Formula 1 Betting: Stewart warns Hamilton against quitting McLaren

Formula One / Ralph Ellis / 09 April 2009 / 1 Comments

After a turbulent start to the season, Lewis Hamilton could be on the verge of quitting McLaren. However, Britain's most senior racing figure thinks that would be a bad idea, says Ralph Ellis.

There's a favourite phrase of headline writers which goes "From hero to zero". It's one of those catchy lines that gets wheeled out every so often when the deadline is fast approaching and nobody can think of something more original. No wonder it's been dusted off in the last few weeks and used again and again for Lewis Hamilton. It couldn't have been going worse for him if his car was being managed by Steve McClaren!

Britain's new world motor racing champion was the star of the Formula One show as the season opened. He was the boy wonder who had stormed the Grand Prix world in two seasons. He was the kid who came from a housing estate in Stevenage to stand with the elite stars of sport. Now after two races he's struggling with his reputation in tatters, his car way off the pace, and his team facing potential disqualification from the Constructors' Championship after being charged with bringing the sport into disrepute.

Before that hearing on April 29, when the moguls who run the sport have a chance to settle some of their long running feuds with his McLaren team, Hamilton has to decide if he wants to walk out on his long time mentor Ron Dennis.

His father Anthony, who has guided his career from the day he first bought the young Lewis a radio controlled toy car, is furious at the way he claims his son was forced to lie to stewards by his team after the Australian Grand Prix. The whole episode, which ended with sporting director Dave Ryan being sacked from the team after 35 years service, reflected badly on a young driver who didn't have the moral courage to refuse to lie.

It's all left Hamilton's season in tatters, and meanwhile Jenson Button has suddenly become the star of the Formula One show again.

But today comes advice from Britain's most senior motor racing man Sir Jackie Stewart , who is telling Hamilton, and his father, not to do anything hasty. The 69-year-old legend of the Grand Prix circuit, three times a world champion, insists that quitting McLaren could leave them outside the sport altogether.

He's told The Sun's Charlie Wyett: "If he goes elsewhere it could destroy his career. Where could he go? He has to look at the teams that have consistently done it over the years and that is McLaren and Ferrari. His team might not be competitive now, but there is no reason why there could not be an immense improvement in the next two or three races. They are still probably the best packaged racing team in the world."

It's a fair point. You don't need to be a super spy to know that the team's engineers and designers will be working overtime at their Woking HQ to build their own double diffuser to bring the car up to speed against Brawn GP. And there's plenty of time for that to get Hamilton back into the contest. Whatever went wrong in Australia he proved that he's the best driver with a magnificent run from nowhere to fourth place, and with a half competitive car he could prove it again.

He's [9.8] to win the drivers championship and that could be worth a punt. A current spread of between [4.1] and [11.0] for a podium finish in the Chinese Grand Prix next weekend also make it tempting to put up something like [8.0] and see if it will be matched. The thing about that favourite newspaper saying is it can also be used the other way "From zero to hero". And Hamilton might yet attract that headline too.

Five things you might not know about Sir Jackie Stewart

1. He grew up suffering from dyslexia

2. He worked as an apprentice mechanic at his parents' Jaguar dealership and helped prepare cars for his brother Jimmy who competed in the 1953 British Grand Prix

3. After Jimmy was involved in a bad crash the two boys were discouraged from racing so Jackie took up shooting - and only just missed out on selection for the 1960 British Olympic skeet shooting team

4. He went back to cars, and in his first Formula Three race for Tyrrell in 1964 he built up a 25 second lead in two laps in pouring rain. He was immediately offered a Formula One drive with Cooper, but turned it down and won the Formula Three title instead

5. His crash at the 1966 Belgian Grand Prix, when he was trapped upside down in a car with leaking fuel, began new safety campaigns that made a removable steering wheel and a main electrics switch compulsory.

Comments (1)

1. Jamie Thomas | 27 April 2009

   I totally agree with Jackie Stewart, after all he's a veteran in Formula One and knows for sure what he's talking about. Lewis and his father has sacrified so much to be where they are now. At the end of the day, Dave Ryan is his superior and should have taken the right decision by telling the truth and not messing around, even after 35 years at McLaren. I feel sorry for Lewis, he's just trying to do his job properly and as any other real driver, he's only here to race and win. You can see Lewis is very commited to his team mates but I don't understand why he needs to apologise, after all the mistake comes from above!!! stay strong Lewis, don't forget who you are and where you come from.