“I’d really like info where I’m slow”: Hamilton’s struggles with his car at Suzuka

24 comments on ““I’d really like info where I’m slow”: Hamilton’s struggles with his car at Suzuka”

1. 

   JackL
   7th April 2025, 16:00

   This is revealing and curios. They tell him the pace is good, but he’s down on Leclerc and all the other top 6.
   But also, how in the heck did he have the capacity to do all of that while driving Suzuka???? Its mind boggling the mental capacity they have.
   1. 

      AlanD
      7th April 2025, 17:03

      Jack, totally agree it is hard to understnd how they can process so much info, but at the same time, it doesn’t feel right to hear the pit wall giving so much driving advice during the race, such as use more kerb at 13, less throttle on exit, multi blue DG to pos 5 to stabilise at high speed, etc. I do feel we’ve lost the spirit of drivers driving the car alone and unaided.
      1. 

         pastaman
         7th April 2025, 19:48

         It’s a team sport, I see no problem with driver coaching. The team as a whole wants to maximize performance. We’re long past the days of just take the car out and drive it, modern cars are incredibly complicated and it’s unreasonable to expect a driver to recall a thousand different settings in the heat of a race.
         1. 

            MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
            8th April 2025, 6:03

            Gentlemen, a short view back to the past. Thirty years ago, Niki Lauda told us ‘take a monkey, place him into the cockpit and he is able to drive the car.’ Thirty years later, Sebastian told us ‘I had to start my car like a computer, it’s very complicated.’ And Nico Rosberg said that during the race – I don’t remember what race – he pressed the wrong button on the wheel. Question for you both: is Formula One driving today too complicated with twenty and more buttons on the wheel, are you too much under effort, under pressure? What are your wishes for the future concerning the technical programme during the race? Less buttons, more? Or less and more communication with your engineers?
            1. 

               JackL
               8th April 2025, 15:21

               LOL!! I remember this. Spain 2012 wasnt it?
            2. 

               Jojo
               8th April 2025, 20:56

               Can you repeat the question?
         2. 

            Coventry Climax
            8th April 2025, 20:10

            I’m not OK with it if this goes any much further. If it were the teamsport of driver and -say- 20 crew, that’s fine probably, but hundreds of them, all invisible and doing remote work back home at the factory or wherever? And then no doubt with AI; if not already then surely shortly? It comes to a point where the driver really doesn’t matter anymore, and just becomes an operator. That’s the difference between art and craft.

            It would seem strange to have a single, massively paid man on the rostrum, revered like a hero, but not doing anything heroic and instead just obey the orders derived from the calculated input of hundreds with computers.

            I sure hope we don’t ever get there, but we’re closing in, as far as I’m concerned.
            1. 

               pcxmac (@pcxmac)
               9th April 2025, 4:39

               Technocracy has been a thing for over a hundered years. But really, psychologically speaking, its people projecting their own need to control other people, and see them as machines, completely objectified that is the real issue.

               From the mad houses of the late 19th centuries, to psychiatry, the will to turn man in to a machine has been immense. From the schoolhouses in Prussia in the 19th century, to the lock step of American imperialism, its all about turning people in to soulless things man. 1970s cinema was probably the best at describing this at it’s end, but unfortunately, like most social movements, they die out and are eventually captured by ‘the greater whole’ or wave which has been dictating economics and war in the US/EUrope since the late 19th century.

               a lot of things changed during industrialization, lower quality inputs and trivial outputs.
      2. 

         MichaelN
         7th April 2025, 20:00

         Agreed, obviously the teams will attempt to maximize performance and having as many options as possible to tweak car performance might also lead to offloading some of the workload to the pitwall.

         But this is a choice, and the regulators can make a different one.
   2. 

      NM
      8th April 2025, 7:20

      agree, it’s amazing how much extra (some of them, not all) can handle, but during a race they are driving the car at lets say 80% of it’s capability which probably does make it a lot easier to process other stuff.
2. 

   Edvaldo
   7th April 2025, 16:18

   Talking about radio comms, imagine if it were Hamilton talking the way Albon was talking with his team in this race.

   They’d probably have to set up a whole press conference just for him the next weekend to answer all the questions about it.
3. 

   Esploratore (@esploratore1)
   7th April 2025, 16:59

   I like that he apologised for the result, he knows the car is capable of more.
   1. 

      DH
      8th April 2025, 0:58

      The car is obviously capable of more hence Charles’s results. Hamilton is simply an overrated driver who is only capable of wining if the car is +1s or more per lap faster than the others. Then there is also the “Valtteri this is James” team orders for all those years.
      1. 

         Edvaldo
         8th April 2025, 1:24

         lol, so salty.
      2. 

         Mark Friesen
         8th April 2025, 2:11

         So… this would apply to Schumacher too?
         1. 

            NM
            8th April 2025, 7:22

            you didn’t see the 1996-1998 seasons did you?
      3. 

         XM (@xmf1)
         8th April 2025, 9:22

         Guaranteed replies
      4. 

         Ferdi
         8th April 2025, 9:32

         Whilst I agree with your overall sentiment, I do think Lewis is a special driver and worthy WDC. It is just that ‘7 titles’ thing that has set the people on the wrong foot in terms of where he sits amongst the others and also in terms of expectations. He is skill-wise relatively not up to 7 WDC level. He is a double, maybe triple WDC on own merit and skill-wise. The fact he has seven is only a result of one team dominating an entire regulatory period and enjoying an advantage for 8 straight years. He lucked into that, but that shouldn’t diminish his overall skill level. I regard him at the level of Hakkinen, Raikkonen, G. Hill, Ascari, Stewart, Piquet.
         1. 

            Edvaldo
            8th April 2025, 14:32

            Everybody who wins too much is a product of the circumstances. At the same time, nobody can win too much by being average, even with the best car.

            These guys who dominated in the 21st century, Schumacher, Vettel, Hamilton, and now Max, were all way above average, even Vettel, who’s got the weaker case and left in a pretty low note.
      5. 

         Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
         8th April 2025, 13:16

         Is this all you have to get a reply. Nothing of any value. Absurd comment
      6. 

         PlosslF1 (@f1-ploss)
         8th April 2025, 19:11

         That sprint victory in China must of really really hurt…. :)
4. 

   BenHur
   8th April 2025, 10:11

   Between the ears, that’s where
5. 

   guy capp
   8th April 2025, 19:38

   Amazing how many people diminish an “8” time wdc. He is better than Hakkinen, Raikkonen, and G. Hill, Ascari, Stewart, Piquet are from a different era so comparisons are not appropriate. Schuey and Lewis both had similar trajectory–won early moved to new team–Lewis took a big gamble leaving Mclaren where he just missed a second title, whereas Schuey went with Brawn (a genius) to Ferrari where they started the run he had. As he aged he struggled as well. Lewis won two races and had a few good performances in the MB last year, and won the sprint this year, while driving a new car at almost 40 y/o.
6. 

   lumpy
   10th April 2025, 14:30

   LH had many years w/ Bono and the others @ Merc BUT, judging from this radio transcript and some of the others I’ve read, Ferrari are still behind the top tear in terms of driver feedback. I almost like the the same old arrogant sentiment from many years ago is still prevalent: “We build the best car. You must learn to drive it!”

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