'Twittergate' affair. (Lewis revealed a telemetry sheet over the social network)

[CNR]

F1: Rival Teams To Study Hamilton Telemetry - Horner (http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-rival-teams-to-study-lewis-hamilton-telemetry-horner)

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh has hinted Lewis Hamilton is lucky to avoid an internal punishment as the result of the 'Twittergate' affair.

The 2008 world champion is believed to have been scolded behind closed doors for publishing a highly-confidential telemetry sheet to his million Twitter followers.

Some paddock insiders believe it's the tip of the iceberg as Hamilton wages "war" with the British team over his unsigned 2013 contract.

[Zico]

"From what I understand it was car data, and if it was car data then I'm sure every engineer in the pitlane is having a very close look at it," said Horner.

I doubt it was that revealing that other teams will learn much from it... just an easy opportunity to unsettle Lewis for the next race methinks.

[ArrowsFA1]

The bones of this story have already been picked over elsewhere.

[Mia 01]

In anger of being outqualied by his teammate he revealed secret from his team. It was unforgivable and moore.

It´s about trust.

[Zico]

In anger of being outqualied by his teammate he revealed secret from his team.

What secret would that be? He revealed nothing that couldn't be found out by other means.

Paddy Lowe- "The information on there is available via normal routes anyway," he said. "Most teams will have a way of finding out the information in there.

[CNR]

you do have to ask is it not like spygate ?
http://i49.tinypic.com/16gkf7r.jpg

[driveace]

Stupid of Lewis,to even think of doing this,it was also HIS choice what downforce he ran in Spa and no one elses.The fact that Bunsen decided to run a low downforce,and it worked for him,and well done to him.Lewis needs to get his head down and race as hard as he can,and show McLaren that he can win this years championship and stop being a spoilt brat ,other wise I could start supporting the Spaniard,and I dont mean PDR !

[Mia 01]

It´s about trust. Which team will trust a driver who reveal such secrets to all and everyone.

All development of the car will from now on lay on Buttons shoulders.

[F1boat]

I am sad to see that the Lewis fanboys so desperately defend even his silliest moves. I think that this outburst again highlighted the burning arrogance of this young man, who always thinks that he is highlighted to win everything. In F1 most of the drivers have to believe that they are the best, but I am simply disgusted from Lewis. A fast driver, but a petty and unpleasant human.

[Bagwan]

Doesn't it seem there was far too much distance between the two cars , in terms of lap times ?
It seems there's enough to have been a wet/dry set-up difference , yet nobody , including Lewis , has mentioned it .
So , how could they have gotten it so far wrong ?

Was Button magic here , or was there something fishy going on during contract time ?

[Knock-on]

F1boat. That post is below you. Stop with the Fanboy nonsense and point out where anyone has agreed this was a clever thing to do. It was stupid but no big deal. That's all.

As for Lewis personally, I know you have never met him which is why your ignorance can be excused but really????

[AndyL]

Doesn't it seem there was far too much distance between the two cars , in terms of lap times ?
It seems there's enough to have been a wet/dry set-up difference , yet nobody , including Lewis , has mentioned it .
So , how could they have gotten it so far wrong ?

Was Button magic here , or was there something fishy going on during contract time ?

Interesting conspiracy theory :)

Surely it's as simple as what's already been stated, they had no dry running on Friday and the difference between the old and new rear wings was greater than they expected. McLaren have had some unsuccessful attempts at upgrades this year, just unfortunate for Lewis that the one his side of the garage decided to pass on turned out to be a really good one.

[Bagwan]

Interesting conspiracy theory :)

Surely it's as simple as what's already been stated, they had no dry running on Friday and the difference between the old and new rear wings was greater than they expected. McLaren have had some unsuccessful attempts at upgrades this year, just unfortunate for Lewis that the one his side of the garage decided to pass on turned out to be a really good one.

It wouldn't be the first time that a team worked at manipulating a contract negotiation .

The rest of the teams should be worried about the pace of Button .
Spa is a long track , so perhaps it is a little exaggerated , but he was into the distance at the start , without any DRS help for the whole race .
While he was in clean air , it is also logical to assume he wasn't pushing , so as to run the one-stop .
So , presumably , he could have gone faster .

McLaren is not a team that usually gets it this wrong .

We should remember that the old configuration of the wing really wasn't so bad , and that he was on the rough pace of the rest .

It just seems to fit perfectly , that they could use the opportunity to split them , with the added benefit of having Lewis on the back foot in negotiations worth million$ .
In fact , that they didn't just say they wanted to split the strategies seems fishy in itself .

Lewis twittering the sheet is a "not my fault" kind of reaction , so he must have felt he was being seen as responsible , and wanted to clear it up .
It shows that he feels that he got some bad advice .

It's probably a good thing , in a way , that Lewis's race ended where it did , for if he had had to battle through , it might have underlined further how bad that advice actually was .
It sure would have been fun to watch , though .

[Tazio]

This thing has been way overhyped. At the very worst all that information will do for the competiton is serve as a reference to validate the sonic analysis that all teams already use to know what the competition is up to. It's still a dumb move by the Boss

[christophulus]

I think it's been blown out of proportion. If anything Hamilton was probably trying too hard to give his followers (which number nearly 1 million on Twitter) a bit of behind the scenes info, something McLaren seem much more willing to do recently than compared to previous years when everything was top secret. Just look at all the slightly tongue in cheek adverts they've been doing with Vodafone etc, trying to be a more accessible fan-friendly team.

And as has been pointed out, what is that telemetry going to tell the other teams that they don't know already? It's one lap around one circuit, hardly enough to start drawing conclusions from. Any rival team member worth their salt will already know the McLaren inside out from just watching them! If he'd taken a photo of the inside of the engine bay or something then I might believe these conspiracy theories..

[gloomyDAY]

I wonder if Lewis has been losing fans and ostracizing his crew in the paddock. I'm no longer a fan of Lewis Hamilton because his last outburst, placing sensitive information on a bleepin' Twitter tweet, has got me shaking my head. I did like his personality when he exploded onto the scene in 2007, but 5 years later and that's all gone.

Lewis has been surrounding himself with bad people. I think it's a case of young love in that Nicole S. has Lewis in the palm of her hand. Ever since she's been in the garage Lewis has been erratic, caring more about his reputation by hanging out with big wigs than his racing, and lost to a teammate ever in his F1 career.

The guy is amazingly fast, but his head just isn't in the right place. Lewis' management team is awful too! I'm not too sure as to why Lewis hasn't gone back to his father because Anthony Hamilton really kept the trash outside the door and kept Lewis focused on racing. I want the old Lewis Hamilton back in F1. Today's Lewis is confused, downtrodden, and misdirected.

/rant

[F1boat]

F1boat. That post is below you. Stop with the Fanboy nonsense and point out where anyone has agreed this was a clever thing to do. It was stupid but no big deal. That's all.

As for Lewis personally, I know you have never met him which is why your ignorance can be excused but really????
Point taken. As a human in his personal life he may be the most pleasant man on the planet. As a person who is part of the second most successful team in F1 he, however, isn't. Most annoying driver today by far. At least for me. If it wasn't for McLaren he would not have won anything at all. I think that he has no right to treat them like this.
P.S. I also apologize if someone is insulted from my post, but I still think that this outburst is a serious breach of trust and "a big deal". Christian Horner indicated that "Red Bull" found the tweets useful and he would have punished his drivers, if they have tweeted such info.

[TheFamousEccles]

I've wanted to like this guy, but since his half-arsed Ali G outburst, he just comes over as petulant and self absorbed, IMO. Granted the info he posted might have been innocuous, but I have no doubt commercial-in-confidence issues are just the start of the arse kicking he is going to get from Whitmarsh.

[F1boat]

First of all, I think that what Lewis did in twitter is way lamer than what Christian Horner said. Not to mention the reaction of Alex Wurz, which was hillarious. Like it or not Lewis made a pathetic outburst which make him look like a petulant, spoiled brat. But he was always like that IMO and he showed his true colors after the qualifying in Monaco 2007...
Also, just like FamousEccles, I wanted to like the guy, because when I like all top drivers I have only positive emotions from the sport. I am aware that what he does is inspiring, especially for people who are not Caucasians. The attitude however ruins everything. About the excuse that Lewis is "just human" and the others are PR robots. Which others? Kimi, who has a unique attitude and in the same time has never backstabbed his team, not even in 2008? Seb, who is a kid and sometimes still acts like a kid, but have never, ever betrayed Red Bull? Please. To be a human doesn't mean that you have to be an a$$. McLaren made Lewis what he is. They cared for him since he was just another kid racing go-karts. They made him comfortable, even at the expense of the great Fernando Alonso. He has to show some gratitude for them. He would have achieved nothing if he was driving for Force India or Williams, for example.

[F1boat]

I personally have no memory of Vettel blaming Red Bull for his issues. I'd like to see quote for that, because it is pretty seriou accusation. Seb has problems when losing, but I think that he was always loyal to the team. I knew that he shared his wish one day to drive for Ferrari, but it was a wish for the distant future. To be honest, few drivers would not like to drive for the Scuderia. It is the most iconic team in Formula One, after all.
About Alonso. My impression is that McLaren were not fair to him in 2007. The team supported Lewis to the extent that Ron Dennis said in Fuji (or in China - I am not sure) that they (McLaren) were basically racing Alonso. This is not huge surpise for me, because Alain Prost also though that McLaren were biased and supported Senna against him in 1989. So they have a history about that.
About my reputation, I am just a forum user and I am not paid millions of cash each year. However, as a translator of books which sometimes are yet to be released I know that some materials just shouldn't be leaked in public and I would never do so.
About your second post. Yes Lewis have drove well for McLaren... sometimes. He won them the 2008 WDC, which was nice. However, my personal opinion is that if the team have supported Fred they would have won both championships in 2007 and 2008. They were sentimental and wanted their kid to succeed. Even if only for that Hamilton should be grateful to them. And if the team now prefers Jenson, for which I find no solid evidence, he should probably ask himself why that is so. Certanly leaking secret data in public will not help his cause.

[CNR]

F1 : No wedge between McLaren Formula 1 team and Hamilton says team boss (http://www.f1sa.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=34872:f1--no-wedge-between-mclaren-formula-1-team-and-hamilton-says-team-boss&catid=1:f1&Itemid=157)

F1SA noticed that McLaren's media focus of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend was conspicuously slanted in favour of pole and race winner Jenson Button.

[ArrowsFA1]

F1boat, you appear to be prepared to cut Vettel and Alonso some slack but not Hamilton. All drivers throw toys out of the pram from time to time, whether in public or private. We hear some but not all so to make judgements based on limited info is perhaps not fair on any of them.

Yes, Lewis was a bit daft to Tweet what he did but no major damage done, and perhaps some lessons to be learned. Twitter is a great way for the likes of Hamilton to engage with fans directly but there can be pitfalls with instant communication. Don't Tweet when drunk of angry!!

Followers of @LewisHamilton (http://twitter.com/LewisHamilton) may be aware of this (http://twitter.com/LewisHamilton/status/240870966782222336) and earlier Tweets about his Aunt's illness leading up to Spa. (Not an excuse, but perhaps a partial explanation)


F1SA noticed that McLaren's media focus of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend was conspicuously slanted in favour of pole and race winner Jenson Button.
Well if F1SA "noticed" then it must be true :p

[F1boat]

Even with a statement like this from the team, you'll always get those who interpret it differently.

'Tweet embarrassing for Lewis' | Planet F1 | Formula One News (http://planetf1.com/news/3213/8053737/-Tweet-Embarrassing-For-Hamilton-)
;)

[F1boat]

F1boat, you appear to be prepared to cut Vettel and Alonso some slack but not Hamilton. All drivers throw toys out of the pram from time to time

But not all of them leak team's data in public ;)

[SGWilko]

F1 : No wedge between McLaren Formula 1 team and Hamilton says team boss (http://www.f1sa.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=34872:f1--no-wedge-between-mclaren-formula-1-team-and-hamilton-says-team-boss&catid=1:f1&Itemid=157)

Errrr, isn't that called celebrating/concentrating on the positives?

I don't suppose Lotus spent too much bigging up Grojean's ban did they....?

[Bagwan]

"I've known Lewis since he was 11 years old. He's someone who has grown up in the team, he's grown up in the glow of public criticism. Some things he has learned, some things he is yet to learn."

Sounds good on the surface , but what does Lewis hear when this is all said , in front of the world ?
He hears "We made you ." .
He hears "You're still a kid ." .
He hears "You can't handle all this and you need us more than we need you ."

"He is a deep and soulful individual, but he is going through a difficult time. I predict he is going to bounce back and we will see a different Lewis Hamilton in a few days' time in Italy,"

Then he hears that , after one bad qualifying , he's in a "difficult time" .
He hears that he's "deep and soulful" , and surely he'll think about how strong his position at the bargaining table actually is .

Then he hears that great "go Lewis" cheer at the end , to bolster him and prove they are looking out for the lad .


This all fits perfectly with contract talks with a big head .


I hope my writing my thoughts here doesn't screw up the plan .

[Bagwan]

Thats all great Bagwan but I'm sure the team work closely with Lewis and don't just communicate with him through the media. The sentences you have summarised sound like they are open to interpretation sure, but what about all the meetings and one on one contact Lewis has with his team discussing his future and aims? I highly doubt he is reading Planet F1 and trying to analyse the relationship through that medium alone.

Its fine for us fans to judge these guys from magazine clippings, but they rarely paint the whole picture.

While they are on the same team , they are also , at contract time , on opposite sides of the table .

What I was trying to do there , was analyse how the man being talked about , might read those words .
From the team's point of view , it puts Lewis in a less favourable seat in the talks . That's very convenient right now , and could save million$ .
That's no small motive for creating a set-up , with innocuous info .

Don't forget , they know Lewis is capable , and moreso when motivated by a fast team-mate , of storming through the field .
They would have had a lot of faith that he could still grab some serious points , and they likely would have if the first lap had gone better .



When you get down to brass tacks , doesn't it just all sound a bit fishy to you at all that your boy Lewis could be almost a second slower than his team-mate ?
That's the point that got me hearing "Pay no attention to the man behing the curtain ." .

[ArrowsFA1]

Was Button magic here , or was there something fishy going on during contract time ?
Not so very long ago Button was struggling for pace. I don't recall these kind of conspiracy theories being suggested then.

[wedge]

But not all of them leak team's data in public ;)

And neither do all them decides to form an inter-team cabal for cheating purposes via photocopied documents and then threaten to blackmail your own employer.

[Bagwan]

Not so very long ago Button was struggling for pace. I don't recall these kind of conspiracy theories being suggested then.

It was suggested he would be number two before he even got there .
It was suggested that it was career suicide .

But , you're right , he has been struggling for pace of late , which , indeed , makes his run to his first pole all the more curious .

[00steven]

Very stupid of Lewis. He couldn't have thought it was a good idea could he?

[driveace]

Indeed Buttons first pole in 50 races for McLaren.With all the backroom staff employed by these large racing teams,both at trackside and all the guys at the factory in UK for every race,how are all these mistakes made?.Lots of things that happen on race weekends at McLaren are quite puzzling,and teams with that amount of backing should be making less mistakes ,and getting it right more than getting it wrong !

[kfzmeister]

But , you're right , he has been struggling for pace of late , which , indeed , makes his run to his first pole all the more curious .

You can easily find answers to why they've found pace online. Here's an explanation from J. Allen
The problem Button was suffering from was a lack of performance due to mismatched tyre temperatures between the front and rear tyres and the team was experimenting with various ways of solving that, including heating the tyres from the inside, using heat soak from the brakes.
They’ve now found a solution, partly involving aerodynamics to increase rear end grip and aerodynamic balance, but also mechanical set-up and the result has been 51 points in three races. His performance in Belgium showed that he not only got the tyres working well in qualifying to take pole position, but also was able to comfortably do the race with only one tyre stop. His second stint, on the hard compound Pirelli tyre, was almost 170km, the longest that McLaren has done on a single set of tyres in 2012.

[ArrowsFA1]

But , you're right , he has been struggling for pace of late , which , indeed , makes his run to his first pole all the more curious .
Not curious IMHO. Simply a case of a driver working hard to find a solution and reaping the rewards of that hard work. But for Grosjean Spa could have seen a McLaren 1-2.

[steveaki13]

It was a stupid thing to do, and he may have not endeared himself much to the team, but it didn't really give away much of any use.

I think it is maybe a issue of team moral as such.

I liken it to Kevin Pieterson recently, he sent texts to South African players about how to get Strauss the captain out. Now the South African Cricket team are the best and already had Strauss number, so the texts didn't really do anything, however it was the principle and I maybe think its a similar here.

Maybe Mclaren weren't upset with what Lewis revealed, but maybe just the fact that he did and what else he may have released in the future possibly?

Anyway it is over now and we may see the two parties split ways next year, who knows.

[steveaki13]

Also those who are calling Lewis arrogant are right, but so is every driver in F1 I would imagine.

Top drivers and Sports people have this inbread in their brain. Its a focus and will to win that most of us don't have.

However some are better at hiding it. Vettel and Alonso. I think these two can be hard and nasty behind the scenes.

Hamilton is no different he just lets that determination to win overspill too much at times, but it all helps make him one of the most exciting drivers on the grid.

[F1boat]

for me his outburts are annoying and silly, not exciting. His driving is exciting.

[Garry Walker]

Hamilton fans are defending something that you cannot simply defend. Posting data such as that on twitter is so stupid, so unprofessional that I have no words. This guy must have the IQ of 15. Just completely childish and idiotic action by him. Shocking in fact. Whether other teams gained anything by that is actually quite irrelevant.

[steveaki13]

Hamilton fans are defending something that you cannot simply defend. Posting data such as that on twitter is so stupid, so unprofessional that I have no words. This guy must have the IQ of 15. Just completely childish and idiotic action by him. Shocking in fact. Whether other teams gained anything by that is actually quite irrelevant.

Agree really.

Stupid thing to do and he can't argue if the team tell him they are letting him go. One of those things that is quite petty, but the action itself causes you nothing but problems. Your just giving others something to hit you with.

[Garry Walker]

Which Hamilton fans are you referring to, and are they on here?

I am going by memory here, but aren't several of them (including you) saying it was no big deal?

[F1boat]

Garry vs the Ham fans? Wait for me to get the popcorn ;)

[kfzmeister]

I agree. This thread is dead. What else could you say?

[F1boat]

The beautiful thing about F1 is that no matter how annoying some drivers can be, they can still won your admiration with their driving. Yesterday Lewis showed why he is one of the top dogs in the sport and reminded me of Hakkinen who had stunning poles at the peak of his career. Well done.

[CNR]

Formula 1: No Hamilton 'Plan B' at McLaren - ClubCall.com (http://www.clubcall.com/formula-1/no-hamilton-plan-b-at-mclaren-1467266.html)

Hamilton was ordered to remove a picture he Tweeted, which he said proved that team-mate Jenson Button's car was faster than his

[F1boat]

I think that if Lewis indeed goes to Mercedes, McLaren may get Nico Rosberg, while Paul di Resta will partner Hamilton at McLaren. I don't think that Nico will be very happy to partner Lewis, I think that he would prefer to try his luck with Jenson. About Michael, I think that he will retire or do the crazy thing and replace Massa in order to drive for Ferrari for one final year.
The funny thing is that I can see Lewis signing for McLaren again and making countless posts in forums worthless :D