A Liar and A Snitch

"It was while we were waiting for the stewards that I was misled and was instructed by my team manager to withhold information. That's what I did. I felt awkward and uncomfortable, and I think the stewards could see that. I sincerely apologise to the stewards for wasting their time and making them look stupid.

"I have not gone through life being a liar and I am not a dishonest person, and I don't want the world to think that. I am a team player. Whenever I have been told to do things, I have done them."

-- Hamilton, Sepang Circuit 3/4/2009

Yes, Hamilton, we already knew that you are a fucking liar. You lied last week just as you did in Hungary in 2007. And so much for your claims of being a team player. You have pointed the finger directly at your team manager to save your own arse. To take joint responsibility like a man? But I suppose you lack the spine to do this.

Observations

We are one race short of the halfway mark of the 2008 Formula 1 season. And at this point, some surprises have emerged. BMW are second in the constructor's championship and leading driver Robert Kubica is also in second of the driver's race. Surprising to say the least and I would not have expected these guys to have kept their season opening momentum to go on for so long. Hopefully the guys in Hinwil and Munich keep pushing on to the end.

Toyota and Red Bull are neck and neck in the middle order. Toyota especially is a big surprise. The cars certainly are quick and they've even managed a podium spot in last weekend's French Grand Prix. Had they not shot themselves in the foot in 2006 with that last minute switch to Bridgestone tyres and then sacking the technical director for the marketing men's own mistakes I reckon they'd be at least on BMW level by now. As it is, this lumbering giant is making slow progress. But progress nevertheless and they are outperforming their customers at Williams. Deadly rivals Honda are absolutely nowhere this season as they were last year and Toyota's results must be hurting them a lot in Tokyo.

Red Bull on the other hand is a customer team that is completely whipping the works Renaults. Some say the Renault engine has huge flaws. That may be so but the Red Bulls are at this stage making better use of their motor and despite the presence of Fernando Alonso, the works cars can do nothing about it. Its good to see a "private" entry murdering the big manufacturer. Although in this case its a well financed privateer.

Lewis Hamilton didnt deserve to have the 10 spot penalty for France. Not at all. He deserved to have his superlicense sanctioned and placed under probation for his act of pure incompetence in Montreal. Its one thing for you to crash into another car whilst your brake balance is out of whack at 180 mph but to completely miss two stationary cars right in front of you whilst travelling at the leisurely speed of 80 km/h is a sign of pure stupidity. And the twit doesn't even want to admit his mistake. "If" he says, he has ruined Kimi's race then he is sorry. Its not an "if" moron. You bloody well chucked it out the window. And once again, in France he completely denies his any wrongdoing when it was clear that he gained an advantage by straightlining the chicane.

And apologising to the team for not doing his best. Oh come on. That was pure pretense designed solely for the benefit of the media. Ron has trained this one well. But of course, the British media are now quickly turning on him as is their habit. I suppose having enjoyed the adoring attention in the past, he likes it not one bit. But being the big mouth that he is, he's now taking them on with all sorts of trashy talk.

And just who was the idiot who suggested that he be suspended on wires and lowered on to a stage play in London? I really do not understand just what good he or the Porsche crashing train driver (son gets a little money and buy some nice toys for yourself eh?) thought that would do. Is he supposed to be a racing driver or a clown? That is just pure humiliation but it really befits him.

Without sympathising with Hamilton it brings me to the point on what Formula 1 drivers have to go through these days. Its no wonder Kimi is so fed up and there is talk of his retirement. All the stupid media responsibilities, meeting up with stupid corporate sponsors, annoying fans, I mean, who the hell needs that? Isn't his own display of skill and speed on the track enough? Thats what he gets paid to do. Drive the car like the devil himself. And while he doesn't put on a fake smile at least he is honest unlike these young PR washed robo-drivers like Hamilton.

Why do these people think they own him? I completely sympathise as this just reeks of rampant American style NASCAR commercialism that fools like Joe Saward of Grandprix.com keeps on preaching about. Hey this is racing. Its not supposed to wrestling sport entertainment. If thats what you want, then bloody well go watch stupid NASCAR where the good old boys will happily smile like idiots for "the show."

And note to Joe Saward, if you love NASCAR so much then bloody well write about NASCAR. I am really am so sick of reading about stupid theme parks, hamburgers and silly romance novels that you think are such fantastic ideas for grand prix racing. There is a cultural gulf between America and the rest of the world and guess what? We don't always care about, want or need American ideas. And what annoys me most is the increased American inspired commerical exploitation that is inevitably changing grand prix racing for the worse.

Racism And Amusement

The Hamil-shit has been making headlines once again. Hasn't the world had enough of this idiot? And as you probably know he invades the headlines once more because some people somewhere decided he is a victim of racist abuse.

Before I launch into that, let me just say that as an South East Asian who lived in England for many years, I too, did suffer my fair share of racist abuse. This can range from looks of discrimination or in one case of a drunk dumb-ass white trash Geordie being called a fucking stinking chop suey whilst simply minding my own business. Yes, some white folk can be fucking assholes but hey, these are not exclusive to caucasians. I have to admit, that lots of Asians are bloody racists as well. And as I have emphasised, I said some.

The point of course is that no matter what race or colour there will be assholes among them. Prior to the so-called "racial abuse" in Valencia in the past weeks, there were some amusing banners floating about in the stands. My personal favourite read something like: Hey Hamilton, does daddy still help you pee? Personally, I think his father still does.

But now along comes another bunch of fans making sweeping statements about Hamil-shit and more seriously, his ilk. To me, comments specifically targetted at a person is fair enough. Sweeping statements about the person's race or colour, bete noir.

And this now spoils the whole thing doesn't it? Now, every single "abusive" (though enormously funny) comments about this punk will be viewed as some sort of racial abuse. You can bet the partisan British press and the McLaren Mercedes PR machine will make it so.

And I get the feeling that the FIA themselves are not comfortable with their little darling (who they hope can banked upon to promote their precious Formula 1 around the world) the butt of jokes (whether these be racist in nature or otherwise). And the knee jerk reaction now will be a crackdown on all banners that do not read "I love Hamilton."

Today's headlines reports of racial abuse leading back to Shanghai last year. This is reported by none other than Hamil-shit's father (who else?). But will anyone dare to make amusing comments about this?