Shocker: Hamilton leaves Mercedes for...Ferrari

[JoeN]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

Yeah, it was a great movie. Plus, Christian Bale and Matt Damon were great together. I loved the scene where Ken takes the Ford exec for “a spin”.

Yeah that was “a spin” for sure.

[piolaxo]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

Neither Alonso nor Vettel won any World Championships driving for Ferrari, and if I were to hazard a guess, neither will Hamilton. Ferrari's problems are fundamentally due to a lack of effective leadership. And, because the car itself is 90% of the "critical factors" for winning an F1 World Championship, and Ferrari doesn't have the leadership in place to effectively develop a consistently winning F1 car, it won't matter who is driving it. Red Bull's success the last 3 years is due to having effective leadership and...Adrian Newey. If Max weren't driving for Red Bull, Checo would be World Champion.

I agree that the most likely scenario is that Hamilton won't be a world
champion, but he'll have a direct input on the car with the latest regulations
that will come into play in 2026. That normally is a "reset" and like the last
time, it meant the end of the reign at Mercedes with the regulation changes
that happened in 2021.

[vintage_tube]

Hamilton/Ferrari won't podium in '25. Wishful thinking by both parties, however within F1 driver circles, a Ferrari ride is the ultimate prize.

Slim but Mercedes F1 & 1/3 owner Totto Wolff could select their contract driver, a 17-year-old named Kimi Antonelli to fill Hamiltons' seat. It's a gamble but it worked when Max was 17. If that doesn't happen, then look at Mercedes slotting him in Williams for 1 year before a permanent move to Mercedes.

[Formerly YB-2]

Originally Posted by vintage_tube

Hamilton/Ferrari won't podium in '25. Wishful thinking by both parties...........

Not sure why you would think this. Ferrari had several podiums in '23 and likely more in '24. I doubt that Hamilton will be as aggressive in '24 with his new contract starting in '25.
F1 has been a strange place for most of this century. Makes one pine for the old days of normally aspirated 8cyl engines.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by Formerly YB-2

Not sure why you would think this. Ferrari had several podiums in '23 and likely more in '24. I doubt that Hamilton will be as aggressive in '24 with his new contract starting in '25.

At the end of the day, Hamilton is a racer at heart, so I think he will be as aggressive as possible in his last year at Mercedes. A win is a win, and virtully no F1 driver is ever going to turn down the possibility of another F1 GP win because of a contract with another team the following year.

With Ferrari, I think he'll definitely be able to make podiums. Whether he can win GPs or vie for the Driver's title is another matter, though. As mentioned prevously, LeClerc has only had 5 wins in 5 years with Ferrari out of 106 starts for a winning percentage of...3.13%, and Sainz has only had 2 wins for Ferrari for a grand total of winning...5% of the F1 races they've started.

Not particuarly impressive with the win count for Ferrari...

[Formerly YB-2]

Neither LeClerc nor Sainz is Hamilton. I'll guess they would not be that much better in a Red Bull car. Seems we only have 2 or, maybe 3, top drivers capable of winning consistently these days.
We can surmise all we want until the flag drops in Bahrain at the end of the month.
Alonso is the one I would like to see in a competitive ride.

[vintage_tube]

We may as prepare ourselves for '25 - this will be a common conversation:

Lewis Hamilton: "Man, these tyres are gone already, starting on the softs wasn't a good idea.

Ferrari Race Engineer: Copy, we can go for Plan B.



Bob

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by Formerly YB-2

Alonso is the one I would like to see in a competitive ride.

Agreed. I’d also like to see Alex in a competitive ride, as well.

[Formerly YB-2]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

Agreed. I’d also like to see Alex in a competitive ride, as well.

With Hamilton gone (going, going...........), I wonder if Aston Martin might not get more "support" (whatever that might be) from Mercedes. Alonso did very well for driving a 2nd (or 3rd) tier organization. To me, Alonso is the most mistake-free of drivers.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by Formerly YB-2

With Hamilton gone (going, going...........), I wonder if Aston Martin might not get more "support" (whatever that might be) from Mercedes. Alonso did very well for driving a 2nd (or 3rd) tier organization. To me, Alonso is the most mistake-free of drivers.

Agreed. Though, Max doesn't make many mistakes, either.

We'll also have to see how this all plays out in 2026, given that Aston-Martin will be going to Honda powerplants, instead of Mercedes.