Lewis Hamilton expects his Formula One rivalry with Sebastian Vettel to become even more intense this season and says he is prepared for anything the Ferrari driver throws at him. The battle between the two four-times world champions promises to be the storyline of the season starting in Australia on March 25. Hamilton came out on top last year, a season that started out in mutual respect before tipping into ‘road rage’ and recrimination when they collided and banged wheels in Azerbaijan.
“You would have to expect that it could be worse,” Hamilton told reporters when asked, at the launch of his Mercedes team’s new F1 W09 car at Silverstone on Thursday, about the tension between the two. “Always expect the worst and hopefully it will be better.” The Briton said the campaign was likely to be closer than ever but he would also be even better. “Hopefully if I am performing at my best, then there will be issues -- because they (Ferrari) will be upset about it,” he added. Asked about potential ‘mind games’, Hamilton smiled. “Honestly, I don’t play mind games,” he said. “I just drive faster.” The Briton spoke of his hunger, even if he still has some weight to lose before the first race, and commitment as well as the joys of his longest break in a decade. Since November, the 33-year-old has been surfing in California and snowboarding in Japan as well as hanging out with friends and family on both sides of the Atlantic. He enthused about the time spent chasing waves with 11-times world surf league champion Kelly Slater, an experience that was also painful. “I go for the biggest waves and I get barrelled over,” he grinned. Hamilton has also kept a lower profile on social media, wiping his Twitter and Instagram accounts in late December after attracting criticism for comments about his young nephew wearing a pink dress. He said the “clean slate” was planned and he would aim to strike a balance in future. “I have been very open with my life for several years and it is always difficult to make a change because I have always been open,” he added. ”But we are in a strange time in the world where things are magnified a lot more than they were in previous years. It is a critical time for the world. “Social media is still the gateway to connect to fans, so it will be a part of my life. As to how deep I will go, we will see.”
Lewis Hamilton’s former team McLaren are watching his contract situation with interest, even if the four times Formula One world champion and Mercedes have said they want to stay together. The 33-year-old Briton has a season left to run on his current contract but is expected to sign a new multi-year agreement with the team that has won both championships for the past four years. Nothing appears to have been signed yet, however, allowing rivals to indulge in what may be little more than flights of fantasy. “I don’t think there’s a team in the pitlane that wouldn’t be interested in having Lewis drive for them, us included,” McLaren’s executive director Zak Brown told reporters when asked about the situation. “If anyone got Lewis, it would be great for the team. He has a great history here and he is very friendly with the shareholders,” added the American, who joined the Woking-based outfit at the end of 2016.
Hamilton won his first title with McLaren in 2008, a year after his debut, before moving to Mercedes in 2013 and taking three more championships. The sport’s most high-profile driver, who enjoys a private jet and all the trappings of success, said last November he expected a new contract to be straightforward -- a sentiment echoed by team boss and shareholder Toto Wolff. “Lewis has become such an important pillar within the team that it’s a no-brainer that we continue with each other,” said the Austrian. Brown felt any delay in signing was likely to be more down to Hamilton than the team. ”I am going to guess that he’s contemplating how much longer he wants to go,“ he said. ”If you’re Lewis, with what you’ve done with Mercedes and where Mercedes are headed, you’d re-sign with the team. ”He’s talked about when he stops, so that would be my guess. I can’t imagine it’s money or the quality of the team. ”He just might be going ‘let me see how this year goes, what’s the rush? They’re not going to sell the seat from underneath me’. That would be my speculation. “We might find they actually have signed and are just not telling us.” The season starts in Australia on March 25. Ferrari are likely to have a vacancy at the end of the season, with 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen out of contract, and the sport’s oldest and most successful team also have a special allure. McLaren are the second most successful team but have not won a race since 2012 and finished ninth of 10 teams last year, splitting with Honda and starting a new partnership with Renault.
Madrid: Formula 1 is to swap its recently scrapped grid girls programme, which for years saw promotional female models accompany drivers at the stages before and after a race, with grid kids, a move that will incorporate youth competitors as mascots, according to a statement on Monday. In a statement, director of Formula 1's commercial operations, Sean Bratches, said the new initiative would allow racing competitors currently in karting or junior formulae levels a chance to stand alongside their heroes on the grid as they prepare for Grand Prix races, reports Efe. "This will be an extraordinary moment for these youngsters: imagine, standing beside their heroes, watch as they prepare to race, the elite of the elite in motorsport, to be there, alongside them in those precious few minutes just before the start," Bratches said. "What better way to inspire the next generation of Formula 1 heroes," he added, hoping that the move will boost the popularity among F1's young followers.
Bratches a week ago announced an end to the use of grid girls in all competitions starting with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 25, on the basis that it was outdated and no longer resonated with the F1 brand. Grid girls traditionally undertook a variety of promotional activities during a Grand Prix event and would accompany the winning drivers on the podium during the awards ceremony. Jean Todd, president of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), the world motorsport governing body which is to work in partnership with Formula 1 in the grid kids scheme, also said the initiative would give young drivers a goal to aim for. "Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motorsport and the dream of every young racer competing the junior series that make up the FIA's single-seater pyramid, from karting all the way to F1," he said. "We are therefore delighted to bring that dream a little closer by giving the future champions of our sport the opportunity to stand alongside their heroes on the grid in the build-up to the race start," he added.
LONDON: Formula One is ending the use of female models who parade on the starting grid and stand with the drivers’ name boards before every grand prix. The decision was announced in a statement on Wednesday with the change, which also applies to all support races, coming into effect from the start of the season in Australia on March 25. “While the practice of employing grid girls has been a staple of Formula One grands prix for decades, we feel this custom does not resonate with our brand values and clearly is at odds with modern day societal norms,” said commercial manager Sean Bratches. “We don’t believe the practice is appropriate or relevant to Formula One and its fans, old and new, across the world,” he added. The move became a major talking point among fans on social media and was welcomed by Britain’s Women’s Sport Trust, who said in a tweet: ”Thank you @F1 for deciding to stop using grid girls. “Another sport making a clear choice about what they want to stand for.” Cycling, professional boxing and the UFC still have women parading between bouts or featuring as podium hostesses but the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) recently scrapped such walk-on roles.
Britain’s Sun tabloid newspaper took a different view, however, with a front page headline on Thursday blaming ‘killjoys’ for turning the sport into ‘Formula Dumb’. Formula One has not had a woman race driver on the starting grid since the 1970s but is now far more mixed off the track, with female engineers, aerodynamicists and mechanics as well as in media and marketing. Two of the 10 teams have had female bosses, including former champions Williams, and Formula One management has a number of women in senior positions. SEXIST AND OUTDATED The use of female models, even if not as scantily-clad as in the past, has been increasingly criticised as sexist and outdated in a sport that is now undergoing a revamp since Liberty Media took over last year. Liberty, who ousted octogenarian former supremo Bernie Ecclestone a year ago, have been looking to make the pre-race show more of a feature with the emphasis on entertainment for fans and promotion. “Formula One considers the time spent by teams and drivers on the grid before a race as one of celebration, where guests and various performers can add to the glamour and spectacle of the Grand Prix,” the statement said. It added that the change would allow promoters and partners “to showcase their countries and products”. Ross Brawn, Formula One’s managing director for motorsport, gave notice last December that the use of female models on the grid was under review. “There’s a lot of people respect the tradition of the grid girls and there’s people who feel that it has become a bit dated, so we’re addressing that,” he told the BBC at the time. In 2015, men were deployed in place of the women at the Monaco Grand Prix -- a move welcomed by some fans and deplored by others.
BIRMINGHAM: Lewis Hamilton’s social media posts have long been a talking point in Formula One but thHamilton's social silence has the F1 fans talkingattention. The Mercedes driver ended 2017 by wiping clean his prolific Twitter and Instagram accounts after critics condemned comments he made over Christmas about his young nephew wearing a pink dress. “Boys don’t wear princess dresses,” the Briton had said, in a video on Instagram that he apologised for and took down the next day. Hamilton, or his media team, then proceeded to remove reams of content and photographs from his feeds, giving no explanation for what was interpreted by many as an emotional response to the criticism. New Year’s Day, and the Briton’s 33rd birthday on Jan. 7, came and went without a word. Hamilton has more of a profile than any other F1 driver, boasting 5.7 million followers on Instagram and 5.26 million on Twitter, who are kept up to speed about his celebrity lifestyle and fashion tastes. Formula One’s owners Liberty Media, who took over last year, have adopted a “fan first” approach with social media a major plank in their strategy McLaren executive director Zak Brown said the sport needed Hamilton’s engagement. “Obviously the amount of feedback looks like it’s upset him, to the point where he’s said well then I won’t do anything,” Brown told Reuters at the Autosport International show on Thursday. ”That’s a shame for all the racing fans who love Lewis and want to know what he’s up to. Hopefully that situation will settle down. “We want to hear what Lewis is up to and he has the biggest following. So if he pulls off social media, that would be a loss for everyone.” Mercedes have made no official comment on the reasons for Hamilton’s actions, although a team source said it was “just a bit of hygiene” to wipe the slate clean for a fresh start this season. An adviser to Hamilton also had no comment, telling the BBC that “taking a break” from social media during the holiday period was not newsworthy. While the season starts in Australia in March, January is a quiet time in Formula One when engagement on social media helps maintain the sport’s profile. “I think it’s unfortunate how quickly people jump on him (Hamilton),” said Brown of a driver who won his first title with McLaren in 2008. “I bet the majority of those people (critics), if they were sitting in front of Lewis, would still want to get his autograph.” Source: News Agency
