What Hamilton can learn from Andretti

Our colleagues over at Autosprint in Italy report that "the drivers" want Lewis Hamilton's on-track behaviour to be discussed with Charlie Whiting before next weekend's Japanese GP at Suzuka.

It's not hard to deduce where that's come from given his incident with Felipe Massa in Singapore and the Italian media's predilection for all things Ferrari.

Hamilton's 2011 season has not been great but you can't help thinking that rather too much is being made of everything he does - or doesn't.

On a weekly basis Hamilton is criticised for what he says, criticised for what he doesn't say, and given unsolicited advice from anyone with a mouth or a functioning keyboard. It's easy to understand why he might be a little confused.

It all went wrong post-Monaco when he lost a lot of public support after criticising fellow drivers for his own misjudgments and making an abstruse and easily misunderstood reference to Ali G. That was frustration talking.

David Coulthard sympathised, saying that he knew what it was like to be prodded and poked until you snapped, then criticised and publicly shamed. He called it a peculiarly British obsession to build up sporting heroes to knock them down.

One time maybe, but in the media age it's no longer a British speciality, more a worldwide phenomenon.

DC also sounded a warning: we couldn't expect Hamilton to say anything interesting in the coming weeks and months. As predicted, he duly clammed up.

In a sport as complex as F1, that's not what you want. People want to know what he really thought of Michael Schumacher's driving at Monza or the ins and outs of his incident with Massa in Singapore.

Occasionally, long after the dust has settled, he has been more forthcoming. Pre-race in Singapore he talked about Monza and conceded that the McLaren hitting the rev limiter played as significant a role in his difficulties as Schumacher.

"Because I was on the limiter down the main straight and knew he would slipstream me there, there were only two real places to overtake - after Turn 2 or where I did eventually pass him," he said

Should Hamilton have hit out at Schumacher's Monza drive? © sutton-images

"But even when I overtook and he was messed up through Ascari and I got quite a gap, he'd nearly caught me up by the end of the straight into Turn 1. It was ridiculous."

And the decision to keep quiet in the immediate aftermath?

"I just kept my mouth shut. It's done me a lot of good. I've been pretty relaxed for the last couple of weeks, not had too many problems.

"At the time I was able to control myself and that's what life's about, being in control."

I must admit to reservations about such an approach. Over time, If you've got strong feelings and bottle them up, it probably has a bigger effect psychologically than the extra hassle from whatever you might stir up by speaking out. You've got team PRs to sort that out in any case, so let them earn their money.

Hamilton knows he's high-profile enough that any utterance will be topspun into a story. But, so what? Publicity is the sport's life blood.

Back in the seventies, can you imagine the likes of James Hunt, Mario Andretti or Niki Lauda worrying about what they said?

At Zandvoort in 1977, Andretti's Lotus was the fastest car but the only place to pass Hunt's McLaren for the lead was the Tarzan hairpin at the end of the main straight.

Hunt defended the inside every time, so Andretti tried to drive around the outside. Hunt edged him out towards the grass on the exit, Andretti kept coming, they touched and Hunt was out.

The reigning world champion stormed back to the pits and informed Lotus boss Colin Chapman that you don't pass on the outside in F1.

Andretti continued and a few laps later, put the same move on Lauda's leading Ferrari. Niki gave him room and still managed to hold onto his lead.

A couple of laps later Andretti's engine blew and when he walked back to the pits, Hunt was there waiting for him.

There was an angry exchange and Andretti told Hunt where to go.

The post-race quotes were great.

"I had the same dice with John Watson last year for 30 laps and this never happened," Hunt said. "There is no way you can get by there. I don't know what Andretti was doing. It was his race. He had the best car. Sooner or later he was going to get by me."

For Andretti, evidently, it was going to be sooner.

Hunt and Andretti had a verbal war over this outside pass at Zandvoort in 1977 © LAT

"James Hunt, he's champion of the world, right? The problem is, he thinks he's King of the goddamn world as well.

"He says to me, 'We don't overtake on the outside in F1.' Well I've got news for him. I'm a racer and if I get blocked on the inside, I'll try the outside. I'd expect it from an amateur but not from him.

"I tried the same move with Lauda a few laps later, right? Now there's a guy with a brain in his head. He sees me there, gives me room and we both accelerate out of the turn in good shape. He didn't lose his place doing that.

"It just amazes me that Hunt didn't think about the consequences from his own point of view, forget me. There was just no need for him to ride me out there, the jerk. What am I supposed to do? Pick my nose and follow the king?"

No PR speak there. Back then, the daily newspapers probably carried the result of the race, a few paragraphs and little else.

Today they'd have a field day. "'King James is a jerk,' storms Andretti," and so forth. But so what? It would make a good read and you'd get both perspectives in a sport that is now much more widely followed.

Hunt was a big boy and assuredly didn't go home in tears. He was more likely to stride past the Lotus pit at the next race wearing his crown and a wide smile.

To go back to Hamilton, though, after the little TV compound spat with Massa in Singapore we didn't hear his perspective on what happened during the race.

It was left to Martin Whitmarsh to deal with a press posse who were keen to damn what they saw as Hamilton's overly aggressive approach.

But, as Mark Hughes pointed out in last week's AUTOSPORT magazine report, he wasn't being over-aggressive, he was backing out of the move when he realised it wasn't going to stick and then simply made a misjudgment. It would have been good to hear that from Hamilton. Fathoming what happened used to be relatively straightforward but in the days of KERS, DRS and different tyre characteristics, increasingly it isn't.

These days, the corporate world is held up as an excuse for blandness. But is that right? If Hamilton had said what he thought of Schumacher at Monza, would anyone have switched phone networks or emptied their bottle of Johnnie Walker down the kitchen sink?

Andretti knew when to speak up and when to hold back © LAT

Dealing with the media is part of being a millionaire sportsman, even if it can be frustrating.

There was an amusing incident in Singapore during Mark Webber's media sit-down. He was asked by a French journalist what he thought about his team dominating, his team-mate winning a hatful of races and himself still looking for his first win in Red Bull's RB7.

It was the motor racing equivalent of a reporter's "how do you feel?" question to a bereaved family.

Predictably, Webber wasn't best pleased. He wasn't about to hang himself, he revealed, before muttering, not as far under his breath as perhaps he should have, "French w**ker!"

Within a few minutes the incident was all over the internet.

On hearing of it, Christian Horner apparently grimaced. With Red Bull having just announced a new Renault deal, Webber's timing could have been better. "W**ker" would probably have sufficed.

Webber diffused the situation by chatting to the guy later and telling him there was no hard feelings. With a big smile he then signed a copy of the Red Bull magazine, "To the French w**ker! Best wishes, Mark Webber."

Andretti would have been proud!