F1 » Lewis paces opening day at Ricard

great stuff from Hamilton, and it,s clear he is now able to test and set a car up,and that the Alonso influence is a thing of the past, no surprise really,

Oh, well, I'm glad we got that cleared up.

According to the haters, Mr Hamilton should be 0.3 seconds slower than the top cars, surely? Because he can 'only set a car up' by copying Mr Alonso?

Maybe not it seems.

Indeed a cynic may argue that if Alonso's Renault team were found to be cheating in the 2005/6 car (which they were) - then maybe it was (ironically) McLaren - who made Alonso so fast - at Renault?

And not mr Alonso, after all!

We all know that testing means little. There really is not enough info to make statements such as Mika's or Grumpy's. For all we know if LH had Alonso's help with set-up he may have found few more tenths. We will never know. Plus this is a maximum downforce set-up. I assume that has to be one of the simplest set-ups to get right. It is the tracks with a good mix of slow and highspeed corners along with long straights that really show a drivers set-up skills.

Even if LH is faster in the next race it may mean little if he is forced to make more stops again. At least in Monaco if he gets the lead early he won't have to push too hard.

So far Lewis and Mclaren haven't been as good this year and it looks like there only chance to get the better of Ferrari fair and square will be at Monaco and Canada. I think it will be many years before Mclaren win another championship and by then Lewis will be driving a Force India.

Grumpy, how do you know Renault were cheating in 05/06? And it was McLaren who made Alonso fast at Renault? Huh? Lewis has been quickest in testing before and it has'nt really held up in the race itself. It's the bottom line that counts. Once Alonso left, McLaren's results have slipped and Renault's have improved.

People, this is only the first day of a 3 day testing period. I don't think we should get so upset & bitter over nothing. It's only a test. F1 is a sport. Lets remember that & exercise some sporting spirit here. No one is going to get a free ticket for blowing his top here.

So far, the only comment here making sense is yours Powerline 2008 - thanks mate! I really do think some of us "Armchair Umpires" over rate our own 'EXPERT' abilities?
Lets hope we have a fantastic race in Monaco - who cares who wins. Personally, I rate about half a dozen drivers in the field, not all of whom have top flight drives, but their abilty still shows. And regardless if you're a fan or not, Lewis Hamilton IS talented. Those who knock him can only dream of being anywhere near as gifted.

You're most welcome Scratcha Dazz. It's always good to see fans & supporters of any team enjoying themselves, in true sporting spirit. Lets have fun in Monaco, people.

Just curious for those who disagreed with my comment please explain why a maximum downforce set-up proves anything about LH's set-up skills? Also didn't Mclaren have 1.5 sec gap over Ferrari on this same test last year? Seems they are not as dominant. While I doubt it is down to FA's input or lack of it just goes to show you can't determine much from this test.

May 15 2007
1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1min 05.699secs 98 laps
6. Felipe Massa Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 07.271s 94 laps