2024 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[101FlyingDutchman]

Actually it was BOTH Serra and Hamilton that disagreed with Elliott. Serra left, and now Hamilton is leaving too. So i'm sure at least part of the reason for Hamilton leaving is because of Elliott's bad choices (and the engineering team not changing course once they knew, even when Hamilton kept telling them) that doomed Mercedes. I'm also sure poor negotiations by MER during contract time, and Hamilton's desire to be at FER before he retires, like all F1 drivers dream. Even Newey said the other day, his biggest regret is never working with FER nor Hamilton.

oh well We can safely say Mike elliot single-handedly brought down the house of mercedes F1. Out went engineers from Mercedes Engines, design, and now lewis. Oh and i forgot he left too.

if the W15 isn't good enough others will jump ship

I hope it’s good. I’d rather see multi teams in the fight the next few years. For the fairly neutral fans that has got to be better then a team being picked apart.

[AMG.Tzan]

Loïc Serra who on the direction of the 22/23 cars disagreed with Mike Elliott.

Actually it was BOTH Serra and Hamilton that disagreed with Elliott. Serra left, and now Hamilton is leaving too. So i'm sure at least part of the reason for Hamilton leaving is because of Elliott's bad choices (and the engineering team not changing course once they knew, even when Hamilton kept telling them) that doomed Mercedes. I'm also sure poor negotiations by MER during contract time, and Hamilton's desire to be at FER before he retires, like all F1 drivers dream. Even Newey said the other day, his biggest regret is never working with FER nor Hamilton.

So this is pretty much Newey’s perfect opportunity at working with a proper legendary manufacturer and a legendary driver at the same time instead of working for a drinks company and a fast but irrelevant and boring driver…

In all seriousness I think probably it was more about the seat of ambassador after retiring and getting an investment from the team in his own businesses outside f1 that won Lewis over at Ferrari! Sure he’ll want to drive for Ferrari but had Mercedes offered him the same (which was rumored for quite a lot of years) he probably would have stayed!

After all Elliot has already left and Allison has taken over the project! So I wouldn’t say Lewis’s reason for leaving was the car! He would have left already if that was the case…

Why doesn’t f1 cancel the 2024 season altogether and let’s go straight to 2025?

[chrisc90]

It'll certainly be interesting to see what the W15 is capable of this season. And especially if Lewis' requests to the changes and feel of the car were actually followed through with. I dont think it was/would have been the car to make his mind up, at this stage of the season, but I guess Lewis knows a lot more than we do at this current stage about the car.

I still think it'll be a 3 way fight behind Max/RB with others trading points and a close fight for P2 in the WDC.

Its certainly going to be a VERY interesting 2024 thats for sure,

[AR3-GP]

"This is a dynamic environment and signing a five-year contract means that you need to discuss about [if] there is any escape clause in case we're not providing him with a car that is performing," Wolff told Sky Sports F1.

"So, we didn't entertain that. We said we see the foreseeable future is two years. And that's what we are committing to each other."

https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/wolff ... wo%20years.

[AR3-GP]

In all seriousness I think probably it was more about the seat of ambassador after retiring and getting an investment from the team in his own businesses outside f1 that won Lewis over at Ferrari! Sure he’ll want to drive for Ferrari but had Mercedes offered him the same (which was rumored for quite a lot of years) he probably would have stayed!

Team principal and part-owner Wolff said at the F1 Belgian Grand Prix: “No, we’re not talking about an ambassadorial role post his retirement, nor is that part of the contract negotiations.

“I think he has many years to go as a driver within this team and therefore it’s only about cleaning things up in the contract.

https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/hamil ... /10503274/

[KimiRai]

Agree. Some are just stirring for Merc’s downfall, and expecting an implosion.

Says the one who was hoping for an Aston Martin implosion for much of 2023... Come on, I haven't forgotten.

[langedweil]

Merc losing their most prized asset LH to Ferrari is a big shock and disaster for team owners. Come 2025, LH will no longer be Merc's brand ambassador.

As for LH, going to Ferrari may sound fantastic at the moment, but I have my doubts that LH could establish himself at Ferrari alongside Charles.
e.g. When MS moved from Ferrari to Merc, he was struggling to keep pace with much younger Rosberg and I am guessing the same could happen to LH as well.

Perhaps my speculation that Merc selling the team may become a reality soon

Schumacher did not move from Fer to MB; he retired, lasting 3 yrs, before stepping in for the 2010 MB. That's a slight difference ...

[AR3-GP]

Perhaps my speculation that Merc selling the team may become a reality soon

Merc is only a part-owner. They can sell their stake, but it's only 33% iirc.

[mendis]

Team principal and part-owner Wolff said at the F1 Belgian Grand Prix: “No, we’re not talking about an ambassadorial role post his retirement, nor is that part of the contract negotiations.

“I think he has many years to go as a driver within this team and therefore it’s only about cleaning things up in the contract.

https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/hamil ... /10503274/

I wonder where did this crap of Ambassador role emanated from? Anyone know if Lewis himself spoke about it ever? It's all just speculations and no official comments on the affirmative.

[organic]

"This is a dynamic environment and signing a five-year contract means that you need to discuss about [if] there is any escape clause in case we're not providing him with a car that is performing," Wolff told Sky Sports F1.

"So, we didn't entertain that. We said we see the foreseeable future is two years. And that's what we are committing to each other."

https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/wolff ... wo%20years.

Wow

[chrisc90]

"This is a dynamic environment and signing a five-year contract means that you need to discuss about [if] there is any escape clause in case we're not providing him with a car that is performing," Wolff told Sky Sports F1.

"So, we didn't entertain that. We said we see the foreseeable future is two years. And that's what we are committing to each other."

https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/wolff ... wo%20years.

Wow

Certainly a lot of interesting quotes in there from 4-5months ago! Wonder if Toto will go back and have a read of those comments he made

[Chuckjr]

Team principal and part-owner Wolff said at the F1 Belgian Grand Prix: “No, we’re not talking about an ambassadorial role post his retirement, nor is that part of the contract negotiations.

“I think he has many years to go as a driver within this team and therefore it’s only about cleaning things up in the contract.

https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/hamil ... /10503274/

I wonder where did this crap of Ambassador role emanated from? Anyone know if Lewis himself spoke about it ever? It's all just speculations and no official comments on the affirmative.

Agree.

Lewis has never so much as turned a wheel in a Ferrari, never even won a race with them, yet alone a championship, and he’s going to be the face of Ferrari when he retires?? What kind of idiot idea is that? That’s like Tom Brady becoming an ambassador for the Chicago Bears. Or Michael Jordan becoming ambassador for the Nicks. I mean, who thinks of this?

What happens if Lewis fails to beat Shal? What happens if he fails to even win a race? There’s zero guarantee he will be successful and I’m to believe Ferrari just unloaded a half billion dollar truck and the keys to the future kingdom of Ferrari for a quickly aging dude to spend on his outside F1 woke agenda fantasies when he retires? Come on man. That makes ZERO sense.

[AR3-GP]

https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/wolff ... wo%20years.

Wow

Certainly a lot of interesting quotes in there from 4-5months ago! Wonder if Toto will go back and have a read of those comments he made

Exactly.

In my opinion, there's nothing in there that suggest Mercedes/Toto was planning to drop Hamilton in any fashion. They were committed to maintaining some form of relationship. This 2 year deal was supposed to be a formality so that Hamilton didn't feel stuck driving a car that isn't good enough. It was something to give Hamilton a way to "retire" into a softer role with the team if the car wasn't good enough, not jump to Ferrari.

Toto's reaction seems similar to when Ricciardo told Horner that he was going to Renault.

[dialtone]

https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/hamil ... /10503274/

I wonder where did this crap of Ambassador role emanated from? Anyone know if Lewis himself spoke about it ever? It's all just speculations and no official comments on the affirmative.

Agree.

Lewis has never so much as turned a wheel in a Ferrari, never even won a race with them, yet alone a championship, and he’s going to be the face of Ferrari when he retires?? What kind of idiot idea is that? That’s like Tom Brady becoming an ambassador for the Chicago Bears. Or Michael Jordan becoming ambassador for the Nicks. I mean, who thinks of this?

What happens if Lewis fails to beat Shal? What happens if he fails to even win a race? There’s zero guarantee he will be successful and I’m to believe Ferrari just unloaded a half billion dollar truck and the keys to the future kingdom of Ferrari for a quickly aging dude to spend on his outside F1 woke agenda fantasies when he retires? Come on man. That makes ZERO sense.

Nothing happens to Hamilton, nothing happened to Schumacher when he came back to Mercedes. When Rossi moved to Ducati nobody thought less of him afterwards because he didn't win a championship like Stoner did.

This also is not similar to Tom Brady at all, but if we want to go there, Brady was always talked about as a system QB that without Belichick wouldn't have won anything, so he needed to prove himself the GOAT by winning with another team, and he also beat Mahomes in doing so, cementing himself the GOAT. So the challenge is there for Lewis, doing it with Ferrari has unlimited upside for him. Ferrari has taken out a dangerous rival from competition. And F1 brands aren't football teams, they have products to sell and marketing to run. Lewis has been a Ferrari customer for decades, is a driver, in fact potentially the GOAT depending on the next few years, Ferrari would be absolutely mad to not take the whole package, including engineers, that are coming with Lewis and use it for the next decade+ of marketing initiatives having the GOAT driving for you. $100mil/yr is a drop in the bucket.

I bet nobody in Ferrari management could believe what they were witnessing as this was unfolding. For how much they are clowned in memes, Vasseur has been an absolute sniper.

EDIT: I'll add, Schumacher remained beloved by Ferrari fans after the move, they instead blamed Ferrari for letting him retire, this is only fuel for a marketing campaign as it shows how broad the appeal of Lewis' brand is.

[Vanja #66]

Vasseur has been an absolute sniper.

Yeah, this was a textbook, cold-blooded cutthroat move...

I honestly always thought Hamilton wouldn't really want to go to Ferrari just so he could later take a position as one of the very few greats that never went to drive for Ferrari and keep all his success within UK(-based) teams. So many times he had thebtalks and it was always to solidify his position. But there we have it, everyone really is a Ferrari fan.