If I have to believe what some people say, once Lewis fails (eventually) the same British press will “kill” Lewis as it happened before with Button etc. In this sense, it (how McLaren managed the whole thing last year) will be a practical demonstration of how to burn out a young promise. You are still in time of changing the situation so that does not happen; in fact I do want Lewis plenty of energy, and, obviously, that Fernando gets a decent car. Then we will have one of the most fascinating years regarding F1 racing.

My conclusion of LH is that he is surely a quick driver but probably lacks in the department of setting up the car. There is a lot of circumstantial evidence of that.

He came into a top team with best car in years. Alonso did a lot of setup work of the car and Lewis was only happy to drive it. He didn’t much contribute to the setup. I remember Alonso complaining many times that as soon as he had found a new setup it was always immediately copied to Lewis’ car. First time last mid season (I forgot which race) LH differed from the setup of FA and got it immediately wrong.

Remember, Lewis hasn’t been driving F1 before (like Alonso) and hasn’t been a test driver (like Heikki). Rookies of this year have commented that biggest difference in F1 is the amount of testing required, indicating the lack of that in other series. So the F1 testing and setting up can’t be learnt without years in F1 driving or F1 testing. This is where Hamilton lacks experience.

Consequently this is why this idea of Year in the Shed looks to be right to the point. One needs that experience to be able to set up the car correctly.

Other note is about winning from behind the pole. Great champions have won races from any grid position for example Schumi, Alonso, Kimi. On the other hand Lewis and Massa have won races only from pole (before Bahrain, and even the Massa practically won from the pole). I am sure Lewis is a good driver but he is overhyped and overrated mostly by british media (but that sells newspapers very well…). Outside the rainy island there is little bit more objective treatment of LH.

Personally, I am not wishing Lewis to fail, and my thoughts about him have nothing at all to do with his “race” (we were all of the human race last i checked).

I personally would be extremely happy if Lewis became the World Champion in 2008, but on the showing so far this year, I’m not sure that that will happen, primarily because I and, it would appear from the above posts, many others do not think he’s ready yet. I think that Lewis is at the head of a number of young drivers who are bringing in a refreshing change of the guard in F1, a list which also includes Robert Kubica, Nico Rosberg & the 2 Sebs. That is to be welcomed.

However, at present we know that Lewis can drive a great car well, but can he turn a good car into a great one? That is the question that is being posed here. Race, and negativity about Lewis, have nothing to do with it.

I can only think that the hatred he receives stems from racism, because you obviously hate this polite, decent black man doing so well in what you deem to be a white man’s sport. I won’t return to this stupid blog to read the replies if I get any, as they usually go round in circles: “how dare you say I’m racist”, blah blah blah. I know the truth and it saddens and disgusts me.

The wise move for McLaren at the end of last year would be to bring in a more experienced head who could take Lewis under his wing – Webber or Button perhaps? It seemed like they were concentrating too much on making sure Lewis was #1, rather than what would do him & McLaren the best long term.

At some point last season Lewis started to believe his own hype and quit learning. He had the chance to work with and learn from the reigning world champion and he turned it into a battle that neither of them won. He won’t get that chance again.

I sincerely hope that this turns out to be nonsense and McLaren & Lewis come right back into it in Barcelona, but at the moment Lewis looks pretty much equal to his team-mate.