Is he for real?
Wednesday, August 29th, 2007I haven’t blogged much since the start of the season. I’m certainly following the season just as intently as I have any other season and I haven’t given up on F1 as someone suggested in an email wondering why I don’t post more items on the blog. To be honest I just haven’t had much to say. This has been an interesting season with a tight championship and the intrigue of a soap opera off the track.
I would say the biggest story this season has been the emergence of Lewis Hamilton as a championship favorite. He burst unto the F1 season after a very successful career in the lower formula including wining the GP2 title last year. From the first race in Australia through last weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix I get asked repeatedly by friends and family if Lewis Hamilton is the real deal or is he just another good driver in a great car. My answer is always the same. Look at how he does against his teammate (he has outperformed his double world champion teammate on several occasions) and just look at the way he drives. I think Hamilton is one of the best pure talented racing drivers we’ve seen since Michael Schumacher burst unto the scene in the 90’s. To my friends and family and anyone else that’ll listen I point out his exceptional braking ability as proof of his massive talent. Don’t get me wrong, he is gifted in almost every aspect of driving a race car but his overtaking skills under heavy braking is second to none and that shows not only physical talent but mental toughness as well. I don’t want to post about the Hamilton Effect and all the hype surrounding this young driver. I just want to leave with a small clip of what he did on the track last year in a GP2 race in Turkey. He spun early in the race and fell to nearly last place but he finished the race in second place. Marvel at the skill to achieve this result.
My favourite move has to be the move for second place toward the end of the clip. Look how far back he comes from to make that move. A lesser driver would have ended up off the track!
