Hamilton silences Mansell and Villeneuve
The McLaren driver expresses his annoyance towards the advisors.
If Sebastian Vettel dominates the start of the Formula One season on the track, Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, dominates the headlines with rumors circulating about his future at McLaren and the controversy surrounding his driving.
Even though Christian Horner himself expressed serious reservations about the potential arrival of the British driver behind the wheel of one of the Austrian cars, some world champions offered their advice to Lewis Hamilton.
« For me, Lewis had an incredible career with McLaren and I think that, as Michael Schumacher demonstrated by staying with Ferrari, if you can have the support of a team completely behind you, then you can capitalize year after year » declares Nigel Mansell. « He hasn’t really experienced a dry spell; McLaren is a fantastic team. »
Personally, I would stay with McLaren, with all those who supported him, against all odds, I think he would make a mistake by changing teams confides the 1992 World Champion.
Jacques Villeneuve shares the same opinion and asserts that the British driver must remain loyal to the team for which he was crowned in 2008: « Why would he go there? He is protected at McLaren, they adore him, they gave him his career, he should be grateful to them. »
The 1997 world champion goes even further by stating that the McLaren driver should not complain and could rather consider himself lucky with his situation: « He should not have the right to blame them for anything. Without them, he would never have competed, he would never have had a career even in the smaller categories. So, he should count himself lucky. »
The Canadian also claims that the Briton would be recruited by Red Bull only as a foil for Vettel but concedes that the rumors about a team change can be useful for increasing his salary and other things and that it must be leveraged.
The two World Champions with Williams also commented on the controversy surrounding the McLaren driver’s performance: « He seems to have taken a step back in his development, which is a bit strange because last year he had calmed down, » the Quebecer confides. « He was still aggressive, but I felt he was thinking a bit more, yet this year, he seems to have left his brain at home. »
Nigel Mansell is less illustrative in his words but agrees with Jacques Villeneuve on the substance: « He is super aggressive, he is fun to watch, I don’t want him to change, it’s great. » declares Nigel Mansell. « He is the only one making the action on the track, the others use DRS and it’s boring, it’s pointless. [But] from time to time, he should think a little more because there are not very smart maneuvers ».
Nevertheless, the statements by Nigel Mansell and Jacques Villeneuve have added to recent criticisms from Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi, and Niki Lauda. Invited to respond by the BBC, Lewis Hamilton replied sharply to the criticisms: « I find it rather amusing. I’m not sure anyone cares about what certain people think. I believe if they have an opinion, they should just keep it to themselves. »
Regarding his future, the 2008 World Champion once again reaffirmed his loyalty to McLaren: « I am quite happy with my current contract. Jenson’s ended this year and mine runs until the end of next season, so I have a job for the next year and a half. All my energy and focus are devoted to trying to win. »
On his side, Martin Whitmarsh told the newspaper *The Independent*: « We discussed this over the last ten days, and he explained his passion, enthusiasm, and desire to continue being part of this team ». The McLaren Team Principal also took the opportunity to respond to the comments by Emerson Fittipaldi and especially Niki Lauda, who had called for severe sanctions against Lewis Hamilton, claiming that someone was eventually going to get killed: « I know Niki, I appreciate him, and I accept the fact that there are people who want to say things to create controversy. Niki is one of them. You know, there’s a famous meeting between Jackie Stewart and Ayrton Senna, which I think is portrayed in the film ‘Senna’, and it’s about the same conversation. »
