It was written in the stars, or rather the rumourmill, and today, Renault F1 has confirmed that Fernando Alonso will return to the team with which he won his two F1 World Championships with.
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He cried, and was extremely emotional, and was thanking the team for this yourney and how they can make things possible and how he never imagined he would amount to this, and he motivated young people that anything is possible if you go for it.
However, the way he portrayed this, how extremely emotional he was about it, was like somebody who just ran his final race and retires permanently. It was almost like this was also the last possibility of Merc dominance, it was that 'odd' to me. It looked and felt like he 'said goodbye' in a sense and that after the final 2020 GP he's going to retire from F1 permanently.
So much really that I was wondering whether he was preparing to shock the F1 world by announcing his departure from F1 right then and right there.
It left me dazed and confused to be honest.
Why are you confused by Hamilton's reaction? He lives to win races and titles. He's just matched the title record, a record he saw being set when he was a child / young driver with nothing but dreams ahead of him.
His reaction shows that he is hugely emotionally involved in his sport, that it is hugely important to him - contrary to what some people think of him.
Let's remember that Schumacher cried in the post race press conference after beating Senna's win record.
These things matter to the drivers, even the greats. We should be glad that the drivers are this emotionally involved in their sport.
If you are more fortunate than others, build a larger table not a taller fence.
Zero chance Hamilton is quitting IMO. Just caught up in the emotion of what he’s accomplished with his words post race. He will at least race on to the rule change.
I have to mention guys, he has said 'with Mercedes' several times, I do not recall him saying 'Driving' at all?
I think he will do 2 years, but you never can tell
When arguing with a fool, be sure the other person is not doing the same thing.
Zero chance Hamilton is quitting IMO. Just caught up in the emotion of what he’s accomplished with his words post race. He will at least race on to the rule change.
Wolff is more likely to quit.
After Wolff has broken Todt’s record dominant streak, and missed out on Carey/Domenicali’s job... perhaps Todt’s job? or perhaps AM, as some rumors say, but somehow I doubt the AM stuff
You make a good point here. I believe many people under estimate the Hamilton effect in the team. As was the Schumacher effect at Ferrari of the time.
Mercedes are unquestionably a superb team, the best at the moment, but how much of this is Toto a,d how much is Hamilton? The whole F1 'thing' is about a couple of % between good and best. A focus could make that difference easily.
Even if Toto and Lewis suddenly leaves end of 2020, come 2021 the team will still be a powerhouse. THE powerhouse.
Much like Ferrari in 2007-2008. The 2009 (same as 2022) rule reset will negate any lasting effects they would have had though and it will be a new start needing new leadership. But up to then I suspect losing 2 (albeit the 2 most key) players will not hamper them too much
Actually if not Bottas would have signed him, he should have been Hamilton team mate, but I hope for him that he will be Verstappens team-mate. He knows tire management like hamilton. Not the fastest in the first stint, but he is there when it matters.
Russel and Perez in Mercedes when Hamilton retires ?
Could have been a nice pairing
Actually if not Bottas would have signed him, he should have been Hamilton team mate, but I hope for him that he will be Verstappens team-mate. He knows tire management like hamilton. Not the fastest in the first stint, but he is there when it matters.
Russel and Perez in Mercedes when Hamilton retires ?
Could have been a nice pairing
This is not a slight to Perez — but I doubt he was ever in contention for Merc. Even if he was out of contract start of the year he would not have been, IMO.
Bottas has been doing a good job as a number 2, it has to be said. And Bottas does a good enough job to be able to claim the WCC with Hamilton dominating and claiming the WDC. In Perez there are more uncertains given the team don’t know him.
If he’s faster than VB77 — maybe that could create Rosberg-style tension.
If he’s same — then why did theh bother?
If he’s slower — then they threw away a better driver, in a sense.
I agree with your conclusion, but not with all the details of your analysis. But I won't get into the things I don't agree with.
Basically yes I agree Sergio wouldn't have been chosen over Bottas.
For me it's simply because of something Toto said that they did not like having the rivalry that they had with Nico and everything that went with dealing with that type of dynamic week in week out. Sergio has shown lots of times he's the kind of driver who pushes hard and is very dependable. I think Sergio wouldn't act like a number 2 driver at all...
With Bottas they have a guy who even if he pushes to his limits. Hes just not good enough to beat Hamilton so he's not a problem.
Even if he tried to be.
I don't know if he would be better or worse or the same as Bottas but like Rayman already said it simply wouldn't really have that great of a gain to be worth it and the risk would be too high potentially.
I think the timing is wrong for Perez at Mercedes. Because when Bottas is done they will probably take George and when Hamilton is done they might see Perez as too old. So minus well again keep Bottas.
The timing just isn't there for Perez in any scenario.
Perez is like a more resilient Jenson Button. He won't trouble Hamilton in qualifying, but he will have more consistent race pace and wet weather driving to bring home more points than Bottas.
Bottas vs Perez is a different matter. In that case Bottas actually should bring more points by virtue of running out front.
In other words Bottas does well as a lead qualifier. Not so well fighting away from the pack.
Perez is more rounded and effective and thus compliments a speedster like Hamilton.
Perez is a Type A -exellent race, solid qualy
Bottas is a Type B - good race, excellent qualy
Hamilton is a Type C - excellent race, excellent qually
Type A and Type B are 90% effective
Type A and type C are 95% effective
Type B and Type C are 85%
Perez is more rounded and effective and thus compliments a speedster like Hamilton.
Yeah Perez is an amazing racer...
But team bosses are scared of having two aces in one team.
MOST team's historically have been more comfortable having one Beta and one Alfa male.
Or a Beta who thinks hes an Alfa (pseudo Alfa) like Bottas or Mark Webber.
Which is why i think they will keep Albon at RedBull...
I guess by my own logic Hulkenberg is more qualified because hes underqualified.
Its almost like being mediocre works to the advantage for Hulk and Bottas against Perez.
So sad ill miss Perez.
I dont buy this narrative that Perez is far superior to Hulkenberg. To me, Perez's strengths are his consistency, tyre management and the fact that he doesn't DNFs. Where others fall by the wayside, be it by their own fault or not, he is there to take the scarps. Hulkenberg is a faster driver, but tend to do mistakes, which costs podiums and points.
So on one hand you have a faster driver, but more risky in terms of getting the podiums and points. On the other you have a more consistent, opportunistic driver, who will get you the points.
Tried to take a few from top/mid teams that have been around for a few years. From this list, only Hamilton beats Perez in less DNFs.
It looks to me that people in the midfield generally has more DNFs than top teams, which would be logical since they are smaller teams and tighter midfield battles tends to be the norm, which increases the risks for DNFs. However, Perez stands out by having the reliablility of top teams, but in a midfield car. Thus, his points scoring capabilities get a knock-on effect by that.
For me, Hulkenberg has a higher high than Perez, but also a lower low, with more proneness to make mistakes. Perez has more of a middleground, where he just keeps pumping in points for the team.
The Button - Perez analogy I can get, but when in comes to wet weather, I don't think Perez is one of the better ones there and thus not better than Buttons wet weather driving. That is something even the most hardcore Perez fans would tell you.
I think Hulkenberg has more to gain from being in a top team. Both in terms of less DNFs, but I also think a few good results would do him good. I mean, having the record of most racestarts without a podium must have taken a mental hit. It would be interesting to see where he would go if that hurdle would be overcome with a few good results. He did have quite a good junior career though, having brushed Perez aside the few times they came across eachother in junior categories. So I think it pretty much ignorant to brush Hulkenberg aside for being a 'mediocre' driver. In terms of racing career, he has far more titles than Perez, so you would think that speed is in there somewhere.
Generally I would say that Hulkenberg is a faster driver than Perez in out-and-out pace. However, there is a debate to be made regarding 'better driver', since other criterias comes into play on that one, and it's a matter of what you value in a driver.
Perez in a top team, I reckon, would pretty much collect as many points as Bottas does, just doing it in a different way. By being more consistent. I dont see Perez win many races in a Mercedes/Red Bull. Nor do I think Perez/Verstappen is a good combination. I wouldn't be suprised to see a Perez-Ocon situation if that were to happen, due to Verstappen showing some hot-headedness, and Perez on occasions doing some borderline defending.
It would be fun to see either in a top team. I seem to not rate Perez as highly as some others do though. I don't think he is bad by any stretch of the imagination. I could, as I pointed out, see why people would argue that he is the slightly better driver. I would put them somewhat neck-and-neck, with each driver having their niche. However, when you put Perez and Hulkenberg in different brackets, that's not something I ascribe to.
