F1 Blog

I’m scared for Tyler…

So, Hamilton it is then. Good. Now we can get on with our lives.
But I have a fear. Many fears infact, but the point is that I can’t help but worry about poor old Tyler.
Because he must have the worst job in the world.
Now don’t get me wrong, being an F1 driver is just about the most perfect thing anyone can do. I mean the job of being a young hopeful Brit at the wheel of an F1 car.

We were there before. Nigel Mansell. Damon Hill. Even Coulthard looked like he had a chance of being champion once. Then we had Jenson. And now we have Tyler.

Since Damon Hill won the Championship, being a Brit in F1 got exponentially worse. Because now they had an F1 champion for the first time since loooooong, and they were looking for the next one under every rock.
Even though Hill was a good driver, his Championship win was more because of what he drove and not how he drove. And that made him look a lot better than he actually was.

Jenson was a different story. He was being hyped up like you wouldn’t believe before he even had a chance to prove himself. He started in 2000 at Williams, a top 5 team at that time. And he absolutely did not deliver.
So they said, okay, he’s just starting this F1 thing, let’s give him some time to gel. So they did. And 3 years later his performance was better than before, but still no earth shattering things were happening. Was all this faith placed in that young man misplaced? He was definitely not the ‘new Schumacher’ as he was called when he started in F1.

It must be terrible having such high hopes and such pressure on your shoulders when you’re a young lad
just starting in F1. It must be even worse when 5 years down the line, you still have yet to grab your first race win. Granted, he did get 3rd place in the championship in 2004, but realistically he had no hope in hell of finishing any higher at that time. Not with the red guys in front winning absolutely everything, and handing everyone else their asses, race after race.

So Hungary 2006 must have been a relief. After such a long time, he finally got that ‘1st win’ monkey off his back. I shall not analyze that race, because it would mainly prove that even though he won, it was hardly because he was a good driver, but rather, every other good driver failed to finish, and he just there to steal their places(See also : Olivier Panis, Monaco 1996).

But I hope to GOD that Hamilton is all he is cracked up to be. I have seen some of his F2 races and must say I am impressed. That 3-car wide move at Silverstone last year is already a classic. But then again I watched Sato race in F3 and kick everyone’s ass too, so previous results say nothing in F1.

Whether or not he will adapt to the style of F1, will have to do how he reacts to the pressure the British media is putting on him. And on top of that, he’ll always be known as ‘the first black driver in F1′, which adds even more tension. I so, so hope that he will be able to handle it all, and that he is a true racer that can surprise us, and wow the audience with his skill.

But you have to admit, his predecessors, who were all called ‘golden boys’ at their time, did not deliver. Here’s to hoping he will break the streak.

Tags: lewis hamilton