Hamilton deserves more respect

I really don't think that's the issue with regards to an ambassadorial role deal with Lewis.

It's like this: "Hey Lewis, we want to do a Mercedes Benz promo in Riyadh Saudi Arabia."

Lewis responds: "Saudi Arabia? You know about how I feel about Saudi Arabia!" (i.e. Lewis doesn't agree with how Saudi Arabia laws against women)

That's where the problem is. Lewis doesn't see it from a Mercedes Benz issue of just selling cars or Van's or trucks.....Lewis just see's it differently.

"Hey Lewis, We're doing a Mercedes Benz promo in China!"

Again, Lewis is looking at China from a P&R perspective rather than a Mercedes Benz perspective.

It just wouldn't work with Lewis being an ambassador for Mercedes Benz at different parts of the globe.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. You cannot have a 7x WDC activist as an ambassador for Mercedes Benz on a global scale. It wouldn't work.

 

What about their last Formula E champion as ambassador? Oh wait, that was Nick de Vries

 

he’s a winner and has lots of spare time…

 

Does Mercedes really need an "ambassador" at $25M a year salary to sell their cars ? I doubt it.

Looks to me like Lewis invented the position, so he could milk Mercedes a few more years.

 

That's quite a different perspective but a valid one for sure.

 

I am not sure if it ever was an official position, but in the past Juan Manuel Fangio and sir Stirling Moss were Mercedes ambassadors.

 

It's possible, but Moss didn't mention it in his memoirs "All but my life" though.
Juan Manuel Fangio was madehonorary president of Mercedes-Benz Argentina in which he was a shareholder.

The closest I know of a Mercedes ambassador was Rudi Caracciola, the pre-war German driver, twice winner of the European Championship (the equivalent of today's WDC). In the 50s, Caracciola was employed as a travelling salesman by Daimler-Benz to tour bases of occupying forces and demonstrate their cars to officers. Some times he personally delivered them to their new owners amid big publicity.

 

Ham has always needed Mercedes.

Not the other way around.

 

+1

LH is like Marmite, and draws a roughly 50/50 split.

Can Mercedes afford to take a drop in sales due to his split popularity ?

 

Lol

 

Ham will only drive with Mercedes F1 power. The facts speak for themselves.

 

+1 He's been a Mercedes factory driver his entire career. Mercedes owned a huge stake in Mclaren (40%) and it was treated as their factory team (even down to the naming of the team, Mclaren-Mercedes and the traditional silver paint scheme. When the money went to their own team, Lewis followed.

Nothing wrong with Lewis being a devoted to Mercedes, the fact it netted him 7 championships shows he made the correct choice and why abandon them?

 

Mercedes is already big enough. Even though today, IMHO, they sell so much average looking, cheap plastic looking cars, the market share is still there. The name is already there. There's no reason they need Lewis or anyone else to be an ambassador.

 

+1

I've also found their new interiors are less luxury and poorly built when compared to 20+ years ago.

 

He cannot afford to abandon them

 

Agree
Their IPAD dashboard is just an abomination too..

 

Yah but those were both exceptionaly gifted drivers and gentleman, true motorssport legends.....Elton is very far from it in every respect...

 

+1

You cannot buy class

 

Hey Lewis…
Get off my lawn
Say 4 guys on FC

PS. Unless a person is 95 years old, you never saw Sir Sterling race. And he never won a WDC.

 

I am only in my seventies, and I saw Stirling Moss racing at Spa in 1961, my first GP.

I should rephrase that; Moss competed, but I didn't take much notice of him at that time.

 

Let's say Mika Häkkinen, then?
The last of the gentleman drivers: blindingly fast, highly intelligent, serious sense of humor, modest, but never any false modesty. No affectation, no pretention.
Two world titles.
Respect.

Rgds

(Oh: in his own ways - in his own ways - Kimi Räikkonen was another one: there never was anything false or anything hollow with Kimi. And during his McLaren years, my, was he fast. As Frank Williams said: "Kimi is the real deal")

 

I just find it funny (and sad) that a bunch old guys sit around and talk about the "good old days" while expecting a 38 year old BLACK man in 2023 to act like British WHITE man whose GP career was over 62 years ago. Of course, no one here actually KNOWS how Sir Sterling behaved, because, you know, there was no 24 hour news/social media/etc....
The world's a different place (even now) for a person of color. It's amazing that this simple fact is lost on a few here.

 

When Stirling Moss started racing, he was frowned upon as he was doing this as a professional for a living. Each time has their own peculiarities.

The issue is not that Hamilton should behave exactly like Fangio or Moss did in the past. The issue however is: would Hamilton make a good ambassador for the sport or Mercedes-Benz here and now (being an ambassador meaning to serve the interests of that sport or M-B foremost)?

 

Someone’s cape is showing again.

 

Being an "ambassador", by it's very definition, means being a "yes" man to everything the corporate master wants. Lewis is NOT that guy.