Tekknikal
06-21-2007, 03:59 PM
<img src="http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t193/streetseen/F1/Hamilton/lewishamilton1024sm.jpg" />
Yes. I know that's a big claim. But bear with me on this one...<!--more-->
Formula One racing, commonly called F1, is the most advanced form of automobile racing in the world. In fact, it's the most advanced sport in the world. It's also the most expensive. It is global in all aspects from driver nationalities to participating manufacturers and audience -it reaches over 200 nations.
<img src="http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t193/streetseen/F1/Hamilton/72743377MH028_F1_Grand_Prix061714_1.jpg" />
Competition in F1 is fierce, so much so that many of the innovations and inventions we enjoy in street cars owe themselves to development there, including sequential manual transmissions, carbon brakes, traction control, variable valve timing "vtec", active suspension controls, and more. Cars in the sport weigh about 1300lbs and carrying over 800hp, so naturally they're fast. Their V8 engines spin to 20,000rpm. Everything about the sport is epic, including the drivers who take these machines to their limits day in and day out. They are beyond superstar status to F1's hundreds of millions of fans.
<img src="http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t193/streetseen/F1/Hamilton/72743378MH120_F1_Grand_Prix061616_1.jpg" />
That brings us to one driver in particular: A 22 year old rookie from England by the name of Lewis Hamilton. He comes from GP2 and F3 racing (think: the minors for F1) and starting racing with the McLaren-Mercedes F1 team this year. How has he been doing?
In the seven races held so far, he's always qualified at fourth or better, and has always landed a podium finish<em>. </em>In the two most recent races, he qualified for pole position and held that position to a first place finish.
The thing is, he's never even raced on these tracks before.
<img src="http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t193/streetseen/F1/Hamilton/72743378MH164_F1_Grand_Prix061714_1.jpg" />
But there's more: At earlier tracks such as Monaco, Hamilton was ordered by McLaren team boss Ron Dennis <em>not </em>to pass his teammate Fernando Alonso, ex-2005 and 2006 F1 Champion. The thought process at McLaren was that there was no need to risk the destruction of both cars from one driver attempting to pass the other, since they're both teammates and already in 1st and 2nd place.
He's that good.
And the scary part is not his consistency, but the fact that from here on, he's expected to only get better...
<img src="http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t193/streetseen/F1/Hamilton/72743377MH037_F1_Grand_Prix061715_1.jpg" />
Yes. I know that's a big claim. But bear with me on this one...<!--more-->
Formula One racing, commonly called F1, is the most advanced form of automobile racing in the world. In fact, it's the most advanced sport in the world. It's also the most expensive. It is global in all aspects from driver nationalities to participating manufacturers and audience -it reaches over 200 nations.
<img src="http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t193/streetseen/F1/Hamilton/72743377MH028_F1_Grand_Prix061714_1.jpg" />
Competition in F1 is fierce, so much so that many of the innovations and inventions we enjoy in street cars owe themselves to development there, including sequential manual transmissions, carbon brakes, traction control, variable valve timing "vtec", active suspension controls, and more. Cars in the sport weigh about 1300lbs and carrying over 800hp, so naturally they're fast. Their V8 engines spin to 20,000rpm. Everything about the sport is epic, including the drivers who take these machines to their limits day in and day out. They are beyond superstar status to F1's hundreds of millions of fans.
<img src="http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t193/streetseen/F1/Hamilton/72743378MH120_F1_Grand_Prix061616_1.jpg" />
That brings us to one driver in particular: A 22 year old rookie from England by the name of Lewis Hamilton. He comes from GP2 and F3 racing (think: the minors for F1) and starting racing with the McLaren-Mercedes F1 team this year. How has he been doing?
In the seven races held so far, he's always qualified at fourth or better, and has always landed a podium finish<em>. </em>In the two most recent races, he qualified for pole position and held that position to a first place finish.
The thing is, he's never even raced on these tracks before.
<img src="http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t193/streetseen/F1/Hamilton/72743378MH164_F1_Grand_Prix061714_1.jpg" />
But there's more: At earlier tracks such as Monaco, Hamilton was ordered by McLaren team boss Ron Dennis <em>not </em>to pass his teammate Fernando Alonso, ex-2005 and 2006 F1 Champion. The thought process at McLaren was that there was no need to risk the destruction of both cars from one driver attempting to pass the other, since they're both teammates and already in 1st and 2nd place.
He's that good.
And the scary part is not his consistency, but the fact that from here on, he's expected to only get better...
<img src="http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t193/streetseen/F1/Hamilton/72743377MH037_F1_Grand_Prix061715_1.jpg" />