Lewis Dehydrated?
March 23, 2008 by Negative Camber
Filed under Prime & Option
Apparently Lewis didn’t get soundly beat by Heikki Kovalainen, Robert Kubica, Kimi Raikkonen and Jarno Trulli.
It has now been revealed that Lewis’s water dispenser suffered a malfunction and he was faced with dehydration during the race. That and his wheel-issue that prompted a long pit stop. Here i was just thinking he had an average race with average performance and was soundly beat by his teammate, Jarno and for most of the race; Mark Webber.
Here is the deal. Lewis probably did have a bum deal with temp’s as high as they were and no water. That’s understandable but when Lewis fails to live up to the profound hype, we usually get some excuses coming out of the camp. One thing I learned watching Schumi was that in the later years, he made very few excuses. He just let the result be the result. Perhaps that’s because he had nothing left to prove or justify. Who knows. Most drivers hate to be beat and don’t want poor performance to be the take-away from a bad race. Massa also was hinting at car problems instead of brain-fade. Webber and DC complain but they have a real reason too. But given the opportunity DC and Mark will launch on a diatribe about all the things that were wrong.
In the end, Lewis may be no different than others but…
When the Lewis-hype started, I was offended to be ambushed by the sycophants who were attaching Lewis to all-time great lists and making comparisons…no, actually saying he is better than former multi-champs. Now, as a fan of F1 for a long time and having seen many “real” champions I was very offended. Then I was assured that mentioning his name with greats was totally justified given his performance last year. Now, that being said I am willing to go to the wall with that but here is what I expect in return for all this ballyhoo; perfection! Today’s Grand Prix was not and if I have to endure Lewi-mania and suggestions that he is better than Schumi, Senna or Clark; then by gosh he had better start living up to it and stop making excuses. You asked for the pressure and I am happy to apply it.
I was willing to give Lewis time to show what I think will become a terrific champion in time but the media said I need to recognize that now so if I have to; then I expect few errors, no excuses and Schumi, Senna and Clark-like performances. It starts in Spain Lewis. Let’s see what you have instead of water bottle excuses and not living up to your “prolific” passer reputation. Lewis, in my mind, is an incredible talent and will be a terrific champion in F1. I really don’t doubt that but his media fan-club have become his worst nightmare. The British Media said Schumi had a brand equity problem. He may have had at the hands of the British press but you have created another one for your prodigal son of F1. Let’s all take a breath and let LEwis become the champ I think he is destined to be.
Hear, hear!
Lewis you got beaten. Deal with it.
exactly.
And can we please have Peter Winsor stop getting his head so far up Lewis arse? I vurped twice during the race. Geez not in the states too. Amen NC!
Even the Speed TV guy were perplexed at Lewis’s lack of pace and stumbled, even though briefly, on what to say. Rewind it; you’ll hear what I am talking about.
Stop the insanity!
in all fainess, after reading the article, i didn’t get the impression that lewis was whinning about not doing better due to his lack of water. he sid he had a great start, got stuck behind webber, mentioned the water dispensing problem, and stated he kept trying the best he could for fourth. he has made some PR blunders, however, i don’t think he was making excuses in this instance.
I understand and he did mention it a couple times as I am sure it would really be a bad deal in a car that hot but the press has chose the excuse for him. I didn’t use the word dehydrated, they did. Just saying…
Just as an aside…Robert Kubica also said he was unable to drink very much during the race and had been sick all week…so maybe his performance was compromised as well. Did no one else find his comment about tea in his water bottle funny?
You’ve done a great job of pinpointing one of the issues I have with Hamilton fans–and himself, as well, as I think he’s encouraged a lot of the comparisons.
Has anyone else noticed Lewis has been on the podium only once in the past four races?
Agreed: even if Lewis isn’t making excuses, PF1 and the rest of the British press never fail to mention his dehydrated state in race reports.
Just to remember the full-hated Fred won in Malasia with the same problem…. he almost faded on the podium…. It was a simple step beyond because he raced sick of fever two years before, when he finished third.
Great point Kathryn, I didn’t see that story about Kubs. Nice digging. I also didn’t catch the comment about tea. That’s funny. Now that you point it out, he has not been on the podium but I suspect that will change. Welcome aboard, it’s terrific to have you here and I am honored by your participation. I look forward to having you as part of our community and reading your insight.
Srehman: Ditto my friend.
Arch: Great points, I had completely forgot that. You are spot on (I’ve come to expect no less from you). ;)
Yeah………that sure explains why you got beat.
Oops, I better clarify…Kubica’s water bottle was working fine, but he was unable to drink much during the race because the water was too hot…thus the tea joke.
Welcome Kathryn, we seem to have the last same letter.
Good catch about lewis on the podium once in four races I hadn’t even thought about that.
Lucas S.
Lucas,
Perhaps we are related…does your S stand for sortoftiredofalltheHamiltonhype?
Mine doesn’t, but could–it stands for a delightful vowel rich Polish name that replaced my equally delightful vowel poor Croatian name–a speller’s nightmare in either case.