One side effect of what is now sickeningly called “the Lewis Hamilton effect” (i.e. media-driven bollocks-hype), is that now journalists are being expected by their employers to cover more F1. Moreover, whenever Lewis Hamilton fails to win (which is every race of his career so far, let us not forget), somebody must be to blame. It could not be down to the fact that, for instance, golden boy Lewis was maybe not fast enough to win.

So today Ron Dennis is being criticised for doing what any team principal worth his salt would do — ensuring that his two drivers don’t crash into each other. This BBC News article is called “McLaren deny anti-Hamilton bias”.

The fact that Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso backed off from having an on-track battle is being construed as team orders. Of course, had Alonso and Hamilton had an on-track battle and then crashed into each other, everybody would be pointing the finger at Ron Dennis asking why he allowed them to race each other.

It’s difficult to remember the last time the McLarens were so dominant during a race. Today they lapped everybody apart from Felipe Massa, and even he was far behind due to the Ferrari’s long wheelbase which is very badly suited to the twisty Monte Carlo circuit. I’m guessing the last time McLaren had such an advantage over the competition was Australia 1998.

Despite being the most famous race of the F1 season, the Monaco Grand Prix is usually the most boring. This is because it is almost impossible to overtake on. Its tight and twisty corners are notoriously difficult for F1 cars to negotiate one abreast, never mind two abreast. Racing on the circuit has famously been described as like “flying a helicopter in your living room” by Nelson Piquet.

McLaren’s supreme advantage, combined with the fact that it is near enough impossible to overtake at Monaco, would have made any other course of action complete suicide for the team. Had Alonso and Hamilton crashed out, McLaren would have lost 18 points — net 24 points when you consider the extra points Ferrari would have scooped up.

In F1 championship terms, that is a huge amount of points to give away — almost two and a half race wins’ worth. Had the McLarens crashed out today, it would have been enough for them to lose the lead of the Championship.

It is not as if Alonso and Hamilton weren’t trying. A number of times during the race both McLarens looked a bit sideways, particularly in the Swimming Pool complex. As it was, they were almost chucking their cars into the barriers.

And let’s not forget that in the straight fight in qualifying, Hamilton was unable to beat Alonso (both in qualifying 3 which determines the grid, and in qualifying 2 where the fuel loads are equal). Had Hamilton been faster, the so-called “team orders” would have been to his advantage. So maybe if he wants to win a race, next time he should be fast enough to do so. Hamilton knows this. It’s not exactly rocket science.

In other words, nice try, MSM. Keep digging for that juicy Hamilton story. Unfortunately this isn’t it. I am sure it will come sooner or later without you having to resort to hype or outright distortions.

Incidentally, I was quite amused / enraged by a couple of things James Allen said over the course of the weekend. It is a typical example of how the media has lost sight of the reality, caught up as they are in the rush to create a star out of Lewis Hamilton, thereby allowing them to line their pockets.

[It is Lewis Hamilton's] fifth grand prix weekend. A lot of people say there’s too much hype around Hamilton. But it’s not about hype; it’s about performance and results. That’s what creates the headlines.

Well, that’s what should create the headlines. But what about performance? What about results? Just ask James Allen’s five-year-old son.

My five-year-old son said to me when I got back from Barcelona, “Dad, I don’t think Lewis is any good.”
“Why not, son?”, I said.
“Because he never wins; he always finishes second!”
[Laughs] I tried to explain, but eh… [sentence trails off]

But eh… didn’t your son have a point? I’m not a big fan of kids, but I always admire the way their minds have not been warped out of shape by society. They can think infinitely more clearly than anyone above the age of about 12.

And here we have an example of a five-year-old seeing straight through all of the hype, clearly able to see that Lewis Hamilton has not yet demonstrated very much. Everyone else is too busy trying to create hype, or being wound up in nationalistic pride.

James Allen’s son knows more about F1 than his dad, who happens to be ITV’s main F1 commentator (much to the fans’ chagrin). The bottom line is that Lewis Hamilton’s F1 career is only five races old. And five races do not a career make.

We’ve not seen him race in the wet, we’ve not seen how he copes under pressure, we’ve not seen how he reacts when he makes a mistake. We’ve not seen whether or not he has the qualities required to be an F1 champion. And we won’t know until he is the world champion.

A lot of crass comparisons with Ayrton Senna are being made. Let’s not forget that just a short decade ago Jackie Stewart was describing Jan Magnussen as “the new Ayrton Senna”. Magnussen was subsequently sacked mid-way through his second season for being crap. Where is he now?