McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton take time out from the F1 calendar to turn their talents to directing a fashion shoot. Both drivers are taking part in the British Grand Prix at the modified Silverstone circuit over the weekend.
Jan 022012
The McLaren driver and two time Nascar champion Tony Stewart swap cars for a drive around the Watkins Glen track in New York. Read more: www.telegraph.co.uk
I’m back! It’s been a month since my last upload, so I’m sorry. But here we are, my 45th video, A tribute to Lewis Hamilton. Initially, I didn’t have high hopes for this video, but it turned out very well in my opinion, hope you like it, give it a thumbs up and please subscribe.
Video Rating: 4 / 5
Formula 1 can expect a new and improved Lewis Hamilton next season, his father Anthony has told BBC Sport. McLaren’s 2008 world champion has been involved in a series of incidents this year but showed glimpses of a return to form at Sunday’s Korean Grand Prix. “He’s turned a corner in everything he’s done, his lifestyle and his love of motorsport,” said Anthony. “You’ve not seen Lewis Hamilton yet, you’ve seen a young Lewis Hamilton. Now a new Lewis Hamilton is coming.”
Video Rating: 3 / 5
• Formula One driver responds to Bernie Ecclestone criticism
• Hamilton angered by attack on company run by Simon Fuller
Lewis Hamilton has again launched a robust defence of his management team. XIX Entertainment, run by Simon Fuller, has been heavily criticised by the Formula One rights holder, Bernie Ecclestone.
Ecclestone told the Guardian that he was concerned that XIX’s celebrity clients were distracting the former world champion, who has had an indifferent and at times controversial season after being involved in a series of crashes.
“I think this year XIX have taken a huge amount of criticism which has been massively unfair and that’s a lot to do with me, my fault really,” Hamilton said.
“They’ve wanted to be here every single race, they’ve been nothing but supportive. I control it and I decided not to have them at every race because I wanted to be on my own at some races. For the future I’ll have them at every race.
“But they’ve taken negative criticism and they’re still there supporting me. They’ve never ever had any impact on my thought process of how I handle things. I’ve really taken that all on board myself.”
With hindsight Hamilton believes he could have used XIX far more effectively than he did and again has proposed change for the future.
Hamilton said: “This year I’ve not used the resources that I have to the optimum. But I know that moving forward it will be a successful relationship and partnership. I think they’re fantastic.
“Recently I had lunch with Simon in New York and I loved it. He’s a really fantastic guy. I couldn’t be happier with the decision I’ve made because I’ve some incredible people around me and I’m really looking forward to the future.”
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www.jwstepinside.com STEP INSIDE THE CIRCUIT At last. The first ever Indian Grand Prix has arrived. Join Johnnie Walker and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1™ drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button on their Indian adventure, as they welcome 27 million passionate fans to the circuit.
Video Rating: 4 / 5
Formula One and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team mates, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton are urging the nation to gear up for Red Nose Day with the new Monster Car Nose. Get your Monster Car Nose from www.rednoseday.com or from Sainsbury’s and Oxfam stores across the country.
Nov 282011
• On-track feud ends in hugs and smiles
• Hamilton looks forward to next season
Lewis Hamilton’s best moment in São Paulo on Sunday came after the Brazilian Grand Prix when he made his peace with Felipe Massa, his nemesis throughout the season.
The McLaren driver went over to Massa in the paddock and the pair hugged and back-slapped as they smiled at each other.
Hamilton and Massa have had six on-track incidents this season and there have been harsh words between the two drivers, whose ability to find each other during a race was described as “magnetic” by the McLaren team principal, Martin Whitmarsh.
The feud looked likely to erupt again as the British driver closed down on the Brazilian in the second half of Sunday’s race. But Hamilton retired with gearbox trouble on the 48th lap.
When asked about his reconciliation with Massa, Hamilton said: “It’s been a long hard year for all the drivers and I hope they all have a good winter. It was good to have a nice chat with Felipe after the race. I have great respect for him and I’m already looking forward to racing him again next year.”
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Nov 142011
• Abu Dhabi win gives 2008 world champion certain serenity
• I think I should be fine in Brazil, Hamilton adds
It has been a turbulent season for Lewis Hamilton, on and off the track. But the McLaren driver’s first victory since July here on Sunday left him in an almost serene mood as he looked forward to the final race of the year, in Brazil on Sunday week. Relief, more than elation, was the abiding emotion.
“I definitely needed the win,” he said. “I think I should be fine in Brazil. I have had great support when I have been there. It was tough when I was racing with Felipe [Massa] for the championship. But I think I have growing support over there. I guess I will just see when I get there.
“It was great having my mum in Abu Dhabi but I don’t want to keep talking about my bubble. I will definitely try to have her, my family and my brother here more often. It is difficult with my brother because he is racing all the time, but I would like to have him here more often.”
Hamilton is still very reticent about the problems that have plagued him in this, his most difficult season. This has led some to describe him as a complex individual, but he is not, particularly.
Rather, the 26-year-old is a combination of the bright and the innocent, which appears to confuse him as much as everyone one else. When this ageing prodigy speaks, he comes across a little like one of JM Barrie’s Lost Boys in Neverland.
“The reason why I have never spoken about [my problems] is because it is personal. It is family-related. But I haven’t doubted my talent. Other people have, but it has always been there.
“It is just getting through the mess. It is like getting through the clouds. When you take off, particularly in England, you go through all those clouds. Then you get to the top, where it is just clear. I think I have been going through all that turbulent air for a while now. Every now and then it is kind of smooth and then it goes again. On Sunday I was above the clouds and it was a great feeling.
“I am always the hardest on myself. I don’t know if other drivers are as hard on themselves as I am. That is just how I have dealt with it. Maybe in the future I will try to be less critical. But when you are driving the car and you see yourself make mistakes it is frustrating, because you know that if you are in your right head-space you would never make those mistakes.
“I hate making mistakes. When I play golf, I know I can hit the ball properly. It is just like a lap. You want to hit that apex every time and when you don’t it is frustrating. And it tells in results. It is the flow of things. Look at the last race [in India]. I qualified second, and if I had started second the whole race would have been completely different. But I didn’t. I got the penalty.”
Hamilton cannot relax just yet. In the compact world of Neverland another adventure is never far away. It is a little like Formula One. And Hamilton knows that winning one race is just a quick fix. “Winning definitely does put a smile on your face, but it is temporary. It lasts for a short amount of time and you are on to the next one straight away. But championships last forever.”
Meanwhile Jenson Button is taking satisfaction from the fact that he is the first McLaren driver to finish ahead of Hamilton in the world championship. He said: “It’s nice to finish in front of your team-mate over a season. It’s not easy when your team-mate is Lewis Hamilton. Because he’s extremely quick.”
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‘I joined McLaren because I really wanted to find out where I stand compared to Lewis’
Jenson’s Button’s sense of irritation was palpable. He had just produced another fine performance to confirm his status as the second-best driver in Formula One this season when someone asked him yet another question about his McLaren team-mate, Lewis Hamilton.
“If you want to do an interview with me, about me, that’s fine,” he said. “But I don’t want to be asked about other drivers.”
Button takes justifiable pride in the fact that his second-place position in the table behind Sebastian Vettel puts him ahead of a clearly superior car, the Red Bull of Mark Webber, as well as three former world champions – Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Hamilton.
His second‑place finish in the inaugural and highly successful Indian Grand Prix on Sunday was his 10th podium of the season (Hamilton has six, Alonso nine). On a wide track with slow corners and two DRS zones, he was not entitled to hold off Webber’s charges but he did so with considerable pace and skill.
It is Button’s misfortune, however, that whenever Hamilton drives brilliantly and wins, he is asked about him, and whenever Hamilton is involved in spectacular mishaps (more common this season) he is asked about that too, instead of the serenity of his own driving.
Ultimately, though, Button not only talked about Hamilton – who limped home in seventh place on Sunday after another collision with Felipe Massa – but admitted, for the first time, how much he wants to beat him in this year’s drivers’ championship.
With two races to go, Button is 38 points ahead of Hamilton, who does not have a realistic chance of catching him. That would represent Hamilton’s first defeat by a McLaren team-mate.
“If you have a team-mate like Lewis, who is bloody quick, it means a lot when you can finish in front of him, yes. He is also another world champion, so he is no slouch.
“We all want to beat our team-mate whatever we say, that is the way it is. You have the same equipment. You want to work with your team-mate, or you won’t have a quick enough car to fight the top guys. So you work well with him out of the car and in the car; of course, you want to beat him and it is a real challenge to beat him but that is the challenge I wanted when I came here. I wanted to find out where I really stand compared to Lewis.”
Button, remember, was advised not to join McLaren by people who thought he would struggle to compete with the 2008 world champion. Button said: “I have had better races than Lewis in the second half of the season but he has had phenomenal races when I have not been able to touch him.
“Sometimes you find yourself in the right place at the right time and at the moment, more often than not, I feel I am in a great position for the race. To finish second in the championship would mean something. It would mean I had beaten a Red Bull and Fernando in a Ferrari. When Fernando is in tune with his car it is great to beat him, as he is superfast, and my team-mate is unbelievably quick as well.”
However, Button said he would take another win ahead of finishing second in the championship. “It would be nice to finish in front of Lewis but if I can get another win that would mean so much more to me.
“I have three already and I would like to get another in Abu Dhabi or Brazil. Brazil is the one we have more of a chance to win. But quite a few times this year, especially in the last few races, I have been the closest guy to Sebastian when he has won.”
Someone then asked him yet another question about Hamilton. “Lewis will be strong next year,” he said. “Sometimes you wish he wasn’t that quick but it is competitive. He will definitely be there next year, no doubt, and we will have good fights and you will have two Brits fighting it out for the championship.”
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Oct 312011
FIA Formula 1 Drivers’ Champions Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton delighted the crowd at Goodwood Festival of Speed 2011, by taking the wheel of the stunning new McLaren MP4-12C GT3 as it made its world dynamic debut on the famous Goodwood hill.
Ex F1 driver Riccardo Patrese takes his wife round Jerez circuit in a Honda Civic Type-R… a little too quickly! Hilarious!!