taken that way by a lot of people and will surely turn some people against him. There is also the chance of a fine from the FIA for bringing the sport into disrepute.

Personally, I still think he is a great driver who really needs to learn when to keep his mouth shut. Its great to hear someone speak their mind, but on live TV, not a good plan. Its a shame that he is likely to be attacked by the press over what was essentially an off-the-cuff, poor taste joke, but again there is only one person to blame. His best plan now is to get a public apology out, keep quiet and deliver the best race of his life at Canada.

They Think Its All Over!

It is now (appeals notwithstanding). Well I think disappointing is the correct word for that. After 4 secs of excitement at the start of the first lap it all went dismally down to nothing for Lewis Hamilton. As the saying goes, not with a bang, but a whimper.

I suppose we should be celebrating Kimi Raikonnen winning the championship and I'm sure some are, but from here it seems as though Lewis lost it instead. After all the drama this season, to have it decided by a mechanical (nearly) failure is just about as typical as it gets. You have to say though, it couldn't have gone to a more dull person. I always try to hold firmly in mind the moment when Martin Brundle found Kimi for a grid walk interview in 2006 at Interlagos. On live ITV with (as Martin likes to remind us once per race) 5 million people watching, the conversation began...

"Did you catch the presentation?" says Martin referring to the Schumacher retirement special which had just finished.
"No," says Kimi, deadpan as ever, "I was taking a shit."

Its moments like that that make sporting heroes, but with Kimi he does his best to send you to sleep the rest of the time.

I still don't get where McLaren's strategist in charge of Hamilton's race comes from. Wherever it is, is not somewhere they value being able to think on your feet or adapt quickly to changing situations. Three pit stops? Hello!! I'm pretty sure that was a bad idea well before the race, but to not be able to see that it was a bad idea during the race is unbelievable.

At least Fernando didn't win though. I think the smugness would have been unbearable. As it is his comments after the race do kind of beggar belief. I think its fairly safe to assume he won't be working with McLaren next year after that little lot. But then again stranger things have happened.

It kind of pains me to be nasty about him because previously I've enjoyed watching his driving. Who can forget the all-time classic "giving the finger to another driver whilst travelling backwards around Monaco with only two wheels on your car". I still laugh about it now, then I remember it was Fernando and I calm down again. That was a moment of genius though. Most people would have been far to busy crashing to even think about it. But again, he has shown extreme dedication to slagging others off when he could just concentrate on beating them instead.

Oh well, I'm sure we'll have just as much fun next year watching the same old circus roll around again. But for now we get a holiday. Lets make the most of it!

Jason Plato Loses BTCC Title

Well thats how I saw it anyway. Giovanardi hung on a couple of places in front of Plato the whole way through the third race of the day to take the BTCC title by 3 points.

After Jason's adventures this week filming for the poor man's Top Gear, Fifth Gear, it seems like a pretty poor payback for one of his better years racing. An awful lot of effort essentially gone for want of a better start. I reckon if he had got away with Fabrizio he would have been making life a lot tricker for the Italian.

Nice to see he didn't give up without a fight though, and surprising to see Matt Neal chip in on his future employers side. I was expecting a fight if Plato and Neal got involved with each other but I wasn't expecting Neal to so obviously help out a team he isn't a part of. Team tactics don't bother me in motor racing. I think its as much part of the sport as the occasional bash is in BTCC. But normally you are meant to be in the team before you start playing team tactics! It could just be that its Matt Neal though. He is one of those people who (for some reason or another) annoys me slightly just by being around. Maybe its his extreme height or the fact that he is so ready to blame someone else for ramming him and not so quick to own up when he rams someone else.