Driver market Crazy season impending

[airshifter]

My comment was firmly tongue in cheek...
Merc had a humongous performance advantage over everyone else for most of these years.
You know it.. so why pretend it was all because of Lewis? This is why I can never take you seriously.

Well we all know the Merc was a crap car in the turbo hybrid era don't we?

[Zico]

I knew what you were up to buddy, hence the reverse tongue in cheek.

But seriously, Vettel in the Ferrari should have won in 2018 or 2019 when the Ferrari was marginally faster than the Mercedes in a straight line. Everyone l know harps about "if Alonso was in that Ferrari, he would have won one of those seasons!". There was very little doubt that Mercedes was on their back foot in 2021 but clawed forward to a winning poisition until the very last lap of the season when it was snatched from Hamilton. But then again l am talking to a wall as you are blindsighted to anything Hamilton.

Williams were also regularly topping a lot of speed traps in the last 2 seasons, It means absolutely nothing in itself.

Lewis is a great driver, no question but you take it way too far with the status you place on him and it wears a bit thin after a while.
Merc was the bigger star by far over that period but you refuse to acknowledge that fact.

The one performance metric we can measure him by is his record against his team mates... and while its not bad, its not 'scarecrow' either.

[Nitrodaze]

Williams were also regularly topping a lot of speed traps in the last 2 seasons, It means absolutely nothing in itself.

Lewis is a great driver, no question but you take it way too far with the status you place on him and it wears a bit thin after a while.
Merc was the bigger star by far over that period but you refuse to acknowledge that fact.

The one performance metric we can measure him by is his record against his team mates... and while its not bad, its not 'scarecrow' either.

Ha ha, l am surprised you said that. Look at my post history, you would find alot of accolades from me about Mercedes.

[Nitrodaze]

So what happens if the Mercedes upgrade turns out to be another flop, l wonder? Would Sir Lewis make the unexpected move to Ferrari?

The air in the Mercedes paddock must be tense with anticipation of improvement. As Mercedes fans and drivers wait with bated breath to see what the actual improvement might be. Expectations of a massive step forward have been carefully managed but chances of a surprise hike in performance are not discounted. Monaco would give us a clear idea of the pecking order for the rest of the season. I expect Redbull would not be too troubled by whatever the outcome is.

[airshifter]

Lewis can only go where he is given offers. I don't know of any standing offers from any teams at this point, and likely most will assume he isn't planning any moves until or unless he announces it. Being that Merc at leading Ferrari in the WCC right now, I would think it would be an unwise move for any driver, and especially one hoping to up their record while still in the sport.

Merc seem completely out of sort at the moment. They are even sending conflicting statements as to what they have or haven't figured out with the car. I think anyone expecting any massive jumps is going to be in for a disappointing reality. With aero importance limited at Monaco, they might have a better shot of a good result if they can get the tires turned on and do well in qually. If they don't get the drag and suspension issues sorted out, I can't see them giving AM any more challenge than they are now unless Lance has more bad weekends.

[N. Jones]

Mercedes needs to give up the no side pod as it is not working.

[F1nKS]

Mercedes needs to give up the no side pod as it is not working.

Supposedly they have. Their new design was suppose to have been unveiled this weekend. It will be interesting to see if they unveil it Monaco or wait till the Spain race.

[The Black Knight]

I have a feeling Lewis will go to Ferrari - there have been numerous times over the last year or two where he complained about the engineers not listening to him and listening to his feedback. You can forgive Mercedes for getting it wrong one year but it's now two years in a row they've missed the mark. And from Hamilton's point of view he told the engineers it was the wrong decision to continue pursuing this concept and they still went ahead with it. He clearly stated recently that Mercedes didn't listen to him. In these circumstances I can't blame him for leaving.

[Nitrodaze]

Lewis can only go where he is given offers. I don't know of any standing offers from any teams at this point, and likely most will assume he isn't planning any moves until or unless he announces it. Being that Merc at leading Ferrari in the WCC right now, I would think it would be an unwise move for any driver, and especially one hoping to up their record while still in the sport.

Merc seem completely out of sort at the moment. They are even sending conflicting statements as to what they have or haven't figured out with the car. I think anyone expecting any massive jumps is going to be in for a disappointing reality. With aero importance limited at Monaco, they might have a better shot of a good result if they can get the tires turned on and do well in qually. If they don't get the drag and suspension issues sorted out, I can't see them giving AM any more challenge than they are now unless Lance has more bad weekends.

There are rumors that Ferrari may be putting together a package of around 40 Million Euros to lure him from Mercedes. I think Sir Lewis would create offers if he signals that he is open to them. Other talks are that he may go back to Mclaren to try to make a championship-winning car for the team where he started his career.

I think, if he decides to move, it would be to take on a new challenge of developing a championship-winning car with another team focused on him as Schumacher did at Ferrari. In such a situation, the question is which team is likely to be able to produce a championship-winning car and have the sort of money to attract Hamilton to them?

The Ferrari is very fast but lacking on reliability and aerodynamic quality. Under the scarlet red chassis is a car capable of winning championships with the right driver-engineer partnership. With the new leadership at Ferrari, there appears to be the sort of environment that may be conducive for the sort of clique that made Schumacher so successful with Ferrari. Mind you, that was a French team boss at the helm as well. I guess adding another British engineer to the picture may just recapture the Todt, Brawn magic.

Mclaren on the other hand is way too far off the mark of championship-winning capability at this point. Hence may be too much of a risk.

I think most Mercedes and Hamilton fans would prefer he remained at Mercedes but on condition that Mercedes prove that they have stopped the rut and are improving performance enough to at least win races.

[gm99]

Ferrari always think the driver is the problem - that's why they swapped Raikkönen for Alonso, Vettel for Alonso, Sainz for Vettel and now maybe Leclerc for Hamilton. The reality is that they have for 15+ years failed to build a car that's both fast and reliable.
Michael was 27 when he made the move to Ferrari, Lewis will be 39 next season. That might not be the ideal stage of your career to start building up something new. I also expect the driver to have less of an impact on car development than it did in the unlimited-testing-at-Fiorano-days of the Schumacher era.