Hamilton was ready to quit F1 rather than stay in McLaren: Ecclestone

[CNR]

Hamilton was ready to quit F1 rather than stay in McLaren: Ecclestone

London: Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has revealed that Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was considering quitting Formula One rather than staying with McLaren.

Ecclestone, who was a close confidant of Hamilton during his high-profile switch to Mercedes, said that Hamilton was so keen to quit the Woking-based team where he had spent his whole career that he considered taking a break from competing.

[Rollo]

"Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has revealed..."

Nurse... nurse... he's out of bed again...

[henners88]

Bernie has never been one for the truth when a bit of sensationalism can do wonders for putting the sport in the headlines.

[Tazio]

Even if it was the truth, why betray the guys confidence? Bernie is such a whore.

[The Black Knight]

Hamilton was ready to quit F1 rather than stay in McLaren: Ecclestone

While I believe there was certainly more going on behind the scenes at McLaren than anyone is aware, I can't imagine Hamilton leaving the sport when he is so passionate about racing or when McLaren were so obviously keen to keep him. Personally, I believe he may well be one of the fastest, if not the fastest driver the sport has ever seen. I can't imagine a driver with that passion and talent ever taking a sabbatical. Bernie is talking through his hole.

[Mintexmemory]

Bernie is such a whore.

Now that would be an extremely niche market!!! (Max might find a spare hour or 2 in his busy diary though!!)

[airshifter]

Even if it was the truth, why betray the guys confidence? Bernie is such a whore.

That was my first thought as well. Even if Lewis was frustrated and considering a break, that should have been up to him to make public or discuss with McLaren. If true he may have not stated it more openly to not "condemn" McLaren as baddies or something.

[A FONDO]

Sounds reasonable. Mclaren is so unreliable that every self-respecting driver daring to win something shouldn't be there.

[Bagwan]

I guess it's hard for you all to believe because it comes from Bernie , but if the atmosphere where you work is poisoned for some reason , it is not too difficult to imagine this was true for Lewis .

Remember , they had assigned people as "handlers" to Lewis , who were there to give him a nudge when he was speaking to the press , so they didn't trust him , or more specifically , his mouth .

That much alone , putting aside completely the mechanical issues and any knowledge of development for this year , would perhaps be enough to prompt a comment behind closed doors that he would rather not drive at all than drive for them .

One lesson for Lewis here is that he needs to understand that when speaking with Bernie , things don't necessarily stay behind closed doors .
And , another is that perhaps he does talk too much before thinking .


And , as far as Bernie's part , as long as the comment wasn't prefaced with :"Don't tell anybody , but ..." , then why not stir the pot with some behind the scenes dirt ?
The McLaren team will be steaming about this , and Lewis gets to rub thier noses in his rear view mirrors .
It just adds a little more fun to when Lewis approaches Jensen for the pass .

[wedge]

Bernie doesnt like Lewis' management team even if seasoned agents are managing Lewis.

Leaving F1 AKA throwing toys out the pram is the sort of thing i'd expect given the antics that have tainted Lewis.

Reminds me of Mansell and his 'retirements' when in the background he wasn't top of people's shopping lists at the time.