Hamilton to Mercedes - Confirmed

[jarrambide]

I wonder where this will leave Sauber.. Perez was certainly their star driver.

I feel bad for Sauber, I like Peter Sauber and have always supported Sauber (except for the few years they stopped being an independent team, nothing against BMW, but the only reason I liked Sauber is that I love underdogs that perform), on the other hand, I have always been a huge McLaren fan, I don't like Hamilton, sonow I can stop feeling guilty about supporting McLaren.

Will Sauber use the other TELMEX driver racing on GP2?, Esteban Gutierrez could be a good driver and Sauber could really use that money TELMEX has been supplying, but if part of the McLaren deal is getting a lot of money from TELMEX, that means no chance of Sauber keeping that TELMEX sponsorship.

[The Black Knight]

I think this is a good move for Hamilton. He obviously needed a fresh challenge and I think he has done the right thing. This move will see him become his own man and eventually the most complete driver on the grid.

[Tazio]

SpongeBob seems to see the positive in it:

(Reuters) / 29 September 2012

LONDON - Lewis Hamilton’s Formula One switch from McLaren to Mercedes next year is an essential step that could be the making of him as a man, former McLaren driver David Coulthard said on Saturday.

The Scot, who started his career at Williams and ended it with Red Bull, wrote in a Daily Telegraph column that he felt the 2008 world champion had grown out of McLaren and had to make a move.

“Sometimes relationships just reach their natural conclusion,” he said.

“You don’t live your whole life at home, even though the fridge is always full and the laundry gets done for you. At some stage you have to move out. Grow up. Become a man. This is that moment for Lewis.”

Sport - Hamilton move part of growing up: Coulthard

[fandango]

SpongeBob seems to see the positive in it:

Sport - Hamilton move part of growing up: Coulthard

Interesting that Coulthard would say that. He was in a similar position at McLaren for many seasons. Perhaps he looks back now and wishes he had left them sooner, rather than playing it safe with the team most likely to produce the best car. At times he wasn't completely satisfied at McLaren, but where was he going to go?

[zako85]

Yeah, not sure that i want to start discussing Brawn now, but point was that a winter can swing the pendulum into an unexpected teams favor very easily. Remember Honda '08-winter-Brawn '09? Who really knows how well Mercedes can get on with it in 2013?

Formula one does have its "dark horse becomes champion moments" but those are once in a decade events. If you look past Brawn, you would have to go back to 1994 when Schumacher wins his first WDC in a Benetton-Ford. Ax ante, the team was widely regarded as inferior to McLaren and Williams, as well as its engine. No one expected Schumacher to win a WDC.

In any case, if Mercedes beats McLaren next year, I wouldn't consider that as a completely unexpected event. Mercedes is a well-funded, well-staffed team with a good engine. What's unexpected is that it ended up contending for the best of the rest title for the past three years. Somehow, their "formula" hasn't borne many fruits. They clearly are having a major shake up, and Hamilton's move is the proof of that. If Mercedes kept its current driver lineup for 2013, I honestly would have stopped regarding them as a serious team.

[GravettFan99]

Well, for Lewis it may be a slight step down, and I think Schumacher has definitely retired rather than trying to search for another ride. (Someone said that he may look for another ride on another forum, but I doubt that.) However, I am happy for Sergio Perez, he's already taken 3 podiums with Sauber, so to be moving to McLaren is an awesome turn of events for him, that's a definite gain on the grid! It also ends the speculation that Massa will be replaced by him, and maybe the whole rumour in general... then again, someone else may get the drive from Massa. (I'd hate that to happen to Massa, but it would be inevitable. ) With Lewis's calibre, I think Nico may also get a slight gain in terms of setups/feedback and all.

[darkos]

Weird decision. McLaren equal money offer for him to keep him in McLaren team so this is really weird decision.

[darkos]

Now we will see true Hamilton face. If he's can put some input in new team. Something from himself, because on McLaren it wasn't so great.

[zako85]

Weird decision. McLaren equal money offer for him to keep him in McLaren team so this is really weird decision.

I think the arguments for and against Hamilton/McLaren split are both valid. On one hand, McLaren is a real F1 stalwart and the second most decorated F1 team in history. Their car has been arguably among the fastest if not the fastest since about this time of last year. On the other hand, McLaren accounted for only one WDC in the last 10 years and no WCC. Mediocre pit stops cost Hamilton valuable points in the WDC this year, but the car failing on him mid-race in Singapore probably was the last straw. This effectively knocked him out of WDC competition. Regardless of whether it's fair to place all of the blame for this on McLaren, this must have been the perfect time to announce their split. I don't think Hamilton would have announced his split with McLaren had he won the last race and still was a title contender today.

[truefan72]

i tend to agree with this assessment