Lewis Hamilton - What’s Going On ?

in DRIVERS F1 2010 by admin — April 10, 2010 at 2:29 pm | 7 comments

Little boy lost: What’s going on with Lewis Hamilton?

One of the most common complaints made of Lewis Hamilton is that he is too PR-perfect for his own good, groomed from boyhood to be the ideal representative of Team McLaren and its values. But the professional mask is beginning to slip, and Lewis seems to be in the throes of a rebellious phase.

Most of us are able to use our teenage years to test out new personalities and discover our limits. Lewis, like many of the other drivers on the grid, never had that luxury – the focus needed to make it to Formula 1 doesn’t allow for much of a wasted youth.

Whether it is age, the arrival at McLaren of laid back teammate Jenson Button, or a sense of frustration with his hitherto regimented existence, I do not know. But of late there have been a number of signs that we are seeing a very different Lewis to the boy we knew in years past. Cracks in his perfect facade began to appear not long after Ron Dennis’ exit from the F1 side of McLaren’s business, when mentor and protege were separated for the first time in Hamilton’s McLaren upbringing.

But the first indication that there was major change afoot was the announcement, made shortly before the 2010 season began, that Anthony Hamilton was stepping down from the role of manager to his son, ostensibly so that the two could replace the business relationship with a personal one. Anthony was a permanent presence at races, and under his supervision the only place Lewis could put a foot wrong was on-track.

But with his father now out of the picture, there have been mutterings that Lewis’ commitment is now to his girlfriend, Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, not his career. The two split in the off-season, but got back together earlier this year determined to focus on their relationship. Since winter testing ended, Hamilton has been racking up the trans-Atlantic frequent flyer miles at an impressive rate.

Scherzinger is currently performing in Dancing with the Stars on US TV, and Lewis is obviously keen to support his beloved. But by helping her he seems to be harming his own chances of success – Hamilton’s hectic itinerary saw him leave LA on Tuesday, when his competitors had been in Melbourne since the weekend. Adding to the strain of competing for the championship by courting jetlag and extra time spent in the air is not a winning solution.

And Melbourne’s not the only time this season that Lewis has added to his travel bill shortly before a race. The weekend before the season opener in Bahrain, Hamilton flew out to LA to spend time with Nicole. The trip was made with McLaren’s approval, but if he makes a habit of the journey, it will begin to take a physical toll that could affect his on-track performance.

While putting Nicole’s needs above his own will no doubt strengthen their relationship, this is no time for Lewis to be taking his eye off the ball professionally. We are at the beginning of what looks to be a competitive season, and for the first time since Fernando Alonso in 2007, Lewis is not a shoe-in to beat his teammate. It was widely assumed that Hamilton would walk the intra-team battle, but if Jenson Button retains focus while Lewis is losing his, there could be upsets in Woking.

But Lewis’ rebellion isn’t all about Nicole. His Friday night escapade in Melbourne made headline news around the world. While Lewis has been in trouble on the roads before – in 2007 he was issued a month ban from driving in France when he was caught doing 196kph on the motorway – power slides in front of police cars on the way home from the circuit are a little different.

Under the watchful eye of his two fathers, Lewis would not have had free rein to get in trouble with the police on a race weekend. Anthony would have used his double influence as both manager and father to try and limit the additional travel. Hamilton Sr. always made sure his son was fighting fit, but now Lewis is calling his own shots. Remarkably, he is reported not to have phoned his father in the wake of his Melbourne arrest. If true, it paints the new personal relationship in a bizarre new light.

Ron Dennis’ departure from the McLaren F1 team happened early in 2009, and so it might not seem obvious that the seismic effects are still being felt. Martin Whitmarsh has proved to be an able and popular team principal, and it was under his supervision that the Woking-based team turned the MP4-24 from absolute dog to race winner.

But it was under Dennis’ supervision that Lewis Hamilton was turned from raw karting talent to F1 record-breaker. From 1998 to early 2009, Lewis was under the watchful eye of Ron Dennis as he worked his way up from the McLaren driver development programme to a seat in Formula 1. The two grew to be close, and Lewis Hamilton had two advisers in the paddock dedicated to his progress through the ranks – his father Anthony and Ron Dennis.

This year, for the first time in his career, he is alone.

It is entirely natural and almost predictable that Lewis would spread his wings, test his limits, without his father – or his father figure – there to check his impulses. And once he finds a balance of freedom and focus that works for him, Hamilton will come out of this development phase a stronger character, more self-aware. The question is, how long before that balance is found?

A version of this article appeared on my personal blog with the title Rebel without a cause.

Kate Walker