Quick question, I've had mixed answers to this. He lives in Monaco but I heard he still pays his taxes in the UK - is that true?
Lewis Hamilton
- Thread starter UnofficialDevil
- Start date
Yes. When you race in England you get paid in England. He gets taxed in every individual country he races at.
Whatever private businesses he has in England he would also pay tax on.
Fair comment re point one but it's slightly different being successful in a niche sport and being Britains best ever Olympian, that automatically gets you mainstream success and coverage, equally there was a handful of athletes who all got huge attention cos of London 2012 which was a massively watched event. Chris Hoy, Mo Farah, Jess Ennis, Greg Rutherford for example are all household names because of the event that Olympics really. Whilst I appreciate they had success before it that was probably one of the most watched television events ever. Re the niche sport it's not massively watched in the UK really, the Tour De France is on Eurosport and ITV4 for example, I think one year it was just show on ITV's online service, wouldn't get that with the world Cup example where most the games are on the main channels.But Chris Hoy participates in a very, very niche sport which is only a sub-category of cycling which you yourself already called a niche sport (something I disagree with for what it's worth but probably a Belgian person will look at that differently than a British person).
I saw that Geraint Thomas won BBC SPOTY in 2018 while Chris Froome never won one - he's been twice the sportsman Thomas is over the last decade and won 4 Tour de Frances (in combination with the two other major events which is something only 7 cyclists have ever done). Maybe you guys just don't take an interest in cycling all that much and I'm massively overblowing thisBut e.g. if I look at the replies on a Gary Lineker tweet congratulating Lewis Hamilton, I can't help but think that you have a natural habit of talking down your own athletes a bit even when there's no actual reason to do so. To dismiss Hamilton in a GOAT F1 discussion (let alone placing him on the same level as Alonso or Vettel) just seems weird to me.
With SPOTY you've got to look what the other athletes in them years did, some people are unlucky because there's a hugely competitive field and other years there's absolute shite competiting for it, Britain has plenty of years where we don't particularly have successful years for sportsmen and women so it's a weird one.
I think it's British nature to be quite cyncical and maybe slightly negative but I think across the board people like Hamilton are regarded as the best in their sport...twitter isn't the best example cos it's full of idiots
That probably somewhat sums up some of the problem why people don't feel he gets loads of praise as well...mainly cos people don't follow the sport or care enough so he gets a bit played down cos people just aren't that interested in it.
Ok thanks. Cos a lot of the stick I see thrown at him is he lives in a tax haven etc.
For my 2 cents on Hamilton - I do actually think there is a bit of racism attached to his lack of popularity but he seemed to, I think naturally, get annoyed he wasn't more liked/talked about positively and kind of just became more unlikeable. From people I know who work at F1 that know him, say he is extremely arrogant and not really that nice to people - or at least not nice to many people who "can't do anything for him".
I do appreciate any sports star who can achieve such levels and think they should be recognised for it. But that doesn't mean they should be liked
The worst take from Rio since he said Danny Rose was England's best defender.
Fair points but the opportunity to overtake would be much fewer and further between.
Yep. People just see "hamilton wins again" and think boring, how easy.
Yes at times the competition hasn't been close enough but there's been some years where Red Bull and Ferrari have been just as strong, they just didn't capitalise. Ferrari were the fastest car 2 years ago and Vettel bottled it.
I'd actually love for him to win 1 more title at Mercedes, then go back to Mclaren for fun and show everybody just how good he can be in a "mid pack" car.
He's still in the top 10% of tax payers in this country and he doesn't even live here, so I think he contributes plenty. Probably pays more tax than Starbucks and Apple!
I never really listen to these stories about celebritys being "nice", who knows what situation they approached them in? they might be asking for a photo or a signature when he's in a rush or having a bad day and they might not get the answer they like. They're just people too at the end of the day.
Yeah I agree and I'm guilty of it myself cos I don't really find it interesting sport (fair play to people who like it, a few of my mates love it.)
Regarding the second point what would the reaction from F1 fans if he did that and then the mid pack car stayed the same or improved slightly (say they went up from 6th to 3rd or something...not sure how it works!) Would he lose some of that aura he has amongst the fan base now?
To be fair, he had a car in 2009 that shouldn't have been winning races and he managed to do it.
Well first of all you'd have to compare him to his team mate, that's always the measuring stick.
If he comfortably beat him in qualyfying and better race results, that's a good start.
You'd expect him to be earning a few extra places in the race, but F1 drivers can only be as good as the car - so you'd never expect him to be winning races in the current Mclaren unless you get freak days like Turkey or Monza this year etc.
True, I don't really know much about the sport in all honesty...even when I saw the odd race with my Dad I was never mad into it just normally it was on, I know a few racers but never got the technicalities...I don't know anything about my own car let a lone F1 cars!
Interesting, cheers.
I always thought with the racers they have a Number 1 and Number 2. So Hamilton is Mercedes Number 1 and get priority and the other guy is kind of an after thought for a lack of better word isn't he?
Re the last point I suppose that's where some people may downplay the achievement. Obviously Hamilton is number 1 so he gets priority in that team, if the other guy switched and became Number 1 would/could he be as successful as Hamilton has been? I'm assuming Hamilton is the better racer hence he's number 1 but don't know if he gets the priority special treatment which helps him keep that. I remember a big controversy years ago when a car was winning and they made him slow down so his mate could pass him and win the race for example.
Traditionally it's usually that way, but recently teams have gone to having 2 equal drivers more often than not. Red bull are the only team with a confirmed number 1 driver in Max Verstappen.
Right now Hamilton and his team mate Bottas have exactly the same car, similar strategies. If they end up racing each other there is no priority to who should win. Nobody is the clear favourite driver and it has never been that way at his time at Mercedes or Mclaren.
Usually though the 1 / 2 driver system is more likely to win you a championship due to putting all your eggs in 1 basket so to speak.
Schumacher for instance was always the clear number 1 and the point you made was him - he was given the win on the last lap which was controversial as his team mate deserved it. Hamilton has never been handed anything like that.
The biggest limitation in F1 is the car, but Hamilton is a phenomenal driver and since I started following F1 a couple of years ago has been consistently excellent. He rarely ever makes mistakes, drives flawlessly and is streets ahead of Bottas in the same car. If he went to a team like Ferrari (pre this season) or Red Bull (at a stretch) I think he'd consistently challenge for the title, because his driving ability would make up for a slightly slower car.
I don't think he'd go to Mclaren though, they're too far off the pace that even if Hamilton pushed the car to it's limit, it still wouldn't challenge. But it'd be fun to watch, and I think it'd still help his legacy if he excelled in that car because people will recognise that (with comparisons to similar cars and his Mclaren team mates). I mean who knows, he did win in 2009 with an inferior car, I didn't watch at the time so don't know what the state of the other cars were, but considering there's meant to be some big rule changes coming into effect in 2022 it could happen. I'd like to see it.
There are a large number of people who most certainly don't share this view of Schumacher.
Any sense of respect for him was lost when he deliberately drove into Damon Hill's Williams and thereby winning a WC.
The next year he tried the same thing with Villeneuve but came off worse.
Yes he was a winner. But had zero personality.
You obviously have not listened to a number of times his pit crew have asked/told him to do a particular strategy but Lewis has told them that he wants to do something else and his decision has been the right one.
I'm talking about other drivers and people in the F1 paddock specifically. I know fans didn't always like him.
Interesting, I always thought it was a 1 and 2 thing with every car. I know they prioritise the team championship first (correct me if I'm wrong) normally but did assume the 1 and 2 thing was still a big deal. Good to know though so cheers.
yeah I think it is Schumacher I remember cos it was a good while ago now.
Definitely sure that's the case he's clearly very very good at what he does, I think he's essentially unlucky that he's in an era it's not as popular. I'm sure if he was around when it was on BBC (I think...might of been ITV?) then he'd be more revered I just think there's not as much interest...similar happened to cricket really, it was on C4 for the 2005 Ashes then it almost immediately moved to Sky and it became less people can watch!
Things like this are a little unfair. No other drive aside from Vettel would have won as many Championships as Hamilton had they had the same car.
Hamilton is a special racing driver. Alonso would not have had the mentality to do what Hamilton did. The closest I can compare him too would be Prost, then Schumacher. Single point of focus. Win.
It’s rarely exciting, often a domineering procession with a subservient team. But only the best talent can command that.
Fairb
obviously he’s good at what he does
fair points. I just don’t get the get best sportsman ever who deserves more recognition talk when it’s got lots more to do with than just the driver and it’s the actual ‘tool’ you use to to participate in the sport that makes the biggest difference
obviously he’s good at what he does
What’s that based on?
I am sure that David Coulthard thought he was a thoroughly nice chap after Schumacher went after him like a madman after that crash in the wet at Spa.
No. The best drivers would win.
I rate myself a pretty decent driver. Went to a track day, beat my whole company. Got in a hot lap with one of the instructors and he beat my lap time by many seconds.
I was better than average. He was in a different league.
He would have been smashed out of sight by professional F1 drivers.
The further up the pyramid you go, the closer the margins. But identical cars would still see the best drivers noticeably quicker.
Having said that, I don’t think the same driver would win every race. Different tracks would no doubt suit different top drivers.
Hamilton is that mechanical, single purpose character type that will do the same thing, with the same level of application for a decade. That’s rare. Really rare.
Alonso isn’t that guy. He’s Nani to Hamilton’s Ronaldo.
I don’t think he’s the best sportsman ever. He’s not in my top ten for British sports people.
Equipment sports where participants have access to better/worse equipment... not really top sports.
I can judge Borg vs Federer as they both played with, and against, the same equipment. If Federer had a lighter racquet with a larger head and his opponents played with a wooden version.... The point of comparison is impossible.
That’s F1 seasons in a nutshell. Only the best equipment will win. Some years the manufacturers are close. But great drivers in bad cars never win multiple races in a season.
I mean it’s all opinion so ok but that’s absolute nonsense in my view.
Why?
Kimi was almost certainly the most talented driver in F1 but he probably would have fcuked off a lot if it was all easy on track and tough off track.
Because questioning Alonso’s dedication is crazy to me, there’s no doubt in my mind that if you’d swapped him and Hamilton around that he’d have won the same number of titles, and saying that is no slant on Hamilton.
He’s been behind the wheel of some absolute dog F1 cars and wrestled them into positions they had no right being in.
Yeah yeah. Very funny. I raced Kart seasons when I was young. Rated myself after years out the racing world. Smashed my whole company(100+).
But my post was an illustration of how shit I actually am in the racing world. A fella driving the same car round the same track, mostly cornering one handed, embarrassed my time. It was Not me trying to inflate my ability.
I understand that entirely, I just think the opportunities to overtake would be so few and far between, it might make the race ultimately pointless.
Im not an F1 fan particularly but I think I’d probably enjoy it more if all cars were equal.
Maybe. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Alonso was a phenomenal driver. But I still think the rarity of a character like Hamilton is underrated.
It’s this weird thing in F1 in that the best driver gets the best car and only the most committed best drivers get the best cars more often. It’s probably wrong to present my view as fact. Hard to assess if Hamilton’s character, marketability or ability saw him in the best car so often. Perhaps Alonso could have done the same.
Possibly. If you made the car dimensions smaller and all cars were powered the same, I think the races would look more like Moto GP than the largely predictable fare we currently see. Groups of competitiveness reliant on ability.
Please. Tom Brady has constantly and repeatedly used his platform to promote bullshit. He's thick as pig shit
Hamilton uses his platform to promote actually meaningful, important issues
Tell that to Alonso
No he wouldn't. Swap him with Max and Max would have won the last two titles fairly comfortably. At a stretch he might have beaten Bottas. Swap him with Vettel in 2017 and 2018 and he'll do slightly better than Vettel, but still not enough to actually beat him
2008 and it's arguable that he didn't have the best car. Ferrari and McLaren were fairly even matched those two seasons(and of course they were given McLaren stole Ferrari's projects
)Nitpicky, Schumi drove into Hill in '94, the one with Jacques was '97. He got disqulified for it at the end of the season for it, too. He also quite clearly openly cheered for Hakkinen to win in '99
Schumi could be a grade A arshole when he needed to. The people he worked with always liked him and of course everybody respected his otherwordly skill as a driver, but at least for the masses he wasn't particularly loved until he started to dominate with Ferrari and calmed down some. Still was extremely arrogant and not particularly nice outside of professional settings, though he wasn't an arsehole or anything, mind. Fairly normal guy who happened to be a god behind the wheel. Hamilton is very similar actually
Really? Alonso, one of the most psychotic, obsessively driven drivers we've ever seen, wouldn't have the drive? Are you serious?
He is now. Wasn't so before Nico fecking Rosberg beat him
I think you can actually fairly easily split Hamilton's career pre and post 2016. Pre-2016 he was a hugely talented, great driver, but lacked that extra edge, like Vettel. After losing to Rosberg he came back with a laser focus and dedication we'd never seen before from him and basically turned into Schumacher
Yep. This. No way in hell Alonso loses to Rosberg, either.
The Hamilton of the last 4 years though is on another level
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^ That moment when you hit “Reply All” on a company wide email
Tbf. The year Hamilton lost to Rosberg, he was a tad unlucky with mechanical issues. I think his care had three DNF that season.Please. Tom Brady has constantly and repeatedly used his platform to promote bullshit. He's thick as pig shit
Hamilton uses his platform to promote actually meaningful, important issues
Tell that to Alonso
No he wouldn't. Swap him with Max and Max would have won the last two titles fairly comfortably. At a stretch he might have beaten Bottas. Swap him with Vettel in 2017 and 2018 and he'll do slightly better than Vettel, but still not enough to actually beat him
2008 and it's arguable that he didn't have the best car. Ferrari and McLaren were fairly even matched those two seasons(and of course they were given McLaren stole Ferrari's projects
Nitpicky, Schumi drove into Hill in '94, the one with Jacques was '97. He got disqulified for it at the end of the season for it, too. He also quite clearly openly cheered for Hakkinen to win in '99
Schumi could be a grade A arshole when he needed to. The people he worked with always liked him and of course everybody respected his otherwordly skill as a driver, but at least for the masses he wasn't particularly loved until he started to dominate with Ferrari and calmed down some. Still was extremely arrogant and not particularly nice outside of professional settings, though he wasn't an arsehole or anything, mind. Fairly normal guy who happened to be a god behind the wheel. Hamilton is very similar actually
Really? Alonso, one of the most psychotic, obsessively driven drivers we've ever seen, wouldn't have the drive? Are you serious?
He is now. Wasn't so before Nico fecking Rosberg beat him
I think you can actually fairly easily split Hamilton's career pre and post 2016. Pre-2016 he was a hugely talented, great driver, but lacked that extra edge, like Vettel. After losing to Rosberg he came back with a laser focus and dedication we'd never seen before from him and basically turned into Schumacher
Yep. This. No way in hell Alonso loses to Rosberg, either.
The Hamilton of the last 4 years though is on another level
Alonso that has won Le Mans twice and is trying to win the Triple Crown and still competing in the toughest events despite pushing 40? Not sure I can agree with that comparison in the slightest.
I like his nose ring it's similar to mine
2, to rosberg's 1(that one where they took each other out iirc) Hamilton wasn't unlucky, he was beaten. By a guy who really shouldn't have come close. For half the season he was a shadow of the driver who'd dominated the previous two seasons. And he'd always been like that, great but not the most consistent of drivers. I mean he was beaten by Button too when they were in McLaren...
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How is he not consistent? I struggle to think of many races over the last 3 years that I've followed f1 that he's struggled at, in fact one of his biggest plaudits is his consistently while the likes of Bottas, Verstappen and Vettel all have made errors
Explained in a previous post. After 2016 he turned into Schumacher. Before that, he had two similar seasons in '14 and '15 but followed those up by losing to the same guy he destroyed the previous two years, in the same cars. And before that he was brilliant, a genius, but inconsistent, not unlike Max(to be clear, he was a young driver so it's to be expected that he wasn't the most consistent)