2021 Mclaren F1 Team

[Macklaren]

switching gears a bit....Andrew Benson at the BBC is reporting that Lewis Hamilton is still not sure about returning next year. While this has been rumored since AbuDhabi, this is the most credible report yet that indicates that HAM may yet sit out 2022.

Apparently his participation hinges on the FIA's Abu Dhabi inquiry -- an inquiry that I have little faith in, given how bureaucratic the FIA is. I still think that it is 99.5% likely that HAM will return simply because the lure of a record 8th title will be too great.

BUT if he doesn't return -- who replaces him?? Hard to imagine Vandoorne or DeVries get a top race seat right away. Hard to see sidelined drivers like HULK or GUT getting the seat either. So the big question is -- does Marc give NOR and McLaren an offer they cannot refuse? Will McL part with NOR at any price? Does BOT go back to Merc??

[Big Tea]

switching gears a bit....Andrew Benson at the BBC is reporting that Lewis Hamilton is still not sure about returning next year. While this has been rumored since AbuDhabi, this is the most credible report yet that indicates that HAM may yet sit out 2022.

Apparently his participation hinges on the FIA's Abu Dhabi inquiry -- an inquiry that I have little faith in, given how bureaucratic the FIA is. I still think that it is 99.5% likely that HAM will return simply because the lure of a record 8th title will be too great.

BUT if he doesn't return -- who replaces him?? Hard to imagine Vandoorne or DeVries get a top race seat right away. Hard to see sidelined drivers like HULK or GUT getting the seat either. So the big question is -- does Marc give NOR and McLaren an offer they cannot refuse? Will McL part with NOR at any price? Does BOT go back to Merc??

Have you seen any quotes directly attributed to Hamilton him self? All I have seen is by other people giving their views on it. I have not seen a single 'loaded' quote from Ham him self, which does not mean that there are not any of course.

(edited) Oops, sorry all, its the Maclaren thread.

[CMSMJ1]

I;ve heard Sky report the same kind of thing. I reckon Lewis will come back to go for that 8th title. Show the kids how it is done and I am sure it will be impressive to see.

If he didn't come back..then I would be wanting a safe pair of hands in that car and maybe it would have to be Raikkonen

[Macklaren]

Have you seen any quotes directly attributed to Hamilton him self? All I have seen is by other people giving their views on it. I have not seen a single 'loaded' quote from Ham him self, which does not mean that there are not any of course.

(edited) Oops, sorry all, its the Maclaren thread.

True there has been nothing from HAM so far but with both the BBC and Sky sports independently quoting senior figures at Mercedes and FIA, I think there is definitely a few sparks there at least go with the smoke. Put it in the McL thread, since NOR could be one of Merc's likeliest targets

[billamend]

Have you seen any quotes directly attributed to Hamilton him self? All I have seen is by other people giving their views on it. I have not seen a single 'loaded' quote from Ham him self, which does not mean that there are not any of course.

(edited) Oops, sorry all, its the Maclaren thread.

True there has been nothing from HAM so far but with both the BBC and Sky sports independently quoting senior figures at Mercedes and FIA, I think there is definitely a few sparks there at least go with the smoke.

Senior figures who are likely using the press to put pressure on FIA and to make his "return" next year more of a blessing.

[mwillems]

Have you seen any quotes directly attributed to Hamilton him self? All I have seen is by other people giving their views on it. I have not seen a single 'loaded' quote from Ham him self, which does not mean that there are not any of course.

(edited) Oops, sorry all, its the Maclaren thread.

True there has been nothing from HAM so far but with both the BBC and Sky sports independently quoting senior figures at Mercedes and FIA, I think there is definitely a few sparks there at least go with the smoke.

Senior figures who are likely using the press to put pressure on FIA and to make his "return" next year more of a blessing.

Exactly this, it is just politics at the moment, and Hamilton is likely doing his own but of politics by refusing to engage.

He has also earned the right to just bugger off and put it all behind him though.

[SmallSoldier]

The only reason why Mercedes appeared less reliable this year is because they absolutely wrecked Bottas' power units for experimentations which allowed them to find the right balance between risk/reward on Lewis' power units.

Even throughout 2021, Mercedes definitely was the king on both reliability and power. That can change in 2022, especially with Ferrari coming back into the picture, but given the history and track record Mercedes has had in the hybrid era, I would still put my money on them having the better overall package.

It’s not just about Bottas, Williams and Aston Martin had to take additional engines, as did McLaren and those weren’t due to Mercedes testing things… Mercedes themselves admitted that they had reliability concerns.

I’m not arguing if it is the better package (which I think it is), but from a purely reliability stand point, Honda was more reliable than Mercedes.

In the first half of the season that was more true, but Merc later brought a new spec which was more durable then the previous iteration, at least in terms of engine wear which would likely have contributed to reliability.

The Merc also started the season with deployment issues IIRC. So I guess if you look at where they finished at the end of the season, the Merc was the better package, but over the course it was fairly even.

I’m not arguing which was the better package (I honestly can’t tell, since there are several unknown variables at play to determine that)… But from a “reliability” stand point, the way the season developed and the fact that not only did Mercedes openly talked about it, but it was necessary to use additional engines to finish the season, makes Honda apparently the more “reliable” unit in 2021.

[djos]

Hamilton seems to step up his game when angry, so I fully expect him to return and try his hardest to win another title.

[hollus]

A 2022 McLaren team thread has been started over here:
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=30139

[proteus]

True there has been nothing from HAM so far but with both the BBC and Sky sports independently quoting senior figures at Mercedes and FIA, I think there is definitely a few sparks there at least go with the smoke.

Senior figures who are likely using the press to put pressure on FIA and to make his "return" next year more of a blessing.

Exactly this, it is just politics at the moment, and Hamilton is likely doing his own but of politics by refusing to engage.

He has also earned the right to just bugger off and put it all behind him though.

Why is this discussed under Mclaren thread at all?

[mclaren111]

Senior figures who are likely using the press to put pressure on FIA and to make his "return" next year more of a blessing.

Exactly this, it is just politics at the moment, and Hamilton is likely doing his own but of politics by refusing to engage.

He has also earned the right to just bugger off and put it all behind him though.

Why is this discussed under Mclaren thread at all?

Amen...

[mwillems]

Exactly this, it is just politics at the moment, and Hamilton is likely doing his own but of politics by refusing to engage.

He has also earned the right to just bugger off and put it all behind him though.

Why is this discussed under Mclaren thread at all?

Amen...

Because he was the last big Mclaren driver and it is off season.

Amen!

Dear lord lol

[mclaren111]

Why is this discussed under Mclaren thread at all?

Amen...

Because he was the last big Mclaren driver and it is off season.

Amen!

Dear lord lol

Enough of that Rubbish...

[proteus]

Why is this discussed under Mclaren thread at all?

Amen...

Because he was the last big Mclaren driver and it is off season.

Amen!

Dear lord lol

So Button, Alonso, Ricciardo and Norris are/were bunch of amateurs?...

[adrianjordan]

I;ve heard Sky report the same kind of thing. I reckon Lewis will come back to go for that 8th title. Show the kids how it is done and I am sure it will be impressive to see.

If he didn't come back..then I would be wanting a safe pair of hands in that car and maybe it would have to be Raikkonen

All I have heard is unnamed "sources" and I'm sorry they carry no more weight for me than "my mate down the pub".

To bring this back to the reason it was being discussed in this thread though, I don't believe Norris would be Merc's first target.

I think they would first of all try and get Bottas back - he knows the team and how they work etc. Failing that, I think they'd look to another Merc powered team and try to secure Vettel.