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all valid points GA2G. and Winston for that matter. Although to be fair I notice Hamilton has received far more flak about the tax exile thing than the other british drivers who have done exactly the same before him and continue to do so now.
None of which forfeits anyone's right to dislike the bloke though. I accept that often very successful sportspeople (and particularly racing drivers some might say) are very often focused, singleminded and obsessive to the point of having a personality defect. The fact that Schumacher was/is a bit of a cock doesn't stop him being the greatest driver of all time. It does however mean that alot of people doen't like him. His immense success and total dominance just compounds that reaction in a lot of people.
It's no secret that in this country we like to support the underdog and dislike a certain kind of success. We love the struggle, the noble defeat, the epic fail. We're a contrary bunch of bastards too. I think (despite his background and early struggles) Hamilton's success seems to have come too easily and naturally to him for some to embrace. He seemed to the casual observer to have arrived on the scene in the best car and was immediately at the top of his game. No struggle, no battle against the odds. Then he fscked it up.
Then he comes back the following year and repeats the same trick but just, only just, due to some clever strategy and a HUGE dose of dumb luck sneaks in to do the absolute bare minimum to secure the title.
Then you have the fact that he comes across as, not even arrogant, almost kind of smug in interviews. He's got this irritating simper on his face most of the time. There's just something about him that winds me up. and i don't know about you but the fact that he's never more than 3 feet from his dad and brother (to the extent that his family get the same if not more interview time then he does) irriatates me too. I don't want to know about your family. I don't want to know about ANY sportsperson's family particularly. I don't need interviews with Chris Hoy's dad, Andy Murray's uncle or Steve Redgrave's kids. It just annoys me that he's ALWAYS there. I want to reach into the screen and shout as Lewis to grow up and stand on his own. My all means recognise the debt to your family. But must be it be in public and so tediously contantly?
So yeah i recognise his talents. I think he's been given pretty good treatment by the mainstream press and lots of support which is great. Plus let's not overlook that apart from being the youngest ever world champion he's also black (the first black WC too right?) and from a poor background. Seriously impressive and positive things all of these. Great for the sport and for the country.
I still root for him out of some vague feeling of national identity I suppose. But i have to be honest, don't like the guy. Does that make sense? I still hope that he wins even though He gets on my tits. It is sport and not a popularity contest after all.
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I with GA2G, Hamiliton comes over a decent chap.
he made loads of cash, going out with a sugarbabe, got loads of money from sponsorship, world champion etc .... I say good on him.
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So in summary - GO ON HOY!
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Hamilton wins on the account he's bagged THE pussy cat doll...
End of argument
I got the pussy cat dolls and the sugar babes mixed up. pop music group FAIL
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Chivalry is all about defending honour against the attacks of the ignorant.
Want to see my suit of armour?
Haha, no one accused you of being chivalrous...
Where's the honour? And the attacks don't seem so ignorant to me.....let's face it he is a tax avoiding fucker, who doesn't even have the honesty to admit that that's the reason he doesn't live in this country.
F1's dull anyway....
I've seen Henry VIII's suit of armour, even yours can't compare to that!;)
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Hamilton was not from a rich background, son of some dragons den type character but he is not from a poor background either. Even with three jobs, if he was from a poor background his fatehr would not of been able to support him.
The fact that Hamliton now has to send any potential children to private school is irrelevant as the chances of of someone in his position sending his kids to state school is very small. Same goes for the NHS.
Is he selfish for for running away in order to payless tax? Yes. After all like most of the people that are tax exiles. they earn so much money that the money they save does not really effect their quality of life.
If I suddenly had some sort of crazy success that earn I earn as much as Hamilton would I become a Tax exile? Difficult to say but I'd put down a defiantly maybe. Selfish.
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There certainly seems to be a large proportion of people in this country who, given half a chance and a pot of cash, would leg it from these shores at the first opportunity (me included).
I can't really rationalise why that is so, but that's how it appears.
Saying that, if you're minted and have a British passport, you should have pay an inordinate amount of tax to the treasury regardless of which part of the world you live in.
Especially if your dad's a poor bloke from Grenada cos then you should know full well how important it is to support the less well off in your society (via taxation) once you become a bit flush. -
i agree with dooks + tommy. hamilton jr does look smug every single interview. and yes, the pushy-father-living-thru-his-kid thing i suppose.
formula 1 is all about sponsorship. takes a lot of money for a driver to get up the ranks. no doubt his folks did a lot of marketing. but if he had the much talked about talent from a very early age, i seriously doubt the family struggled any more than the other drivers' families. this applies to a lot of individual sports. my family struggled over my brother's tennis career
f1gp is a bit predictable anyway. the top manufacturers and overly aggressive drivers win in the end. only race i saw this season was that brazilian gp. very exciting. but as winston said, fixed.
go hoy! but race, imo, is a bit of a circus act.
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I think they should have a wrestle. That'd sort the wheat from the chaff.
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A lot of his smugness may be because he prides himself in his appearance post race. When you see the other drivers they're dripping with sweat, obviously knackered, but Hamilton is smiling, not sweaty, very fresh. It's part of his psych out routine. He's saying to the other drivers, you gave it your all and you lost, and look at me, I won and I'm not even out of breath.
GA2G
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About
Hamilton vs. Hoy
Posted by
@dmczone
EXACTLY.
Phil Collins turnout