The Official F1 2024 silly season *contains speculation*
Discussion
Ferrari have increased their pay off to Binotto and extended his gardening leave from 6 to 12 months, so he now won't be able to join another team until 2024. https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1018693/1/ferrari-bl...
ajprice said:
Ferrari have increased their pay off to Binotto and extended his gardening leave from 6 to 12 months, so he now won't be able to join another team until 2024. https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1018693/1/ferrari-bl...
Gotta make sure they are number 1 at screwing upFranz Tost stepping down from Alpha Tauri at the end of the year, to be replaced by Laurent Mekies from Ferrari for 2024. https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/mekies-to-replac...
vulture1 said:
Mainstream newspapers seem convinced Ferrari are going to offer Lewis a deal for next year. Surprised it hasn't come up here.
I just can't see it. At this stage of his career; it doesn't make sense for Hamilton and it doesn't make sense for Ferrari.
Hamilton is in the midst of contract discussions with Mercedes. Stories in the press, coincidentally in the middle of those discussions, about a potential deal with Ferrari do him no harm at all in those negotiations, if you get my drift.
Stranger things have happened, but it looks like tabloid speculation to me.
Muzzer79 said:
I just can't see it.
At this stage of his career; it doesn't make sense for Hamilton and it doesn't make sense for Ferrari.
Hamilton is in the midst of contract discussions with Mercedes. Stories in the press, coincidentally in the middle of those discussions, about a potential deal with Ferrari do him no harm at all in those negotiations, if you get my drift.
Stranger things have happened, but it looks like tabloid speculation to me.
I'd agree except for the woeful Merc car spoiling the plan. If (and it's a big if) Lewis thinks Ferarri offers him a better chance for title number 8 (plus a huge chunk of money) I could see the temptation.At this stage of his career; it doesn't make sense for Hamilton and it doesn't make sense for Ferrari.
Hamilton is in the midst of contract discussions with Mercedes. Stories in the press, coincidentally in the middle of those discussions, about a potential deal with Ferrari do him no harm at all in those negotiations, if you get my drift.
Stranger things have happened, but it looks like tabloid speculation to me.
vulture1 said:
Mainstream newspapers seem convinced Ferrari are going to offer Lewis a deal for next year. Surprised it hasn't come up here.
It would be interesting to see if he could do what Alonso/Vettel couldn't do, but, I struggle to see Hamilton in red.Lewis wouldn't be putting the car in the barriers often but Ferrari have bigger issues than the arse that's sat in the seat.
The chaos of Maranello is probably a world away from what he's used to with the precise/logical appearance of a Ron Dennis McLaren team and Mercedes.
Maybe give Fred a couple of years to calm the ship and then it might be an option.
It could be a straight swap with Charles. Lewis will be leaving Merc sooner or later one way or another, and as far as I know they don't have anybody else lined up to fill the seat when that happens. If Charles has approached them about being interested and available for the Merc seat then the team might be gently and subtly encouraging Lewis to either retire or look for other opportunities so they can grab a younger top line driver with long term potential. These opportunities don't come around often, and if they wait another year for Lewis to decide what he wants to do they might miss out and have no other realistic alternatives when the time comes.
Like it or not, Lewis is an old man in F1 driver terms now, and his best years are behind him. Merc need to look to the future and build a team to challenge RBR in the long term. Lewis will likely be retired by the end of this rules cycle, so he might as well go out with a final flourish if it is being offered to him. However it turned out, it would be interesting to watch from the outside.
Like it or not, Lewis is an old man in F1 driver terms now, and his best years are behind him. Merc need to look to the future and build a team to challenge RBR in the long term. Lewis will likely be retired by the end of this rules cycle, so he might as well go out with a final flourish if it is being offered to him. However it turned out, it would be interesting to watch from the outside.
SmoothCriminal said:
Lewis should go.
He has achieved everything at Mercedes-Benz
He should go and see what he can do in a ferrari.
I really think he would excel there, much more than the two crash bang whollop drivers that are there currently.
It would be a superstar pairing.
I think he'd have a nightmare.He has achieved everything at Mercedes-Benz
He should go and see what he can do in a ferrari.
I really think he would excel there, much more than the two crash bang whollop drivers that are there currently.
It would be a superstar pairing.
Ferrari have far, far bigger problems than drivers at the moment and those problems likely aren't going to be fixed in the relatively few remaining years that Hamilton has left.
All it would do is draw the inevitable comparisons to Schumacher.
But it's all bluster anyway. The papers would have you believe that Mercedes' forthcoming upgrade is a key driver in the decision - as in, if it's good he'll stay, if it's not so good, he'll go.
As if!
vulture1 said:
Mainstream newspapers seem convinced Ferrari are going to offer Lewis a deal for next year. Surprised it hasn't come up here.
I can imagine that Ferrari might make the offer, but can’t imagine why Lewis would accept it - unless the red cars suddenly find some pace, some reliability, and a team that doesn’t throw away wins on a regular basis. He’s way better staying where he is and developing the car, retiring at a point of his choosing to be a Mercedes ambassador for life, as the most successful driver in history irrespective of whether or not he gets #8.
thegreenhell said:
Like it or not, Lewis is an old man in F1 driver terms now, and his best years are behind him. Merc need to look to the future and build a team to challenge RBR in the long term. Lewis will likely be retired by the end of this rules cycle, so he might as well go out with a final flourish if it is being offered to him.
Lewis is nearly 4 years younger than Alonso, who is doing just fine at Aston Martin and shows no sign of stopping.He'll be the same age as Fernando is now when the next rules come around.
Mercedes won't want to be left in the lurch, but they have George Russell as the next team leader so I don't think are too concerned about elbowing Lewis out just yet.
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