Ah, I was remembering it wrong. Russell replaced Hammy, not Bottas. Still, a backmarker driver dropped into the Merc and led (and almost won) the race. So really any decent driver could replace Sir Whinesalot https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/36305/12153661/george-russell-gutted-as-mercedes-sakhir-gp-win-is-taken-away
The most appropriate ending for a champion is to walk out after the last race/out/clock in a victory in a championship setting. Rosberg did it in 2016; Peyton Manning did it in 2015 & John Elway in 1999 both did it by retiring after they won the Super Bowl. Landon Donovan did it after winning the MLS Championship in 2014; and the best retirement I can think of is Bobby Jones, who won the Grand Slam and immediately retired from competitive golf at 28 years old. No way IMHO Hamilton quits, and we'll only know a few years from now if Russell comes in and passes him, or if he can scale the mountaintop one more time. The uncertainty of the changes for 2022 make it much more of a wildcard than if it happened in the past eight years, but I don't think he'll be able to resist coming back. In my experience, people are far less interested in "justice" than in getting even, and Hamilton will really want to get even with F1, Verstappen, the haters, and Masi. If he does win, my bet is he'll retire within days afterward.
The reason Red Bull got as close as they did to MB level performance this season is MB is so excited about the 2022 formula and their advantage with the technology that they didn't develop the 2021 car but instead worked to pour their resources into the next generation car. 2022 MB will most likely lap the field. Red Bull spent all their time in effort in the 2021 car even though its a dead-end formula. They will be behind in the 2022 car development which is hard to overcome with the new budget caps. The only person who will have a shot a Lewis is his teammate. I'm sure this is why Lewis spent so long in contract negotiations as he wanted to be sure he would be the #1 on MB when he did come back for the next 3 years of a MB dominate run if they have the technology advantage that is being talked about in the industry.
Interesting you could be right with that. However I wouldn't blame Lewis if he told them to stick it where the sun doesn't shine, after that farcical end to the season. Totally embarrassing for all concerned, Max and Lewis guilty of nothing but trying their hell bent best to win.
Let's hope it's immediately. I spent a little time today reviewing some of the epic battles between MS and MH. How those two conducted themselves at the very top end of the sport sadly makes LH look like a complete whiny ****. Especially in interviews. I hope LH ends up selling fake gold jewellery or out of tune downloads, but please, get out of F1.
Ok I'll agree if it stops you bleating on about it... Horner asked for a miracle, and he got one, end of story.
And Max would have been well ahead at the end this year if at Mercedes, still the best overall team and car. Sir Princess Lulu has never outdriven his car for a season to win over a superior team. Schumacher did, and so did Senna, Prost, and now Max.
I hope it ain't gonna happen because I'd love to see Lewis being paired with a real driver. Once Russell is in that second car, it won't be the same walk in the park anymore as it was with Bottas. That said, if he leaves MB has the next best thing with Russell. They could put any monkey into the second car, wouldn't matter much.
I don't think Bottas would want to come crawling back just to be a #2 driver again once Russell takes over the helm.
I agree but will Russell get the same equipment. No Georgy! No! Lewiz needs the brake magic, Lewiz gets the chassis, wing engine etc.
When did Senna win a championship without the best car? Hamilton did it in 08. Name one thing Max has done that Lewis hasn't done. I'll start. Lewis has won in more mechanical cars nearly 15 years ago. Fchat has been in agreement that these new hybrid cars "drive themselves" Max has only won in the hybrid era.
So much garbage in this thread yet again. Why do people want Lewis to leave F1? It’s already a sport full of pay drivers and daddy drivers. Why do you want one of the actual competitive drivers to leave? It’s completely illogical and makes no sense. Rather than calling for Ham to go, call for the garbage to go - stroll, Mazespin, Bottas, Perez, Albon, Latifi - and on and on. We need the good drivers to stay in the sport and not chase them out because, a. they had the fortune of driving a great car for a few years, or b. they wear weird clothes. It’s ridiculous behaviour and really quite juvenile.
At some point you gotta stop letting hate direct your thinking man. My goodness. Do you know how much the FIA influenced Schumacher and Ferrari? But I can still say Schumacher earned his titles. That's because I focus on being a true fan instead of placing hate above everthing else.
Hate against Hamilton. You give him no credit for anything. Everything he achieves was because of something else. But everything another champion achieved was because of them.