Planet-F1

Hamilton Provoked Into Silence By Petulant Media

Monday 23rd June 2008

Lewis Hamilton has been subjected to an astonishing attack by The Daily Mail, Britain's second best-selling newspaper, which marks a new nadir in his faltering relationship with the F1 press.

The Mail, the staple diet of Middle England and arguably the most influential newspaper in the country, has responded to Hamilton's performance in the French GP and his subsequent reluctance to talk to the press by launching a hard-hitting attack on his character. The 23-year-old is variously described as 'Le Sulk', 'petulant', 'a prima donna', and developing 'a persecution complex'. The newspaper also alleges that Hamilton's 'carefully constructed image of sporting integrity' is 'in danger of exploding'.

The Mail's reasoning behind these accusations are varied and difficult to justify.

For instance, the newspaper describes Hamilton responding that "I'm not answering that one" when asked whether he was being victimised as an 'insinuation'. Some might wonder exactly what Hamilton could have replied without the Mail interpreting his non-committal answer as an attack - 'smearing' is their exact terminology - on the FIA.

While The Daily Mirror is not alone in noting that 'There is a widely-held belief within the sport that McLaren are victims of a personal feud between Max Mosley and team boss Ron Dennis', Hamilton and McLaren are instead cast by the Mail as being unique in suspecting they are the victims of a conspiracy.

'Dennis and Mosley do not get on, it is true, but the British team must deal in facts rather than look for scapegoats. It is no good claiming Ferrari get special treatment, considering that Raikkonen was given a drive-through penalty in Monaco when his tyres were not fully fitted in time. The same treatment was meted out to Honda's Rubens Barrichello for speeding in the pit lane in Malaysia,' it continues.

In fact, McLaren have, despite repeated provocation from the press, refused to claim that Ferrari enjoy special treatment. And while it is true that both Raikkonen and Barrichello have also suffered penalties this season, it should be acknowledged that their offences were matters of fact, measured by time, whereas Hamilton's punishment in Magny-Cours was seemingly a judgement call. It was also his third penalty of the season and the third meted out against McLaren over the past two events.

However, it is Hamilton's initial refusal to talk to the press after the race that has seemingly provoked the brunt of the Mail's considerable ire.

Hamilton's pre-race criticism of the media's tendency to "build you up and then break you down" is disingenuously published as if those words were delivered during a petulant post-race huff. Readers are further assured that 'he hid in the McLaren motor home until his father Anthony and Mercedes boss Norbert Haug persuaded him that a feeling of victimisation did not give him an excuse to ignore his media obligations.'

Quite how the Mail became privy to the persuasive and private counsel allegedly provided by Hamilton senior and Haug is a mystery. It is also something of a mystery what 'obligation' Hamilton has to speak to the press. It is not uncommon in F1 for drivers to leave circuits without addressing the media, especially when they have endured a difficult afternoon.

Nonetheless, Hamilton's refusal to immediately share his thoughts with the media is sufficient proof for the Mail to speak of 'a sudden persecution complex' and 'petulance'.

Of course, it may be that the Mail has calculated that such allegations will become self-fulfilling. Following a weekend which began with Hamilton voicing his unhappiness with elements of the media coverage he has received recently, it is precisely this sort of attack that is likely to result in him 'petulantly' snubbing the press at Silverstone in two weeks' time as a symptom of his newly-developed 'persecution complex'.

The papers, and the Mail in particular, will then have the non-story story that they are apparently determined to attain.

Pete Gill

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