Hamilton off to Mercedes
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Sergio Perez is to replace Hamilton.
Its a shame as he is good but at least we won't have to suffer Hamiltons sulky moods any more - he's even been sullen when winning or grabbing pole so we've known something wasn't right.
He's still probably the quickest driver but I think he'll struggle to win at Mercedes
Sergio could be very good in a competitive car!
Its a shame as he is good but at least we won't have to suffer Hamiltons sulky moods any more - he's even been sullen when winning or grabbing pole so we've known something wasn't right.
He's still probably the quickest driver but I think he'll struggle to win at Mercedes
Sergio could be very good in a competitive car!
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32 Posts
I'd much rather have a fast headcase than a slower PR friendly driver
Good luck to McLaren now if Button gets into one of his "lack of balance" phases where he ended up scoring something like 6 points from 5 races.
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11,177 Posts
Dissapointed for a number of reasons,but i have to agree.I wish him luck,but not too much!
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In my opinion, McLaren will not win the championship for at least another 3 years
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20 years from now, I think Hamilton is going to be looked back on as a driver with a lot of unmet potential. In many ways similar to Kimi, he is just slightly more PR friendly.
McLaren is very smart to be bringing in Sergio, he is young, very fast, PR savvy, and in many ways much more mature than Hamilton. Sergio also help will open up the McLaren brand to the massive Latino/Hispanic audience.
a BIG mistake by lewis i think...... and i dont understand why F1 drivers use these management teams to make such crucial decisions. Sure these teams are good to help the bargaining part, but to let them hinder your decision making ability is really disturbing. I honestly believe that Merc is an amazing team but absolutely NOTHING when compared Mclaren. I think lewis got a bit carried away by the glitz and glam personally. Now i really wonder how Brawn would have reacted had lewis posted the telemetry data like he did a few races ago! Mclaren was really patient with him.... its a shame lewis made a short sighted decision.
And remember, merc is just headed by a board of directors who are more worried about financial returns than racing passion. They can take a call and withdraw from F1 at any point if they feel its not feasible. They will simply pay him his millions and show him the door. He cant just walk upto the boss at Merc to have a chat like he could with Ron. I just hope now sergio does really well and shows what a great team Lewis let go of.
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4,955 Posts
You know that Lewis Hamilton has the right to choose his place of work.
Drivers will alway change employers, always have.
Did not do Alonso any harm.
I could name a dozen drivers who have benefitted by switching emploers, if I could remember their names.
Drivers will alway change employers, always have.
Did not do Alonso any harm.
I could name a dozen drivers who have benefitted by switching emploers, if I could remember their names.
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1,183 Posts
Not sure if I can agree with this . With new engine regs mclaren will be without engines and the new merc lumps are rumoured to be awesome . Underestimate mercedes money , power and technical skill / desire to win at your Peril . with f1 , dtm , gt racing etc merc have one of the biggest racing budgets in history( mclaren is a minnow in comparison ) so im not sure where this " more worried about financial returns than racing passion " comes from ?????
I'm more concerned with Mercedes not having a driver that can develop a new car .
Agree about Lewis short sighted decision , it will be his undoing .
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6,896 Posts
Agreed. None of us know the exact terms and conditions. I won't condemn him for his decision.
McLaren have a tough go ahead, now, though. Lewis has out qualified Jenson handily this year. I'd say on avg 2-6 tenths when both drivers appeared to be happy with the balance. During the tire lottery phase it was not pretty for JB at all, as he didn't even make Q3 on occasion. Any way you slice it, McLaren just added several tenths that they need to find to stay on the front row, which in F1 is massive. That is, unless Sergio comes in and lights it up. Go Checo!!
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8,123 Posts
A lot of things come to a natural end.. I think this is a good example... 14 years is a long time in one organisation... Lewis perhaps thought he had gone as far as he could go with mclaren and wants to be his own man... Whether you agree with his personal preferences and way of doing things doesn't really matter.. He's clearly not the chap that was signed 14 years ago, he has actually grown up.. Although I know some would dispute that.. Ross brawn is no clown anymore than messrs Dennis and whitmarsh.. I do honestly thnk it's mclaren that will rue things the most... But perhaps Lewis didn't fit the mclaren ethos anymore and they werent prepared to tolerate it consequently they weren't prepared to compete on a level playing field...
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6,896 Posts
Kimi, I'll give you, but Lewis was as tried and tested as they come. Look at his record in the junior formulae. Better yet, search YouTube for his highlights of those series, including even his karting years. You'll see some of the most amazing overtakes. There was never any doubt he was headed for F1. Sergio has some massive shoes to fill. Go Checo!
McLaren are to use the same Mercedes engines from 2014 - the same as they do now. The only difference is that they have to pay for them so if the Merc engine is the best then McLaren will still out perform Merecedes.
Red Bull used 'customer spec' engines and won the world championship twice when the works Renault team struggled!
Merecedes are still playing catch up after the Brawn team lost so many staff following their cost cutting cut backs. Merecedes have bought a team and tried like so many manufacturers before them to try and use their automotive clout to compete with proven F1 teams. BMW tried and lost massively then Sauber have taken the team back and out-performed the 'Giant' that is BMW....Toyota, Jaguar, anyone? all had lofty ambitions as well....
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1,183 Posts
More than catch up brawn and haug have just and completely failed to deliver . It was the the no passion for racing thing I thought was very unfair . Mercedes historically and today are massively into racing , they pump almost as much money into DTM than f1 for example .
It's not fair to basically call them bean counters .
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6,896 Posts
I don't know if would say Lewis has wasted his potential. 1 WDC so far, 24 pole positions, 20 GP victories. If he gets a good car at Merc and bags another WDC or two, he'll be remembered as one of the greats. But hey, he's gone now. Go Checo!
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