Lewis and Ferrari

It's his acheivments behind the wheel of an F1 car which has enabled his world-wide popularity.

OK. I know what you're going to say (I've read many of your comments here). It has been a superior car that has enabled all of Hamilton's success, right? Let's agree with that for a brief second. So Mercedes, knowing that they could plug virtually any competent racing driver into that seat and have them win, continued to pay Hamilton huge money to drive their car. Why? My answer is Mercedes is keenly aware of the power of social media and the celebrities that "drive" people to it.
We all know that Mercedes has a strong following with older people. That's a given. What they, and many other older companies need, is a way to attract the younger crowd. So, social media star drives F1 car and attracts younger people to your brand. No brainer on the part of Mercedes, Hilfiger,etc.

 

Lewis doesn't want Ferrari, Ferrari doesn't want Lewis. Everybody is #blessed.

My personal opinion is still the same: there are other options for less money and with less drama.

 

I do not think it is his achievement behind the wheel alone that got him the popularity on social media, it is far more his lifestyle and the media presence...Although it is certainly unpopular to say it is also his skin colour and the fact that he presents himself as the underdog coming from the bottom...this makes him a role model for many even if they do not care about F1 at all. Just look at this forum: there are people joining who have zero interest in F1 prior to Lewis and most likely no interest in F1 after him.
Same can be said about Tiger Woods... despite certainly being one of the best golfers ever I doubt he would have achieved the same popularity if he would have been "just another white guy in an elitist sports discipline". Just like Lewis he was the first of his kind and most likely the second one with the same background will never get the same attention.

We can have a very different opinion about the real marketing effect on social media, it is very questionable that Mercedes really sells more cars to a younger generation because of Lewis and his social media followings... I don´t think that this really works on products surpassing a certain value.
Mercedes is targeting a younger clientele by redesigning their brand (just compare the first and the latest A-Class)...We agree that Lewis might be able to sell clothes from Hilfiger to his followers but I highly doubt that he sells cars.
Lewis is payed big money because you do not change a winning team... certainly one could argue that another competent driver could do the same in this car but why would Mercedes want to find that out when the salary of Lewis is only a small percentage of the total budget. Why is Ferrari paying big money to a driver that most here think is overrated and who has ZERO followers on social media???

 

I respectfully disagree......

 

True, and Schumacher at least had racecraft.

 

Michael is the greatest driver in F1 ever, period, and the greatest driver ever to race for the team that is the focus of this forum, FERRARI. far as I’m concerned, **** Elton and his silver slipper, he isn’t half the driver Michael is, nor Senna, nor any of the other real greats. So a bunch of rappers buy mercs because their mate, the fake gangsta, advertises them? Big whoop.... who gives a rats. Social media, followers.... ****ing hell, he dresses like a girl most of the time, pretends he is from some tough gangsta background which is absolute ********, and if his car isn’t winning, he ****s his pants and wants to park it.... yeah, role model my ass

 

Nobody has said it better....... All true and correct.

 

Senna was the best IMHO. For sure in the rain.

 

He has won a 2 car championship 4 out of 5 years and will win the 2 car championship this year as well. He has beaten Bottas 3 times and Rosberg 2 out of 3 times.

 

2017&18 was not a 2 car championship, Ferrari beat Bottas both years, Bottas finished 5th in the championshp last year. He beat Rosberg 3 times as team mate

 

Do you actually honestly believe the Mercedes was not better than the Ferrari in 2017 and 2018? I am a life long tifosi since 1974 and as much as I would like that to be true, it simply is not.

 

I never said it was not better, but it definitly was'nt dominate 2017&18. Ferrari had a car that was capable of winning the championship. All F1 champions had a best car at some point, so nothing new in that aspect.

 

Ferrari had the best car in 2017 and 18 and lost both championships through driver's errors (Vettel!), and poor strategy.
Wasn't Ferrari leading the championship 'til mid-season in 2018 ?

 

Yep Ferrari lead the championship 2017&18. Hamilton use to walk over and stare at that red rocket after races

 

Seems like a pointless move for Lewis. Why mess with a great formula? Just look at Daniel Ricciardo lol

 

Tifosi are not asking Louise to join the Scuderia. It's just him getting inside Seb's helmet....

 

Even the highly biased British media including Autosport have stated that the 2017 Mercedes was significantly superior to all other cars on the grid, sorry guys Mercedes will win every championship with the current hybrid formula with whatever driver team they have, the baked in advantage was just to great, hoping the new rules change up the grid, this has been the least interesting and compelling period in F1 history.

 

The only reason the Ferrari gave the impression they were competitive in 2017 and 2018 were the debacle with tyres, which was resolved by Mercedes demanding the tyres be changed, which Pirelli duly did, and the Mercedes found its true pace and slaughtered veryone, and of course, the pace we found in our engine at the start of last year through the SAME oil burning Mercedes and the rest all do, promptly stamped on by the FIA and restricted by their horsepower sapping test equipment, which when matched to the new bespoke tyres for Mercedes and the cheat wheel rims, then once again allowed Mercedes to find their true pace..

Anyone that believes the 2017 or 2018 Ferrari in its FIA approved spec compared to the Mercedes full spec is smoking something very very powerful as far as I’m concerned... furthermore, I’ve never heard anyone, paddock or commentator, who has EVER claimed Ferrari were the car to beat those years, it simply wasn’t true

 

Exactly that.

As for the social media following therefore he must be ''the most popular driver'...his social media followers consists mostly of non-racing fans but simply celebrity chasers..Don't forget he and Scherzinger where together at the height of her fame and he was in international media plenty, especially state-side. F1 is a mere footnote at best of times in the States. Do the celebrities know who he is? Yes. Do most of them have a clue what he does, or watch any races at that? Absolutely not. For them it's a social event. They wouldn't know the difference between an F1 car or Formula Ford and when they do go to Monaco GP (because it coincides with the Cannes Film Festival), they support the only guy they've ever heard of.

A lot of his social media followers only follow him, they'll turn off the TV the moment he retires. When he quits F1 they'll leave also.

I think people will find that Lewis is not the most popular F1 driver by ''real'' F1 fans (i.e. people that watched before he arrived and will do so after he's left). However, good luck proving it. Too many variables. Some support specifically how a driver drives as their most important reason to support a driver, others because he drives for the team they support, and some personality or a mix of all 3.

From my experience, when I talk F1 in UK or Europe...Lewis is not nearly as popular as his social media suggests.

 

We were at Hockenheim and Hamilton was getting massive boos. Mercedes home track !!!

 

If I was a team owner I couldn't care less if the driver was booed. As long as he brought home the bacon.

I doubt Lewis would ever want to go to Ferrari. Why leave a winning team?

 

I agree with this. Just pay attention to Brundle's pit walks and when he interviews celebs that are friends of Lewis. "I'm here to support Lewis." Brundle asks a racing question and they are clueless.

 

and the "Lewis Hamilton's Continued Success Wounds Me" support group reconvenes for it's bi-weekly venting session

 

I think he will go across at some stage. It’s something that’s got to be ticked!!!

When is another question; but I’d think in 2-3 seasons as Mercedes dominance dwindles and he plans his retirement! (Everything is cyclic and with Costa going I think we will see red bull, Ferrari and mclaren properly close the gap in the next two years, new rule changes pending!)

 

The stats don't lie !!!