The F1 Championship and the Nerves of Lewis Hamilton

Author: Aazdak Alisimo

When Michael Schumacher left Formula One, many worried about the lack of personalities in the drivers. Lewis Hamilton has filled that void for the most part. He is incredibly talented, but one has to wonder if he is the real deal when it comes to championships.

Wins are great in Formula One. So are Constructors Championships. At the end of the day, however, the mark of a driver is really only whether he wins the overall championship or not.

In this regard, a disturbing trend is starting to appear with Hamilton. To put it mildly, he feels the pressure in a big way based solely on what we see on the course. From the 2008 season to this one, we see the same strange errors.

The recent race in Fuji, Japan bears out the problem with Hamilton. He out qualified his nearest rival by four positions and, with a seven point lead in the championship, was primed to expand his lead even more.

The proper course of action for Hamilton was to drive a conservative race. The chances of Massa ever passing him were non-existent as Massa is not half the driver. All other drivers on the course were not relevant.

So, what happens? Hamilton gets a poor start and then tries an extremely bold maneuver to retake the lead from Kimi Raikkonen, a driver who was irrelevant in the points. Hamilton goes wide and the rest is history.

Instead of avoiding trouble, Hamilton irrationally became the cause of it. At the end of the day, he came home with zero points despite starting on pole. This brain freeze has happened two seasons in a row and raises questions of a dire sort.

The race was amazing because it showed the two leading drivers in the points chase just falling apart in the face of the pressure. Hamilton drove in a panic and Massa drove like a drunk! Hitting Hamilton was bad enough, but driving over Bourdais was just bizarre.

Massa is a great front runner and pretty useless if he has to actually pass anyone. Hamilton is the better driver, but he seems not to realize it. Surely someone at McLaren has told him what needs to be done. If not, it is a shame.

Perhaps most aggravating to Hamilton will be the driver who performed the way Hamilton should have. That driver was his number one enemy. Yes, Fernando Alonso. With a lesser car, Alonso drove a solid race. Hamilton should take it as an example.

Hamilton is a great talent. Talent without brains, however, is not enough. Hamilton is smart enough, he just need to get a grip on his nerves. If he cannot do it in the remaining two races, he may never do it. What a shame that would be.

Dirk Gibson is a huge Formula One fan and writes for dcjautoparts.com - an online auto parts store.