The Hamilton at FERRARI Era

Well time will tell..
I hope he will surprise a lot of people this year by winning 2 or 3 races with the Scuderia,
I fear Perez is completely toasted by the Verstappen experience.
Wait and see.

 

You are peddling that myth again, which is far from the truth.

There are in fact drivers who turned down offers from Ferrari, and others for whom the experience ended in acrimony..

 

I understand what you are saying, but if you ask anyone, they want to drive for Ferrari. Even the ones who turn them down. at some point everyone wants to drive a Ferrari in F-1. Its almost a fact. Jackie Stewart wanted to... but got mad at the old man when he also went after Ickx as N0. 1 driver. and Stewart did drive for them in sports cars. As far as a drivers time at Ferrari ending in acrimony, I think they all do, unless they were killed. I cant think of anyone who left Ferrari happy. Scheckter maybe? he retired.... Mario Andretti left on good terms in 82.... I cant think of any one else who left on "good terms".... Raikkonnen maybe who knows.

 

I personally think it will be a huge disaster for both Hamilton and Ferrari. I hope I'm wrong, but I fear I'm not. time will tell. As for Perez I think he would be great at AF Corse Ferrari... he could really do allot with them.

 

I don't think Jackie Stewart ever regretted refusing Ferrari's offer !!
The hard nosed Scott knew the cars were hopeless, and went instead for a small private team (Tyrrell) where he was 3 times WDC !!!
Altough an excellent driver, but lured by Ferrari's fame, poor Jacky Ickx who drove a few years in F1 for them never matched that.

 

DEI is being used to mean Diversity Exclusion and Intimidation.

 

Yeah, I know. I was just being facetious. Thanks.

 

Stewart seriously considered joining Ferrari, but he didn't want to give up his lucrative deals with Ford nor his longtime relationship with Ken. I'm sure when wrestling his truculent March and getting blown off by the pukka 312B he didn't consider them "hopeless." Ultimately we agree he made a smart decision to remain with Tyrrell, there's nothing to say he could not have been WDC with Ferrari...I suspect he could have.

 

Jackie Stewart learnt everything he needed to know about Ferrari from John Surtees who advised him to bring a lawyer with him.
Stewart did, and he Commandatore wasn't impressed by that, saying to his secretary:
"Who Stewart is ? Does he think he comes to buy my company ?"

 

So I actually talked to Jackie about his Ferrari experience, back in April. I was fortunate to attend the Road Racing Drivers Club dinner in Longbeach. He said that at the time that BRM was just dying out and that the Owen family was losing interest and money. So he talked with Ferrari and met the Old Man, who he liked. He shook hands on doing F2 and then was going to do F1 and the attorneys would send him the contracts. He noted that it took too long for the contract and that he heard Ickx was being courted as well, and was asking a lot less money. He felt his hand shake with Ferrari was enough and that they were dealing in bad faith. That coupled with his accident at SPA and trusting in the team is what led him to not go to Ferrari. Ferrari tried to talk him into coming back in 74 and 76, but he just said no way. He said that he always got Ferrari's books and special Whiskey at Christmas time and he would send the boys model cars every year. He said the Old Man loved Helens Shortbread and they would send him a large box of those to him right to the end. He said that last time he met Ferrari was in 86, he was supposed to interview him and do a F-1 car tryout, but that it never happen, because of Ford coming back in to F1 and FIAT did not want it.
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I really like Leclerc as a person and he's a good driver. but that is the problem he's just a good driver, not great. He makes way to many mistakes, at this level. Partly its because of the Ferrari atmosphere, its about them not him. and then he gets too emotional in the car - you can hear it in his radio feed. Hamilton is much more direct and to the point... some emotion but not as much as Leclerc.... that is the difference between good & GREAT ... when you are under pressure what do you do?

 

Umm... Stewart was talking to Ferrari in 68 before the Tyrrell connection bore any fruit. Had Jackie been in the 312B in 1970 perhaps he could have won... but Ferrari was very inconsistent back then and was still focused on Le Mans and sports cars up to June..... old habits died slow under the old mans reign.

 

In motorsports, the only 'race' that matters is the one where you cross the line first. The only 'color' is green—whether it’s the light or the prize money. The only 'orientation' is full throttle, aimed straight at the checkered flag. And the only 'gender' that counts is who crosses the finish line first. Take the grittiest battleground of the sport—so-called 'knuckle-draggers'—epitomized by which GOAT? Brittney Force. Can’t happen in F1 though, just like they said it couldn’t happen in Funny Cars for 50 years—until it did. I just know forever is a long time.

I know, I know, maybe they’re right about F1, Hamilton afterall is not the GOAT* obviously.

Stopwatches don’t care about feelings, quotas, or politics. Next season, it’s simple: either Hamilton’s the fastest, or he’s not. No fluff, no spin, just math.

How can you not love that? I sure do.

*Max Verstappen 2021 F1 World Champion

 

DEI has definitely taken pole position in F1 these days. Let me present my case:
/S

1. Leclerc getting booted from Ferrari? Mate, he’s been driving faster than Carlos even on a red flag restart. Yet they went for the Ham/Sai lineup—tell me that’s not just some PR strategy for the Drive to Survive crowd.
   
   
2. Promoting Yuki? To the big leagues? Why, because he’s funny on team radio? That’s not a skill that wins constructors' titles.
   
   
3. Keeping Zhou and giving Bottas the boot? Look, I know Bottas has a fondness for saunas and questionable haircuts, but he’s no rookie. Zhou’s holding onto his seat tighter than a safety harness.
4. Alonso? What a clown. We all know Stroll deserves first seat.
   
   
5. And Lando Norris… yeah, we all know. He’s 100%. A wink and a smile won’t hide it. Slooowwww...Get rid of that joker, first dibs should have gone to Oscar already, PC optics be damned.
6. Throwing Logan under the bus, for what? "Equity" for Albon? Shameless.
7. Renault/Alpine caving and firing their all national lineup in the name of multiculturalism - smh. It's okay to love your background, even if it is French. Ocon is easily GOAT worthy.

This grid isn’t just racing; it’s diversity bingo with DRS. Change my mind.
/S

 

Good points. My take is F1 is doing their own internal version of DEI. So technically its happening without Sir Lewis Hamilton anyway.

 

More like Dystopic Exclusion and Intimidation. No place for any of this nonsense in a motorsports forum. Actually it's surprising that moderators have nixed it since it's inherently political.

 

Edit

 

Who gives a crap about races that last less than 4 seconds ???

 

I think a lot of people are, possibly purposefully, conflating DEI and economics. There's a huge difference between 'we're putting this driver in a seat for diversity' and 'we're putting this driver in the seat because they represent a large geoeconomic region, and we're trying to expand our product/reach/service etc. to a larger audience in this area'. And those whining about pay drivers in general, may I introduce you to the real world, where money talks.

 

I tend to agree with you, but the reality is even more cruel. Most drivers are bringing money with them in form of sponsors. those that came up through a driver development are basically owned by the team - RedBull and Ferrari ..., if you leave early, you have to refund all that money from F3- F1, the contracts are pretty egregious. I have first hand exposure to them. So the teams get to do what they want, and if you lose your personal sponsors and pay to play... they can ice you for a number of years so that you don't go somewhere else... its pretty harsh. If you dont perform with in 90% of expected results they have options to trade you and or bench you... with no pay, while still taking your sponsor money. That is why its so hard for younger drivers to get into F-1 not DEI issues.

 

That was a great night. It was like a who's who of racing there. Mario was there as well as Jackie. Bobby Rahal was the MC, Dario was there, Derek Bell, Derek Hill and his mom... ton of Indy drivers. My Friend Allen Berg invited me to come along. Emerson Fittipaldi did a special Video tribute .. it was great. The trave that day was terrible and I arrived just a couple of minutes before the event started.

 

Chris Amon. He said and wrote many times that he left without any sour grapes, and that they parted amicably; the Old Man bet him that Ferrari would win a Grand Prix before Chris did.
They approached him again at the end of 1973 for a come-back, which was blocked by Martini, Amon's sponsor.
Chris received a postcard from the Old Man and from Modena in his native New Zealand for his 40th birthday in 1983, written in violet ink, as appropriate.

Rgds

 

Oh, don’t even get me started on the whole Checo situation. Keeping him around for "optics"? Pfft, they should’ve booted him out, promote someone to his seat; and erect a wall around the Red Bull paddock to keep out: millions be damned!

Okay, okay, (slaps self) I’ll calm down.
/s (I promise)

***

Look, I get it. I really do. I think we can all agree (well, I hope we can*) that merit (and results*) should always come first, right? I mean, who’s going to argue with that? (Well*) I’ve always been a firm believer in the "best person for the job" philosophy. Everything else? Who cares! So yeah, I’m down with that idea—why wouldn't I? If person X "get's the job done" - why would I care or bring up anything else?

But here’s the thing: I’m just not seeing it in F1. Seriously, if anyone can point out to me exactly how Callum Nicholas is some kind of "diversity hire" or how he's there for some other reason, I’m all ears. I’ve got an open mind, like a sponge. You’ve got facts? Bring ‘em.

If any of these whingers want to tell me why Hannah Schmitz is just ticking off a diversity checkbox, sure, I’m all in for a fact-based debate. Is F1 is truly being hijacked by people who care more about virtue signaling than actual performance?

Last I checked Mohammed Ben Sulayem "women can't be as smart as men" is head of FIA. and 8 world championships are 8 world championships. That's why I LOVE THIS SPORT. Thank God stopwatches don't have feelings, spin, or opinion.



*(I'm sorry, I meant 7, and with a 'dominant' car so it none if it counts anyways....)

 

I'll give you 2 examples as to why these 2 F1 drivers were/are kept around.

1) Checo Perez
2) Lance Stroll

Both are major contributors($$$$$$$) to their team and 1 is especially for his country even though both suck on the track. Checo really went backwards for 2024.