Can't blame them. If it works it works. I just can't put Max in my top list until he wins with a different team.
So let's say Max takes that $229 million offer(if true) with AMRF1 going into the 2026 rules and Newey designs a car for Max? .....and wins. Will that satisfy you?
Yes that will be impressive. I actually think he will have a shot if that happens. But then the question would be can he win without Newey
I highly doubt it. This is now two races in a row where Leclerc has finished 30 seconds ahead of him. I don't see him magically being fast again. If anything, he continues to get slower because you don't get faster at 40.
Lewis is not very good at adapting to a car. Leclerc has already said how he's changed his style to suit this car and he's finding pace. Lewis has access to this information and still can't do it. Of course there is a certain point that a driver can only achieve and I think it looks like Charles has a higher ceiling than Lewis so we probably shouldn't expect Lewis to be ultimately as fast or faster than Charles. His race pace however, should close considerably if he's happy in the car. It's not just down to a new car after years of being in a Mercedes. He mentioned CI brakes with Mercedes and Brembo with Ferrari. Drivers can change brake disc material to suit their preference. I'm quite sure teams have switched between CI and Brembo brakes during the season. Lewis couldn't adapt to the 2022 or 2024 Mercedes either. He kept telling the engineers they were wrong and just waited until the car go to his liking and then was very good when it suited his style. Mercedes changed everything to suit Lewis and he still complained in 2024. I personally think Hamilton is a generic driver, but an exceptional one at that. He needs a car that grips everywhere. Hit the brakes, it doesn't lock up easily, has front grip but completely balanced on turn in. Has plenty of grip in the middle and when he hits the throttle there is plenty of grip on the exit. Just balanced everywhere. He had cars that were so good for so long that this generic style was more than enough to win races and championships. He probably even got complacent. I also think this is why his teammates often was able to out qualify him. He likes a balance that pretty much any good driver can extract a similar speed over one lap. In the ages of motor racing, there is a truth to "loose is fast". As the car gets more and more on it's nose, the more it sits on a knife's edge, but it is fundamentally quicker. I think the truly great drivers, not can handle this, but want it to some degree. We all know Max's story, but I recall Schumacher wanted a very very sharp car. Typically they set it up very stiff, he had a short throttle and brake pedal. Rubens had a much longer pedal in comparison. The front biased car that was extremely reactive was fundamentally faster, but not everyone could drive it. I think that's why in 2010 he looked somewhat ordinary. That generation of car was much softer and slower to react than the super agile cars of the mid 2000s.
He already did. The 2024 car had very little input from Newey, at least once the season got started. He wasn't involved with the development of the car. The dropped to as far down as the 4th best at times, 3rd at best, and yet Max was able to score more points than anyone while McLaren had the best car for the majority of the season.
Incorrect. Newey started on the 2024 car in 2023. Newey concept was in place already. I'll even argue this car is still influenced by Newey.
Definitely cheated in the sprint race. Only way to bump his little teeny ego. The next morning both drivers got disqualified. Lewsi cheated.
I try to stay out of this stuff... I drive in a pro league but nothing like F1. I feel any competent driver in a ++++ car will most likely be the GOAT until that runs its course. It takes an exceptional driver in a mid car to win.I'm not. I feel Charles is starting to fill those shoes. He was not two years ago. I think last years working with Carlos its really paid off. I'm not a Hamilton fan but I want him to win because I'm a Ferrari fan. If he can't, he needs to go. Get Carlos back or sign Kimmi.. FFS hes a young Italian!!
He had his time but it’s up. Happens to the best of them, I don’t fault him. I also don’t blame him for taking one last giant payday. As I’ve said from day one Ferrari signing him was a massive mistake. Instead of investing in their future they played the short term hype game. Now it’s all blowing up in their face and their fans are mad as hell online. I can’t fathom how they didn’t see this coming so I’ll assume that they don’t care and it’s all just about the money. It’s embarrassing for a company of Ferrari’s caliber.
I do agree he had his hand in the 2024 car in the early design. Mind you it was an evolution of the 2023 car so nothing radical changed. He was out of design meetings early in the 2024 season and was focused on the Red Bull "street car". According to reports at least. We also shouldn't forget that since 2023, Red Bull has lost quite a few key people, not just Newey. To me, it is irrelevant who the chief designer is. If you have the best car you have the best car. Ferrari had it nearly a decade without Newey, so did Mercedes. Any good driver should win with the best car, especially a dominant car. The bigger challenge is can a driver win in the 3rd or 4th best car. Hard to argue that Max and Alonso have had the most impressive results in cars that far from being the best.
Exactly. Just because Newey designed a car doesn't automatically make it the best. It helps, but it's not a guaranteed ace in the hole.
Well, it´s not that they cheated, in the short race everybody runs lower and with low ride height the Ferrari works fine.
But definitely a coincidence that the 7 time sir happens to win on his second outing and now he flounders around p7.
Probably if Leclerc had qualified well he would had won that one. Also every useless driver has his day from time to time. Even Stroll got a pole and Ricciardo won a race with McLaren, go figure.
Miami is the next Sprint race format, so we shall see if the Fcars are again good on the short races.
It would be great if they fired Hamilton. Honestly it would probably be good for him. Maybe it would reignite him to get back into it and develop. Because in my view. He expects everyone to adapt to him and his championships were long long ago in completely different cars. He's out of date but still expecting the same results. He should really just take his momentum of his career and if he loves F1... Start an F1 team or buy one etc... get out of the seat.
