2019 Scuderia Ferrari F1 Team

[NathanOlder]

Indeed. Just like Alonso, as soon as he was put next to Hamilton he never won a title again, despite 12 years of trying! 17 wins in 12 years is Massa/Barrichello like stats, Lewis clearly made Fernando a number 2, and will do the same to Charles!

Or maybe Charles is better than you think selvam_e2002. A year or 2 next to Lewis won't end Leclercs career.

Put it another way, how many drivers on the grid have never ever lost in the championship to their team mate??

Alonso arguably performed better than Hamilton in inferior cars for a number of years after he left McLaren.

Hamilton is a great no doubt but he was very fortunate to drop on Mercedes, without them he would have even worse stats than Alonso.

Fortunate to drop on Mercedes?! so he was thrown out of Mclaren and the only team willing to take him was Mercedes. Yeah ok pal.

Alonso arguably...... er yeah, You are arguably a Hamilton hater. proven time and time again.

[Wass85]

Indeed. Just like Alonso, as soon as he was put next to Hamilton he never won a title again, despite 12 years of trying! 17 wins in 12 years is Massa/Barrichello like stats, Lewis clearly made Fernando a number 2, and will do the same to Charles!

Or maybe Charles is better than you think selvam_e2002. A year or 2 next to Lewis won't end Leclercs career.

Put it another way, how many drivers on the grid have never ever lost in the championship to their team mate??

Alonso arguably performed better than Hamilton in inferior cars for a number of years after he left McLaren.

Hamilton is a great no doubt but he was very fortunate to drop on Mercedes, without them he would have even worse stats than Alonso.

Fortunate to drop on Mercedes?! so he was thrown out of Mclaren and the only team willing to take him was Mercedes. Yeah ok pal.

Alonso arguably...... er yeah, You are arguably a Hamilton hater. proven time and time again.

Stop putting words in to my mouth. Lewis had no idea that Mercedes would be this successful in the hybrid era, he dropped on in the sense he's won so much in a team that most were begging him not to join.

[Jolle]

I think it's very cleaver from Ferrari to have Leclerc on a long term deal now. It secures them of a top driver for the next half a decade. Hamilton is a nice thought, but not really serious. That guy has been a Mercedes man since he was 13 and already talked about a role after his driving career. Other mid-term possibility is Verstappen but not only mighty expensive if he's their only choice, but with the relationship between the Wolff and Verstappen family, he would go to Mercedes before moving. to Ferrari (if he moves at all).

As for long term contracts, most drivers stay with their team for long these days, when they reached their top, so why not make it stable from the go?

What problem ferrari did create for itself, what to do with Vettel? They might see 2020 as another learning year, throwing points away with battling drivers or will they put Vettel in the number two position?

If Leclerc keeps developing like his peers, I do see vettel replaced with one of the hopefuls that are also out of contract at the end of 2020, the before mentioned Ricciardo or Sainz, although for Ricciardo this would mean a huge pay cut.

[Webber2011]

I think it's very cleaver from Ferrari to have Leclerc on a long term deal now. It secures them of a top driver for the next half a decade. Hamilton is a nice thought, but not really serious. That guy has been a Mercedes man since he was 13 and already talked about a role after his driving career. Other mid-term possibility is Verstappen but not only mighty expensive if he's their only choice, but with the relationship between the Wolff and Verstappen family, he would go to Mercedes before moving. to Ferrari (if he moves at all).

As for long term contracts, most drivers stay with their team for long these days, when they reached their top, so why not make it stable from the go?

What problem ferrari did create for itself, what to do with Vettel? They might see 2020 as another learning year, throwing points away with battling drivers or will they put Vettel in the number two position?

If Leclerc keeps developing like his peers, I do see vettel replaced with one of the hopefuls that are also out of contract at the end of 2020, the before mentioned Ricciardo or Sainz, although for Ricciardo this would mean a huge pay cut.

I strongly doubt Daniel would be worried about a pay cut v's a shot at the title.

[selvam_e2002]

I don't believe Daniel will join Ferrari because he left RB for same reason.

I also doubt Sainz. He is doing great at Meclaren so no to him as well.

If Mercedes saying in F1 then they will stick with Bottas.

The mistake Ferrari did was bringing Lecrec too early in Main team. Now they are paying for it. They have to stick with this kid for a while no options.

2020 will be same as 2019. Vellte never compromise his position. So no WDC and WCC for ferrari in 2020.

They have chance beyond 2021 but I don't think Lecrec can get those WDC and WCC. We need to see him how he performs as WCC/WDC contender. But I still doubt he can tolerate the pressure because he could not even tolerate pressure from his own team mate. So, it is very difficult for him and ferrari to win beyond 2021 until if they get experienced driver in the team.

sorry to say that but it is fact.

[saviour stivala]

"Sorry to say that but its a fact" would have been better expressed as your personal opinion.

[Wass85]

I don't believe Daniel will join Ferrari because he left RB for same reason.

I also doubt Sainz. He is doing great at Meclaren so no to him as well.

If Mercedes saying in F1 then they will stick with Bottas.

The mistake Ferrari did was bringing Lecrec too early in Main team. Now they are paying for it. They have to stick with this kid for a while no options.

2020 will be same as 2019. Vellte never compromise his position. So no WDC and WCC for ferrari in 2020.

They have chance beyond 2021 but I don't think Lecrec can get those WDC and WCC. We need to see him how he performs as WCC/WDC contender. But I still doubt he can tolerate the pressure because he could not even tolerate pressure from his own team mate. So, it is very difficult for him and ferrari to win beyond 2021 until if they get experienced driver in the team.

sorry to say that but it is fact.

The difference being the Red Bull at the time was not a title challenger. You would be a raving lunatic to turn down a drive in a championship contending car.

[PlatinumZealot]

I don't believe aging is as relevant to F1 as it is in other sports, as long as the driver can retain a certain level of fitness. One of the key points in succeeding in F1 even at an older age is adaptability, fitness, a fast car (duh) and a great team around you.

If Federer can still compete at the highest level of Tennis at 38.5, then Hamilton can easily remain competitive at his age and more.

even snooker players are mostly past their best by 40. Mostly what seems to happen in F1 is they start to make more errors, it must be something more that we'd think. But Lewis might last longer than most

It would be fitting if he went until he's Forty Four years old wouldn't you think?

[izzy]

even snooker players are mostly past their best by 40. Mostly what seems to happen in F1 is they start to make more errors, it must be something more that we'd think. But Lewis might last longer than most

It would be fitting if he went until he's Forty Four years old wouldn't you think?

lol yes it would, but i'm feeling more 38, end of the plateau just before the glide path really kicks in. That'd be through 2023, and 3 years in the new spec, would be okay

[dfegan358]

If Vettel has a great year and beats Leclerc anybody feel he could get an extension to his contract even for a year?

Obviously he has to improve and reduce mistakes but kimi got Ferrari extensions with arguably v average performance over few seasons and was comfortably slower than Vettel.

[JordanMugen]

If Vettel has a great year and beats Leclerc anybody feel he could get an extension to his contract even for a year?

Obviously he has to improve and reduce mistakes but kimi got Ferrari extensions with arguably v average performance over few seasons and was comfortably slower than Vettel.

That's very unlikely since Leclerc is the better driver.

If Ferrari renew Vettel again after they renewed him the first time despite mistakes, and signed him initially on an enormous salary to replace Alonso even though Vettel was already totally lacklustre in '14... Well Ferrari deserve what they get!!

[LM10]

Vettel has shown much better performance once his car got more downforce and rear end stability. I don’t remember any other mistake than his crash with Leclerc in Brazil.
He still is fast as hell when he feels comfortable, but it surely is a disadvantage that he can’t really adapt to a car he doesn’t like.

I don’t see a reason why his contract shouldn’t be extended especially when beating his team mate.

[PlatinumZealot]

even snooker players are mostly past their best by 40. Mostly what seems to happen in F1 is they start to make more errors, it must be something more that we'd think. But Lewis might last longer than most

It would be fitting if he went until he's Forty Four years old wouldn't you think?

lol yes it would, but i'm feeling more 38, end of the plateau just before the glide path really kicks in. That'd be through 2023, and 3 years in the new spec, would be okay

Over the years Lewis has maintained a much more youthful look than drivers in his age group and I am not certain, but I suppose this youthfulness extends into his neuro-muscular system as well. If this is indeed the case he should be able to peak into a much older age than the best drivers from the past. He has also adopted a Vegan diet and there is some scientific evidence that a Vegan diet extends one's youth somewhat. In fact I have a feeling this is what Hamilton is deliberately doing!



F1-metrics blog estimates the "cliff" age at about 41 years old. For Lewis it might be at least 2 to 5 years more before that point where he starts getting regular mid-race brain fades like Schumi was getting and Schumi was 42 i think. I won't be surprised to see bright springy Lewis with a slightly wrinkled Max verstappen beside him on the grid!

[selvam_e2002]

After all these drama(2019) in Ferrari I don't have any idea why he is still sticking with Ferrari. Ferrari will definitely support Lecrec instead of Vettel so, no hope for Vettel in Ferrari.

in 2020, if Vettel again screw ferrari and Lecrec like in 2019, his reputation gone and no one will pick him.

I strongly believe he will surprise all of us this year as Rosberg did.

[Big Tea]

If Vettel has a great year and beats Leclerc anybody feel he could get an extension to his contract even for a year?

Obviously he has to improve and reduce mistakes but kimi got Ferrari extensions with arguably v average performance over few seasons and was comfortably slower than Vettel.

Kini always did a good back up job, which I assume was his instruction. (Dont get in the way of the main man but maximise your points- sort of thing)
Seb would not go for that so has to go all out to win, which means taking points off the other Ferrari, and makes the likelihood of a collision high.

Not saying he will not, but I do not see him as a Kimi replacement, so not judged by the same options