I have no issue at all with your opinion. Why would I you state your opinion of Ferrari all the time, I'm used to it Why don't you put that out here and see what others say? If Vettel had stayed at RB he would have gone off the radar and it is likely Verstappen would have taken that place (IMHO he's a better driver now than Vettel) so I disagree with your opinion. He made the best decision at that time with the option open to him. I do however take your point that he may now be in a corner as to where he can go next. It does seem Ferrari is the last team top drivers end up at as winner (or not). It was a chance he took and at that time gave him better odds than staying at RB because he did almost take a title with Ferrari (he most likely would not have at RB) but for mostly his own errors he failed. I can't help it if you're wrong
So Seb went to the team he always wanted to drive for... The Ferrari over the last 4 years was better than the RB and he is getting a salary he could have only dreamed of at RB but still some consider that a bad career move... Well, maybe if you neither like Vettel nore Ferrari and think that everything other than getting by chance in the most dominant car ever is a bad move Other than that probably not so much Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk
It's rather subjective who was the best [2nd] team from 2014 to 2018 if we review the results. Had Vettel stayed at RB then he MAY have achieved more, who knows ! Red Bull won 3 races in 2014 (0 for Vettel), 0 races in 2015, 2 races in 2016, 3 races in 2017 and 4 races in 2018 total over 4 years =12 Ferrari won 0 races in 2014, 3 races in 2015, 0 races in 2016, 5 races in 2017 and 5 races in 2018. total over 4 years = 13 Given that RB had an inferior engine package then the foresight of Vettel to leave for SF was obviously the right career move, he can only move downwards if he leaves the team
2014 Seb was still driving for RB... In 2017/2018 he got a (theoretical) shot at the WDC and finished well before the RB.. unless one thinks Seb is a better driver than Max I would say he was sitting in the better car... Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk
Peter, that's why I noted Vetel 0 wins for 2014 under RB !..... I have no idea if SV is a better driver than MV, in my opinion he [SV] is more mature and experienced and capable of more given the right machinery. However one good year (two at most) doesn't define it as a career best move? IMHO he moved for the right reasons but never came off. I thought LH made a bad move leaving McLaren for Mercedes, how wrong was I Best Tony
+1 A top driver has to be discerning when he makes a move. Mercedes was not a top team before Hamilton joined, but they had already contributed to several WCCs and WDCs as engine supplier.
OK, let´s play along.... Lewis joined Mercedes as a full works team on ascent (Rosberg even won a race in 2012) from a former semi-works team on descent... Furthermore his "brand" was in danger as Button showed that he was not so special after all over a three years period and Niki convinced him that they were already working on the new engine for 2014 and therefore might have a head start... So just because a few "experts" here in FChat thought it was a bad move at the time does not mean that it really was that much of a risk. Furthermore he was no longer the No.1 pet of Ron and Mercedes payed quit well. For Vettel: according to that logic every move except to Mercedes was not a good one as Mercedes was the only team that really could provide a WDC/WCC winning car. This praising Lewis for his switch and talking down every other driver is getting quit ridiculous with time...
Peter, I sincerely hope you don't put me down in the expert bracket. I don't praise any driver, I merely state what I see and try to use some historical facts to make reason of it. Mercedes knew full well what talent Hamilton had and that Button, however good he may have been, was not the future. It's pretty clear they made the right choice evidenced by being the most successful driver in that team. My reasoning at the time was that Mercedes appeared to be just another 3rd rate team, even with the likes of Schumacher and Brawn at the helm. It didn't have anything to do with Ron Dennis from my recollections, McLaren were tearing themselves apart through internal wrangling and power struggles. When Vettel moved to SF in 2015, Mercedes had not recorded the most dominant period in F1 neither had they scored many F1 victories. Best Regards Tony
The bottom line is that Hamilton made the right move, and Vettel didn't. Hamilton ripes all the benefits of his wise choice, whilst Vettel tarnishes his reputation struggling at Ferrari (like Alonso did before him).
Don't forget Gilles Villeneuve Didier Pironi Gerhard Berger Nigel Mansell Alain Prost Felipe Massa All top drivers and failed, not through any fault on theirs. It was piss poor organisation in the team. All of the above deserved to be WDC with SF but were ruled by their heart rather than the brain, or was it bad timing. I don't think Hamilton chose wisely, I think Mercedes chose wisely. Best tony
No, the "experts" are those thinking that Lewis made the "wise" choice unlike all the others.... WHO should Mercedes have called when Schumacher left? There were 3 top drivers at the time, Lewis, Seb and Fernando. Seb was still winning with RB so why would he switch... Fernando was still busy fulfilling his mission at Ferrari so Lewis was the one left. People here behave like Lewis saw the potential in the Mercedes and went to them asking to drive for them! This is simply no true! Niki needed a new No.1 and obviously Lewis was not happy at McLaren anymore. Furthermore I do not remember that the guys at McLaren tried everything to keep him in the team. So the opportunity came up to change to a full works team and earn a lot of money. I do not think it was a "wise choice" really thought through, it was just a perfect timing for him that played out pretty well. The "experts" behave like he planned all that and that he was smarter than anybody else... If anybody could have known that the Mercedes will be dominant then it was Niki but not Lewis... I never questioned that Lewis is one of the top drivers (among others) or said it was by chance that Niki called him...but it has less to do with wisdom than with timing, and the one for Lewis was right. And the comments about Seb having made a false move are nonsense because it did not make a difference whether he stayed at RB or moved to Ferrari, he would have not won a title in either of them, only in the Mercedes he could have. But unlike Lewis Seb had a great cockpit to loose when Mercedes looked for a driver for 2013, so probably Lewis needed the Mercedes contract more for his career than Mercedes needed him to succeed.
Mercedes "head-hunted" Hamilton, who accepted the deal. It takes at least 2 parties to have a contract, so the choice was reciprocal, IMO.
Is it all subjective? Second placings for the Constructors. 2015 - https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2015/team.html - Ferrari. 2016 - https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2016/team.html - RB. 2017 - https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2017/team.html - Ferrari. 2018 - https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2018/team.html - Ferrari. 2019 - https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2019/team.html - Still Ferrari though RB are sniffing Ferrari's exhaust So from the Constructors (which shows teams not drivers) placings Ferrari have been second for four of five seasons so far. Which to me shows the potential of the engineers, strategists and team as a whole. The individual wins are mostly down to driver skill.
For me, whichever way you cut the cake, Mercedes wanted LH and LH was more than likely convinced that the future lay in leaving McLaren, possibly after seeing what they had developed technically for 2014. It was a two way marriage which worked well for both as results from 2014 showed. Hindsight has demonstrated the errors! Tony
Best bridesmaid then Tony PS - Sf have huge potential imo, they just need someone to tame the stallion and guide it to the finish rather than running around like a headless chicken at times
Oh, Schumacher again... What a surprise... No matter how often we will explain you the difference you won't get it anyway... Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk
True, yet 2 of them, Gilles and Prost have a status that Elton will never reach, no matter how many more races he manages to win.
I agree for once... what Lewis is compared to Schumacher is Toto to Brawn Now I leave it to you what you take out of that.... Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk
GV had a cult status, Verstappen reminds me of his him to a degree and not too sure if he is trying to emulate him. Not so sure about Prost though, good as he was, I never had him down as a team player. That's just my observation, could be and possibly am totally wrong Tony