Modern Vespa

I do think the driver and constructor championships are both very welcome but the FIA should see them as just that. I mean, if a driver is send out of the pit to early, has the wrong tires set up or has a faulty engine it always results in grid or timepanalties for the driver. The driver can't help these things as they are team/constructor fails. As such the FIA should penalise the constructor with point reductions. If the error is by hand of the driver then they should penalising the driver. I hope my point is not lost in translation haha.

The lovely interweb at https://motorsportstats.com/ tells me that out of 332 starts Hamilton has 103 wins, or 31%. No other driver has reached 100 wins. Pole positions 104, or 31%. No other driver has reached 100 pole positions. He has almost 200 podiums, or 60%. Points finishes 290, or 87%. Races led 186, or 56%. Over half of F1 races he has entered he has been in the lead at some point during the race. Race win, pole position, fasted lap in his first season. 7 world championships, and 3 times runner up. The times he was runner up he had chance to win the championship in the last race of the season.
I'm not saying he will never be beat, just that at the moment he is the GOAT.

^^^^^^And that come from our friend in the Netherlands^^^^^^
It should get things going Cant beat stats

Yup fully aware and I don't think that will happen after 74 plus years😉👍Just looking the way the regulations are going over the last couple of seasons🙂.

LH stats WILL drop more this next year and continue to do so till he pulls the plug on F1. Alonso IMO is way more skilled driver.
LH and MV have had great rides and engineering which help both to their respective championships. MV will continue to have excellent engineering to assist him placing in the top 2 next year.

Toto Wolff admitted a third of the way into this season, "mistakes have been made with chassis design" and will have to make do and learn ahead of 2024 season.
we'll see.

I'm not hopeful. I mean, I'd genuinely love to see them be competitive, just as I'd genuinely love to see Ferrari be competitive.

Or really anyone besides Max.

No worries JESS.
Next year, with the extra wind tunnel time (compared to their rivals), the Silver Arrows will attempt to get themselves in the title fight again without a doubt, and meet the high standards they've set in previous years, in their comparatively short time in F1.

A summary of Mercedes' eight constructors' titles.

Seasons 2014 through 2021, 8 years that includes 118 Poles and 111 Wins

Mercedes are officially 8-time champions, and all of those titles came after 2014.

This makes them the joint third-most successful constructor of all time – tied on 8 titles with McLaren, and behind Williams (9), and Ferrari (16). As an engine manufacturer, they have been part of 10 championship wins.

2022/23 for the Arrows was a train crash and they admit it, they got it wrong.
l@@k > 23rd of Feb 2024 Testing, Testing, Testing.

As for Lewis Hamilton's performance T.S.Zarathusra post says it all:

"Strength does not come from winning.
Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength." ― Arnold Schwarzenegger😉👍

Holy cow! I didn't expect this to actually happen.

I suspect that they are prepared to pay him what he thinks he's worth.

Money has always been a stumbling block with Mercedes Benz.

Lewis in RED interesting finish like Shoey, with the 25/26 regs change going back more toward IC, cant wait,

Alex Albon going to Merc ?

Either that or Leclerc. Sainz could be looking for a position also.

Albon is better for optics.

Fifty million contract buy out not much risk there then for Ferrari, soon as he put pen to paper the shares jumped 6%, paid for himself with a swipe of a pen.

Bono's going with him, how many more Merc staff will he take.

No way. Leclerc has been coronated at Ferrari.

My money is on Albon.

With Leclerc signed beyond 24, Sainz yet to renew, In 25 it will be interesting to see who's got number one seat 🤔 Lewis ???.

Will the Italian Tifosi take to Lewis like they have Charles Leclerc

It was shakedown this week, I wonder if Lewis has jumped in the car done a few laps and thought F**ck that give me a pen

Looking on a wider scale his timing is spot on.

well LH is now just a lapper. George has the #1 spot and can brush his #2 guy to the curb.

I feel for Carlos this year but he now has a chance to show as why would he listen to any team orders to let charles be ahead of him in any race. Go For It Carlos.

Mec won't pick a 2nd till the last half of year.

Agreed on both points.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/leclerc-on-mercedes-f1-radar-for-long-term-but-not-now-says-wolff-/10464373/

I agree Albon looks likely but Ferrari have a funny habit of showing you the door when your face no longer fits.

Prost, Irvine and Schumacher as examples.

As soon as Raikkonen turned into the next best thing Ferrari seemed to forget all of those races and titles then showed Michael the door.

I'm curious to hear from Sainz, and I wonder if he was the trigger in this.

He'd been linked to Audi all through 2023 and his Dad won the Dakar rally with them, so knows them personally.

Ferrari had publicly said they were in contract negotiations with Sainz.

My theory is that Sainz is off to Audi, and that has suddenly left Ferrari with a gap to fill. Most of the drivers are locked into long term contracts and so Lewis was one of the only options available (and is a huge signing).

I also find it strange how Mercedes have released press statements etc with different quotes, and Ferrari just released one sentence.

I'm curious now what happens to the Mercedes seat. I think they need a big name for marketing purposes and wouldn't be surprised if Vettel makes an appearance there for a few years, almost like Michael Schumachers final role. He's German, and a multiple world champion. He ticks all the boxes for bringing some prestige and value to the team.

There's also Alonso, but now the budget cap has kicked in, Aston Martin surely on paper looks like the better option long term (most advanced / newest wind tunnel, most advanced / newest factory etc).

I'm thinking that Sainz wanted an extension on his contract with Ferrari to take him beyond 2024, but Ferrari were stalling because they knew things were afoot with Hamilton. We've been hearing that Sainz was frustrated with that process, and now maybe there's a good explanation of why Ferrari was reluctant to extend him.

So rather than Ferrari unexpectedly having a gap to fill, I'm thinking that Sainz is being shown the door in favor of the biggest name in F1.

I cant help but think 🤔, F1 hasn't done their self's any favours by not letting Andretti have a team (big US fan base) or is this down to greedy team principals not wanting to share the pot.

He would be prime to take on Haas and get in the door that way.

Post

Vettel won't be going to Mercedes as he's a spent force.

Alonso has pissed off too many people.

Albon is cheap, very fast and he has ties to Mercedes.

What's of more interest to me is who will be in the Red Bull seat in 2025.

Also, is it me or does something not look right about the Audi F1 Operation ?

MBS said in an interview that the FIA have the power alone to decide new entrants, so I think we might see a bit of a legal battle with F1 over their decision to reject Andretti.

The curious bit though was Andretti initially pushing for a 2025 entry, when everyone else will be on the 4th and final year of these rules and are likely to be massively ahead on pace. He also has an agreement with GM which doesn't cover 2025, and then let his Alpine engine deal offer expire - so effectively asked for a space on the grid without an engine.

I'd love to go back to the old rules where people had to qualify to race. Let there be 24 cars, but the bottom 2 or 4 are not allowed to race. This ensures we don't have the situation of the past where teams like Caterham are nowhere near the rest of the field.

I don't think Mercedes will have credibility for sponsors with two youngish drivers. Vettel can do all their TV adverts, and his world championships have value to sponsors. Nico Rosberg often had pace over Michael Schumacher, but Michael still provided value to the team in other ways.

Yeah, I'd look back a few years and check out exactly when his ability to drive fell apart. 2018 ?

He was great when he was leading but he had no race craft further back.

An absolute King at driving into his own Team Mate.

I wish him well in his retirement.

Oh well, it's a hassle to get second place

I'm curious what escape clause Hamilton could activate before the season even starts.

History tells us that when Mercedes needs a driver Williams loses a driver. Bottas, Russel. Is it Albon next?

My issue with Nico Rosberg is that he couldn't even bother to defend his title and yet somehow you can't keep him out of the pit lane.

Make your mind up Buddy.

I think there's a connection with Ocon and Mercedes Benz as I believe he's still under contract.

I think most contracts are now described as 1+1+1, or 1 with an option of an extra year - especially with a driver that has proven their success in the sport.

They'll negotiate yearly prices for a full term, but the driver decides on a year by year basis if they want to continue.

Vettel had the same at Aston Martin, and Alonso does as well.

From a team perspective now, a contract just guarantees a salary not a drive - so teams have more flexibility as well. When Ferrari got rid of Kimi for Alonso, Kimi still received his full salary to sit at home.

Same as when McLaren dropped Alonso (although Alonso said in one interview that if he got another F1 drive, he would lose his entitlement to that salary, and so that's why he went to chase the triple crown for that single year).

When the big teams used to spend 500 million a year, and now can only spend 130 million, it means they've got more money to buy out drivers contracts if they need to (driver salaries aren't included in the cap).

Peter Windsor is convinced that Albon is going to Red Bull.

That's a team that he's already turned down in the past.

I know Red Bull have Thai backing, but it leaves Ricciardo high and dry. I got the impression Ricciardo only returned to RB for a chance to get the Red Bull seat.

Also curious for Peter Windsor to openly break this news, which guarantees he won't have access to inside information in the future!

Discovered that Peroni released this image for their marketing a few days before the Hamilton story was announced... complete with a red Ferrari car that has "44" written on it!

I've heard this theory as well. It's not a reference to Hamilton, though. It's a reference to Maurice Trintignant's Monaco GP winning car and number.

Citation, citation.

Bottas spotted at Brackley.

I just can't believe they would ask him back.

Na, Me neither. Probably end up at Audi with Sainz.

That's more plausible.

Bottas said in an interview that he was offered a deal instead of Russell for 2022, but Mercedes would only offer him a single year and so he turned them down as he wanted the security of a multi-year deal, so Mercedes do rate him.

But in terms of prestige and marketing for the brand, I don't think Russell and Bottas are that great for Mercedes. I think they need a world champion for some sponsor credibility - Nico or Vettel?

Everyone hates Nico and Hamilton broke broke him. He won't be back.

Why would Vettel be attractive to a F1 Team when you've got the choice of young, hungry and cheap drivers ?

Because sponsors crave name (and face) recognition. It's about the drive, but also about the money. And the amount paid to the driver isn't just for driving.

Not saying I think Vettel is going to be in that seat. Just saying that it's about way more than just the drive.