lol I'm sure he has his fail safe contract.
That’s not much good if he waits so long that he’s forced to join an uncompetitive team at the start of their building phase. It takes 5 years on average to build a competitive team in F1.
I agree. I think at that point it is just a paycheck decision.
True, I wonder if alpine are waving a massive check in front of him and he’s trying to decide if he wants to join a semi decent team with long running political instability, or join Audi and suffer at the back of the grid while hoping they can magic up a decent car quicker than average.
Well, you first have to drive for Ferrari to activate performance clauses. I don't think he has those kinds of clauses that would allow him to just terminate his fresh Ferrari contract and drive for other teams just like that. Ferrari has big plans with Hamilton's name.NL_Fer wrote:Didn’t Jenson Button regret signing when he was with Bar-Honda, than a court had to decide over it.Jurgen von Diaz wrote: ↑09 Jul 2024, 17:18No chance. Has anyone ever done it in F1 history? There must be some serious sanctions from Ferrari if Lewis were to do that. Lewis is Ferrari's "property" at least '25-'26, so he wouldn't be allowed to drive Merc's car if Ferrari says so, and it would be a breach of contract.CHT wrote:I know this may sound crazy, do you think it is possible that LH may end up staying with Merc and Sainz in Ferrari next year?
Considering the pecking order right now, there is really no reason for LH to leave Merc now if his desire is to win another WDC
But who knows, maybe Lewis had a few performance clauses for Ferrari too.
Max and Lewis in the same team? I don't think Elkan is crazy enough to sign that off.
Haha, that is quite silly. No way I see Max driving alongside Lewis.
Hamilton staying at Mercedes and Verstappen to Ferrari would indeed be an interesting plot twist!
I see Leclerc leaving for sure.codetower wrote: ↑10 Jul 2024, 15:33Haha, that is quite silly. No way I see Max driving alongside Lewis.
Are we doing the crazy predictions this early? OK, here's mine:
The big fish Toto is after is not really Verstappen, it's all a ruse. I say Charles has some exit clause and goes to Mercedes. Sainz re-signs at Ferrari. And I could see Piastri at RB 2026/27 (not sure when his contract is up).
If anyone had some common sense as far as drivers at Red Bull , they'd sign Sainz. But I really doubt it will happen.
I don't think the Verstappens are interested in Ferrari. Unless there's a total takeover of the team similar to before Schumacher. Max has had a front tow seat to all of the strategy errors. And has some big wins and records in his pocket due to some of them.
200iqPapayaFan481 wrote: ↑14 Jul 2024, 00:56The Race are now reporting that Sainz to Mercedes, with Kimi going to Williams for 2 years is a possibility.
I personally think that would be the best option for Carlos, Merc and Kimi. Perhaps even Williams if it comes with a discount on their PU's....
The Merc thing is just Toto's made-up show because he has an empty chair. The Verstappens would be interested in even Williams if that were dominant. If Ferrari were dominant, that would be the team the Verstappens would be interested in. Max has also talked about racing for Ferrari, just as Lewis has.TeamKoolGreen wrote:I don't think the Verstappens are interested in Ferrari. Unless there's a total takeover of the team similar to before Schumacher. Max has had a front tow seat to all of the strategy errors. And has some big wins and records in his pocket due to some of them.
The only team the Verstappen camp is interested in is Mercedes.