Hamilton was ready to quit F1 rather than stay in McLaren: Ecclestone

[CNR]

Hamilton was ready to quit F1 rather than stay in McLaren: Ecclestone (http://zeenews.india.com/sports/motorsports/hamilton-was-ready-to-quit-f1-rather-than-stay-in-mclaren-ecclestone_758404.html)
London: Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has revealed that Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was considering quitting Formula One rather than staying with McLaren.

Ecclestone, who was a close confidant of Hamilton during his high-profile switch to Mercedes, said that Hamilton was so keen to quit the Woking-based team where he had spent his whole career that he considered taking a break from competing.

[Rollo]

"Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has revealed..."

Nurse... nurse... he's out of bed again...

[henners88]

Bernie has never been one for the truth when a bit of sensationalism can do wonders for putting the sport in the headlines.

[Tazio]

Even if it was the truth, why betray the guys confidence? Bernie is such a whore.

[The Black Knight]

Hamilton was ready to quit F1 rather than stay in McLaren: Ecclestone (http://zeenews.india.com/sports/motorsports/hamilton-was-ready-to-quit-f1-rather-than-stay-in-mclaren-ecclestone_758404.html)

While I believe there was certainly more going on behind the scenes at McLaren than anyone is aware, I can't imagine Hamilton leaving the sport when he is so passionate about racing or when McLaren were so obviously keen to keep him. Personally, I believe he may well be one of the fastest, if not the fastest driver the sport has ever seen. I can't imagine a driver with that passion and talent ever taking a sabbatical. Bernie is talking through his hole.

[Mintexmemory]

Bernie is such a whore.

Now that would be an extremely niche market!!! (Max might find a spare hour or 2 in his busy diary though!!)

[airshifter]

Even if it was the truth, why betray the guys confidence? Bernie is such a whore.

That was my first thought as well. Even if Lewis was frustrated and considering a break, that should have been up to him to make public or discuss with McLaren. If true he may have not stated it more openly to not "condemn" McLaren as baddies or something.

[A FONDO]

Sounds reasonable. Mclaren is so unreliable that every self-respecting driver daring to win something shouldn't be there.

[Bagwan]

I guess it's hard for you all to believe because it comes from Bernie , but if the atmosphere where you work is poisoned for some reason , it is not too difficult to imagine this was true for Lewis .

Remember , they had assigned people as "handlers" to Lewis , who were there to give him a nudge when he was speaking to the press , so they didn't trust him , or more specifically , his mouth .

That much alone , putting aside completely the mechanical issues and any knowledge of development for this year , would perhaps be enough to prompt a comment behind closed doors that he would rather not drive at all than drive for them .

One lesson for Lewis here is that he needs to understand that when speaking with Bernie , things don't necessarily stay behind closed doors .
And , another is that perhaps he does talk too much before thinking .


And , as far as Bernie's part , as long as the comment wasn't prefaced with :"Don't tell anybody , but ..." , then why not stir the pot with some behind the scenes dirt ?
The McLaren team will be steaming about this , and Lewis gets to rub thier noses in his rear view mirrors .
It just adds a little more fun to when Lewis approaches Jensen for the pass .

[wedge]

Bernie doesnt like Lewis' management team even if seasoned agents are managing Lewis.

Leaving F1 AKA throwing toys out the pram is the sort of thing i'd expect given the antics that have tainted Lewis.

Reminds me of Mansell and his 'retirements' when in the background he wasn't top of people's shopping lists at the time.

[henners88]

I'm struggling to see how any of this has any bearing on Lewis being at Mercedes now? If he threw a strop (if) so what? He's still in the sport and everyone lives happily ever after. This is almost as exciting as the time Alonso almost had the soup in the Ferrari hospitality area.

[steveaki13]

Even if it was the truth, why betray the guys confidence? Bernie is such a whore.

I agree with Taz.... er.......Mr Alcatr......er..... the Doc.......er........... Whoever you are now. Mr A.T.

Surely you have used up your allowed name changes now. :p :

[Tazio]

I agree with Taz.... er.......Mr Alcatr......er..... the Doc.......er........... Whoever you are now. Mr A.T.

Surely you have used up your allowed name changes now. :p :
Actually I have one more according to my Settings, so next season we will have.................Turbo_Taz

BTW you can call me Izzy :p :

[Natalie.S]

Could have been interesting Lewis in Nascar for a year ;)

Glad he didn't do so as his travels through the F1 world will be much more entertaining
More interviews about how a 5th place vindicated your -non money influenced- move to Mercedes please :D

Will he ever learn? I hope not

[Zico]

I think its fairly obvious to everyone that there was more going on behind the scenes, Bernie can pretty much get away with saying anything he wants but I don't believe for a minute that Lewis would confide in him.. that is hilarious! :D

[henners88]

Hamilton's second column for the BBC, a nice read.

BBC Sport - Lewis Hamilton column: How keeping it simple makes me faster (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/21885280)

[wedge]

I'm struggling to see how any of this has any bearing on Lewis being at Mercedes now? If he threw a strop (if) so what? He's still in the sport and everyone lives happily ever after. This is almost as exciting as the time Alonso almost had the soup in the Ferrari hospitality area.

I don't think people should be apologists and say things like "so what?". It's very unsavoury and sad when any top sportsman resorts to childish pre-madonna antics.

If I was a McLaren fan I wouldn't stand for it. It's bad enough supporting a football team and seeing one of your players kiss the badge one minute then disrupt the dressing room just so he can have a transfer.

[henners88]

I don't think people should be apologists and say things like "so what?". It's very unsavoury and sad when any top sportsman resorts to childish pre-madonna antics.
Equally I don't think fans should jump on a drivers back and cast judgement every time a sensationalized story about a driver (any driver) hits the press. Lewis may well have threatened to do a Casey Stoner and walk away, but it wasn't a conversation that was made public until Bernie decided to use it as publicity. We don't know the full details and its irrelevant now Lewis is settling in to a new team. The likes of Hamilton and Alonso are still respected for their talent regardless of their well publicised 'Pre-Madonna' antics of the past. I think fans are far too sensitive to anything that isn't considered perfect PR and is the reason we have so many fan threads discussing trivial comments from drivers. I think its a sign of the times and we either have a football supporter style mentality that has crept in, or there is not enough to be talking about on the track.

[Tazio]

I think fans are far too sensitive to anything that isn't considered perfect PR and is the reason we have so many fan threads discussing trivial comments from drivers.I couldn't agree more hennie

[steveaki13]

I couldn't agree more hennie

Nor me.

The story of F1 is as much a human one as a technical one and thus dull PR doesn't endear you to any driver. Where as the best and most popular tend to be those who say what they see or feel rather than tow the party line.

Good luck to Lewis in Malaysia

[Bagwan]

For me , the antics off the track go a long way to explaining some things that happen on track .
They go a long way towards getting into the reasoning behind some of the moves we see .

Sometimes there's a loss of respect , and other times it's mind games between them , but there's a lot to be learned about one's character when one's in front of the press and when one's not .

For instance , since we're in a Hammy thread , the incident where he tweeted potentially delicate info showed he was rattled at being behind , or at least I think so .
It gives a little more insight into the man , himself .
Personally , I think he was set up , but that's a debate that's in the past perhaps .

And , it did get a lot of press , it's true .
But then , would there have been as much press about it if he wasn't near the front of the pack ?
Or , would he have had it easier if he wasn't already a bit of a character already ?

Lewis is Lewis , and as a fan I think you have to embrace his character , or understand that you'll have to endure lots of controversy and the press that follows , as it will , unrelentingly .

Right now , he's in a very small group of the elite drivers who can win any time out , but he's the absolute king of the entertainment factor in F1 . The dog proves that .

[Tazio]

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/03/22/article-0-18DC6AA7000005DC-739_634x820.jpg


For me
It gives a little more insight into the man.


Me too! :s tareup: :eek: :kiss: :s ailor:

[wedge]

Equally I don't think fans should jump on a drivers back and cast judgement every time a sensationalized story about a driver (any driver) hits the press. Lewis may well have threatened to do a Casey Stoner and walk away, but it wasn't a conversation that was made public until Bernie decided to use it as publicity. We don't know the full details and its irrelevant now Lewis is settling in to a new team. The likes of Hamilton and Alonso are still respected for their talent regardless of their well publicised 'Pre-Madonna' antics of the past. I think fans are far too sensitive to anything that isn't considered perfect PR and is the reason we have so many fan threads discussing trivial comments from drivers. I think its a sign of the times and we either have a football supporter style mentality that has crept in, or there is not enough to be talking about on the track.

Drivers are in the public eye that its hard not to pass judgement like posting telemetry on Twitter or walking into a rivals's motorhome ie. RBR.

What I love about Kimi is that he is apolotical. His had disagreements with Ron The Don and Luca de Montezemolo but you would not have known it at the time. Senna had his tantrums but regarded as a tough negotiater eg. going into the 93 season you were never quite sure what has MO was - he didn't like the direction of the sport was going yet you had an idea that he knew McLaren were on a downward curve and then ended up being paid $1m.

Alonso - Jody Scheckter an Jo Ramirez have openly said that they detest him as a human being and lost respect for him as a driver. No doubt there are fans who detest him just as many fans detest Schumi, Senna and even Moaning Mansell had haters back in the day.

Stoner - the guy has principles firmer than Hamilton's. He achieved all there is to achieve. Multiple champ, raced against the GOAT, man handled the Ducati when no one else could - with that on his cv he coukd ride for anyone and earn more but chose not to. Hamilton isn't quite in the same bracket.

[wedge]

Lewis is Lewis , and as a fan I think you have to embrace his character , or understand that you'll have to endure lots of controversy and the press that follows , as it will , unrelentingly .

Mansell is my all time hero and I refuse to embrace his ego.

[henners88]

Well we all have different tastes so that's about it. I'm not on a crusade to convince anyone else otherwise as its not something I need to do to increase my enjoyment of the sport. There we go.

[wedge]

I'm not on a crusade to convince anyone else otherwise as its not something I need to do to increase my enjoyment of the sport. There we go.

Criticising fan mentality akin football suggests you're on a crusade to sound righteous.

Fanboys have existed long before social media.

[AndyL]

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/03/22/article-0-18DC6AA7000005DC-739_634x820.jpg

Why has Nicole got Jenson's number on her hat? :)

[henners88]

Criticising fan mentality akin football suggests you're on a crusade to sound righteous.

Fanboys have existed long before social media.
I'm just sick of reading Kimi is miserable, Hamilton is cocky, Vettel is arrogant, Fernando is stroppy etc. If pointing this out makes me sound like I'm trying to be righteous then I have no problem with that. Not sure what 'fanboys' has to do with this, we were talking about criticisms based on tabloid content I thought?

[Natalie.S]

Criticising fan mentality akin football suggests you're on a crusade to sound righteous.

Fanboys have existed long before social media.
Lol some folk just like silly crusades
Be it about F1 on Sky or about sounding righteous :D

[Dave B]

Why has Nicole got Jenson's number on her hat? :)
She's a massive Nigel Mansell fan. Little known fact: the reason she split up with Lewis last year was his refusal to grow a moustache. They got back together when, as a compromise, he agreed to adopt a Brummie accent while in the throes of passion.

[henners88]

She's a massive Nigel Mansell fan. Little known fact: the reason she split up with Lewis last year was his refusal to grow a moustache. They got back together when, as a compromise, he agreed to adopt a Brummie accent while in the throes of passion.
I thought it was because she was a massive fan of Rio Ferdinand :p :

[jens]

People have all kinds of thoughts in their head and I am sure Hamilton has had all kinds of thoughts regarding his career options as well - including retirement from F1. If the team/work athmosphere has become unbearable for you, you just have got to go as long as you can afford it. Destination doesn't matter - everything would feel like an improvement. :p : Montoya couldn't stand McLaren and ran away even in mid-season. Thankfully for Lewis he found another challenge within F1.

[truefan72]

More of Bernie betrayal of confidence

Lewis Hamilton wanted Red Bull deal - Bernie Ecclestone | Formula 1 | Formula 1 news, live F1 | ESPN F1 (http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/104072.html)

Now he is saying that Hamilton wanted to sign for RBR...and could have

Let this be a lesson to any F1 driver. Never trust that Hobbit!

[Tazio]

What an ass of a man Bernie is.

[Valve Bounce]

Even if it was the truth, why betray the guys confidence? Bernie is such a whore.

I've said some nasty things about Bernie in the past, but I've run out of ideas. I just hope that he picks up another small dog and it bites him on the nose, again.