Motorsport Off Topic Thread

As more is revleaed it seems Merc where jsut tight on how thy negotiated with Ham and Russell. They wernt even willing to make changes to the car based in their feedback and Merc not even letting Ham be a Merc ambassador?...what the hell where they thinking!
Totto has lost lots of their top people now and it comes down to not paying up to keep them all on board, either Merc are looking out of F1 altogether or Totto was so clueless that people just stay from loyalty to him and Merc when they don't give anything back.
THen to top it all off they only offer Lewis a 1 year contract..WTF where they doing?
 
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I expect Lewis to either have done his research and been very impressed or just gone ‘Ferrari baby!’

I think Mercedes took far too long to get rid of Elliot and sort out zero pods. Not ruthless enough to much of a management committee.

So Lewis has a hundred percent record of team choice, but Ferrari, however Fred V is quietly good.

But 2 things, Mercedes are going to find out how much the brand is worth and Lewis’s dad once said something like ‘Lewis ends teammates careers’.

Maybe George has had a lucky escape.
 
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cu3ed said:
As more is revleaed it seems Merc where jsut tight on how thy negotiated with Ham and Russell. They wernt even willing to make changes to the car based in their feedback and Merc not even letting Ham be a Merc ambassador?...what the hell where they thinking!
Totto has lost lots of their top people now and it comes down to not paying up to keep them all on board, either Merc are looking out of F1 altogether or Totto was so clueless that people just stay from loyalty to him and Merc when they don't give anything back.
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Yeah toto thinks too much of himself, he’s coming across as a bit of a plank.
 
Slam62 said:
I expect Lewis to either have done his research and been very impressed or just gone ‘Ferrari baby!’

I think Mercedes took far too long to get rid of Elliot and sort out zero pods. Not ruthless enough to much of a management committee.

So Lewis has a hundred percent record of team choice, but Ferrari, however Fred V is quietly good.

But 2 things, Mercedes are going to find out how much the brand is worth and Lewis’s dad once said something like ‘Lewis ends teammates careers’.

Maybe George has had a lucky escape.
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Apparently Ferrari went all in with Lewis and showed exactly what they had planned for the car and team for years, to show that much in negotiation cant be common with a chance he says no. Same as Mikki did with him to leave McClaren.
 
cu3ed said:
Apparently Ferrari went all in with Lewis and showed exactly what they had planned for the car and team for years, to show that much in negotiation cant be common with a chance he says no. Same as Mikki did with him to leave McClaren.
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Depends how confident you are.

Yes my opinion is that Ross and Niki built all the Merc success, Toto and all the other managers just took the glory.
Blimey Toto isn’t even smart enough to realise he’s not smart enough.
 
Slam62 said:
So Lewis has a hundred percent record of team choice, but Ferrari, however Fred V is quietly good.
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Obviously an org as big as Ferrari doesn't change course overnight, but I think Fred could be the man to steer it in the right direction.

Signing Hamilton is a clear statement of intent, but could also be a masterstroke in boosting morale if Hamilton has the same interaction he did with the mechanics and backroom staff that he did at Mercedes.
 
cu3ed said:
As more is revleaed it seems Merc where jsut tight on how thy negotiated with Ham and Russell. They wernt even willing to make changes to the car based in their feedback and Merc not even letting Ham be a Merc ambassador?...what the hell where they thinking!
Totto has lost lots of their top people now and it comes down to not paying up to keep them all on board, either Merc are looking out of F1 altogether or Totto was so clueless that people just stay from loyalty to him and Merc when they don't give anything back.
THen to top it all off they only offer Lewis a 1 year contract..WTF where they doing?
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Where have you got all that from?
 
Bug One said:
Who knows...

www.sportbible.com

Lewis Hamilton could drive for Ferrari 'this month' with stunning Mercedes move potentially fast-tracked

New reports state that Lewis Hamilton could join Ferrari even earlier than anticipated with potential he could drive for the team in 2024.
www.sportbible.com www.sportbible.com
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Lots of ifs and buts there and that article was posted before the meeting at Mercedes and hours before the official announcement. I'd love to see it happen this year but that's pure speculation.
 
www.planetf1.com

Lewis Hamilton mega $446m Ferrari deal with vast business empire promised - report

Lewis Hamilton reportedly was lured to Ferrari by a deal worth a staggering $446million which stretches far beyond Formula 1 driving duties.
www.planetf1.com www.planetf1.com

Sounds like Ferrari really went all-in for the brand, what with all the investment promises in Mission 44 etc, being an ambassador etc. I just hope Lewis wasn’t swayed by that side too much, and that the decision was really made because he thinks it is the best place to get another world title. That said, it does smack a little of the higher-ups at Mercedes not really understanding what they’ve got with Hamilton until he’s gone.

I see in another link that Helmet Marko has been stirring the pot as usual, basically saying Lewis only went to Ferrari because he couldn’t stand Verstappen earning a bigger salary than him. As if :rolleyes:
 
Scam said:
www.planetf1.com

Lewis Hamilton mega $446m Ferrari deal with vast business empire promised - report

Lewis Hamilton reportedly was lured to Ferrari by a deal worth a staggering $446million which stretches far beyond Formula 1 driving duties.
www.planetf1.com www.planetf1.com

Sounds like Ferrari really went all-in for the brand, what with all the investment promises in Mission 44 etc, being an ambassador etc. I just hope Lewis wasn’t swayed by that side too much, and that the decision was really made because he thinks it is the best place to get another world title. That said, it does smack a little of the higher-ups at Mercedes not really understanding what they’ve got with Hamilton until he’s gone.

I see in another link that Helmet Marko has been stirring the pot as usual, basically saying Lewis only went to Ferrari because he couldn’t stand Verstappen earning a bigger salary than him. As if :rolleyes:
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Marko actually made that comment in 2023:
"In the midst of Hamilton’s F1 2023 frustration, Marko suggested that as well as being absent from the title scene, Verstappen earning more was also of great annoyance to Hamilton, claiming the way he could fix that is by joining Ferrari.

Lo and behold, Hamilton’s shock switch to Ferrari, on multi-year terms from 2025, has now been confirmed in one of the biggest driver moves Formula 1 has ever witnessed"
Seems like he was right about one thing..
 
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I think Hamilton has always held a desire to drive for Ferrari but his desire to win championships has always been greater, and he has had a good run at Mercedes. Moving teams wouldn’t have made sense.

However, if Merc are not developing their package to make them genuinely competitive, I can see why Lewis is moving on. He knows he is reaching the end of his career and to be fair he has really tried to support Merc over the last couple of years. If things have somewhat soured at Merc then his move to Ferrari is unsurprising really, particularly if Merc development is still lagging behind.

He is fulfilling a long held ambition to drive for Ferrari whilst he still can, and his chances of success are probably about the same, perhaps even marginally better.

Throw in 100m and it makes it a complete no brainer, surely?
 
cu3ed said:
As more is revleaed it seems Merc where jsut tight on how thy negotiated with Ham and Russell. They wernt even willing to make changes to the car based in their feedback and Merc not even letting Ham be a Merc ambassador?...what the hell where they thinking!
Totto has lost lots of their top people now and it comes down to not paying up to keep them all on board, either Merc are looking out of F1 altogether or Totto was so clueless that people just stay from loyalty to him and Merc when they don't give anything back.
THen to top it all off they only offer Lewis a 1 year contract..WTF where they doing?
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Remember - the "ambassador" thing would have needed to be signed off by Mercedes Corporate; not the F1 team - I suspect there may well be an element that Merc prefer quieter, compliant brand ambassadors (Like Mika Hakkinen for example) than Hamilton with all of his off-track stuff; Ferrari maybe more willing to accept it and indeed suggestions that Jon Elkann has agreed to help fund "Mission 44".

Also I half wonder if being unwilling to signed up to a long term role might also point toward them not necessarily being as committed to remaining in F1 as a full-manufacturer; if the 2026 car is as bad as the current one it would be an easy target of cost cutting for Mercedes-Benz "corporate".

All in all though it leaves Mercedes with a much weaker driver line-up no matter who they choose (well unless its Alonso for a couple of years) - and you have to start wondering if they're now destined for a longer period of "front-running but not necessarily championship winning"
 
Greboth said:
Isn’t Marko the racing worlds version of Godwin’s law?
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He's the motor racing world's Elon Musk - lots of money, lots of noise, excellent at some things and tragically out of his depth at anything else. But he makes for decent headlines so the press will keep providing him a platform.
 
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