It's decided, Hamilton goes to Mercedes! * Contains 2013 Spoilers *

Doah!

 

At the time was there any talk at all of Ferrari leaving F1? No. The implication was that Ferrari was a team that would win again. Mercedes has zero history of longevity much less a winning record. What drove MS out of Benneton? Probably the fact that they themselves were not viable in the long run.

I dont think his omission is a fault in the logic.
Benneton history is turbulent at best. MS made the move to a well established, committed and funded team. Even without major success it was a clear step up for MS. No question.

 

If memory serves (& it doesn't always these days ) that wasn't the reaction from the peanut gallery at the time..... In fact, IIRC, the move was greeted in much the same way as Lulu's now; WTF is he thinking? He's only done it for the money, etc, etc.

He turned it into the dream team - Maybe Lulu thinks he can do the same at Merc?

Cheers,
Ian

 

Yep, everyone thought he was crazy. Benetton was at the height of its powers and had bagged 2 straight WDCs when MS left.

 

He had some company move with him Brawn was one yes?

 

I was thinking of this earlier today regarding Ham, but he needs to change his helmet design with the move to Merc. His yellow Senna-like helmet would just look weird in a silver arrow. Just putting it out there in case he's reading. Change the helmet my man.

 

Will yellow look any more weird than red?

 

two yellow helmets, wonder if one or the other will change colors?

 

Ross Brawn is a proven winner. That team is the same one that took the WDC and WCC titles in 2009 - only now they're much better funded, have expanded their staff, and are already building their future car around the new 2014 engine. Perhaps Lewis thinks McLaren are going to suffer for having to first buy engines next year and then might be denied Mercedes power in 2014.

If Lewis feels that, in 2014, Mercedes is going to be the car to be in, then he may well want 2013 as an acclimatisation year with the team. There was also a spot open on the team from next year that he can't guarantee will be there in 2014. The more I think on it... it's not as crazy a move as everyone seems to think it is, though it is not without risk.

I'm pretty surprised to see him leaving McLaren as that team was virtually built around him until Jensen turned up. Furthermore, McLaren have made Lewis the driver he is today. I can't help but think he never would have left if Ron Denis was still in charge on a day-to-day basis.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

It would be good for change. He is his own man now, enough with the constant BS about Senna.

 

Oh, not at all. Berger and Alesi had shown as much promise as Schu and Nico with the Merc this year...check that, LESS. Michael was 'the next Senna' after dominating F1 in back-to-back season, including one where he had a lengthy suspension due to driving an 'illegal' car (similar to Button's Honda when it had that illegal ballast system). Going to hapless Ferrari seemed anything but a good move, but when you have Brawn along for the ride (who basically delivered a championship-quality Bennetton)(along with some of the "illegalities) it certainly helped. It helped enough to produce 5 WDC's.

Time will tell for Hamilton, but should he emerge successful, that will absolutely improve his legacy versus being seen as a "spoon-fed" champion...

 

I still think Merc is seriously lacking behind. All this empty promises about next is one of the reason MS stalled signing a new contract.

 

+1

As the Old saying goes: "Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results!"

Mercedes have bought a WDC & WCC winning team and in three years have gone nowhere with it!

Never mind Championships, they're not even challenging for race wins on a regular basis!

As are Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and others. They're not going to have some sort of massive head start on the other teams.

 

I'm sure he already has changed it, or at least in the last race he had.

 

I think that may have been a special one-off design for Singapore only.

 

I find this quite funny (from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/19776917):

"Mercedes now have best F1 driver in Lewis Hamilton", says Niki Lauda, "In a bad car he is the best driver in the world because he is unbelievably quick and he makes no compromise" Lauda told Sportsweek on BRadio 5 live.




Since he's signed on at Mercedes he seems to had a change of mind then because a couple of months earlier he was saying this about Alonso (from: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formula-1/niki-lauda-lewis-hamilton-needs-1143168 ) :

“He’s the toughest guy out there and he is also the cleverest,” said Lauda, “He knows what to do and after years at Ferrari he has settled in, knows how to be consistent and has kept the team going forward step by step.

“Red Bull have technically caught up too, but all things considered I see Alonso as the most complete driver.”


Come on Niki, make your mind up!

 

Yes, didn't bring him much luck either.

 

He works in the Benz PR dept now. BTW I concur with him re Fred.

 

So three races in what are everyone's thoughts now?

 

Like everyone's saying, Hamilton looks like a genius.

 

It's still early-doors, but fer sure;

- He seems much happier with the world.
- The car looks pretty good. I think current results may have "flattered to deceive", but we'll see soon enough I guess.
- Fer sure, there's much crow to be eaten by some here.

Cheers,
Ian

 

To soon to tell....Where was Hamilton at last year with Macca at this point in the season?

Just looked it up. Hambone was 3rd each time in the first 3 races with 45 points after China so he is doing WORSE than last year!

 

How's Jenny doing this year though? More importantly, how is Checo doing?

That is the standard of measurement, as opposed to Hamilton 2013 v Hamilton 2012. I don't think LH has a chance to win the WDC this year, but certainly he could have last year with more reliability/less team mistakes.

I believe that last year's McLaren was a more competitive car than this year's Mercedes, but the Merc is much better than this year's McLaren.

 

But he wouldn't be in last years McLaren. How is Button doing compared to last year vs how Hamilton is doing compared to last year? Button had 43 points after 3 races compared to 12 this year, so based on that, Hamilton would have about 13 points this year if he stayed at McLaren. That seems unlikely, but I doubt he would have anywhere near 40.

Sorry, this was in response to ARTNNYC

 

Mercedes certainly came out strong. Just like last year.
The season is long.
Personally I'd take Mclaren's depth over Mercedes's in the long haul.