Where will Lewis be next year?.....

We should hear something by Singapore, it's looking like he's headed to Mercedes though. Ross said yesterday or today that "Lewis is the final piece to the jigsaw puzzle".

 

http://planetf1.com/news/3213/8076702/-Hamilton-To-Merc-Perez-To-McLaren-

 

Ahh haa. Nice, it's been reported. Good stuff

 

Williams won't pay him what he's worth.

 

Oh really? I was going to mention earlier that the "Silly Season" seems to start earlier and earlier each year but I will believe it when I see it.

They cannot afford to pay him the princely sum he has been getting and Sir Frank does not put up with BS and the WDC is second to the WCC for him, he is a constructor and that has been his M/O from day one.

 

Mclaren are offering him less than his current contract whilst Mercedes are offering a deal worth upwards of 60m over three years with bonuses and the 'undisputed #1 driver' title for the team. The driver thing is like the cherry on top.

 

Then that means Michael is retiring because I can't see him willin gto accept a #2 role. That or all this is just wanton speculation and we don't know what's actually going on. I'm thinking the latter.

 

Ya know, I find it incredibly difficult to say really. Michael said he would let us know in October. Regarding Nico, I don't think he would allow himself to be a #2 and he DOES NOT want to not have the opportunity to win a WDC, and Lewis would undoubtedly deny that happening IMO. I could be terribly wrong.

 

Note the source here - The Daily Mail!

I'm struggling to believe Ross said anything of the sort TBH - He typically plays his cards very close. As do they all really. I'm also sceptical of any 'undisputed #1 status'. As noted that's not gonna happen with the Schu there, and Nico isn't gonna be at all happy.

As for 'Checo to Maccy-L', the source there is Blick. say no more beyond they make the Mail look like the WSJ.

OTOH, as the Viz has noted, this is F1, so who knows......

Cheers,
Ian

 

At what point does all this become too much of a distraction for the teams?

I mean we're a bunch of no-lifers with nothing better to do but these guys are supposed to be on a mission.

 

Good question. My feeling is they pretty much ignore it unless there's a microphone poked in their face - And that doesn't happen a whole lot outside of race weekends.

+1

I certainly don't think they spend their time speculating wildly like us or the press - They, unlike us, have indeed got better things to do.

Cheers,
Ian

 

I just have one lingering question in the back of my mind I have to bring up. What the heck would Lewis be able to do if W04 were not immediately a race winning car that Nico and Schu haven't/couldn't? Nothing! Just like Alonso when he went back to Renault, there was zilch he could do about it. No f1 driver can arm wrestle an incapable car to the podium these days, you just can't without weather or some other heavily assisting circumstance. At the end of the day it seems Lewis coming to the team is a status thing more than a driver thing.

 

At certain times of the day I have more important things to do.

But like all anomalous events they pass.

 

Indeed.

Maybe also $15MM/year versus $5MM/year as well..... Given that his management team are paid a percentage (and seem to know nothing about F1!) are they really giving him the best, unbiased, advice? Or just looking to line their own pockets?

Outside the $, if it happens, he's taking one hell of a risk IMO. As has been said, he could easily become another JV and fade into mediocrity.

Personally, I'm not even convinced about any real advantage of being in a "works" team. The engine mountings are defined. They'll all know the size of their lump in plenty of time. OK, Ross etc may know the power & torque curves etc ahead of time, but so what?

Cheers,
Ian

 

It's not just about power and torque figures though. It's about what kind of exhaust flow the engine will have, steady or not? Will a Helmholtz chamber be needed? Where will the torque be, what sort of MAP options have we, and do we want to map the engine so it is peaky or with a wide band? When and where does turbo lag occur, if at all.

There's good reason Williams are doing so much better with Renault engines this season, Renault engines are the most driveable engines on the field albeit not the most powerful.

Metrics of the turbo engines and how they will factor into overall design of the car will be stunning. Just my guess.

 

Understood. But how many of those things really affect how you design your car - At least the bit of it forward of the firewall? Peaky or wideband for example won't affect my front suspension design or my feelings on how aero should be handled.

I could of course be very wrong (!) - It'll certainly be interesting, which is always good. I do think we're gonna see something of a return to some kablamo's - Whether they'll occur in customer cars or works rides may be telling.

I also wonder when the works guys will make the lumps available to their customers for testing?

Cheers,
Ian

 

You're right there, I have no idea what those metrics might be worth to an aero guy or suspension guy.


I guess Bernie heard Ferrari's new V6 today on the dyno, and he dug it.

 

Wonder what brought Bernard to Maranello.
Delivering the "envelope" by hand?