Hamilton to leave for Mercedes 2013

[Vanja #66]

Hi Mercedez Fanz. We are going to be bwest Fwiendz!

Dear God, my stomach hurts...

[FrukostScones]

Hi Mercedez Fanz. We are going to be bwest Fwiendz!

LOL

[smellybeard]

If things go bad at Mercedes i don´t see him going back. I think Ferrari and Red Bull will be more lucrative options.

Unless of course Mclaren wins the coming championships and then all of a sudden the tide has changed and Mclaren don´t need Hamilton.

=D>
Yeah, right.
If he's a looser in Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull will go mad to get him and will pay millions?

If this doesn't work (and I doubt it will) this will be the end of Lewis as a racing driver. A waste and terrible management.

[Kiril Varbanov]

That surely puts Hamilton out of the title chase this year. I doubt that Mclaren will ever allow him any access to data, next season developments, etc. But they already did enough to take him out of the competition ...

So, down to Vettel and Alonso = we shall have a new three times world champion this year ...

[andrewf1]

As a hamilton fan I am happy. The negative comments are coming from hamilton detractors as usual.

I´m one of the biggest Hamilton fans there is and yes i believe he blew it like no other driver ever in F1.

I am also one of the biggest Hamilton fans and I think he ducked up big time. McLaren was his family, giving him everything he wanted. Money is not everything. Ron was a father to him. And that's how he thanks him? And yes, Lewis will realise how much he ducked everything up and he will beg them to take him back for a lot less money they offered him now.

Reminds me of Senna's move to Williams. Didn't end well.

How much does the man have to do to 'thank' Mclaren? He won them a WDC, the fact that it's been only one since 2008 doesnt have that much to do with Hamilton but with Mclaren. 2009, they messed up, 2010 & 2011 were the Red Bull years and this year Mclaren has messed up massively again - with all the pitstops and refueling and gearbox problems. You could argue that in 2010 Lewis could've won but binned it in Monza - fair enough, that was his mistake, but everything else has been Mclaren's inconsistency of challenging for the titles. He has thanked them enough. Mclaren should be the ones thanking him, if they go through another slump of form in the middle of the 2013 season like they did this year, they'll be lost if they rely on Button to salvage some points.

[clipsy1H]

this guy never will win another championship..... only chance for him is to have a incredible car and fight again with Massa or maybe this time with Grosjean or Perez

But for Merc is a good choice .... Micheal is to old to deliver results.

[sAx]

So Merc think that Hamilton is better than Schumacher for building the team up? LOL.

Maybe they think that Hamilton's chances for a WDC/WCC is better than Schumacher's.

[Nando]

If things go bad at Mercedes i don´t see him going back. I think Ferrari and Red Bull will be more lucrative options.

Unless of course Mclaren wins the coming championships and then all of a sudden the tide has changed and Mclaren don´t need Hamilton.

=D>
Yeah, right.
If he's a looser in Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull will go mad to get him and will pay millions?

If this doesn't work (and I doubt it will) this will be the end of Lewis as a racing driver. A waste and terrible management.

Only a retarded person would ignore the fastest man in F1.

To quote Domenicali in 2011 (the worst year of Hamilton) "It would be foolish to close the door on a driver of that caliber"

Bottom line is this, "People who know, knows."

[dren]

Hamilton and Vettel are the top two qualifiers right now. I'd even throw Rosberg in the mix. I'm curious to see how well Hamilton qualifies compared to Rosberg.

Even though I really hate the move, If I was team owner of Mercedes, I would have done the same. There are three or four top notch drivers in F1 and Hamilton is one of them. He is likely the quickest driver in F1. Mercedes needed somebody like him. Schumacher isn't going to be around much longer, or any longer now. Perhaps he will stay within the team and mentor Hamilton.

[phillippe]

The entire sequence of events seems to suggest more number of losers that winners. Hamilton's stated dream of multiple WDCs looks certainly more difficult in the immediate future. Even if we were to ignore the BAT, BAR and Honda era, based on the the developments from BGP-001 to W03, there is no evidence to suggest that Mercedes will produce a title contender next year. Hamilton is not known for his patience or diplomacy when things do not go exactly his way. While there is an opportunity to build a team, Hamilton has so far not demonstrated any such leadership capabilities. In fact, despite his shorter tenure at McLaren, Button seems to have endeared himself more to the whole team more than Hamilton, who was a McLaren protege. So, even to start with, this move doesnt seem to be a match made in heaven. However, if we were to ignore the public statements for a moment; if Hamilton's leanings are indeed towards a higher salary, more freedom for personal advertising, the satisfaction of having his picture next to Mercedes' next S whatever it is, revenue share from sale of Mercedes racing gear and caps, and going to sleep hugging the original driver's trophies he is likely to win at Mercedes, however few, or rare that possibility might be, then this is a good move.

I am not sure that Mercedes as a racing team has gained anything either. Forget about Hamilton "being the last missing piece in Brawn's jigsaw", he would be of help only if the weakness of the team was in the drivers' department. While Schumacher may have had a mixed season, be it due to mistakes or luck, the overall dismal performance of the team has nothing to do with either Rosberg or Schumacher. The less said about Mercedes' organisational capabilities, the better.

McLaren seems to have lost out as well; neither Jenson nor Perez seems to have the raw pace of Hamilton. Unless McLaren's cars would be clearly dominant, I cannot see either of them taking a title fight to Alonso or Vettel. McLaren has produced its share of average cars or complete lemons since 2000, and Button cannot, and Perez doesnt seem to have the ability to wring out that extra pace from a slightly sub-par car in the way Alonso and Hamilton seem to be capable of. In this light, McLaren's decision to not at least match Hamilton's current salary is questionable absent absent commercial difficulties. I am ambivalent about retention of original trophies, though I can imagine an organisation like McLaren being uptight about it. But it is difficult to comprehend that this was a deal breaker for Hamilton - especially when the likes of Senna and Prost had agreed to retain replicas.

As for Perez and Button, if either of them completely dominates the other, the loser will be surely relegated to a midfield team or even the grid's end when their contract expires - the loss of credibility is markedly different when being whitewashed by an Alonso or a Hamilton vs. being whitewashed by a Button or Perez. If either of them indeed dominates the other, that doesnt make him a star either considering both havent been trailblazers so far in their careers. Only WDCs or being extremely consistent challengers to WDCs would be recognition enough. In this regard, both their futures seem to be heavily dependent on McLaren producing clearly dominating cars. A WDC in a dominant car can undoubtedly mask otherwise debatable ability (like JV at Williams or Button himself at Brawn). Having said that, Perez couldnt have asked for more at this point in his career.

Michael Schumacher - During the first leg of his career, I had admired him for his achievements and loathed him for all the reasons he is notorious for. But surely, this is not a pleasant way to end a comeback.

The sure shot winner in this saga seems to be XIX. One can be certain that their compensation under the management contracts is linked to their driver's compensation package; harder to imagine this being linked to their driver's chances at WDC (though, admittedly, there is a long-term indirect impact). So, unlikely that XIX cares about the number of WDCs Hamilton is likely to win at Mercedes, but surely is concerned about a possible pay cut for Hamilton at McLaren. Anthony Hamilton would surely have evaluated this move much longer, if not have advised Hamilton to remain at McLaren.

The other clear winners seem to be Brawn and Haug. A related development is Lauda's rumoured return to F1 management, at Mercedes. Well, the last time he was at Jaguar, he didnt set anything on fire with his managerial abilities. With the Hamilton move, which would complete Brawn's otherwise incomplete jigsaw ( ) plus Lauda as another new messiah, plus the media attention (and possible outrage) over Schumacher's sacking, what this really looks like is that yet again, Brawn and Haug seem to have managed to divert attention away from the real issues plaguing Mercedes. Now that this will be the hot topic, people are less likely to notice that the latest raft of 'big' updates for Singapore from the combined might of Costa, Willis, et al, has not taken the team any further up the grid. Sheer brilliance from the part of Brawn and Haug, any which way one would look at it.

[Nando]

I just hope Mercedes can build proper cars. It´s an embarassement bringing in a different length to the chassis mid-season among other stuff.

3 years and they still have massive problems with rear deg. Perhaps the Mc-solution solves this in the coming races but it really does seem they are clueless from time to time.

I doubt they even realize how they won the Chinese GP.

[Ganxxta]

I wish Hamilton good luck next year (he will need it)

I just hope Mercedes fails to deliver a winning car again, I wonder how long Lewis will keep his mouth shut like MSC did, I give him 3 bad races tops This will be funny to watch.

I wonder what the excuses then will be from Brawn and Haug...

[raymondu999]

That surely puts Hamilton out of the title chase this year. I doubt that Mclaren will ever allow him any access to data, next season developments, etc. But they already did enough to take him out of the competition ...

So, down to Vettel and Alonso = we shall have a new three times world champion this year ...

I very much agree. I thought Hamilton shot himself in the foot when he introduced the move - now McLaren have no incentive to back him as their number one driver - especially as it will alienate someone who will continue with them.

[marcush.]

Hamilton and Vettel are the top two qualifiers right now. I'd even throw Rosberg in the mix. I'm curious to see how well Hamilton qualifies compared to Rosberg.

Even though I really hate the move, If I was team owner of Mercedes, I would have done the same. There are three or four top notch drivers in F1 and Hamilton is one of them. He is likely the quickest driver in F1. Mercedes needed somebody like him. Schumacher isn't going to be around much longer, or any longer now. Perhaps he will stay within the team and mentor Hamilton.

When was Rosberg pulling something from the car in Q3 this year?It was Schumacher who qualified the car in the top 6 with rosberg having China and Monaco ...

I don´t see Hamilton in a good position next year unfortunatelly.The question is :will the team hold together even in hard times for 2014? But let´s wait and see ...Lauda should be able to fix all the problems as he did at Jaguar....

[phillippe]

That surely puts Hamilton out of the title chase this year. I doubt that Mclaren will ever allow him any access to data, next season developments, etc. But they already did enough to take him out of the competition ...

So, down to Vettel and Alonso = we shall have a new three times world champion this year ...

I very much agree. I thought Hamilton shot himself in the foot when he introduced the move - now McLaren have no incentive to back him as their number one driver - especially as it will alienate someone who will continue with them.

Definitely no No. 1 status for the reason explained by raymond. However, I would think McLaren will do everything else to enable Hamilton to win. Even if that means he takes away the No. 1 on his car to Mercedes.

As far as access to data etc., it will stop from now on. I do not know what value it would be to Mercedes regards stuff he already knows about next season.