A Win Like No Other

Wow. The comments I’ve read lurking on various F1 forums are enough to justify my despair at Jenson joining McLaren. I knew that Hamilton’s fan-boys would come up with every excuse in the book before admitting that Jenson is an equally good driver, albeit with a different set of skills from Hamilton.

1. Jenson made the decision to change onto slicks because his inters were shot, ergo indicating that the track was dry. Nobody drives better on a drying track than him, so if his tyres were gone it was for a reason.

2. Lewis ‘Toys Out Of The Pram’ Hamilton could not make the same judgement call. If indeed there was nothing wrong with his tyres and a second stop was unnecessary, why did he not tell the team so?

3. Much is being made of Hamilton’s pass on Jenson, but everyone seems to forget that he passed him on lap 1, too, and Jenson got straight back at him. But of course, that probably doesn’t count for some erroneous reason.

4. Look at the attitudes of both drivers. To me it seems that Hamilton automatically assumes that any glory coming to McLaren must be delivered by him. Jenson was surprised and modest in victory, asserting that even he thought it would take him longer to settle into the car and deliver the results he’s capable of.

If Hamilton is not careful, if he does not learn to contain his frustrations and control his tongue, he will soon find that the affable, likeable, laid-back character of Jenson will pull the team around him.

This was an important win for Jenson, possibly the most important of his career, and the McLaren team were obviously very emotional about it. Hell, I was strangely emotional about it. I make no secret of my dislike of Hamilton and I’m so incredibly happy that Jenson won a race this season before him. I am also proud of the maturity Jenson showed in his decision about his tyres, and the fact that everyone from the team wanted the media and fans to know it was all down to him.

Say what you like about his driving. When Jenson wins a race there’s always some excuse about how he was ‘lucky’ (despite the fact that Alonso had similar ‘luck’ winning in Bahrain). But the fact is he won his second race for a new team, over a driver that many consider ‘superior’. What they fail to realise is that this perceived superiority is simply a difference in driving styles.