Hamilton denies arrogance accusation

BMW’s Robert Kubica—just 12-points behind Hamilton—retains an outside chance of the title and was the most prominent of the critics last weekend, saying most other F-1 drivers believed Hamilton was a danger on the track due to overaggressive passing maneuvers.

In other words, Hamilton is the only F1 driver around at the moment who tries to overtake and race. The others are just robots. What Kubica really means is that most other drivers are aware of Hamilton's danger because he can overtake most of them. Little mind games from Kubica who should show more respect to other drivers.

I think he is very arrogant on and off the track. As soon as the spoilt kid made some money he moved abroad to avoid tax.

I agree with Prescott, strip him of his British passport.

I agree with Prescott, strip him of his British passport.

If you ever made the kind of money that Hamilton does (I doubt that you ever will), you would also get p'd-off paying all that tax to the tax people and also move abroad. Whether he is arrogant or not, he is the most exciting driver in F1 today and all those other robot Schumacher-wannabees are playing their political mind games. For Alonso to state that he would help Massa to win the title from Hamilton (neither Alonso nor Massa are team mates or the same nationality) is a disgrace.

Gordon Brown said these tax avoiders cost us 3 BIllion Pounds a year. Hamilton races sneakily and lives thes same way.

Lewis Hamilton is British. He is paid a high salary for his high-risk job. The British government charge far too much tax (60% ?) for those people earning a certain amount of money. Under current legislation Lewis Hamilton is entitled to move to a principality that doesn't take 60% of your earnings for it's tax chest. To state that Hamilton should be stripped of his passport will smack of racism unfortunately.

northlondon; Since when is the British top rate of tax 60%. He makes his job dangerous by driving like a blooming hooligan. I think lots of people should be stripped of theri passport ie; Glam rock weirdo David Bowie for one.

Hamilton should not be stripped of his passport. When the F1 goes to silver stone its Hamilton who is the pride of Britain. I support Northlondons stance.

People who is brung up reaping the benefits of their country, should pay back when they grow up, not leg it.

Your argument goes round in more circls than Ha,ilton does when he's racing. blimey, the geezer is going to kill one of the other drivers the way he races. Hamilton is a menace to other drivers, and a tax avoider, disgusting!!

GeorgeRoper,

sure, if you were Hamilton you would drive up to the tax office in your f1 car and smile as you handed over 60% of your income in cash and had a bouquet of flowers for everyone and big love heart balloons and cute teddy bears with huge smiles.

He already contributes so much to the country with the revenue he produces when people watch him on TV and go and see him at silverstone. of course that is not enough, he has to dole out 60% of his income too???

I WOULDN'T either.

Do any of you actually watch F1. Hamilton is a driver of immense talent, who takes the necessary risks to win.

I know the British have a "Tall Poppy Syndrome" but this is rediculous.

Oh and by the way, If I was being taxed 60% for being successful, I'd leave too.

A correction and apologies for that, but my argument stands. The top tax rate used to be 60% but has changed to 40%. Lewis Hamilton will earn approximately US$17 million this year. That means a payment to the taxman of a cool US6.8 million for one years work. His job runs the risk of him ending up in a wall at 125 mph which could potentially kill him or cripple him. That includeds pre-season testing. Now if I had to pay the taxman US$6.8 million a year I would expect to automatically become Prime Minister ! US$6.8 million of your high-risk earnings ? Ha,ha,ha !

If I were being taxed at 60% I would buy three Porsches.

hanilyon is a danger, no doubt about it.

Hamilton wouldn't pay 60% tax in Britain, there is not a tax rate that high Strewth he drives like a manica is a millionaire and uns away from paying taxes. I don't support him.the British highest tax rate is 40%, not 60%.

I already stated that the highest rate is 40%, but I also stated that Lewis Hamilton's liability in the UK this year would have been US$6.8 million. Now, would you as an individual be willing to give US$6.8 million to the taxman ? And why are politicians such as Gordon Brown mouthing off about sports individuals such as Lewis Hamilton, when all the major UK corporations devise strategies to avoid tax and those same tax-avoiding corporations lobby and donate to politicians such as Gordon Brown ? Easy to pick on individuals such as Lewis Hamilton I guess.

Now, would you as an individual be willing to give US$6.8 million to the taxman ?

Um, yes if it represented 40% of my income. I would be willing to give US 700 trillion if it represented 90% of my income.

love the way you guys are beating up on hamilton like hes the devil. Id be a little bit more worried about where your taxes are going right now, rather than who is/isnt actually paying them. (big payout for a fatcat banker who screwed up the economy anyone??) And besides like northlondon said. There are a lot more people who screw the system bigger than hamilton. And you wanna talk about driving like a maniac? ITs F1 for gods sake. Not grannies drivin volvos on a sunday arvo. And whats massa doin shootin his mouth off? Please Ferrari please please please let me ride with you. Nessie, Is that a black unicorn I see????

But Ness, you would be a fool if you had the option of living in Monaco (a little more exotic, crime-free and peaceful than Stevenage in the UK) and not having to pay US$6.8 mill to the taxman. The British government are not thinking because instead of driving high earners such as Lewis Hamilton out of the UK completely, they should have a roof of US$1 million a year and more people would stay, in turn recouping lost money to the taxman. The pricipality of Monaco have got it just right. Offer somewhere very attractive to live in Europe which is tax-free.

I voted with my feet before Lewis Hamilton did! I'm glad that he's made a move to Switzerland and keeping his tax out of the hands of Gordon Brown who has managed to splurge Billions of pounds on wasteful and in some cases unnecessary public services.

LH is a great driver and comes across as a decent human being as well. There's nothing wrong with being an arrogant driver as long as you aren't a dangerous one. The gloss came off Schumacher's amazing skill as a driver because he was basically a cheat. Being an Englishman, we don't expect to see Lewis following that particular example

I don't want to see fly-by-wire cars winning races because of their fuel consumption and tyre change strategies. Anyone remember the days when preliminary pole position didn't mean a thing and when you could start 10th on the grid and still be in with a chance of winning ? Alonso should be fined and reprimanded for his comments about helping Massa to win the title. What will Formula 1 do if Alonso takes Hamilton out in the next race ?

North. Probably not much. You saw what happened with that ridiculous penalty post race, a few races ago.....

And that should have been Whats Alonso doin shootin his mouth off, not Massa in my previous post

Mark my words, I can see Alonso taking Hamilton out of the world title out of spite. And if Kubica doesn't win the Chinese Grand Prix then I can see him trying to do the same in the final race.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl2tIFxSEGA

All F1 drivers should be forced to watch Gilles Vileneuve and Rene Arnoux battling it out. Now that is driving. Hamilton isnt arrogant, he's driving with a bunch of wet blankets

You know what Lewis should say ? He should say, "I'm going out to race the final two Grand Prix. I'm going to race and overtake people. If I lose the world title, or crash out of contention, then so be it. I just want to show that I am an F1 racer and not a robot. I'm not out there to help other drivers win the world title (like Alonso). I'm out there to win races".

Lesser drivers said the same about Senna. Hamilton will treat Kubica's whine with the contempt it deserves. Or he could do a Tom Cruise..... "That's right! Ice... man. I am dangerous."