Formula 1: Hamilton’s meltdown in Japan
Meltdown. Implosion. Self-destruction. Call it what you will, said Daniel Johnson in The Daily Telegraph – Lewis Hamilton is losing his “grasp on reality”. The British driver finished third in Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix; his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg won the race, and now has a formidable 33-point lead, with four races to go. Yet the headlines aren’t about what occurred on the track; they’re focusing on Hamilton’s petulant actions off it. The 31-yearold spent his entire pre-qualifying press conference in Suzuka sending silly Snapchat pictures to fellow drivers. When that prompted some “tongue-in-cheek criticism” from reporters, he huffily walked out of his next press conference, saying he felt he’d been “disrespected”. It was “vintage Hamilton against the world”, just when he needs his mental resolve more than ever. Press conferences can be “soul-crushing experiences for everyone involved”, said Barry Glendenning in The Guardian. But this act of pettiness has left Hamilton looking “utterly charmless”. He clearly likes to think of himself as “some sort of a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”. But much of the time, his “attempts to appear brooding and inscrutable come across as the childishness of a paranoid brat”.
Mercedes executives are getting nervous, said Kevin Eason in The Times. Hamilton has angered many of his team’s mechanics and engineers by suggesting they might have been sabotaging his campaign. He also told fans he’d personally instructed Mercedes to drop an official complaint about another driver, a claim the team quickly rebutted. It’s impossible to know if Hamilton and Mercedes can kiss and make up. But if Rosberg does clinch the Championship, it’ll be the first time Hamilton has ever been beaten to a title by a teammate. Lord only knows how that indignity will affect his “delicate ego”.