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could be the package the Ferrari offers. Ham may be getting enormous money. that could be the only reason I believe.Chuckjr wrote: ↑02 Feb 2024, 08:37Vettel should be completely removed from the discussion. You may as well hire Massa.
Now, the seemingly hasty action of Lewis leaving Merc to me points to a contract date of Jan 31 being a deadline. It’s clear this has been in discussion with Ferrari for some time. A decision like this takes months to come to and finalize. Toto seems to have had no idea and it’s announced over a 10 min meeting? There’s more here than meets the eye.
For Lewis this points to lack of confidence in the new chassis and team direction. He clearly feels he has as much of a chance at risking Ferrari as he does staying at Merc. But I dont think this is about championship hopes. Honestly. I think he knows nobody is beating RB before 2026. This likely is the last contract for Lewis so likely not as much confidence in Ferrari or Merc being able to deliver a faster car than RB, but more along the lines of living a childhood dream, and closing out with a Ferrari and Merc base of fans to draw on for years after retirement. It’s a business move, not a championship move.
Its about marketing and branding options, fan base depth, and trying to take home a few red trophies to finish the trophy wall. Not a championship. It crosses a lot of “t”’s and dots a lot of “i”’s for Lewis and this seems to outweigh the damage it’s going to foster this season. Lewis is sacrificing 2024 leaving like this. Merc will go full tilt King George. Full tilt and no apologies or F’s given.
Finally, isn’t it interesting when Rosberg left, Toto found out from a drop out of nowhere phone call? Same now with Lewis leaving. Why? Why are such accomplished drivers in such a prestigious team not taking the time to at least look Toto in the eye when announcing departure? Where’s the loyalty and respect? To me it points to some kind of disconnection between these drivers and the team leadership. After ten years Lewis leaves leaves Merc like this? I dunno. Seems abrupt and maybe a bit bitter? Maybe not.
"If you had told me two days ago that Lewis would leave for Ferrari, I would not have believed it. But in Formula 1, situations can change quickly. This can be compared to the situation of Nico Rosberg, whose farewell was also very unexpected.”
We consciously chose last year to opt for a short-term commitment,” Wolff continues. “To give Lewis options, but also ourselves. During the Christmas period I had the feeling that we were completely attuned to each other. You should ask him why he changed his mind. For me it is completely understandable. He said he needed a new challenge and a different environment. And that this may be his last chance to do something different. I respect that and fully understand that he can change his mind and every driver dreams of driving for Ferrari
We’re big boys, we knew that by signing a short-term contract, it could be of benefit for both sides. We couldn’t commit for a longer period. And he’s taken the option to exit. So we totally respect that you can change your mind. There’s different circumstances. And switching to Ferrari, maybe for the last [move] in his career. Maybe rolling the dice a bit, I can follow that decision
"We will do everything we can to make it a successful season and compete against Max Verstappen and Red Bull. Although I am well aware that we do not have the best credentials.”
We will see what the best combination with George is and perhaps we will go for a very daring move. I promise you that we will achieve success again with Mercedes in the long term, winning races and titles. And we look back on an incredibly wonderful time with Lewis at Mercedes.”
Did you read the story?Vanja #66 wrote: ↑02 Feb 2024, 13:59What I wanted?You lose your shining star and your biggest champion, and you can't be bothered to fly over from Europe to England to be present in person and share this with your team. To show strength and assure that everything will be good and incite new energy in your people... This way, you show that you either don't really care or you are too upset to face your team, can't say which is worse in this situation. Many people are looking at other teams' job openings after that, you can count on that.
Didn’t Lewis publicly mention in interviews to copy the red bull?f1jcw wrote: ↑02 Feb 2024, 14:03But you are just using your own thoughts on Merc/Lewis and projecting them into this post.chrisc90 wrote: ↑02 Feb 2024, 13:16Problem also is, it’s easy for Lewis to say to his team, copy Max’s car and it’ll make me fast. It does t work like that, You need to know how the other team made that car fast and how it works in harmony.
A driver should have trust in his engineers and aero department to give him the fastest car they can possibly make.
You have no idea what Lewis said to his team, you have no idea what level of engineering Lewis has, you are just speculating to post something negative.
According to this, Merc didn't want to make Lewis an ambassador until 2035. Elkann also threw a ton of money at Lewis, $400 mil to his projects and have made him an ambassador for Ferraristonehenge wrote: ↑02 Feb 2024, 14:55The only way this move makes sense to me is if Ferrari offered him a boatload of money to support his projects long-term and Mercedes couldn't/didn't want to match it. There are already reports that this is indeed what Ferrari offered him and if it is true, then I see why Lewis wouldn't turn it down. He's always cared a lot about having a lasting impact after he leaves the sport and this gives him the backing of the largest brand in F1 (and sports cars in general) to do just that while driving for Ferrari for a couple of years with a chance to become immortal by winning a championship in red. I don't see a world where Lewis would turn all of that down *unless* Mercedes offered him something comparable, and it's easy to imagine that the board didn't want to.
I understand that it wasn't a field trip, but rather a business commitment. Whenever the meeting was scheduled, he could have had the announcement in Brackley scheduled to make it in person, he has the money for a private flight whenever he needs it. Or, alternatively, just ask for the meeting in Milan to be moved or made online somehow. All this did is show he doesn't prioritise the F1 team that he co-owns and leads. No matter what is publicly stated, inside the time this is by far the biggest crisis period since Mercedes took it over.
Do you take it as a sign of person not reading something every time you don't agree with their point of view?
The sourcing for the specific numbers (400+ million) is a little dubious so I didn't want to quote it. But, as I was saying, some kind of agreement along those lines makes A LOT of sense to me.Luscion wrote: ↑02 Feb 2024, 15:02According to this, Merc didn't want to make Lewis an ambassador until 2035. Elkann also threw a ton of money at Lewis, $400 mil to his projects and have made him an ambassador for Ferraristonehenge wrote: ↑02 Feb 2024, 14:55The only way this move makes sense to me is if Ferrari offered him a boatload of money to support his projects long-term and Mercedes couldn't/didn't want to match it. There are already reports that this is indeed what Ferrari offered him and if it is true, then I see why Lewis wouldn't turn it down. He's always cared a lot about having a lasting impact after he leaves the sport and this gives him the backing of the largest brand in F1 (and sports cars in general) to do just that while driving for Ferrari for a couple of years with a chance to become immortal by winning a championship in red. I don't see a world where Lewis would turn all of that down *unless* Mercedes offered him something comparable, and it's easy to imagine that the board didn't want to.
You've had the version of events and still insist on being negative with accusation of Wolff not caring can't be bothered too upset to face team yadda yadda negative bingo.Vanja #66 wrote: ↑02 Feb 2024, 15:04I understand that it wasn't a field trip, but rather a business commitment. Whenever the meeting was scheduled, he could have had the announcement in Brackley scheduled to make it in person, he has the money for a private flight whenever he needs it. Or, alternatively, just ask for the meeting in Milan to be moved or made online somehow. All this did is show he doesn't prioritise the F1 team that he co-owns and leads. No matter what is publicly stated, inside the time this is by far the biggest crisis period since Mercedes took it over.
Do you take it as a sign of person not reading something every time you don't agree with their point of view?
Bizarre to accuse someone of not reading, while not reading yourself... I'll leave it at that.organic wrote: ↑02 Feb 2024, 14:07Reality is this:
- Lewis seat fit on 31st Jan and whilst he's in UK they have annual get-together at Wolff's house in Oxford
- Lewis breaks news of Ferrari move out of the blue to Toto face to face at his house, with his management informing Merc team officially, simultaneously, in person at Brackley with a formal letter
- Toto has a long-standing business meeting in Milan that was already scheduled so must attend. Flies out of UK 31st.
- Meeting conducted with Toto attending virtually but Allison was there in person .
- meeting concluded in less than 15mins
It was inevitable at some stage but aside from all negativity which is usual for this thread, I think it suits Hamilton and it suits mercedes.
