When Will Lewis Hamilton Learn?

When Michael Schumacher left Formula One, many worried about the lack of personalities in the drivers. Lewis Hamilton has filled that void for the most part. He is incredibly talented, but one has to wonder if he is the real deal when it comes to championships.

The Formula One racing season offers many high points and always a few odd, low ones. Amongst the mish mash, one thing always stands out. Who will win the most important trophy? Yes, the championship for the drivers.

Lewis Hamilton is a successful driver when it comes to individual wins and the like. Naturally, he should be successful with the championship as well, but he is not. Looking at his actions tends to reveal a driver that does not handle pressure very well.

Consider the recent race in Japan. Hamilton had a seven point lead over his nearest rival, Felipe Massa, and grabbed the pole with a great lap. Massa ended up qualifying fifth. The stage was set for a positive day for Hamilton.

The obvious strategy for the race was to go conservative. Stay near the front and just rack up the points. Even losing a point to Massa would not matter much with only two races left in the seasons.

It took Lewis all of a thousand feet to throw everything out the window. He starts slowly and gives up the lead to Kimi Raikkonen. Instead of slotting in behind him, Lewis rashly dives for the corner, nearly wipes out most of the field and gets penalized. He finishes the race out of the points.

Instead of avoiding trouble, Hamilton irrationally became the cause of it. At the end of the day, he came home with zero points despite starting on pole. This brain freeze has happened two seasons in a row and raises questions of a dire sort.

Massa, of course, faired no better. He rammed Hamilton like a bull in Spain and then ran over Bourdais for some utterly bizarre reason. It appears neither Hamilton or Massa will win the title. Instead, one will lose it with a brain freeze of some sort.

Massa is a great front runner and pretty useless if he has to actually pass anyone. Hamilton is the better driver, but he seems not to realize it. Surely someone at McLaren has told him what needs to be done. If not, it is a shame.

The thing that will pain Lewis the most is Fernando Alonso drove the exact race Lewis should have and won the day. While Fernando is the arch enemy of Hamilton, Lewis could do worse then to watch a replay of his race to learn a little.

So, is Hamilton lacking in smarts? No. He is very nervy though. Lewis, take a deep breath! The next two races represent the ultimate opportunity to erase the memory of choking last year. If Hamilton spits the bit again this year, a trend will be established.