Hmmm indeed. I suspect that we all doubt the decision but he has either been given £100m per year or knows something about the relative merits of the Ferrari that we don’t! Perhaps it’s a farewell tour. He beat George last year, he’ll beat Le Clerc next year and then eye up a seat next to Max for the ultimate showdown!
Well I’m not the biggest fan of him as a person. But I would love to see him get the 8th world championship that he so deserves after that complete sham of a few years ago. Not watched a race since. But can he deliver in a Ferrari?
I think its more a case of "can ferrari deliver him a car that can win a championship". I don't doubt LH's skills but the ferrari team have not been competitive recently, and when they have been the team/ strategy has not been good enough to capitalise on it.
I think at this stage money is pretty much irrelevant to him. He wants that 8th championship and also you have to say that driving for ferrari is a dream for pretty much every f1 driver. I think it comes down to which team is likely to give him the best chance of one more drivers championship. Maybe he knows something about the new mercedes and that's not given him the confidence he needs - their car over the last two years has been well below the front runners - LH is getting towards the end of his F1 career so he can't waste another two years running around in a car that's not performing.
It’s not that surprising most drivers want to drive for Ferrari at some point in their career. He’s at the end of his career, mercedes are struggling had stopped treating him like a god along with Ferrari being the best they have been for a while.
I am a Hamilton fan and am surprised that he would leave his long time team but agree that Ferrari is the only team he would consider other than Merc. Ferrari are desperate not having won the world title since 2007 and both Leclerc and Sainz could have had race wins over the last couple of years if they had not made errors - so maybe Hamilton is seen as a safer pair of hands,
I used to watch it religiously until the notorious year end race a few years ago... Getting up at all hours to watch it live, watching again when C4 highlights came on later over the weekend. Podcasts galore... Watching the end of that race my mind was totally boggled as to what the hell was going on, did that really happen etc...not really been interested since if they can fcuk so much with little redress. Regarding competitiveness I did notice the improved form the the ferraris in the last few races, whether that is down to the actual outcome being determined some months before and a drop off from Max remains to be seem.
Ferrari are their own worst enemy when it comes to tactics having shot themselves in the foot quite a few times recently ... Their cars were improving as the season went on but as said before Ferrari need a competitive car from race one , Hamilton is a fantastic driver but put any of the current f1 drivers in a good car and they'll do well - Russell stepping into the Mercedes for his first race being a perfect example . Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
This. ^^ if Hamilton asked to confirm over the radio that he has a contract, the reply would probably be "we are checking" . No point building a fast car if the team strategist is useless.
I think it's worth bearing in mind the regulation changes. 24 and 25 will be two years of performance convergence, so the Merc will be closer to the front this year and then in 25 all the cars should be more evenly matched. That should mean Hamilton is in a more competitive outfit in both seasons (perhaps, 8th + 9th titles?!) They can't actively work on the 26 car yet, so Hamilton shouldn't be armed with a whole load of Merc secrets when he arrives at Ferrari. That said, Merc nailed the last regulation change that focused on engine technology whilst Ferrari where messing around with a dodgy motor... i'd be putting my money on Mercedes to be on top in 26.
Very true but it`s an absolute lottery as to who gets the drop with new regulations - remember when Brawn got the interpretation different to everyone else ?? A good showing over the first few GPs is essential for any contender , points in the first race of the season are no different to the last race .. Sort of looking forwards to racing again but no doubt i`ll probably get bored after the first few processional events - again !
Button racing again, at Le Mans this year I think. In the GT class for his Yankee team possibly? Sent from my SM-G780G using Tapatalk
Quite often in quali the top 10 cars are within a second or two of each other. That always amazes me, it’s so marginal
So, all part of a master plan? LH joins ferrari, Christian Horner incident means he departs Red Bull, Adrian Newey decides to part ways with RB also once Horner is gone.. joins ferrari = red cars invincible in 2025 and championship #8 is in the bag? Or Sainz takes the empty merc seat, blitzes everyone. Or albon thoughts?
Or it’s all just part of the new American putting on a show publicity stunt leading up to the start of the season
It was always on the cards. I doubt they'll win unless they get Adrian Newey or another John Barnard. 16 years since they won a Constructors Championship and 17 years since Kimi won their last Drivers Championship.
