doctorvee

Following his pretty dominant performances in North America, I think it is fairly safe to say that Lewis Hamilton is the real deal. Not that that was ever in any doubt, of course. But to get two wins on the trot at circuits which he had never visited before is a massive hurdle to leap.

This doesn’t excuse the media’s fawning, however. The BBC Sport Editors’ blog has a post about the dilemma that the BBC now faces with its motorsport coverage. How do they strike the balance between looking after its well-established audience of F1 buffs while catering for all the new-found British interest in the sport.

I guess one good thing about Hamilton’s meteoric rise is that there will be a whole lot more media coverage of Formula 1. On Friday I just happened to be in the kitchen with Radio Five Live on, when all of a sudden they went to Indianapolis to spend twenty or so minutes talking about F1 and covering the practice session! I am sure that wouldn’t have happened had it not been for Lewis Hamilton.

But while the listener is in fairly safe hands with Radio Five Live’s commentary team, I think it is safe to say that the majority of the extra media coverage will be absolute crap. At least, that is the case if the MSM’s recent performances have been anything to go by.

Mind you, there is no doubt that Alonso is rattled. It is safe to say that Alonso has never had such a good team mate, so this is understandable to an extent.

I think Alonso is already considering the prospect of losing this year’s championship because he seemed to be angling for an Oscar during his post-race interviews. That fake smile, the claims that he is happy because it is good for the team, and the idea that his massive swerve was done so that he could cool his brakes… Alonso is not a good liar.

However, Hamilton has done the easy bit. One of the commenters on the BBC Sport blog pointed out that Hamilton has broken few records — apart from relatively esoteric ones.

Meanwhile, history was genuinely made in Canada when Sebastian Vettel became the first teenager ever to score a World Championship point. A genuine achievement from another promising youngster. Yet we have heard barely a peep about this from the media.

Let us not forget that Hamilton is driving a McLaren that appears to be the best F1 car — supremely fast as well as reliable. And this is a period where Ferrari have taken a backward step amid rumours of a failure of their one and only wind tunnel.

The fact that Hamilton became the first person to finish on the podium on his first three (now seven) races is extremely impressive. But in another sense, it would be amazing — given his circumstances — if he did not finish on the podium. Whenever Alonso has failed to make it this year, it has been down to bad luck.

Alonso certainly never had such a luxury in his rookie year. In fact, Alonso drove for what was widely regarded to be the worst team — Minardi. Even when he started driving for Renault, his car was not championship-winning material and he had to wring its first victory out.

On top of all this is the minor fact that Hamilton has been part of the McLaren family for a decade. No other driver in F1 has ever had this kind of treatment. This is what Alonso alludes to when he hits that he is uncomfortable at McLaren. While Hamilton has obviously earned this sort of treatment (otherwise McLaren wouldn’t give him it), there is no doubt that Hamilton is benefiting from something that has not been offered to any other F1 driver in history.

It is difficult to think of another rookie who has ever had such a good set of circumstances with which to launch his F1 career. In fact, the only one I can think of is Jacques Villeneuve. Ah yes, Jacques Villeneuve…