Hamilton to Mercedes

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DrTre

12,955 posts

231 months

Wednesday 5th September 2012
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McLaren have scotched the rumours, for what that's worth

DrTre

12,955 posts

231 months

Wednesday 5th September 2012
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Mermaid said:
Sod off
I was only saying...

hornetrider

63,161 posts

204 months

Wednesday 5th September 2012
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Redlake27

2,255 posts

243 months

Wednesday 5th September 2012
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It could make sense.

Hamilton has not made the most of his talent in the last two years. Brawn is a good man-manager. If I was him, I'd insist on Hamilton getting a driver coach to work on his mental strength before signing any contract. I think Hamilton needs a fresh start and new direction so he can make the most of his ability.

My opinion: Button and Kimi at McLaren. DiResta to McLaren or Mercedes in 2 years time.


Brawn have been champions more recently than McLaren, so it's not that far-fetched. From 2014, partnering with a team that is an engine manufacturer could be a smart move.

Crafty_

13,248 posts

199 months

Wednesday 5th September 2012
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Kimi wont go back to McLaren and I believe he has said as much. Doesn't like doing the PR stuff. In any case he's on a 2 year contract with the enstone lot, for whatever thats worth. He is also showing signs of frustration so I wouldn't be surprised to see him slipping back into 2008 "can't be arsed" mode fairly soon.

Again, Mercedes have been utterly nowhere for the last 3 years, given their accolades.
2009 was a one off that was afforded by millions of Honda bucks, that money is simply not available to the team and it seems they've lost expertise.
A 2014 engine won't matter if they can't get aero, tyre deg and strategy right, this is where Merc are hurting most.


Edited by Crafty_ on Wednesday 5th September 19:53

DanB7290

5,535 posts

189 months

Wednesday 5th September 2012
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If this is true, the new million dollar question is, who will replace him at McLaren?

zetec

4,465 posts

250 months

Wednesday 5th September 2012
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hornetrider said:
Brilliant!!

IMHO moving to Mercedes is a step down, only to be made if serious problems are in the team being left?

davepoth

29,395 posts

198 months

Wednesday 5th September 2012
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DanB7290 said:
If this is true, the new million dollar question is, who will replace him at McLaren?
Assuming JB stays on, it has to be a younger driver IMO. Di Resta gets mentioned, but McLaren are going to want a long term driver who is a potential champion, and I'm not sure if he is.

TheHeretic

73,668 posts

254 months

Wednesday 5th September 2012
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davepoth said:
Assuming JB stays on, it has to be a younger driver IMO. Di Resta gets mentioned, but McLaren are going to want a long term driver who is a potential champion, and I'm not sure if he is.
I can't see DiResta there. Algesuari, or maybe Kobi?

zetec

4,465 posts

250 months

Wednesday 5th September 2012
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TheHeretic said:
davepoth said:
Assuming JB stays on, it has to be a younger driver IMO. Di Resta gets mentioned, but McLaren are going to want a long term driver who is a potential champion, and I'm not sure if he is.
I can't see DiResta there. Algesuari, or maybe Kobi?
Rosberg?

Mermaid

21,492 posts

170 months

Wednesday 5th September 2012
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TheHeretic said:
or maybe Kobi?
I though that - but don't think so.

Perez or Grosjean... not Karthikeyan for sure smile

Matt..

3,586 posts

188 months

Wednesday 5th September 2012
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TheHeretic said:
I can't see DiResta there. Algesuari, or maybe Kobi?
Why can't You see DiResta there?

Algesuari or Kobi do not seem like McLaren drivers at all.


This whole thing seems highly unlikely though!

TheHeretic

73,668 posts

254 months

Wednesday 5th September 2012
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Matt.. said:
Why can't You see DiResta there?

Algesuari or Kobi do not seem like McLaren drivers at all.


This whole thing seems highly unlikely though!
I don't think he has done much to warrant it. Plus, if PR is so important to McLaren DiResta seems quite dour. I'd like to see Alg there. Young, talented, (surprised he never got a drive this year), and with a PR image they could use.

Norfolkit

2,394 posts

189 months

Wednesday 5th September 2012
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davepoth said:
DanB7290 said:
If this is true, the new million dollar question is, who will replace him at McLaren?
Assuming JB stays on, it has to be a younger driver IMO. Di Resta gets mentioned, but McLaren are going to want a long term driver who is a potential champion, and I'm not sure if he is.
I would agree with that and the only one who does fit that bill, IMO, is er... Grojean. He reminds me a lot of Alonso when he first moved from Minardi to Renault, quick but a bit accident prone.

c123

517 posts

148 months

Wednesday 5th September 2012
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To all those dismissing this due to the source being Eddie Jordan I just like to point out he was the first one to call Mercedes buying Brawn and also the first to say Schumacher would come out of retirement.

Of course that doesn’t mean the story is true but simply refusing to believe it because it is written by Andrew Benson, involves EJ, and is on the BBC (and only their because there hasn’t been much news on their site this year) is bizarre.

My take on it is Hamilton’s team are trying to squeeze McLaren. With Webber signing a new contract and Ferrari acting cool on Lewis, McLaren had the upper hand in negotiations as he didn’t seem to have anywhere else to go. This story could be just be a bluff in an attempt to show he still has options.

geezerbutler

523 posts

141 months

Wednesday 5th September 2012
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I get the feeling this is just sabre-rattling by Hamilton's management.

However, if it turns out to be true then I'm all for it. I'm growing tired of Lewis, his 'homies' and his annoying girlfriend. And how any driver can think it's OK (in any circumstances) to post confidential team data on a public service is beyond me.

McLaren need to refocus. Let's not forget that they haven't won a constructor's title since 1998.

If Lewis does go to Mercedes, then I think McLaren need to get proven winners in to the team and not worry so much about the long term. It seems to me that Lewis has been propping-up their appeal to sponsors - I mean, they may not be winning but Lewis has star power - I'm sure he can help Mercedes to out-sell the Escalade. If he goes, then what do they have? They're not championship winners, they don't have Ferrari's charisma and they don't use pay drivers (rightly).

The only thing they can do is start winning again and let that attract the sponsors and engine suppliers.

If Lewis goes then I think they should retain Jenson and pay whatever it takes to re-sign Kimi. Jenson doesn't look that hungry for another title to me - Kimi looks like he wants it and is frustrated that Lotus are 'close but no cigar'. So, Jenson can do the talking and the rear-gunnery while Kimi wins races.

Bradgate

2,819 posts

146 months

Wednesday 5th September 2012
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F1 journo Joe Saward blogged:

"Eddie Jordan is close to Bernie Ecclestone and it is not unusual for EJ to be used to put out stories. So if EJ is saying that Lewis Hamilton is close to signing for Mercedes, one needs to listen." He goes on to express scepticism, saying that the move would be a bad one for Lewis.

Both Hamilton and McLaren have been negotiating in public, with Lewis saying that he would be doing much less PR work in future, and Ron Dennis saying that Lewis would have to take a pay cut to stay at Woking.

This story may well be more of the same.


Edited by Bradgate on Wednesday 5th September 22:48

btcc123

1,243 posts

146 months

Wednesday 5th September 2012
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Personally I would prefer Hamilton to stay at Mclaren as I think he and Button get on pretty well and he would be more likely to win a championship there than at Mercedes.

Hamilton will not go to Mercedes just for a guaranteed Mercedes engines for 2014 as all the engine suppliers will supply two,three or four teams as they will need to recoup costs.

Maclaren are probably offering less money to Hamilton than before as they will have to pay for Mercedes engines next year,the leaking of information on twitter, his lack of focus over the last two years and the knowledge that he does not have a better team to move to as Red Bull and Ferrari told his management team they did not want him..The Mercedes link is probably a way of his management to up the price a bit and if he moved to mercedes it will be all about money and not championship ambitions.

In most jobs if you posted confidential company information on twitter you would more than likely get the sack and if it was another menber of the team that would have probably happened.So Mclaren want Hamilton for next year as he still has a job.

Edited by btcc123 on Wednesday 5th September 21:21

Clevers

1,171 posts

200 months

Wednesday 5th September 2012
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Bradgate said:
F1 journo Joe Saward blogged:

"Eddie Jordan is close to Bernie Ecclestone and it is not unusual for EJ to be used to put out stories. So if EJ is saying that Lewis Hamilton is close to signing for Mercedes, one needs to listen." He goes on to express scepticism, saying that the move would be a bad one for Lewis.

Both Hamilton and McLaren have been negotiating in public, with Lewis saying that he would be doing less PR work in future, and Ron Dennis saying that Lewis would have to take a pay cut to stay at Woking.

This story could be ore of the same.
Interesting.....I recall Bernie saying before the season started that he thought this would be Hamilton's last year at McLaren.

The only difference between McLaren and Mercedes at the moment is Mercedes are losing by a bigger margin than McLaren are losing by......but it's still losing.

Life Saab Itch

37,068 posts

187 months

Wednesday 5th September 2012
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I'll put my two pence in here.



Complete bks.
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