He wasn't truly speaking to the Hat, but this boy's dominant thought was clearly, "I can't wait to be in Gryffindor." He had no doubts that the Hat would place him there, and his parents had instructed him enough on the virtues of Gryffindor that he desperately wanted them, especially courage.
The Hat could not bring itself to tell the boy that he lacked courage, not when the primary reason for the lack was seldom having had the opportunity to use true courage. His parents had protected him almost to the point of coddling him, and that had prevented him from needing to develop any of the Founders' favored traits.
He had a quickness of mind that Rowena would have liked, if it hadn't been coupled with an incredibly casual attitude towards learning that Rowena herself would have been quite capable of beating out of him, but that Ravenclaw was unlikely to manage. If the boy had had any noticeable weak points, or parents that cared a great deal about his academics, he might have developed a little more incentive, but he could probably manage straight Es without pushing himself too hard and that would be enough for his mother and father.
Hard-working James Potter was most certainly not and he had grown up with doting parents who had tailored their rules to suit him and his preferred lifestyle. Having to conform to rules that he was required to obey rather than agree with might set him on the path to developing Salazar's way of working around rules, but the Sorting Hat was not about to sort on something so chancy, not when there was another option.
Because James Potter was determined to be brave and bold and, above all, chivalrous; and if he was not brave yet, had difficulty distinguishing between boldness and brashness, and was not nearly observant enough to know who truly needed his chivalrous impulses, he was only eleven and the Sorting Hat had no doubt he would work out enough of it as he grew up to be a credit to, "GRYFFINDOR."
