[Driver] Lewis to Merc F1!

[Paradise City]

I've said it before. As long as Merc can tame him and market him properly, it's a smart decision. Gives an injection of youth to a motor company associated with the greying motorist.

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

I've said it before. As long as Merc can tame him and market him properly, it's a smart decision. Gives an injection of youth to a motor company associated with the greying motorist.

It's still a hell of a risk with an established brand though........

I bet most of Hamilton's Hollywood chums would rather have a Corvette or a Custom Cadillac. If that's the market they're after good luck with that lol!

If they succeed I'd expect all the grey hairs to buy a Lexus instead.

[Dan Fielden]

Originally Posted by littleman

Alonso,by any measure,is head and shoulders above any other driver on the grid - McLaren should have looked after that guy properly.

Firstly im not a Lewis fan im a McLaren fan have been since the senna prost days but lets be fair. In 07 we all loved the fact McLaren didn't make Lewis (our new superstar, british bulldog hero) move over for the double WDC, and the reason Alonso left was because he was being a big girl throwing diva strops and not concentrating on racing. Threatening the team to reveal inner dicrepancies, costing the team its championship place in 07 and a huge fine, now we say MCL should have looked after him now lewis is haggling for a higher salary? Alonso isn't exactly whiter than white he's a diva

[spider]

Hmm, sure i suggested this a while back. Merc are a year or two away from getting it very very right. It's a no brainer if you ask me - he'd be the face of Mercedes, I'm sure they'd pay him well, now Brawn has started putting in some proper Tech department Heads it's going to get better for them.

Michael's far improved performances this year mean he won't skulk off having humiliated himself - the car probably won't be quite good enough next year, but not far off, and they need an absolute A Grader, of which there's now only three on the grid imo - Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso.

I'd respect his braveness for jumping ship.

Please McLaren don't get Di Resta, i still fail to see any wow factor in him at all. Hulkenberg to me is looking stronger now he's back in the groove after a year out...

[GTRMagic]

Webber to McLaren?

[VIVA GT]

All of this speculation suggests that Lewis would move to Mercedes to replace Schumacher.
How about Rosberg being the man on the move and Mercedes ending up with Two World Champions?

[Marbot]

Webber's already at Infiniti. *cue toy story one-liner*

[p-matt]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

All of this speculation suggests that Lewis would move to Mercedes to replace Schumacher.
How about Rosberg being the man on the move and Mercedes ending up with Two World Champions?

Not a bad call. I've always got the impression that Rosberg would be terrified as having Hamilton as a teammate as he knows he would get destroyed.

[FAS33]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Webber to McLaren?

Riccardo, hes one of the fastest drivers in the grid, yet they got him driving a Fiat!

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by p-matt

Not a bad call. I've always got the impression that Rosberg would be terrified as having Hamilton as a teammate as he knows he would get destroyed.

I'm not so sure about that. Nico runs away and hides in the right car. They were pretty close when they were team mates in karts. They're also very good friends off track.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by p-matt

Not a bad call. I've always got the impression that Rosberg would be terrified as having Hamilton as a teammate as he knows he would get destroyed.

Everyone assumed that Jenson would be destroyed by Lewis too, hasn't worked out that way.

[Flat Out Farr]

Originally Posted by Mr V

According to Joe Saward.......

Eddie Jordan is close to Bernie Ecclestone and it is not unusual for EJ to be used to put out stories. So if EJ is saying that Lewis Hamilton is close to signing for Mercedes, one needs to listen. But is it true?

Who knows ?

For sure, my day job does take me around the Chelsea Square area and I have seen Eddie and Bernie in a restaurant that I couldn't afford quite a few times.

More like Eddie the Ijjiet is sounding out taking over from Bernie when he finally bails out of running FOM Ltd.

And as for Eddie's tan? he should know that there are petrol heads living close to Sotogrande and have seen him about !

[TWRv12]

Originally Posted by Flat Out Farr

And as for Eddie's tan?

Are sure he still doesn't use the ex-Jordan factory autoclave

[JeremySmith]

Lewis Hamilton to Mercedes....This will not happen any time soon, if at all..

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by JeremySmith

Lewis Hamilton to Mercedes....This will not happen any time soon, if at all..

The fact that Lewis has stated that he doesn't know where he'll be driving next year leads me to believe that he is at least considering it.

I remain convinced that Lewis wants out of McLaren, but the teams that he'd like to go to (Red Bull and Ferrari) don't want him, so the only way out is (seemingly) backwards to Mercades.

Certainly a conumdrum for Lewis.

[davyboy]

This is what Martin Brundle tweeted a little earlier :

" Biggest challenge for Lewis Hamilton/19 Management crystal ball is who they think will ace new 2014 F1 engines (if not delayed) Game changer "

It will be a game changer if McLaren no longer have Merc engines... and even more of a game changer if Mercedes withdraw as team owners.

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by davyboy

This is what Martin Brundle tweeted a little earlier :

" Biggest challenge for Lewis Hamilton/19 Management crystal ball is who they think will ace new 2014 F1 engines (if not delayed) Game changer "

It will be a game changer if McLaren no longer have Merc engines... and even more of a game changer if Mercedes withdraw as team owners.

If they do want Hamilton I don't think Simon Fuller would have too much trouble getting an engine performance clause written in to the contact, after all it's only a 2/1 shot that the others will be better before they are inevitably equalised.

Anyway I doubt this isn't about winning races, it's about earning vast sums of money long term and building Lewis into a world wide brand such as Posh and Becks.

I thought Lewis was daft going to X1X initially, but the more he acts like a Hollywood starlet the more I've thought it was probably the right decision.

[davyboy]

There was so much corporate BS flowing from every orifice this afternoon - just go to Autosport.com for the stories - that I'm convinced it's true.

[mountainstar]

I think it will work out good. Schumacher to McLaren, Hamilton and his X Factor band to AMG.

You know why I think this deal has come up? McLaren has a lot of limitations on personal sponsors the drivers can have. At AMG, the X factor crew can pimp him out with a wide variety of personal sponsors and endorsements and cash in.

Hamilton is a great example of why children should not be grown and raised as F1 drivers. He has never had a chance to be "normal" or have a normal upbringing. By the time he was in junior formula cars, it was all paid for. He is used to getting what he wants and getting all of the attention from everyone, which is why he still has a child like intellect.

I think he actually needs the school of hard knocks for a while. McLaren is a dream gig for an F1 driver but they cover all the bases in their organization. AMG will be a tougher deal.

[schead]

Lewis has screwed himself, so Merc is really his only option. Of the top teams, Ferrari have Fernando, Red Bull have Sebastian, McLaren have Jenson, Lotus have Kimi. I am sure McLaren would extend his contract, but his ego is such that he thinks he is better than the team, rather than just an employee. Merc are the only "top team", that whilst having a WDC driving, know that he is ageing, and on his way out. Norbert also has history with him, so he is lucky.

Time has shown again and again that whilst drivers think they are indisposable, they aren't. (Prost fired, forced retirement, Damon Hill, reigning WDC fired, forced into Arrows, Kimi fired, forced retirement etc).

Also, IMHO, Merc have too many technical bosses. Brawn, Bell, Willis, Costa. All great engineers, but far too many cooks spoiling the broth IMHO. So, altogether, Lewis could have carried on with McLaren and maybe picked up another title if he knew how to keep his mouth shut, or, as it seems likely, get lost in the mess that is Mercedes GP.

What I find most ironic, is that I have always likened Lewis to Jacques Villeneuve. Amazing first season, hardly putting a foot wrong, only to get pipped to the title in the last race. Lacklustre second season, but still managed to scrape to the title, then wilderness culminating in driving for the Brackley based team. It would seem my predictions were closer to reality than even I thought. I predicted the first 2, but missed out on the going to BAR for cash bit

EDIT: I also missed the bit about being beaten by Jenson Button in his own team as well. Lewis really is Jacques .

[henners88]

Got a feeling we are going to hear the announcement at Monza the whole F1 community have been talking about over the past 48 hours. Hamilton announcing he has signed a 2 year extension to his McLaren contract. Whitmarsh is looking a little desperate in his answers as they know they need to keep Lewis. They need a driver that is able the get the maximum speed out of the car regardless of tyre temperatures and balance. Lewis is able to do this and finding a driver to step in would be difficult. Di Resta is way overrated, and so is Nico IMO.

I don't think baldy Jordan has got this one right personally.

[henners88]

Originally Posted by schead

EDIT: I also missed the bit about being beaten by Jenson Button in his own team as well. Lewis really is Jacques .

Someone pinch me when this actually happens!!

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by schead

What I find most ironic, is that I have always likened Lewis to Jacques Villeneuve. Amazing first season, hardly putting a foot wrong, only to get pipped to the title in the last race. Lacklustre second season, but still managed to scrape to the title, then wilderness culminating in driving for the Brackley based team. It would seem my predictions were closer to reality than even I thought. I predicted the first 2, but missed out on the going to BAR for cash bit

EDIT: I also missed the bit about being beaten by Jenson Button in his own team as well. Lewis really is Jacques .

Honestly I don't think there are similarities between the two. And I don't believe he's leaving McLaren, not even for cash.
Lewis might be reckless, something that JV wasn't, he just had not the talent. JV has reached the infamous "point of ignorance" when thought he could build a team around him just like TGF was doing at Ferrari. It's not Lewis case at all.

[schead]

Originally Posted by henners88

Someone pinch me when this actually happens!!

Already pinched. In their time as team mates, Jenson has scored 585 points, whereas Lewis has scored 584 points.

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by schead

Already pinched. In their time as team mates, Jenson has scored 585 points, whereas Lewis has scored 584 points.

Well, they're still teammates and there's half season to go on...