Where will Lewis be next year? PART TWO!

This year Lewis and Button never raced each other so mute point. Take Spa, LHs result has nothing to do with Button, LH made setup mistakes by refusing to use the new wing.

As always you have to take what is said as a grain of salt, McLaren have always been 100% behind LH and heck he will likely never get that sort of support again. For over 10 years McLaren has been his team. Yes before he even sat in a F1 car they were grooming both parties for the marriage.

If that really is LH's reason for leaving then he is an idiot, I prefer to think he is trying to prove himself. I respect him for this, probably the first time I can honestly say that.
Pete
ps: McLaren have had many clear number 1's since Ron Dennis's Project 4 team took over: Lauda, Senna (even while Prost was there. Not immediately but their preference changed), Hakenin and then LH.
Now Williams that is a different story ...

 

I said it may have been part of a deciding factor, not the reason!!.

The team picked the wing for him, that's why he kicked off, and posted it on twitter.

There is no point in debating it any further.

 

Okay that is not what I read. What I read indicated that LH didn't like the new wing. I should know better than believing a reporter! As again we both don't know the facts. Your view has weight because he has left (McLaren) though.

Anyway all good and I personally think a good move for LH.

Btw: find a WDC that McLaren has lost due to this supposedly no number 1 and I'll be a believer. With stupid Williams I can, I think 1985 is one example.
Pete

 

Or, maybe Brawn gave him a vision of what role he could play in building Mercedes into a dominant team. However, I COMPLETELY agree with your sentiment about 'leaving your first job to remove the apprentice/trainee monkey off your back'. It could simply be a combo of these two things.

I think Steve's point about Hamilton 'not feeling he's treated as a #1' was probably the catalyst in all of this. Whether he was or not is irrelevant, he didn't 'feel' that he was treated as a top priority and there were a myriad of occurrences that he could use to support that he was being undermined (starting with Jensen crashing him out in Canada). I think things have gone downhill for him since then (including the quick "ante-up" nature of JB's contract negotiations) and he probably realized that McLaren is not the only place for him.

It's a bold step, regardless. We'll know whether it was a foolish one in a couple of years, but if it's for the reasons you stated (even if partially), I can understand. You have to leave home eventually to be the king of your own castle.

 

The move shows the lack of maturity in Lewis's decisions off the track.

The message he has been interpreting is "Its all about YOU".

He will quickly learn that without a top car it is not.

 

Either way it will be fun to watch.

 

Agreed in general on that.

However his move might turn out just as gutsy/clever as Button staying on with Brawn GP: *Maybe* Lauda will turn things around at Mercedes and *maybe* they'll have the engine to beat come 2014.

I have said many times on here that a major car manufacturer doesn't stand a chance in F1. And 3 years of mediocre results at MB have made my point. But maybe now the Corportare Suits at MB are awakening and decide to give Brawn/Haug/Lauda the necessary breathing room they need to put an "independent" team together.

According to Bild (yes, not the best source, but the first to break the MS sacking news) Lauda has already gone to Brackley and heads are rolling. In fact according to Bild Lauda was also instrumental in getting MS out the door. Not to be a hater, but replacing MS with Hamilton was the right move for the team if they want to be serious in F1.

Bottom line: For the time being I'm no longer betting against Mercedes. By the end of 2014 we'll know whether the current reorganization was just window dressing or the revolution that turned them into the Renault of 2006 team.

 

Again, we don't know if it's his Villeneuve moment or his Schumacher moment. Michael left Benetton as a double-world champion and took his show to Ferrari, which hadn't won a WDC since Lauda in the 70's. Look how that turned out.

Since Brawn is again involved, maybe he gave Hamilton a vision of what Mercedes would be and lined up how to make him a multiple WDC. It's a leap of faith, for certain, but so was Michael's coming to the Scuderia.

 

Mclaren will live on and prosper and hambone will become a footnote in F1 history as a great talent that was more interested in his "brand" then the WDC. You didnt see Michael Jordan worrying about his "brand" while he was winning NBA championships.

 

So you think Brawn painted a very gloomy picture to MS instead to keep him away?

 

Way to go Niki!

Ross has spent the past 2 years building his dream team and now Niki shows up and starts firing people? That will go down really well......

I guess the goldfish don't remember the *stellar* success he had with Jag - A complete disaster that he managed to leave in even bigger disarray than when he started - and that's saying something!

Ex-superstar drivers (like ex-soccer or hockey guys etc) very seldom make good managers. TBH, I'm not even sure how successful he's been in business - He sold his airline for a tidy sum, but beyond that?

Cheers,
Ian

 

+1 Nicely put!

The jury is very definitely out on this. I too think Krafty may have hit the nail on the head; He's a sensitive soul and the criticism that "he had it easy" hurts him more than we know.

If he should win a title or two with 'em even the haters will have to STFU!......

Cheers,
Ian
EDIT; And once more, the Schu WAS NOT FIRED!

 

And what exactly has Ross achieved in those 3 years? Taken the team from 1st to 4th to 5th.

It is pretty obvious (and that's not just my opinion but of many journos out there) that there are/were way too many cooks in Brackley's kitchen. Just hiring a bunch of top designers doesn't get you anywhere.

True, this could end up like just another Jaguar desaster. And I said that somewhere in another thread. But Ford really never understood F1 to begin with, which was obvious when Rahal failed.
I'm not saying that Lauda will righten the ship. He might actually sink it. But continuing as they are now, they will never get anywhere. Now there is at least a chance for change. One way or the other.

Lauda was hugely successfull as business man. He single handedly took the fight of the independent airlines to the established national air lines. Austrian air lines fought him tooth and nail, which is why the bottom line was not that great. But he did manage to break up the airline monopolies in Europe and make a nice buck on the side (lots of which went to his ex-wife).

In my book Lauda is the smartest F1 driver there ever was. The biggest intellect and business man of them all. Smarter even than a Prost and that's saying something.

Whether he will win against the corporate suits remains to be seen.

 

Jody Scheckter is not amused!

 

It certainly shakes things up.
If it increases the level of competition between teams I'm for it.

 

How much more "competition between teams" do you want!?

We had 7 different teams win the first 7 races fer gawdsake!.......



Cheers,
Ian

 

It's like carburetors

If some is good, more is better and too much is just enough.

Chaos. It's not just a theory. It's a way of life.

 

Thread failure, too much Estrogen (ie I am always right).

 

Putting this to bed, it seems that the folk who voted were not at all influenced by the press discussions etc etc - Many words were written, but very few were influenced it seems;

First poll; 150 votes;
59% Mclaren
31% Merc
4% Other
6% Done

2nd poll; 83 votes;
59%
27% [A slight drop, but not "statistically significant"]
11% [Ferrari?]
3%

Thanks for voting! We're not all slaves to the press! [Even though the majority of us got it wrong!..... ]

Cheers,
Ian

 

spot on. I think MS is driving great, and I love watching him race, but if you had the choice of LH or MS, surely it's no contest!!

Apart from the fact that Lewis has awesome skill, the most they could realistically expect from MS was a year or two. With lewis, he could be in that team for many years so they can really build a team around him.

 

I agree, they had to think about the long term and MS was waffling on his decision. It is what it is. What I can't get over are the know-nothings that claim MS was fired.

 

Wishful thinking. Brawn indicated that's not the case...HOWEVER, MS's indecision seems to have caused a huge win for Mercedes in picking up Lewis.

Brawn also said MS was included in the talks, so it's not like MS was left out in the cold.

I'd like to think Brawn would have too much respect for MS to do that to him, and it seems that is the case.

 

If he got fired he wouldn't drive in Japan. That's not the case.

MS contract simply didn't get extended.

 

Sounds about right.
Too bad it couldn't have been done with a bit more dignity but F1 can wait only so long for even Michael to make up his mind.

 

There was a lack of dignity? how so?

Brawn says MS was in the loop and considered the whole time. What more could be done?