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Lewis Hamilton

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I feel bad for Hamilton. I've been all weird about relationships that were far shorter and probably far less significant ending, so I'm not one to criticize him for having actual, human emotions. I think he cares a lot about others, to be honest. I know it's easy to judge celebrity relationships as "fake" or "silly," but I have no doubts that Hamilton really does care about her, about his brother, about his parents, about Dennis and Whitmarsh, and about his dog. I thought it was a strange mixture of very mature of him to not be spiteful about the ending, and very sad that he's not able to move forward. Not that I can judge him if he clings on to the past.

I don't fault Hamilton one bit for being sad, and I don't fault him one bit if that gets in his way as a driver, either. Maybe it should. If he wants to center his life on something other than F1, and that's what really makes him happy, then that's what he should do, and if it means it gets in the way of F1 sometimes, well, that's how his priorities were set up for him personally in his life. Good for him. I sure as hell could never be in love with a sport above people. Commitment to F1 is great, but I'll never think a human is wrong to have higher commitments to something beyond it, in the same way I can also never think someone is wrong for emphasizing F1 over other things if that's the life he/she wants.

I do, however, hope, as someone who really only cares about these people in the context of racing (which includes their safety therein), that Hamilton can get himself in a situation where he is the best driver he can possibly be, so we can enjoy that. He's become so underrated, in a weird way, because he didn't live up to the expectations that were set for him, and because people don't take him seriously on the basis that he shows his feelings more publicly than other drivers have (neither approach is better/worse or right/wrong, in my opinion). Vettel did everything I thought Hamilton would, but I don't think that makes Hamilton any worse of a driver. He just needs a year where he's totally on it and everything works in support of that, including his personal life. I really want that to happen for him. I want every driver to be in the situation where he/she can be his/her absolute best. It'd be the most competitive grid of all-time if it could align like that, where everyone was at his/her peak.

So, yeah, if he cares about something more than being the first to complete an arbitrary distance amongst prescribed opponents every once in a while, well, good for him. Too bad it's hurt him, but good for him to feel that way. And if winning is everything to another driver, good for him/her, too. Too bad it will hurt that driver in what he/she may miss in other parts of life, but good for those drivers to feel that way.

That's a lot of words to just say that I part empathize with Hamilton and part worry about Hamilton, but don't think judgment is what he needs right now in either scenario. The media coverage of it, though, doesn't bother me at all because he has made this a public thing and, by this long response, I obviously have expressed that I care. :lol:

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I've always felt that for whatever reason, Lewis hasn't developed completely as a person. There's a kind of emotional immaturity to him and that comes through every so often. Perhaps it's because he hit the top so soon with Mclaren when he was so young, or because his focus was so heavily on racing throughout his life that he hasn't had certain experiences. I don't know. I guess most people learn to deal with difficult break ups when they are fairly young, but it just feels like he hasn't had that experience and now he's having to go through that publicly and hasn't got the tools to do it (well, he chooses to go through it publicly). I have no doubts he is sincere, and I also feel sorry for him in that regard.

At least it didn't seem to affect his performance in Hungary. But for me it does put a mark on the overall picture of him as a driver (something discussed around here recently). Whether it affects performance or not, you can't imagine Alonso and Vettel bringing this kind of baggage to a race weekend (or any of them, for that matter), and that surely doesn't mean none of the other drivers are capable of forming decent relationships. So Hamilton's issue is more than just a matter of "wearing his heart on his sleeve" or a general personality trait, in my opinion. Obviously, doesn't really matter what I think of him as a driver, what matters is that he gets his sh#t together, for his own sake (which may well benefit us too, like Eric says).

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I've always felt that for whatever reason, Lewis hasn't developed completely as a person. There's a kind of emotional immaturity to him and that comes through every so often. Perhaps it's because he hit the top so soon with Mclaren when he was so young, or because his focus was so heavily on racing throughout his life that he hasn't had certain experiences. I don't know. I guess most people learn to deal with difficult break ups when they are fairly young, but it just feels like he hasn't had that experience and now he's having to go through that publicly and hasn't got the tools to do it (well, he chooses to go through it publicly). I have no doubts he is sincere, and I also feel sorry for him in that regard.

At least it didn't seem to affect his performance in Hungary. But for me it does put a mark on the overall picture of him as a driver (something discussed around here recently). Whether it affects performance or not, you can't imagine Alonso and Vettel bringing this kind of baggage to a race weekend (or any of them, for that matter), and that surely doesn't mean none of the other drivers are capable of forming decent relationships. So Hamilton's issue is more than just a matter of "wearing his heart on his sleeve" or a general personality trait, in my opinion. Obviously, doesn't really matter what I think of him as a driver, what matters is that he gets his sh#t together, for his own sake (which may well benefit us too, like Eric says).

This. And....

He drives like a man and talks like a boy. End of.

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