BUT will he play number two to Charles? If not, what will that do to the team dynamic? If he doesn't accept a support role to Charles and fights to be the number one pilot things will crumble internally and destroy any possible hope of a future WDC or WCC. Not to mention pushing Charles over the edge mentally. Lol, if he thought he had it tough with Carlos not yielding to him what will happen if Lewis gets all the preferential treatment? Plan B? Drama tailor made for DTS!!!
No evidence as to if he had no other options. Probably could have worked a deal to extend with Mercedes. Or worked out something with another team. May have had multiple options other than retire. Also, many would say the choice was "easy" when poached by Ferrari.
Ferrari has not been really playing the #1 and #2 cards for YEARS. Even with rookie charles they didnt give Vettel clear #1. There is no reason for Charles to be #1 ahead of Hamilton from the get go. I love charles and thought he would anhilate Sainz but Sainz performed well and i thought Charles made soooooo many mistakes over the years that we will see. https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/how-carlos-sainz-really-stacked-up-against-charles-leclerc-ferrari-f1/
That's a negative. No other team offered the deal Lewis wanted except Ferrari i.e. Elkann which was way over Vasseur's head. Mercedes higher ups weren't going to re-negotiate a deal with Lewis. It(Mercedes) was either a take it or leave it deal which HE(Lewis) chose to leave it since Ferrari offered what Lewis wanted. Plain and simple.
Option #1 - Lewis could either stay with MercedesAMGF1(which he didn't). Option #1a - Lewis leaves MercedesAMGF1 and goes to Ferrari because Ferrari picked up Lewis's offer.(which he did) Option #2 - retire from F1 since no one else is willing to assist in Lewis's offer which Lewis was not going to do to begin with. So in essence, he really had 2 options.
Lol, how so? Mercedes didn’t want him otherwise they would have countered or fought for him. If anything, despite the fanfare, they were happy to move on. So again, that leaves Ferrari or retire, no?
No evidence that says Merc wasn't an option. I'm in agreement with the info Jgonzales provided. No need to go further on this.
Merc was not offering a longer term deal to LH. So he has Ferrari longer term or Mercedes shorter term. It had zero to do with anything other than Mercedes were looking to move forward with a new driver lineup at the conclusion of the new deal offered to LH. Those are literally the facts. Hit the press and see. He did have options and both at top teams. The denial of that is ridiculous. LH figured he would move on given the Ferrari contract was more comprehensive and for a longer term. Ferrari literally pursued him at the CEO level as noted above. So Im thinking LH is not marketable and had zero options lol????????. He had the ultimate option that some here find difficult to understand. Please keep arguing over nothing......................
no one is doubting that Ferrari won't recoup their money on hat and t shirt sales. Merc presumably saw the writing on the wall with LH and needed to look towards the future. Certainly Lewis' performances since 2021 has proven Mercedes right.
Exor (John Elkann) needs Hamilton more than Ferrari. These 2 have plans beyond Ferrari. A short spell in the red cars won't be bad for publicity.
Hamilton will help Ferrari sell their cars amongst those who can't afford them and will surely bring Ferrari a lot of revenue out of low ticket articles such as key-rings and sandals. If Ferrari is ambitious enough, will start a new fashion line in the style of Hamilton and will make tons in selling clown-like apparel to his followers.
I have to admit that I'm starting to get excited to see Hamilton in a Ferrari. He does bring some gravitas to the team and I like his posts on social media where he is getting excited about Ferrari as well. I like his new Lauda tribute helmet, which is kinda cool: Lauda was one of my fav F1 Ferrari drivers and of course became a good friend of Lewis during the MB years. In a way Lewis at Ferrari is reminiscent of what could have been if Senna had lived.
I'm still stuck on the claim that he's going to help sell Ferraris to those who can't afford them. Is he going to subsidize them himself? Is he going to get Ferrari to drop their prices for those who can't afford them in the name of equity? What does this look like exactly, or is it just straight up nonsense?
People always want what they can’t have. That said, sometimes the grass isn’t that much greener on the other side of the fence. The price of a new Ferrari buys A LOT of car(s).
That's not the point regarding what a Ferrari costs and how many cars they can buy. It's a statement meaning I have more money than you and can afford the maintenance. A Ferrari isn't a Toyota. A Ferrari is a piece of automotive art with regards to the classics and ALWAYS go up in value provided the collector is meticulously up-to the provenance of the car.
