Lewis Hamilton
Discussion
Sa Calobra said:
mattikake said:
Is Lewis retiring at 35yo then? I was kind of hoping he would have a short stint at Ferrari before he quits. He needs to remove that Schumi record from top spot for the good of the sport.
He'll retire before and try something newSa Calobra said:
He'll retire before and try something new
I think it depends on where he is when his contract is up. If he wins the next 2 WDCs then I can see him going after 8 and if he wins one (And looks to be in contention) then he is bound to want the seventh. Not to mention all the other records that would tumble with them. In either of these situations the deal he could get from any team would certainly be incredibly tempting - he may jump ship to chase those titles if the 2021 changes don't look good for Merc.
Hamilton will retire as soon as the Mercedes doesn't have the advantage anymore.
You could see his attitude change when the Ferrari was faster but he is now back in his comfort zone with Ferrari falling back.
But Ferrari needs Charles Leclerc to be good. Vettel just keeps imploding.
You could see his attitude change when the Ferrari was faster but he is now back in his comfort zone with Ferrari falling back.
But Ferrari needs Charles Leclerc to be good. Vettel just keeps imploding.
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 7th October 22:31
ELUSIVEJIM said:
Hamilton will retire as soon as the Mercedes doesn't have the advantage anymore.
I’m not convinced of that, he dealt with the terrible 2009 McLaren for quite a while before they sorted it out.I would really love for him to go and do a couple of years at Ferrari before he retires, much as Senna apparently said he wanted to. I think he would be literally worshipped by the tifosi, which would be quite funny after the rather pathetic way they treat him as a non-Ferrari driver.
Either way, it would be amazing if he could surpass Schuey’s records before calling it a day. To me it would be a greater achievement, without the special circumstances MS had. I also think Lewis has, on the whole, been fair on the track. He got close to the edge with Rosberg a couple of times, but certainly does not have the racing skeletons in the cupboard that Michael and Ayrton had…
I think the main reason he would got to Ferrari would either be best car or the boost it would give his brand.
On the other hand Ferrari seem very controlling can’t see them letting him fly here there and everywhere between races. That would probably kill any chance of him going there.
Personally I think if the option is there he will do it just to say he has done it. I imagine it is kind of bucket list if you are F1 driver.
On the other hand Ferrari seem very controlling can’t see them letting him fly here there and everywhere between races. That would probably kill any chance of him going there.
Personally I think if the option is there he will do it just to say he has done it. I imagine it is kind of bucket list if you are F1 driver.
swisstoni said:
Hamilton never struck me as a Ferrari type of guy, nor they his kind of team.
We shall see. I could see him staying at Merc until they go off the boil and then jacking F1 in.
I think the top guys at Ferrari need to be sacked and instead replaced by a team who don’t do it “the Ferrari way”.We shall see. I could see him staying at Merc until they go off the boil and then jacking F1 in.
Lewis would be the perfect driver to take them through this rebranding and reimaging.
ntiz said:
On the other hand Ferrari seem very controlling can’t see them letting him fly here there and everywhere between races. That would probably kill any chance of him going there.
This. Lewis has made no secret of the fact that he is at his best when he can get away from the F1 circus at every opportunity to pursue his other interests. Logic would suggest hopping around the world between races is a terrible idea, but it just goes to show how important a drivers mental wellbeing is at the very sharp end of the sport.Mercedes have given him a contract with significantly reduced promotional workload and have a very relaxed attitude towards what he does in his downtime. Ironically this gives those who dislike him a stick to beat him with, even though he is unquestionably at the very top of his game with the setup he enjoys (and Toto allows) now.
The frustrating thing is that we will never really know who is the best F1 driver. All we know is who is the best out of a 2 driver team.
It would be very interesting to give them all the same car for a season.
Ultimately the championship really is about team effort of 100’s of people and the driver is jus one component of that.
At Merc Toto is doing a good job as are the strategists, engineers and probably even the tea boy.
It would be very interesting to give them all the same car for a season.
Ultimately the championship really is about team effort of 100’s of people and the driver is jus one component of that.
At Merc Toto is doing a good job as are the strategists, engineers and probably even the tea boy.
blueg33 said:
The frustrating thing is that we will never really know who is the best F1 driver. All we know is who is the best out of a 2 driver team.
I'm pretty sure that applies to all champions throughout the years, not just Hamilton.Would've been interesting to have seen where Senna would've finished if put in an Osella for a few seasons, or Schumacher in a Tyrell...
blueg33 said:
The frustrating thing is that we will never really know who is the best F1 driver. All we know is who is the best out of a 2 driver team.
It would be very interesting to give them all the same car for a season.
Ultimately the championship really is about team effort of 100’s of people and the driver is jus one component of that.
At Merc Toto is doing a good job as are the strategists, engineers and probably even the tea boy.
It’s hard to disagree with any of that, but that’s what F1 is. The various teams build their cars from scratch, which is indeed rather unsatisfying in many ways in a sporting sense, regarding rating the drivers. As to identifying the best of them, we have measure how they have done against their various teammates, and also, significantly, how they did in the lesser formulae, where the cars tend to be basically identical, other than set-up differences.It would be very interesting to give them all the same car for a season.
Ultimately the championship really is about team effort of 100’s of people and the driver is jus one component of that.
At Merc Toto is doing a good job as are the strategists, engineers and probably even the tea boy.
Hamilton holds up rather well… In the spec series he was exceptional, sometimes embarrassingly dominant. In his debut F1 year he arrived like a firework, NINE straight podiums (for a rookie!), and that year ended up placed ahead of his double WDC teammate. But for a bizarre gearbox failure at the last race, he would have been WDC… Even in his worst year, 2011, when he appeared lost due to personal issues, he managed three wins.
LH has been exceptional since he was in cadet karting. I loved watching him then, and watching him now makes me feel sort of proud, as if I knew the Beatles when they were playing at the Cavern club.
paulguitar said:
It’s hard to disagree with any of that, but that’s what F1 is. The various teams build their cars from scratch, which is indeed rather unsatisfying in many ways in a sporting sense, regarding rating the drivers. As to identifying the best of them, we have measure how they have done against their various teammates, and also, significantly, how they did in the lesser formulae, where the cars tend to be basically identical, other than set-up differences.
Hamilton holds up rather well… In the spec series he was exceptional, sometimes embarrassingly dominant. In his debut F1 year he arrived like a firework, NINE straight podiums (for a rookie!), and that year ended up placed ahead of his double WDC teammate. But for a bizarre gearbox failure at the last race, he would have been WDC… Even in his worst year, 2011, when he appeared lost due to personal issues, he managed three wins.
LH has been exceptional since he was in cadet karting. I loved watching him then, and watching him now makes me feel sort of proud, as if I knew the Beatles when they were playing at the Cavern club.
Great post. Hamilton holds up rather well… In the spec series he was exceptional, sometimes embarrassingly dominant. In his debut F1 year he arrived like a firework, NINE straight podiums (for a rookie!), and that year ended up placed ahead of his double WDC teammate. But for a bizarre gearbox failure at the last race, he would have been WDC… Even in his worst year, 2011, when he appeared lost due to personal issues, he managed three wins.
LH has been exceptional since he was in cadet karting. I loved watching him then, and watching him now makes me feel sort of proud, as if I knew the Beatles when they were playing at the Cavern club.
Very interesting interview with Toto after the race on sky deep into the paddock show in Suzuka.
Journalists always seem to want to drag out whether they’re going for Schumi’s record but yesterday Toto gave the first hint of it.
I’m paraphrasing but he essentially said they needed to sit down and decide all together what they wanted to do about it.
I’ve felt Toto and HAM were actually both in a similar page in their careers. They’ve built success and world bearing package together and over the last two years seen off strong opposition.
What more could they want or achieve?
I did wonder if we were approaching the point where Toto and HAM would say enough is enough-we’ve done everything we want to and both exit F1 for pastures new.
But yesterday Toto seemed to have a glint in his eye about the only challenge left. Imagine being able to go to the Mercedes board and ask for permission and funding to go and be the most successful team ever, then offer that to the best driver and say “let’s go for it”.
It’s a tantalising thought.
Journalists always seem to want to drag out whether they’re going for Schumi’s record but yesterday Toto gave the first hint of it.
I’m paraphrasing but he essentially said they needed to sit down and decide all together what they wanted to do about it.
I’ve felt Toto and HAM were actually both in a similar page in their careers. They’ve built success and world bearing package together and over the last two years seen off strong opposition.
What more could they want or achieve?
I did wonder if we were approaching the point where Toto and HAM would say enough is enough-we’ve done everything we want to and both exit F1 for pastures new.
But yesterday Toto seemed to have a glint in his eye about the only challenge left. Imagine being able to go to the Mercedes board and ask for permission and funding to go and be the most successful team ever, then offer that to the best driver and say “let’s go for it”.
It’s a tantalising thought.
LaurasOtherHalf said:
But yesterday Toto seemed to have a glint in his eye about the only challenge left. Imagine being able to go to the Mercedes board and ask for permission and funding to go and be the most successful team ever, then offer that to the best driver and say “let’s go for it”.
It’s a tantalising thought.
It's an interesting one, I think more so because there is an underlying feeling that Hamilton has it in him to just suddenly quite one day when he's decided enough is enough. He's built enough interests outside the sport to do that, and it's not as though he's going to retire with a bunch of regrets about what could have been.It’s a tantalising thought.
He's a racer though, and although I can't see him in other series now he does seem to crave the one thing that F1 rarely actually gives him, some proper wheel to wheel racing on a regular basis.
Remember how hamilton reacted when rosbeeg quit as reigning champion? He was (perhaps he was just making a point, but I think the feeling was genuine) saying that he wouldn’t be able to not defend his championship... I.e. to pass up the challenge of doing it again?
Maybe he’s starting to think the same way about schumachers records?
Maybe he’s starting to think the same way about schumachers records?
Gaz. said:
21 victories required in the next 45 races, I think that’s ambitious tbh.
2014 11 wins2015 10 wins
2016 10 wins
2017 9 wins
2018 10 wins ...with 4 to go
if Bottas stays (he doesn't seem to want to rock the Merc boat) & F1 regs not changing too much until 2021, It'll be close i reckon ...& that's without Lewis deciding to sign beyond 2020 or not
It will all depend on how the car is and what opportunities are about.
If he looks around and doesn’t see an immediate route to another championship I think he will walk.
But he seems to have got quite interested in his records more recently. If he gets whiff he could break Schumacher record I can’t see him not going for it. He seems to want prove he is one of the greatest hence his comments about wanting to beat his rivals on track. If he can do it with the numbers I think he will want to big time.
On another note I read something a little sad recently. He had hoped his success would encourage others from not such wealthy backgrounds to try the sport as well as get teams to give youngsters without the backing a chance. He seemed to think this wasn’t happening at all and that it’s only getting harder to get into the sport.
You could say he was an experiment in backing talent it is quite hard to say that experiment was a failure at this point. Seems odd teams aren’t scouting for the Next Hamilton. Guess it’s cheaper and easier to let the drivers come to you.
If he looks around and doesn’t see an immediate route to another championship I think he will walk.
But he seems to have got quite interested in his records more recently. If he gets whiff he could break Schumacher record I can’t see him not going for it. He seems to want prove he is one of the greatest hence his comments about wanting to beat his rivals on track. If he can do it with the numbers I think he will want to big time.
On another note I read something a little sad recently. He had hoped his success would encourage others from not such wealthy backgrounds to try the sport as well as get teams to give youngsters without the backing a chance. He seemed to think this wasn’t happening at all and that it’s only getting harder to get into the sport.
You could say he was an experiment in backing talent it is quite hard to say that experiment was a failure at this point. Seems odd teams aren’t scouting for the Next Hamilton. Guess it’s cheaper and easier to let the drivers come to you.
I'm sure that I heard or read somewhere, some time ago, stating that Hamilton had said he had no interest in beating records; of course this was a number of years ago and back then I guess he thought there was no hope in beating/matching Schumachers records, now there is a real possibility that they could be beaten, maybe his mindset has changed; I mean who wouldn't want to end their career as the best there has ever been.
LaurasOtherHalf said:
Very interesting interview with Toto after the race on sky deep into the paddock show in Suzuka.
Journalists always seem to want to drag out whether they’re going for Schumi’s record but yesterday Toto gave the first hint of it.
I’m paraphrasing but he essentially said they needed to sit down and decide all together what they wanted to do about it.
I’ve felt Toto and HAM were actually both in a similar page in their careers. They’ve built success and world bearing package together and over the last two years seen off strong opposition.
What more could they want or achieve?
I did wonder if we were approaching the point where Toto and HAM would say enough is enough-we’ve done everything we want to and both exit F1 for pastures new.
But yesterday Toto seemed to have a glint in his eye about the only challenge left. Imagine being able to go to the Mercedes board and ask for permission and funding to go and be the most successful team ever, then offer that to the best driver and say “let’s go for it”.
It’s a tantalising thought.
I agree.Journalists always seem to want to drag out whether they’re going for Schumi’s record but yesterday Toto gave the first hint of it.
I’m paraphrasing but he essentially said they needed to sit down and decide all together what they wanted to do about it.
I’ve felt Toto and HAM were actually both in a similar page in their careers. They’ve built success and world bearing package together and over the last two years seen off strong opposition.
What more could they want or achieve?
I did wonder if we were approaching the point where Toto and HAM would say enough is enough-we’ve done everything we want to and both exit F1 for pastures new.
But yesterday Toto seemed to have a glint in his eye about the only challenge left. Imagine being able to go to the Mercedes board and ask for permission and funding to go and be the most successful team ever, then offer that to the best driver and say “let’s go for it”.
It’s a tantalising thought.
And they have the perfect set-up to do just that, and a compliant team mate for Lewis.
However, it's a shame for the sport that Toto didn't sign a really fast and competitive team mate in Ricciardo.
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