02/06/2013
NEWS STORY
Grand Prix winner John Watson has urged Lewis Hamilton to focus fully on his F1 career or risk becoming a 'one hit wonder'.
The Ulsterman, who won five Grands Prix in a twelve season career, finishing third in the 1982 championship when his teammate was Niki Lauda, wasn't the only person concerned at the English driver's Monaco performance.
Having been out-qualified by teammate Nico Rosberg, a mistake during the race saw the Mercedes driver allow both Red Bull drivers through to take the remaining podium positions.
Earlier over the course of the Monaco weekend, Watson was dismayed to see the 2008 world champion walking his dog Roscoe through the paddock, at a time when his rivals were focussing fully on the weekend ahead.
"There is no place for a dog in the F1 paddock,” said Watson, according to the Daily Express. "For one thing, it is not fair on the animal. It might be in luxurious surroundings, but an engine firing up is like a firecracker or bomb going off for a dog. It’s not right.
"It just shows that Mercedes are bending over too far to please Lewis," the Ulsterman continued. "There is absolutely no way McLaren would have allowed it. Lewis wanted more freedom from McLaren and he has got that, but it can go too far the other way. Lewis has to decide if he wants to be an F1 driver or a hip-hop star. At the end of the day, you have got to respect the job that you are doing.
"He went to Mercedes with the reputation of being the man who would get the job done," he continued. "Niki Lauda took the credit for getting him in there. Niki is a experienced former driver who won three world titles. You don't do that just being quite nice and he should be there trying to help Lewis work his way through the problems and point out what Mercedes expect from him.
"If your life was on the line and it was all down to one lap, you would back Lewis over Nico every time," he insisted. "But it is just not happening for him at the minute and he needs to start working out why.
"Lewis needs to respond now and quickly resolve the issues," urged Watson. "If you keep getting beaten by your team-mate then you damage your own commodity. Other competitors then spot that you have a flaw and they will dismiss you. Very quickly you are off their radar and when that happens it is very difficult to recover."