F1 - GP (General Purpose)

Chode ^ | 8/5/2009 | Chode

[Chode]

This will be a general purpose thread for F1 news and pings that really don't require a thread of their own.

[mabarker1]

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar - Rolex 24 Daytona

Saturday 01/25/2025
1:30pm-2:30pm (L) - NBC
1:30pm-11:59pm (L) - Peacock
2:30pm-6:30pm (L) - USA

Sunday, January 26
12:00am-2:00pm (L) - Peacock
12:00pm-2:00pm (L) - NBC

[Chode]

thx

[Paal Gulli]

                                                                                  (all objects shown actual size)

Hambone posted the über-dramatic photo of himself (above, left) with the F-40. Note the trademark narrowed gaze, stern grimmace, Godfather-esque wide stance, overcoat-over-the-shoulders and theatrically clasped hands. I've not seen anyone who is needlessly famous working this hard at pretending to be a tough guy since Justin Beiber.

On seeing this absurd bit of self-promotion, Jeremy Clarkilton (as he then spelled it) countered with the image at right.

Jezza is almost as big a fan of Hambone as am I. Almost. Regarding the move the the Scuderia, he said ...

“Lewis Hamilton is past his prime. He blamed his car for his tail-end qualifying session but his teammate, George Russell, was on the front row. Of course, it’s possible that because Lewis is moving to Ferrari next year, the team are filling his fuel tank with lemon barley water instead of petrol, but that seems unlikely. It’s far more probable that he’s now too old.”

Or maybe because he was never that good to start with, and for six seasons he was gifted with a car so fast that no one apart from his own teammate ever stood a chance of catching him.

But in all likelihood, the truth will come out, sooner rather than later.

[Paal Gulli]

It's awfully quiet around here, so ....

Jacky Ickx says that Hambone is a DEI hire at Ferrari.

Of course Ickx is more diplomatic about it, saying that "...Ferrari were tempted to sign Hamilton, probably for marketing reasons...."

"For marketing reasons." "Probably." But what is it that's unique about Hambone that makes him so "marketable?"

He's not the reigning World Driving Champion, so it can't be that.

Not only is he not the fastest driver in F1 (only coming 7th in WDC for the 2024 season), he wasn't even the fastest driver on his own team (finishing the season 9% of points adrift of his teammate, despite the teammate getting zero points at Spa--which he initially had won--DQ'd for his car being 3.3 lbs too light, which was no fault of his), so it can't be that either.

And his music is crap. Of course all cRap is crap, so it's not likely that, either.

So I am hard put to come up with any reason why Ferrari finds him so attractive, apart from the fact that he sells more hair care product and hippity-hop clothes than anyone else in F1. Which comes to the point that Lewis is a DEI hire. If Ickx is right, Ferrari hired him for his ethnicity (even if Jacky didn't phrase it as such).

Which also means Maranello won't be too disappointed if Hambone doesn't win his eighth WDC while wearing their livery because his driving prowess wasn't their principal motivation for hiring him (that, after all, is what Leclerc is for).

And in case you weren't watching, he's already wadded up his first Ferrari F1 car, a serous enough crash that he felt obligated to point out that he didn't get knocked out. And it's not even February yet.

[Chode]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaone/article-14338083/Lewis-Hamilton-CRASHES-testing-Ferrari.html

[mabarker1]

Good hammiebuttboi !!!👏👏👏🤪

[Yo-Yo]

[Chode]

8^)

[Seaplaner]

Mister Hamilton is already proving to be an expensive acquisition for Ferrari, as the horrible decision to hire the over-rated driver already spirals downward.

One doubts that he'll be able to produce anywhere near what the excellent driver Sainz would have done.

[Chode]

“L” in his name now means LIABILITY...

[Seaplaner]

Agreed, but like a football team that pays a bundle for a non-performing athlete, what to do? They want to justify the expense by keeping the player in the lineup, but losing is expensive too.

[Chode]

[BBB333]

‘25 is shaping up to be a good year!

[Chode]

OH Yeah... on fire

[Paal Gulli]

Even one of Hambone's former sponsors is taking a swipe at his macho-man photo shoot.

Meet Kurt Klaus, who on the day this photo was taken was beginning his 68th year with Swiss luxury watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen, which decided to joins with Jezza Clarkinton in taking the piss out of Buttboi's F-40 photo shoot.

He looks every inch the steely-eyed killer, does he not?

https://www.instagram.com/p/DFdNG6jKbqe/?utm_source=ig_embed

[Henchster]

Here is Racing News 365's attempt at revisionist history on Hammy's Liar-Gate:

F1's biggest scandals: Lewis Hamilton disqualified, McLaren employee sacked

In the early stages of his F1 career, Lewis Hamilton was not always the best boy in class. In 2009, his McLaren team forced him to lie. He was caught and disqualified. In our latest article on F1's biggest scandals, here's the full story.

Hamilton, in his first race as reigning world champion, at least finished third after overtaking Jarno Trulli's Toyota under a late safety car after the Italian had skated off the track.

That was fair enough, but what followed led to 'Lie-gate' and Hamilton being disqualified and a long-serving McLaren employee being sacked.

After a crash between Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica late in the race, the safety car was deployed, leading to what turned out to be only the second safety car finish in F1 history.

Behind a Brawn GP one-two spearheaded by Button, Trulli crossed the line third ahead of Hamilton. However, it was suggested that the Italian had passed the British driver under safety car conditions to claim the final podium place.

A stewards' investigation found this to be true, resulting in Trulli being hit with a 25-second time penalty that resulted in Hamilton taking third spot, whilst Trulli was demoted to 12th.

But this was far from the end of the matter as there were additional suggestions Hamilton had been told over team radio to allow Trulli by, which Hamilton obligingly did so on the exit of Turn 4.

Hamilton and team manager Dave Ryan, however, said no instruction was given.

At the next race in Malaysia, an interview was discovered that contradicted their claim. Radio communications proved Hamilton had lied to the stewards, under instruction from Ryan. He had clearly told the Briton to let Trulli through.

Hamilton was promptly disqualified from the Australian GP, and the team was hit with a suspended ban from the FIA, providing no similar incidents occurred again.

Ryan was sacked for misleading the stewards, whilst a repentant Hamilton apologised to the stewards and media.

[Henchster]

Here are the contemporary stories on the scandal - you’ll see Hammy was NOT told to lie - he did it on his own, and then the team lied to try to cover for him, costing Dave Ryan his job, and forcing Ron Dennis to resign, all to save Hammy’s butt:

Hamilton’s first title defence started on a sour note in 2009. He had seemingly managed a podium at the season-opener in Melbourne, but became embroiled in controversy for what happened in the final laps. Running fourth under a late Safety Car, Jarno Trulli ran a bit off line and Hamilton squeezed by for third. Hamilton slowed on the following lap to let Trulli back past under the Safety Car to reclaim third position, after McLaren told him to do it.

However, when speaking to the media after the race, Hamilton lied saying he had received no instruction to let Trulli past, accusing the Italian of passing HIM illegally! The Toyota driver was duly demoted to 12th. The case was reopened at the next race in Malaysia where Hamilton continued to insist he had not been told to let Trulli past. The race director Charlie Whiting specifically asked Hamilton whether he had consciously allowed Trulli to overtake. Hamilton insisted that he had not done so. McLaren’s radio communications proved otherwise.

Hamilton was lucky to simply be disqualified from the race and not the entire season. Team manager Dave Ryan was sacked as a scapegoat to protect Hamilton from further penalty, and McLaren was handed a suspended three-race ban for being “deliberately misleading” for their effort to cover for Hamilton’s lies. Hamilton felt obliged to face the media and apologise to his fans but instead accused Ryan of misleading him! The press response was so negative, he was forced into damage control just 24 hours later in front of the World press in Malaysia:

“I am not a liar, it was a mistake.” Eyes glistening, voice choking back tears, Lewis Hamilton attempted to transform himself into a victim of the press, while simultaneously transforming his story into what he now labelled a “huge mistake.”

But it was a weak performance from a weak actor, and the day ended as it had begun, with serious question marks over the integrity of Hamilton and McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh, who has not ruled out resigning over the latest controversy to cast a shadow over the Woking-based team.

On Thursday, McLaren and Hamilton, 24, were found by the FIA, world motor sport’s governing body, to have given stewards “deliberately misleading” evidence in a post-race hearing following the Australian Grand Prix last Sunday. That false evidence led to race stewards incorectly handing Toyota’s Jarno Trulli a 25-second penalty for passing Hamilton behind the safety car, demoting the Italian from third to 12th.

Ron Dennis departure gets McLaren off hook over Lewis Hamilton ‘lies’

Ron Dennis’s decision to withdraw from Formula One appeared to pay dividends for McLaren on Wednesday as they escaped with a suspended three-race ban for lying to stewards.

Although former sporting director Dave Ryan was sacked for his part in McLaren’s attempt to cover for Hamilton’s lies, former McLaren chairman Ron Dennis has also been under suspicion ever since his decision to withdraw from the sport in the wake of the scandal.

On Wednesday, as relieved McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh emerged from a 50 minute hearing with his team in the clear, the sense that Dennis had paid the biggest price for his role in the affair was unavoidable.

In a comment which appeared to be a reference to Dennis’s decision to step sideways and become executive chairman of McLaren Automotive, Whitmarsh said afterwards: “Anyone involved in a decision to mislead the stewards has now left.” He conveniently forgot about Hamilton.

And Max Mosley, the FIA president, added to the intrigue later when reporters asked him if he felt McLaren had got off lightly.

“I don’t think so, because in the end there were decisions taken by people who are no longer involved, and that being the case it would have been unfair to have gone on with the matter,” said Mosley.

TRANSCRIPT OF THE RADIO TRANSMISSION

Lewis Hamilton: The Toyota went off in a line at the second corner, I overtook him, is that OK?

Team: Understood, Lewis. We’ll confirm and get back to you.

LH: He was off the track. He went wide.

Team: Lewis, you need to allow the Toyota through. Allow the Toyota through now.

LH: OK.

LH: He’s slowed right down in front of me.

Team: OK, Lewis. Stay ahead for the time being. Stay ahead. We will get back to you. We are talking to Charlie.

LH: I let him past already.

Team: OK, Lewis. That’s fine. That’s fine. Hold position. Hold position.

LH: Tell Charlie I already overtook him. I just let him past.

Team: I understand Lewis. We are checking. Now can we go to yellow G 5, yellow Golf 5.

LH: I don’t have to let him past I should be able to take that position back, if he made a mistake.

Team: Yes, we understand Lewis. Let’s just do it by the book. We are asking Charlie now. You are in P4. If you hold this position. Just keep it together...

...Team: OK, Lewis, this is the last lap. At the end of the lap the safety car will come in, you just proceed over the line without overtaking, without overtaking. We are looking into the Trulli thing, but just hold position.

But after discovering that Hamilton and Dave Ryan, McLaren’s sporting director, had provided inaccurate information about the incident, the FIA subsequently stripped Hamilton of his podium finish and reinstated Trulli to third.

Hamilton had told stewards he had not been told to allow Trulli to pass him when the opposite was true, as proved by team radio transmissions.

“I could not tell you how sorry I am for the embarrassment,” Hamilton said. “I sincerely apologise to the race stewards for wasting their time and making them look silly.

“When I went into the meeting, I had no intention to lie. I just wanted to tell my story and see what happened. I was misled [by Ryan] and that’s just how it went.

“I want to say sorry to all my fans. I am not a liar or a dishonest person, I am a team player. If the team ask me to do something, I generally do it.

“But I felt awkward and uncomfortable. This is not an easy thing to do, to step back and realise I was in the wrong. But I was in the wrong, I was misled.

“For me, the situation is definitely the worst thing I’ve experienced in my life. That is why I am here. It is right for me as a human being and as a man to stand in front of you all and tell you exactly what went on and put up my hands. I cannot tell you how sorry I am.”

McLaren’s top brass awoke on Friday morning to the headlines that they had been dreading: Hamilton had been labelled a “cheat” and a “liar” in nearly every newspaper in the western world. It was clear that something had to give and Ryan, who has been with McLaren for 35 years, was duly suspended by the team and had cleared his bags and left for England by lunchtime. Whitmarsh claimed that Ryan had not been “entirely full and truthful with the answers he gave” to the stewards and had left the team with “no alternative but to suspend him”.

Whitmarsh said: “He did not set out with a deliberate intention to mislead, but during the course of the meeting he was not as clear as he should have been. He made a very serious error of judgment and is paying the consequences for that.”

For many paddock observers it seemed proof of the adage, “in times of trouble, deputy heads will roll”. How much did Whitmarsh know of the contents of the stewards’ meeting on Sunday? For a start, it was he who lodged the protest in the first place and set the ball rolling.

“We asked for the race control and the stewards to look into it and Dave and Lewis went to the stewards to give their account,” Whitmarsh admitted yesterday.

Even if Whitmarsh did not know on Sunday, he must surely have known by Thursday, when the hearing was reopened in light of “new evidence”. Would he not then have made sure to find out from his employees what had been said in Sunday’s meeting?

And then there is Hamilton’s story. If he was so anxious over his role in the hearing last Sunday, why would he not have gone to Whitmarsh or Ron Dennis and confessed what he had done. And why did he not tell Ryan that he had already given a television interview which was going to contradict the line that they were taking?

There are so many holes in this story that it is questionable how far we can take Hamilton or Whitmarsh’s comments on Friday at face value.

The FIA are certainly hedging their bets. “We recognise Lewis’ efforts to set the record straight today,” said a spokesman. “It would appear that he was put in an impossible position. We are now awaiting reports from the FIA observer and stewards before consideration can be given to further investigation of the team’s conduct. We cannot rule out the matter being referred to the World Council.”

There is no way that we have heard the last of this. As welcome and as heartfelt as Hamilton’s apology was on Friday, there are far too many inconsistencies in what both he and McLaren are telling us.

[mabarker1]

Which team are you most looking
forward to seeing at F1 75 Live?

[BBB333]

“Which team are you most looking forward to seeing at F1 75 Live?”

---

Respectfully, none. I will not be there or watching...

Looking forward to the first race though!

Stay well!

[Paal Gulli]

The Chrome Gnome says Hambone won't last long at Ferrari because he's too ghetto.

Of course that's filtered through my disgronification circuitry, translating Bernie's politically correct hoodoo into plain English. What he really said was...

"..."He won't last that long..."

"...He's getting tired. He has lost motivation. If he had never won a world championship, it might be different, because then there would be an incentive to win one. But he has won seven..."

"...Lewis gets himself up front in a way where you can dislike him. How a guy who has won a few world titles and has a few dollars in the bank can dress the way he dresses? I'm not a fan of that.

"He has a lot of talent as a driver. As much as people credit him with? No, but still enough to win races.

"I don't know why he does all this other nonsense. He needs to get out of the music business and whatever else...."