Lewis Cannon
Sun Herald
Sunday June 29, 2008
The great Jackie Stewart offers the misfiring Brit some sage advice as he lines up for his home grand prix, writes Kevin Garside.
Opinions are like backsides: everybody has one. That is not quite how the saying goes, but you get the point. Most can be ignored but some are worth listening to. In the case of Lewis Hamilton it might pay to cock an ear Jackie Stewart's way.The formula one ether reeks with noxious outpourings about Hamilton. A view is gaining currency that he is losing the plot. Successive races without reward have caused him to fall from championship leader to fourth in the drivers' standings. In both cases, Canada and France, he has been the architect of his own downfall.The points blip feeds the polarisation around Hamilton. There are no half-measures with this guy. You either love him or loathe him. This is common in sport. One man's hero is another's pin-cushion. That's fine, too, except when the pantomime debate penetrates the McLaren inner circle.The real worry would be if his performance in France, where a drive-through penalty compounded the 10-place grid penalty incurred in Canada, was in any way attributable to an emotional response to assumed media malice. The question is a fair one given his negative comments on TV before the race.The cars roll out again on Tuesday at the start of a three-day test at Silverstone ahead of the British Grand Prix next weekend. A crowd to match any seen at football's European Championship can be expected on any day this week. The race next Sunday is already a sell-out. The intensity of the Magny-Cours experience will seem like a village fete in comparison with what Hamilton can expect.Time, therefore, for Hamilton to listen to Stewart."Lewis is already world famous, thanks to the amazing opportunity he was given last year, and the incredible skill with which he took advantage of it," Stewart said. "He's now experiencing both the privilege and the penalty of celebrity. He's excited the media so much, and now some people are starting to feel let down. But we should remember that Lewis has only been in F1 for 15 months. He's not the finished article yet - and it's wrong to think he should be."He might not like to hear this, but he has a fundamental lack of experience at the top of the sport. If he asked for my advice, I'd say, 'Take your time, and don't expect too much of yourself'."I know because I've been there myself. I had a big accident in my second year, which I was lucky to survive. Over the next few years I changed: I gained experience, which gave me knowledge, which in turn enabled me to deliver."Hamilton's error in France was a fraction from being a brilliant manoeuvre. Sebastian Vettel would have been his third legitimate victim of a blistering first lap. Stewart's point is perhaps there was no need for him to go at the opening lap like an undergraduate at a free bar.Hamilton's teammate, Heikki Kovalainen, started 10th and finished fourth for five points. Those points might have been Hamilton's had he turned down the mental turbo off the line. Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso was twice passed by Hamilton on the track yet finished with a point. Where is the joy in that?For once in his life maybe Hamilton needs to take his foot off the gas in order to come first.
© 2008 Sun Herald