For as long as most can remember, Lewis Hamilton has retained his title as the king of the Formula One grid and until recently it’s a position that has remained unchallenged. For this very reason, the F1 community has placed Hamilton on an elite pedestal next to the likes of Michael Schumacher and Aryton Senna and if the world ran by the numbers, you couldn’t really mount much of an argument. Alongside an impressive resume of other broken records, Hamilton has led 5,126 laps out of a possible 15,588 in cars that make others look like horse-drawn carts. This distinct advantage over the rest of the field is something that Hamilton has grown with throughout his Formula One career, first starting as Ron Dennis’ wunderkind before moving to become the centre piece of Toto Wolf’s Mercedes empire. Now, I’ll be the first to admit, Hamilton is a great driver and when combined with a car that leans on every possible rule violation, its a recipe for a multiple time world champion. However, what has remained a major chink in the Brit’s armour is his lack of toughness and positive psychology - especially when he has to look at the back of a rivals car.
The psychology of any athlete is their most significant asset. Even with world class talent and ability, an athlete such as Hamilton can still be pushed to failure due to a lack of psychological toughness. We’ve seen several examples of this throughout Hamilton’s career, but the most significant came in his season long battle with team mate Nico Rosberg in 2016. With Hamilton proving himself as the superior driver, Rosberg needed to develop another weapon to use in his bid to become a F1 world champion and utilised Hamiltons renown psychological weakness to his advantage. The odd press conference comment and aggressive driving manoeuvre proved effective and Nico took the title and retired.
This season could prove to be a repeat of history. Hamilton finds himself in a very similar position against a arguably much greater opponent in Max Verstappen. In last week’s Monaco Grand Prix, Hamilton acted more like a petulant child than a multiple time world champion, constantly complaining about things that were well within his control. After starting the race in 6th, he was unable to find any pace out of his Mercedes and sat 3 positions behind team mate Valteri Bottas who retired suspiciously early in the race due to a over-tightened wheel nut. Nevertheless, surely a driver of Hamilton’s calibre would be able to gain a few places? Nope. Instead, he decided to sit and sulk behind the Alpha Tauri of Pierre Gasly and pick up a measly 7 points. Hardly the effort of a champion. Do you think Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell or Michael Schumacher would have done the same?
For me Hamiltons weak psychology is the deciding factor in why he will never be regarded as ‘the greatest’ - no matter what piece of paper or stat line people come up with. His current attitude represents that of an athlete who has been given every winning opportunity and is just now beginning to get a taste of what the view is like from further down the podium. His humbleness and character as a winner should be commended but his attitude and temperament as a loser leaves much to be desired.
 |
| Lewis Hamilton - yahoo.com |
Comments
Post a Comment