Remember, Hamilton and Rosberg were teammates many years back.
Formula 1 - 2012 Season
- Thread starter Dave Baumann
- Start date
It wasn't about money at all, Whitmarsh has basically said they offered him the same money.
It's about a clueless team principle not backing his best driver.
I assume Hamilton has moved because Braun has told him something he was impressed with.
Mercedes have got better and better (well at least if you compare the start of the last 3 seasons) so who knows.
I can almost guarantee that they will not let development slip like they did this year if Hamilton gets a few podiums and maybe race wins at the start of next season.
It's about a clueless team principle not backing his best driver.
I assume Hamilton has moved because Braun has told him something he was impressed with.
Mercedes have got better and better (well at least if you compare the start of the last 3 seasons) so who knows.
I can almost guarantee that they will not let development slip like they did this year if Hamilton gets a few podiums and maybe race wins at the start of next season.
So he's gone to a team that also let their drivers race ???
UniversalTruth
Veteran
I understand that there always will be someone to try to convince the others that white is black, or black is white...
£61.6 million/ 3 years or £20.53 million/ year
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/mo...e-from-McLaren-signing-a-three-year-deal.html
is a higher salary than £12 million/ year
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepag...-contract-McLaren-up-offer-to-12m-a-year.html
which is even less than his current £15 million/ year.
So, even if they offer him the same salary, it doesn't mean that he will be satisfied when someone gives him even more. Pretty clear.
Whitmarsh said the move wasn't about money. He knows what Lewis was offered by Mercedes and obviously what they offered.
We can all prove something bringing up old links. The BBC said a few days after the Sun article that they matched the wages he was being offered at Mercedes.
We can all prove something bringing up old links. The BBC said a few days after the Sun article that they matched the wages he was being offered at Mercedes.
Hamilton is the number one driver, Rosberg could be five seconds quicker and still have to pull over (not likely to happen though)
Not according to ross brawn
lewis has not asked for number 1 status
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula-one/19766766
lewis has not asked for number 1 status
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula-one/19766766
UniversalTruth
Veteran
Oukey, then what exactly is it about?
Does he know something which other people don't know? Like performance of future cars?
To me this is an idiotic decision to jump in the completely unknown. Of course, they will say it's not about money because otherwise he would not only look stupid but also avid. And a betrayer too.
Or probably because F1 is a complete circus (theater) and they want to change the roles, like in a movie, to make it somehow more interesting?
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Oukey, then what exactly is it about?
I sincerely believe the move has various reasons:
His relationship with the team/Whitmarsh hasn't been all that well it seems - certainly not as good as Fernando or Vettel within their teams. He's also been with the team since 5 years in F1 and much longer if you take his previous race-career into consideration - perhaps this is to go his own way. Mercedes seems like a good move, given the 2014 reg changes and he knows Norbert Haug as well.
Of course it's a huge risk - but who knows - it just might prove to be the best move he could do. As also a McLaren fan, I'm of course a bit disappointed and I will be interested to see if them losing Hamilton will turn any heads at McLaren. This will be also a very defining move for Perez I feel. This is his chance.
tongue_of_colicab
Veteran
Why does everybody keep going on about 2014 reg changes? There is really no reason to think they will do better than the 3 top teams and all the reason to think they will actually do worse. There is no way of knowing what the merc engine will do and besides, it's not like the Ferrari or Renault engines will be bad. Not to mention that you can bet on it the FIA will make sure some engine development will be allowed (even if they don't tell us that) to make sure all engines are in the same ballpark just like they are know.
Besides, having the best engine still doesn't mean anything if your aero isn't any good. And apart from 1 lucky year with Brawn that whole outfit doesn't exactly have a history of producing good cars. Even after 3 years the mercedes still isn't even close to being a top car.
Why would they suddenly have a top car under 2014 regs?
Besides, having the best engine still doesn't mean anything if your aero isn't any good. And apart from 1 lucky year with Brawn that whole outfit doesn't exactly have a history of producing good cars. Even after 3 years the mercedes still isn't even close to being a top car.
Why would they suddenly have a top car under 2014 regs?
I think you are exagerating my/our points here.
Big reg changes always have the potential to shuffle around the order quite substantially. Right now, the cars and rules are an evolution year upon year. Come 2014 (if the reg changes become reality) and we will see a substantial change. This will allow teams that are currently underperforming to up their game. It's not a guarantee, but the potential there is far higher because everyone will have to adapt to new regulations, new rules... it's a new game in many areas for everyone. It's also a game-changer because engines will be new for everyone and you will probably see differences between Renault, the Ferrari and the Mercedes one.
Mercedes has the financial means and the technical staff to make it happen. As a works-team and engine supplier, their advantage lies in that they can effectively already plan their car in advance to suit their engine. While the engines that will be handed out are strictly controlled by the FIA, there's no chance that customer engines and the ones being places in their own works-team will vary however.
To sum this up - regulation changes in 2014 is no guarantee that Mercedes will come out on top. Mercedes is gearing up for this big change though and if there is a time in which a works-team could have an advantage, 2014 is the year it could happen.
Hamilton could be either in a very good position to capitalize on that - or a bad one, if Mercedes once again falls short in other areas. How 2014 will turn out is everyone's guess. If Renault or Ferrari will have a better package, who knows - but this is hardly relevant to Hamilton's decision as his two options seemed to be to either stay with McLaren (a potential Mercedes customer in 2014) or change to Mercedes GP (works-team). He chose the latter - if for better or for worse, we'll find out soon enough.
Big reg changes always have the potential to shuffle around the order quite substantially. Right now, the cars and rules are an evolution year upon year. Come 2014 (if the reg changes become reality) and we will see a substantial change. This will allow teams that are currently underperforming to up their game. It's not a guarantee, but the potential there is far higher because everyone will have to adapt to new regulations, new rules... it's a new game in many areas for everyone. It's also a game-changer because engines will be new for everyone and you will probably see differences between Renault, the Ferrari and the Mercedes one.
Mercedes has the financial means and the technical staff to make it happen. As a works-team and engine supplier, their advantage lies in that they can effectively already plan their car in advance to suit their engine. While the engines that will be handed out are strictly controlled by the FIA, there's no chance that customer engines and the ones being places in their own works-team will vary however.
To sum this up - regulation changes in 2014 is no guarantee that Mercedes will come out on top. Mercedes is gearing up for this big change though and if there is a time in which a works-team could have an advantage, 2014 is the year it could happen.
Hamilton could be either in a very good position to capitalize on that - or a bad one, if Mercedes once again falls short in other areas. How 2014 will turn out is everyone's guess. If Renault or Ferrari will have a better package, who knows - but this is hardly relevant to Hamilton's decision as his two options seemed to be to either stay with McLaren (a potential Mercedes customer in 2014) or change to Mercedes GP (works-team). He chose the latter - if for better or for worse, we'll find out soon enough.
Regs changes are often more about who has the most creative interpretation of the rules (i.e. double diffusers) when they come in.
Win regards to the Merc situation the thinking is that slough all the customer teams will receive the new enigines at a set time, the works team will have prior knowledge of the engine and they may be able to get a head start on the packaging of it, etc. The combustion engine itself is smaller, now with a turbo, and also more KERS capacity, so there are a lot of commiserations on the packaging side.
However, having seriously delete staff as Brawn in 2009 to survive the season, this past year Merc have been staffing back up again and signing some fairly big names. It'll be interesting to see what they deliver in 2013.
Win regards to the Merc situation the thinking is that slough all the customer teams will receive the new enigines at a set time, the works team will have prior knowledge of the engine and they may be able to get a head start on the packaging of it, etc. The combustion engine itself is smaller, now with a turbo, and also more KERS capacity, so there are a lot of commiserations on the packaging side.
However, having seriously delete staff as Brawn in 2009 to survive the season, this past year Merc have been staffing back up again and signing some fairly big names. It'll be interesting to see what they deliver in 2013.
It's amazing how much a brain auto-corrects while reading... I must have read over those miss-spellings without noticing it... but yeah, definately looks like some phone-auto-correction software...
Back on topic - seems like not everyone is looking forward to the 2014 regulation changes. There's a post on J.Allens site that's new, but Joe also covered it a couple of days ago. Make of it what you like:
Back on topic - seems like not everyone is looking forward to the 2014 regulation changes. There's a post on J.Allens site that's new, but Joe also covered it a couple of days ago. Make of it what you like:
Bleh, Kimi's off spoiled Q3.
Nah, Vettel had it covered and Kimi was reminding everyone of his Rally days.
The bad part is that the lap would have probably gotten him 3rd position had he not spun
UniversalTruth
Veteran
And ruining Fernando Alonso's lap as he said it would have been very good.
What a shame.I don't know what exactly people like in Kimi, his pretty face perhaps?
