Hamilton plays down McLaren departure rumours

F1 Fanatic round-up

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In the round-up: Hamilton says he’ll stay with McLaren as long as they’re competitive.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Lewis Hamilton happy at McLaren despite Red Bull rumours (BBC)

“We are the only other team that has won races this year, so I don’t see why you’d want to move when you have the most competitive car.”

Ice T in the F1 McLaren pits before the Canadian Grand Prix (YouTube)

Bizarre and expletive-ridden but nonetheless excellent footage from inside the McLaren pits with rapper Ice-T:

Here he is on the grid in a second video which appears to be narration-free out of respect for the performance of the Canadian national anthem:

Adrian Sutil: "The ups and downs were unbelievable" (Force India)

“Sutil: I was a bit unlucky in turn seven when I lost the rear and touched the wall. The suspension broke and I had to give up.
Q: Wasn’t that where you touched the wall in practice?
Sutil: I have to say it is the same place! I know a few walls here?���?�”

Petra Ecclestone poised to buy Aaron Spelling’s LA mansion for $85m

“The Manor, as the mansion is known, has parking for 100 cars, a bowling alley, a beauty salon, several rooms dedicated to gift wrapping and a “Prince Charles suite” where the heir to the throne once stayed.”

Follow F1 news as it breaks using the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app.

Comment of the day

Fer no.65 on the FIA’s anti-doping measures:

I’d love to see the full list of the prohibited substances and then look for them in a Red Bull can?���?�!
Fer no.65

From the forum

I think this suggestion from squaregoldfish for a nickname for Jenson Button is inspired.

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Plushpile!

On this day in F1

Riccardo Patrese led a Williams one-two in the Mexican Grand Prix 20 years ago today.

It was one of Patrese’s best wins. Having started from pole position he dropped back at the start, but fought back and passed team mate Nigel Mansell for the lead on lap 15.

See the move in the middle of this video clip:

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Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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74 comments on “Hamilton plays down McLaren departure rumours”

  1. I think the soundtrack may have been replaced in the first ‘Ice T’ video.

    1. Big M, Small c, Big L
      16th June 2011, 2:32

      First rule of Internet … whether it’s politicians twittering photos of turgid genitalia, or old rappers from back-in-the-day effin and jeffin in an F1 garage, if you see it, grab it, cos it might not necessarily be there later.

      Original narration:

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHf8lbDL3Iw

      1. Wow. I thought it was impossible for an ass to be bigger than his wife’s, but Ice T has proved me wrong.

        1. It’s a character called Ice T, it’s a bit, it’s a work, it’s a performance piece.

          I think taking it as face-value would be to risk missing much of the entertainment value.

          People claim to be bored of the bland corporate fridge-hum of modern F1 PR, you think they’d welcome something with a bit of spunk, McLaren should sign him up as a regular feature, Ice’s Pitwalk.

          Either way, enjoyed the nostalgia, back when hip-hop had character and characters, went and spun-up some old Ice-T tracks from a coupla decades ago and had a smile.
          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoZbWOxwH3g

          1. Sorry Gold Leaf but there’s just no positive spin to be put on that tragic video.

            The sooner Hamilton goes to Red Bull the better.

        2. Lewis should be embarassed by the antics, and foul mouth of that idiotic scumbag Ice T. Hamilton would be an absolute FOOL, to allow any moran like that be a guest of his again, in the Mclaren pit area.

          1. To be quite honest, I don’t understand why Lewis would want to associate with the Likes of Ice T, in the first place. I’ll bet that idiocy wouldn’t have occurred if Anthony was still their.

      2. Ron Dennis must be proud

        1. If there’s one thing Ron dreamed of, it was to have has been rappers adding their value to Mclaren.

      3. Thanks for that, have updated the video in the article.

      4. It’s so funny how he has no idea what he’s talking about, but doesn’t realise until he’s half way through saying it. The carbon fibre and brake light statements make zero sense.

        1. It was pure comedy, but some nice shots of the cars too.

    2. “This is some people you’ll never meet in your ******* life”

      Well Ice-T; Try me!

  2. Nice to see dynastic wealth is alive and well in the 21st century… 22 year old buys an $85m home as her second home? Something’s wrong with the world, and more importantly something’s wrong with F1 if Bernie’s making so much money that that’s the kind of cash his daughter has to throw around. Maybe I’m crazy, but it seems like a bit more of that money should be gog back into the sport than it does, or at least into lowering race hosting fees and tv licensing fees so that the savings could be passed on to the fans.

    1. A. Men.

    2. What exactly is wrong with the world when a man who has worked his ass off for literally his entire life to build one of the greatest sporting spectacles in the word can make a sizable fortune from the efforts of his mind?

      What, do you imagine, would be more fair? Should he have to give his profits to you instead of his children?

      I say “well done” to Mr. E. He has done what few others had the insight or will power to do.

      We’re all here, today, on this site, because of him. He deserves his cake, so let him eat it!

      1. There’s a difference between enjoying the fruits of your labour and then there’s ridiculous excess, which this most certainly is. Millions of people around the world work their fingers to the bone all their lives yet they’re still swimming in poverty. There’s work, and then there’s work.If it wouldn’t have been him, someone else would have done the job, and they may have been both better and less callous about it.

        We’re all here, today, on this site, because of him

        Wow, I didn’t know that between all his tireless work he had time to sire thousands of children and invent the internet. What a man.

        1. There is woman in today’s local newspaper who claims to be now living in a shed despite being a millionaire only a year a go. She spent it all on expensive jewellery, houses and cars now owing money to even her former staff as business was closed down by the banks.

        2. By “we’re all here today because of him” I meant that we are all here discussing F1 because of what he made it.

          Who are you to deem what he purchases with his own money as “ridiculous excess?”

          There are people living in mud huts whilst you probably live in a nice home with a TV and hair dryer. So to some, they could say the same about you?

          There is a big difference between working at “labor” all your life and using your mind to create wealth.

      2. I agree with Colin, but I can sympatize with people saying that the sport should get more of this cake.

      3. Because Bernie’s daughter deserves it.

        She has worked at least 240 times as hard as my parents.

        Colin don’t be bloody ridiculous. Not one single person in the world has contributed $85 million to the benefit of humanity. Not one person “deserves” that when so many others work much harder in less pleasant environments.

        $85m…. “deserves” Ha! What a laugh!

        1. Mike get your facts straight. Warren Buffett has given over $30 billion dollars to charity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett

          1. And that’s truly commendable. But I stand by what I said.

            People, even generous people, neither need nor have worked hard enough to deserve it.

          2. And Warren Buffet does NOT support dynastic wealth. His heirs will have to work for a living just like he has. But then Bernie’s no Warren Buffet.

        2. Mike, why does Bernie’s work have to benefit “humanity.” In a free market, people spend their money where they chose, for the most part, and clearly, many people want to spend it on Bernie’s product. How does that make him a bad guy? He’s obviously engineered a highly valued product and he is entitled to those profits. Pre-Bernie, F1 was no where near the money maker and vast spectacle it is today, and that is a fact.

          Morally, he EARNED the money and thus DESERVES it was money made from a free exchange of individuals. What could be more fair than that?

          Those people who are working harder in “less pleasant” environments should follow Bernie’s example. There well being is not his responsibility. If anything, Bernie has created countless jobs for the people who work in F1. Again, how is he the bad guy here for being so successful?

      4. worked his ass off for literally his entire life

        Strange, I thought he started out as a used car dealer…

        And I would argue that the people who “work their ass off” to feed Bernie ever-increasing fortune are the team personnel and the fans (who pay the ticket prices that feed his extortionate race fees).

        Now, I’m all for Capitalism, but at this point Bernie has more money than even his children could spend, so maybe he should put a little back into the sport that’s made him so wealthy.

        1. Yeah! He should spend his money on improving F1 in a way he would like; like covering the cost of adding all the sprinkler systems to every track :p

          (Please note, this comment was typed in a lighthearded, certainly non-serious, way)

        2. If the point of life is survival, which it is, then every individual has a right to the virtues which enable that purpose. The primary means of survival in the modern world is the creation of wealth. Bernie did not take that money by force, he set up a system in which we was able to EARN it and no matter how excessive you believe his profits are, they are indeed HIS to spend as he sees fit. What could be more just than this? If he chooses to lavish his children with his money, that is HIS choice and no one has a right to tell him otherwise. I say “bravo” to him for accomplishing so much and continuing to work into his old age. If someone else could do what he could do, then how come no one has?

    3. I saw some accounts based on the LA property buzz doubting it was bought for her to use.

      Remember how Mr. Mittal got his London residence? Exactly, he bought it from Ecclestone. So it might be a similar deal going on, for why would this 22 year old need something like that mansion?
      Another end buyer might be the Saudi royal family, they have done some of this kind of bussiness with/through Bernie before as well.

      Agree with you on the matter of where the money is going. It should end up with the teams and part should stay with the race tracks to actually promote and improve them.

      1. Oh, that’s an interesting angle, it does sound like Bernie!

  3. Something’s wrong with the world

    Now that’s an understatement

    a bit more of that money should be going back into the sport than it does

    Of course it should. But, saying as the situation has remained the same for decades now, I’m afraid I don’t see much hope of change in the future.

    1. Oops… that was supposed to be a reply to US Peter

    2. It’s clear more money should go to the sport. But also, less money needs to come out of the sport. I’m talking of course about the circuit fees. Both Spa and Suzuka have been and are under threat because oil dictatorships can pay tens of millions to host a race and they are being squeezed out.

      1. That was part of my original point. Clearly based on the excessive wealth Bernie continues to rake in he doesn’t need to charge the circuits what he does to host races. If fees were lower circuits would have a choice of either lowering prices to pass savings on to fans, or to turn an actual profit and put some of that back into maintaining and upgrading the circuits and facilities. The idea that hosting fees should just keep going up every year is ridiculous. That’s an outdated business model based on a global economy that was not sustainable and no longer exists.

        1. And yet clearly that model is still working, for the most part. Bernie has a responsibility to earn as much money as possible for the groups he represents. If people don’t like what he is offering, no one is forcing them to buy it.

  4. I’m very suprised McLaren let that guy film such close details of their car, though the other teams will surley already have those kinds of photo’s. Maybe Ice T is being paid to take part in industrial espionage.

    1. Yeah, bring Ice T before the WMSC they will show him not to use that kind of language!

    2. I’m very suprised McLaren let that guy film such close details of their car

      If Ice T rocked up into mah crib (know wat I’m sayin) and was all like, “Sush let me film your car”, i’d be like “go right ahead big dog!”

      There are consequences to not letting Ice T do what he wants, McLaren knows this.

      What I’d like to see the faces on McLaren’s blue chip sponsors while he’s hanging around being who he is.

      1. I’m tired and my irony sensors arn’t on so I’ll just say this. There are no consequences to a corporate monolith like Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, whose wealth influence and connections make a small time idiot like ice tea look completley irrelavant.

        1. There are no consequences to a corporate monolith like Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, whose wealth influence and connections make a small time idiot like ice tea look completley irrelavant.

          That’s the feeling you get watching the video. No-one seems to care about him! :D

          1. And I should add that I actually had to ‘Google’ Ice T and Coco to find out who they were. :P

          2. I knew Ice T from Law & Order :-p

        2. I said I’d like to see their faces.

          I never mentioned anything about losing sponsorship.

          1. You said Sushi

            “There are consequences to not letting Ice T do what he wants, McLaren knows this.”

            What consequences Ice T gona take out a contract on martin whitmarsh? LOL? He’s the biggest mama’s boy in the rap world. Did he ever shoot anyone? no. He ever got shot? no. The worst thing he ever did was sell some weed and drive a car without a license. Tupac was charged with nine counts of sexual assault, 3 counts of ABH he shot a police man in the as*. He was shot 9 times in his life twice in the head and died at 25 he was a man you didn’t want to get on the wrong side of.

  5. So if FI drop Sutil for Hulkenberg i guess he can always start Rapping!

  6. What exactly with the world when a man who has worked his ass off for literally his entire life to build one of the greatest sporting spectacles in the word can make a sizable fortune from the efforts of his mind?

    What, do you imagine, would be more fair? Should he have to give his profits to you instead of his children?

    I say “well done” to Mr. E. He has done what few others had the insight or will power to do.

    We’re all here, today, on this site, because of him. He deserves his cake, so let him eat it!

    1. He has done a good job because he’s talented. He should find someone with similar talent rather than someone who might not have any.

  7. Ha…, Tracy (aka Ice T) has been a good Friend of mine since He was a break-dancer on Venice Beach circa 1985… I grew up in neighboring Santa Monica and I have worked in the entertainment biz for many years. I gotta say that He is certainly a hip hop icon, and now has a successful tv career as well. I know his first wife Darlene very well and practically his entire crew. Our Planet Hollywood is very tiny indeed. Anyway, its good to see some people here finally coming to appreciate what I’ve adored for many many years. Although…, being a superstar affords one quite a worldly perspective. As for Me, I suppose I just got lucky.

  8. Oh…, and that house in Beverly Hills is about three miles from where I grew up. It’s funny though, My neighborhood is a lot more normal than that. L.A. is like that though, there is extreme wealth and poverty all in close proximity.

  9. Great COTD! That article was always going to be a goldmine.

    At least Adrian didn’t smash into the wall of champions, not really his spot.

  10. Welsh not Scottish
    16th June 2011, 9:15

    Personally I like Sutil and think the bit from the BBC f1 profile of him where they ask “Angelina Jolie or Keira Knightley?” and then this is followed by (Adrian didn’t know who Keira Knightley was – he was then shown a photograph) is hilarious. He’s a bit of an enigma, which is curious in f1 or any sport for that matter. So I guess with Sutil the fans don’t like him but superstars think he’s alright. Good for him.

  11. Ice T: “You have no understanding of this ****”

    …moves camera to the rear of the car and shows its flashing red light…

    Ice T: “BRAKE LIGHTS!”

    Ice T? Get your coat and s0d off. Thank you kindly. :)

    1. Yeah I had to laugh at that bit!

      1. Wow he certainly isn’t very endearing…

        1. I think we should keep him, we can take him for walks and…..

    2. just googled the guy.. he looks older than i expected..hahhaa…his funny thou

  12. In the Mexico ’91 commentary, one of the guys says:

    “that was side by side, wheel to wheel racing, which is most unusual in Formula 1”

    I thought these were the good old days?

    1. Indeed! I love the complaint about the director cutting away from the action. Nothing changes…

      1. It could be the same director I suppose, is there any info on who actually is the director?

        1. I thought the directors back then varied by circuit?

  13. Ice T for BBC reporter!

    1. Gridwalk with Brundle (or without when he can’t make it, like in China)! Would like to see what he says to Geri Halliwell in Monaco, probably more interesting than what Brundle got out of her!

      1. You can actually hear Brundle in the background at the start of the gridwalk home vid about 3 secs in talking about Renault.

  14. :O! COTD!!!! It’s been a while since I last got one :D!

    1. Congratulations on it Fer no.65!

  15. Ice T seems like such a reasonable guy on Law and Order. Turns out he’s a no-nothing *******…

  16. i know i shouldn’t find this funny.. but i may be laughing at the mclaren video.. “i want these people to know how lucky they are to know me”

  17. Sergio Perez
    16th June 2011, 14:26

    Ice T is the guy from Pimp my Ride, right? Hated how the the cars ended up looking after the restoration, but loved to see how they became literally brand new from their original, garbage ready state.

    1. Wrong – the Pimp My Ride presenter is Xzibit.

  18. I remember cursing Nigel’s luck here. With the race shortened by a few crucial laps, due to a false start or something, Mansell simply ran out of laps. When he finally sorted out his engine fuel mixture problem(which allowed Patrese to pass and for Senna to challenge), he closed down on Patrese at such a rate he was close to the qualy pace.
    I remember being happy that Senna didn’t win, but would have to wait one more race for that memorable Mansell hat-trick.

  19. Who is ice t anyway? I wont bother wasting my search engine! I have absolutely nothing positive to say about him and will refrain from writing as many expletives as I can to express my dislike for him…

  20. i was at the mexican gp when ricardo won. It was not until the last lap that you were sure he was going to win it, because mansell was right on his tail. But they were evenly matched. And mansell couldn’t have a go at the italian.
    The track was fantastic, and the peraltada was one of the best corners of the championship. Senna had a big one the day before, and even if i had a grandstand ticket for it, i missed it because i was on a friends house that saturday. Shame on me.

  21. Mike the bike Schumacher (@mike-the-bike-schumacher)
    16th June 2011, 22:23

    If only Ice-T could do the gird walks when Brundle can’t!

  22. bytorr2112 (@)
    21st June 2011, 14:33

    wots all the crap about ice t in the mc claren garage who gives a s##t i thought this wes F1 forum
    Hamliton will go to Red Bull cause his team cant give him a race winning car and Canada proved it. first he tried to take our Webber(one rival) the for god sake
    his own taem mate the man is dangerious when he is frustated and has no respect for his felow drivers or team mate
    I hope he gets 5 grid place at least at the next race for all his antics in Canada

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