The alternative would be yet another year in a very average car ...going nowhere...and then what ? This is not a good deal no ...its an amazing mega deal ! Chance of a lifetime. Any driver on the grid would jump at driving that Merc. The only possible better deal would have been a 2 year contract agreed.
So they're telling him equal terms then, and actually working in the basis of him being number two for management...... guess he'll have to put up with the whining and moaning anytime he goes too fast then, and being told off when Elton hits him for daring to be in his way.... figures
If Merc. gave Bottas a 1 year contract...Who on the grid contracts ends in the beginning of 2018? Just some food for thought.....some very interesting names come to mind?
Exactly. I think Bottas' position is perilous myself, with no certainty beyond this year. If Mercedes wanted him so badly as reported, why his manager didn't manage to extract from them a 2-year contract minimum?
There's some speculation that Merc wants to call it quits sooner rather than later, and the way the team is structured sure makes that possible. They don't want a long term contract on one of their drivers as that could make the sale more difficult. ''Get out on a high'' kind of thing. Win everything, then leave. They've been the most dominant force F1 has ever seen, if they can win this year and then sell on it'll be one of the best teams ever statistically speaking. Mercedes full well knows that achieving this kind of dominance all over again is neigh on impossible.
Bas - I thought the "speculation" was Merc to leave in 2020...hence the current contract issue and signing someone else up to 2020???
They've signed the concord agreement till 2020, as has everyone else...They can sell the team however. IMO they'll prepare a plan to offload the team before 2020 and distance themselves from F1 and focussing on FE, possible Le Mans. If they can't sell their team before 2018 they'll blame shortfall of performance on that. They'll continue making engines.
They are allegedly contracted to stay in F1 until the end of this formula. Does that mean staying as a team, or as an engine supplier, I don't know. I think they will stay until the end, personally. I have no proof of that, of course, but it fit with Mercedes strategy to enter GP, totally dominate for a few years, and then withdraw totally. They did it pre-war with the Silver Arrows, intending to stop in 1941, but the war put an end to that. They came back in 1954 with the intention of staying until the end of the formula in 1960, but withdrew after the 1955 Le Mans disaster that gave them bad publicity. They won GPs in 1954, and the title in 1955. So, this time it make sense for them to put all their efforts in string of titles during the first hybrid formula, and then rest on their laurels. So far, they are on course to achieve that, with 100% success in the last 3 years. There are still 4 seasons to go though ...
The 'evolution of the sport' will drive that decision. The entire motorsport spectrum faces a new challenge as tech is driving what formula's are employed or agreed upon. Electric/hybrid is here to stay. Even Ross Brawn see's problems for F1 and has stated they go all electric or something else as the angle of road car relevance is over sold. That is the big question facing the new owners - What will F1 become in a few years and who wants to be part of that new formula, if its even one that can attract fans at all. We keep hearing view numbers are down etc. Autosport has an article that F1 is under stress from the driverless car movement as well. Enjoy what we have now....I think it wont be around for too much longer at all. What replaces it is the concern it seems.
+1 This is why I found Liberty's interest in F1 very strange in this period of uncertainty in the sport. Unless they already have plans of their own to transform it in something else...
Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes driver backs new team-mate Valtteri Bottas Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes driver backs new team-mate Valtteri Bottas - BBC Sport LOL: Wolff said: "Lewis said he thought Valtteri was a nice guy. "One of the guys he actually got along with well in Formula 1 and he felt he was a good option."
Hahahaha, yeah yeah, Toto. Let's see what the carbon fibre bill is for the first few races if bottles actually turns up before you start claiming Elton loves him. If he proves to be within half a second of him the toys will be raining from the cockpit, telemetry and car designs will be on Twitter, and Elton will be telling anyone who will listen how biased against him Mercedes are, and how it's cos you are all racists. Come on valteri, please be as fast as you once appeared, what promises to likely be another boring season needs some spice, and what better spice than Elton playing bumper cars in anger
It's satire - you may need to look it up, but it passes as a humourous accent on the upbeat PR Mercedes attempt to throw out trying to convince the world that Elton is a friendly cuddly bear, when in actual fact we all know he's a big kid with a chip on his shoulder, who will demand that valteri have built in car issues that the team can press if he shows to be anywhere near competitive, having had his backside kicked last year by world champion Nico Rosberg.
I was commenting on the statement from Toto, thought that was the point of someone posting it, to attract comment, and my humour is more palatable than the rows and bs we frequently get
Just answer the question - who was the 2016 world champion ? I'll give you clues, he can speak 4 languages, Elton hates him, and he usurped his team management to make it happen.......... Who else would have had a chance to win those ten races?, there are only two Mercedes in the races, and the other one won most of the rest of them And here's another great question for ya..... who managed to lose his rag and drive directly into the back of his teammate last year in a fit of rage, causing both of them to retire, and then threw his toys out the pram and threatened to quit unless they censured his teammate for the crash? Good luck bottles if you are really as quick as people once said when you entered F1, you'll need extra big rear view mirrors. That said, Toto will have a special 'limp mode' remote control to prevent you getting in front in the first place I suspect
