Hamilton on Bottas, Allison and his new helmet design

2017 F1 season

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Lewis Hamilton faced the media during last week’s test and spoke about his new team mate, Mercedes’ latest recruit to its technical team and his latest helmet design.

Lewis Hamilton on…

…Bottas

Bottas is Hamilton’s fifth team mate in F1
There’s a new face on the other side of the Mercedes garage this year. Hamilton gave his first impressions of life alongside Valtteri Bottas.

“It’s been great so far. Not really a lot to really say except Valtteri seems to have settled really well into the team, he’s given great feedback, he’s working hard with his engineers to get up to date.”

“He’s very forthcoming with the information coming from the car so the engineers and the team can move forward.”

“So I think if anything we’re probably working at full capacity in terms of how we’re developing. Nothing’s being held back which is fantastic.”

…his new helmet

Hamilton has revised his classic colours
Thousands of fans entered a competition to design Hamilton’s new helmet for 2017. The winning entry revives his classic yellow colours.

“I like it. My first, original helmet was yellow. And so I’ve been really pondering the last couple of years whether or not to go back to yellow.”

“The reason I went with white was just because it looked better with the car. I’m actually happy that I’ve gone back to yellow because Valtteri’s got white on his helmet so it would be difficult to distinguish the two of us.”

“I had a lot of designs to go through. It was amazing the response from the fans. Kids have come up with amazing drawings, there was so many different ideas, it was very hard to choose.”

“But for me it was important to try and keep some of the relevance, some of the design I’d already had, rather than a completely new design.”

“And it’s a work in progress, in that last run I used the first iteration of it and then the one that’s all yellow is a separate iteration. Before I get to Melbourne there’ll be another, small alteration to the helmet.”

“But I love it, I’m really happy with it and so far I’ve had positive comments. It’s nice to have something different.”

…James Allison

Mercedes swiftly found a replacement for Lowe
With Paddy Lowe saying farewell to Mercedes, former Ferrari technical director James Allison has arrived to bolster the team’s technical division.

“With James I’ve only read about what he’s done and seen obviously what he’s done at his previous team. I hope that he joins in well, I look forward to seeing what he brings.”

“But the emphasis is not just on one there’s a lot of people back at the factory. Each and every single person is designing every part of the car and they work together as a team.”

“When we say that we are the best team it’s not just the guys in the garage that work together in synergy better than everyone else so that we do the best pit stops, the cars are so reliable. It’s the guys at the factory who are so diligent with the work that they do and work and communicate with each other better than I’ve ever seen.”

“And I can’t imagine anyone beating that in terms of the core united front that we seem to have, which is amazing to see.”

…training for 2017

Drivers have intensified their training regimes to cope with F1’s demanding new machines and Hamilton is no exception.

“Training can be so boring. I’m sure you guys if you go to the gym it can be so boring in the gym. Sometimes taking different people with you, I’ve worked out with lots of different people, had different ab workouts, different workout regimes. I’ve not been going to the gym doing the same thing everyday I’ve done something new.”

“I have brought in a couple of different sports that I haven’t done before. It’s great for reactions, great for whole body conditioning. It’s a bit more fun that’s for sure.”

2017 F1 season

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Keith Collantine
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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48 comments on “Hamilton on Bottas, Allison and his new helmet design”

  1. Still think Lewis missed a trick by not deciding to use this helmet design…

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BPvYlrpjR9t/

    1. That’s pretty cool actually xD

    2. I’m really glad he went back to yellow actually, it’s the colour I associate with him and about the closest we get these days to a recognisable lid.

      1. Same. I don’t agree with him saying yellow didn’t look good in the car, it looks brilliant!

    3. It’s always frightening to see that people can be so dumb that they will take a photograph of their screen instead of a screenshot

    4. Have you seen this onboard lap
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6CUyShNx9c
      Quite a lot of understeer, great traction though.

      1. If I were Hamilton I’d be worried about the set-up of my car.

        1. The car was fully fuelled and like both he & the team has been saying, they’re not concentrating on setup work as yet.

          So I don’t think setting up hid car will be a worry for him.

      2. JoeUnderstand
        4th March 2017, 8:17

        What understeer

  2. Lets see how long it takes people to read into these comments and find some dirt to throw at Lewis… :)

    1. My thoughts also. He is just natural. I think that must be irritating to some. :)

      1. It won’t take long for a negative response to come, from whatever Lewis might say.

    2. Lazy with his workouts. Skips ab day, apparently. Too busy with his jetsetting lifestyle for crunches.

    3. Why is Lewis a Renault supporter? After all that Mercedes have done for him…

  3. I miss Jenson a true Brit. Is that dirty enough ?

    1. ok, i’ll bite. dumb comment, absurd to imply hamilton is not a true brit.

      1. @frood19 I think that was intended as a tongue-in-cheek response to @optimaximal ‘s comment above.

        In which case, not so dumb IMO.

        1. It’s just as dumb, maybe even more.

  4. OK, I’ll try: Dictated from his tax haven in Monaco, where he avoids supporting our nation with his fair share £16,000,000 of tax, equal to 0.4 x £40,000,000.00

    1. Jenson also lives in monaco…as do most of the drivers. If you are going to sling mud in one way make sure you hit all the targets.

      1. @woodyd91 As far as I know the last paid F1 driver not coming from a tax-haven (or something close to it) who did not move to a tax-haven during his active career was Timo Glock. I am not aware of anyone else after that doing this particular exceptional thing, but welcome anyone who has a further example.

      2. Let’s not forget other Brits like David Coulthard, Paul Di Resta, and I think Johnny Herbert.

    2. I didn’t read anything about Tax in what he said.
      Oh, silly me, this was you just having a pop at Hamilton, and using some pathetic reason, since as previously mention, Button and other Brits live there or in other Tax havens. That doesn’t count though does it, because it’s one rule for Hamilton, and another rule for the others.

    3. I am aware this is tongue in cheek, but I’ve still got a response :)

      He resides outside the UK, that isn’t cheating the UK out of taxes, he doesn’t live here or earn here so the UK has about as much right to those taxes as Cambodia would.

      The UK collects taxes on money he spends in the UK, it collects taxes on the revenue he generates in the UK, and the UK collected taxes from his parents while they were swallowing the expense of raising him as a racing driver.

      This isn’t some deceitful tax loophole like Amazon not declaring profits they make as being made in the UK despite there warehouses and customers clearly being in the UK. Hamilton lives outside the UK, and thus isn’t liable for taxes in a perfectly legitimate manner.

      1. Because the UK has territorial taxation? For example, the U.S. doesn’t do “territorial taxation,” as you discuss here. The U.S. IRS keeps a beady eye on Americans’ money wherever they live and wherever they earn it. But probably Hamilton would not pay much U.S. tax if he were an American living in Monaco and had good lawyers and accountants.

        1. @dmw

          But we don’t, and he’s not. And even Americans have the option of forgoing their citizenship if they want to avoid tax.

    4. You’re telling me that if you could pocket and extra £16,000,000 a year by moving to Monaco you wouldn’t do the same??? I know i sure would.

  5. I think he will leave Bottas in his wake.

  6. I think Lewis went with yellow this year as a tribute to Nico.

    1. /slowclap

  7. He clearly didn’t speak well enough of Valtteri’s wife.

    He. Must. Have. A. Thing. For. Her.

    Obviously for sure.

    1. Seriously ?

      is this supposed to be a joke?? !!

      1. P.S this was meant to attack the poster ! This is me being angry !

  8. “With James I’ve only read about what he’s done and seen obviously what he’s done at his previous team. I hope that he joins in well, I look forward to seeing what he brings.”

    So Lewis should be worried then. After all he did make Ferrari go backwards in 2016. Overrated!

    1. There are many, many ways you can describe James Allison, but overrated is not one of them.

      1. He’s no Paddy Lowe. It’s a step back. Sf16h was a disaster.

      2. @geemac AceAce I’d say he did make Ferrari go backwards (well, his wife made him do it, let’s be fair) AND isn’t overrated.

        1. Sorry I’m late on this…what im saying is he had nice car in 15 that he could have evolved, but he ditched it and as tech director, he has to take blame for his over aggressive approach, that was the sf16h. I wish him luck.

    2. He left Ferrari through mutual agreement, as he disagreed on future car philosophy with the main man. Not recommended for longevity of emloyment within Ferrari. He is better than the 2016 Ferrari results show.

      1. Pretty sure he left because a few months prior his wife sadly passed away and he needed to be back in England to be with his family.

        1. Yes that is the sad story.

          He barely had a chance on that Ferrari before having to return to the UK. We are just lucky he is back the sport at all. Heartfelt wishes to him and his family.

    3. What?! Do you even know what the circumstances surrounding 2016 were for Allison? He led them forward for 2015, and they started off 2016 strong! But with the passing of his wife his commitment to Ferrari was not enough to keep that momentum.

      The rise and fall of Ferrari over 2015 & 2016 highlights what his contribution is and how much it was missed when those tragic events took place.

  9. “It’s the guys at the factory who are so diligent with the work that they do and work and communicate with each other better than I’ve ever seen.”

    McLaren will not take kindly.

  10. Yes (@come-on-kubica)
    4th March 2017, 9:28

    Lewis better not be taking all of Valtteri’s feedback!!!

  11. Probably the worst comments to any article on F1 fanatic to date. SMH

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