Lewis Hamilton will now start 9th on the grid for tomorrow’s Monaco Grand Prix after being given a penalty for cutting the chicane on his only flying lap of the third part of qualifying. Below is what he explained to the BBC.
"I had the pace to be on pole, I'm certain about that... In Monaco you can't take risks and leave it right to the end, you have to get a banker in, as everyone else did... The engineers advised we should do one stint at the end of Q3. I didn't contest it, I think you always have to have a balanced view with the engineers, but I didn't take into account - and I know the engineers didn't - that in Monaco you can't take risks and leave it right to the end, you have to get out and get a banker in, like everyone else did. With racing experience, you would assume most people would have that, but other things were going on and we didn't have that.”
Now not for a minute do I think Lewis is someone who never contests the decisions that his team make. I’m pretty sure that it’s something he probably does a lot. However, I’m beginning to wonder if after contesting them he ever gets his own way. If he did, I’m sure he wouldn’t be as overly critical as he has been so far this year, Malaysia and Turkey being other examples. It’s all ‘we’ while they’re winning and ‘they’ when something goes wrong. Perhaps he needs to give more input with the decision making in qualifying strategy if he is unhappy with it rather than relying on, then blaming the team if it goes wrong.
I don’t think it’s good for a driver to overly criticise his team, surely that would begin to create a destabilising influence, it’s always better to be positive with what you can be. I do think there might be one key weakness to Hamilton which I would have thought would’ve vanished after over four years in Formula 1. His ability to make clear cut decisions is at the very least questionable and his over reliance on his team and then criticising them for their mistakes is also rather unbecoming of a World Champion unlike for instance Jenson Button at the same team. Perhaps it is time that he takes a stand for what he feels is best not just what he is told to do.
It's strange that for someone who can make split second decisions to pull off some amazing overtakes on track, he does not feel capable of telling the team what he wants or knowing what he wants. I wonder if Jenson Button had much influence over the decision to go out early in Q3 and secure a front row grid slot.
I speculate here, that perhaps it has been what Lewis is used to. After all he has spent well over 10 years in the McLaren driver program being groomed to become the perfect racing driver. It’s served him well for the most part, a winner in every Formula, World Champion in just his second season, but yet some things are holding him back including his current bitterness about practically everyone holding him up, which looking at the footage, albeit as an outsider, seems hard to justify.
Lewis Hamilton is one of the best, if not the best driver currently racing. He has crushing speed, finds the pass that no one else would dare look for, and is absolutely relentless. He’s exciting to watch, he’s a winner, and he knows just how good he really is, and he also probably knows how much better he still can be. Perhaps he just needs to make the decision to lead the team rather than be led.
As for the race tomorrow, no one can win from 9th on the grid in Monaco, but if anyone can, it’s Lewis Hamilton.
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