Lewis Hamilton
Discussion
C Lee Farquar said:
I wonder if they could get Alonso and Rosberg together for less than half that? Or George with either Alonso or Rosberg.
I'm sure Mercedes understand marketing better than I do. In our household my 13 year old daughter thinks Lewis cool, I think he's exceptionally talented but this doesn't make me think any better of Mercedes, and of the two I'm the one who buys the cars.
Why would they want Alonso or Rosberg - they have very limited appeal to Mercedes target market now and nothing like the marketing power of Hamilton.I'm sure Mercedes understand marketing better than I do. In our household my 13 year old daughter thinks Lewis cool, I think he's exceptionally talented but this doesn't make me think any better of Mercedes, and of the two I'm the one who buys the cars.
sparta6 said:
Mercedes are launching 32 new cars in the next 2 years, regardless of who is in it's F1 seats. This has been in prep for a few years.
Bottas has shown he can win the WDC in a Merc if Lewis stops or switches team.
Against Lewis in a red bull or Ferrari or maybe even a working McLaren, i wouldn't bet on that.Bottas has shown he can win the WDC in a Merc if Lewis stops or switches team.
In my mind there no doubt he’s led to the successful insertion of Mercedes to a young blingy mindset. Merc used to be an old mans car, now they’ve got amg45, GLC etc, the diamond grills, the interiors which are now all supercool. Mercedes have completely reframed their vehicles over the last few years, IMO, and he’s been part of that. No one wants to look at pictures of bottas but media does of Lewis.
CoolHands said:
In my mind there no doubt he’s led to the successful insertion of Mercedes to a young blingy mindset. Merc used to be an old mans car, now they’ve got amg45, GLC etc, the diamond grills, the interiors which are now all supercool. Mercedes have completely reframed their vehicles over the last few years, IMO, and he’s been part of that. No one wants to look at pictures of bottas but media does of Lewis.
And the young blingy mindset are the ones getting new cars every three years on finance - something car manufacturers love.rscott said:
And the young blingy mindset are the ones getting new cars every three years on finance - something car manufacturers love.
The young blingy mindset don't need finance. They pop to the Mercedes dealer with a wad of cash! Don't underestimate the value of image to car manufacturers. As stated above, Mercedes were always seen as an old man's car. Not anymore and if that encourages a younger clientele the image transformation has been successful.iandc said:
rscott said:
And the young blingy mindset are the ones getting new cars every three years on finance - something car manufacturers love.
The young blingy mindset don't need finance. They pop to the Mercedes dealer with a wad of cash! Don't underestimate the value of image to car manufacturers. As stated above, Mercedes were always seen as an old man's car. Not anymore and if that encourages a younger clientele the image transformation has been successful.I've a feeling that F1 in terms of marketing for Mercedes works slightly indirectly. Most F1 fans will appreciate that nothing is shared between the F1 and road cars, so there is no reason to think a Mercedes is better than a BMW just because Lewis drives and wins in one.
But, for every F1 fan there are probably another 10 people that don't have a clue about the sport but are aware that LH is winning, and drives a Mercedes. It's indirect but such sustained positively does start to change peoples perceptions. Not hugely, but perhaps enough to tip the balance sometimes. And as said, it certainly has helped to wash away some of the 'old man' stigma.
Although personally I've never liked Mercedes road cars, the BMW equivalent always feels better to drive
For the trendies, I can see that the blingy 'AMG' (cough...) badged models make some sense. I also see endless very affordable lease deals for them. For joe blogs average mid twenties, if you can drive a shiny AMG model with big alloys for less than £300 a month and it's endorsed by the guy that always wins F1, it's a fairly easy sell.
But, for every F1 fan there are probably another 10 people that don't have a clue about the sport but are aware that LH is winning, and drives a Mercedes. It's indirect but such sustained positively does start to change peoples perceptions. Not hugely, but perhaps enough to tip the balance sometimes. And as said, it certainly has helped to wash away some of the 'old man' stigma.
Although personally I've never liked Mercedes road cars, the BMW equivalent always feels better to drive
For the trendies, I can see that the blingy 'AMG' (cough...) badged models make some sense. I also see endless very affordable lease deals for them. For joe blogs average mid twenties, if you can drive a shiny AMG model with big alloys for less than £300 a month and it's endorsed by the guy that always wins F1, it's a fairly easy sell.
TheDeuce said:
I've a feeling that F1 in terms of marketing for Mercedes works slightly indirectly. Most F1 fans will appreciate that nothing is shared between the F1 and road cars, so there is no reason to think a Mercedes is better than a BMW just because Lewis drives and wins in one.
But, for every F1 fan there are probably another 10 people that don't have a clue about the sport but are aware that LH is winning, and drives a Mercedes. It's indirect but such sustained positively does start to change peoples perceptions. Not hugely, but perhaps enough to tip the balance sometimes. And as said, it certainly has helped to wash away some of the 'old man' stigma.
Although personally I've never liked Mercedes road cars, the BMW equivalent always feels better to drive
For the trendies, I can see that the blingy 'AMG' (cough...) badged models make some sense. I also see endless very affordable lease deals for them. For joe blogs average mid twenties, if you can drive a shiny AMG model with big alloys for less than £300 a month and it's endorsed by the guy that always wins F1, it's a fairly easy sell.
I had the misfortune to use my local Mercedes dealership a few times over the last year to get some parts for my old Mercedes, looking around you wouldn't know they had a successful F1 team, they don't capitalise on it at all.But, for every F1 fan there are probably another 10 people that don't have a clue about the sport but are aware that LH is winning, and drives a Mercedes. It's indirect but such sustained positively does start to change peoples perceptions. Not hugely, but perhaps enough to tip the balance sometimes. And as said, it certainly has helped to wash away some of the 'old man' stigma.
Although personally I've never liked Mercedes road cars, the BMW equivalent always feels better to drive
For the trendies, I can see that the blingy 'AMG' (cough...) badged models make some sense. I also see endless very affordable lease deals for them. For joe blogs average mid twenties, if you can drive a shiny AMG model with big alloys for less than £300 a month and it's endorsed by the guy that always wins F1, it's a fairly easy sell.
eccles said:
I had the misfortune to use my local Mercedes dealership a few times over the last year to get some parts for my old Mercedes, looking around you wouldn't know they had a successful F1 team, they don't capitalise on it at all.
Dunno what to say - clearly they do have a VERY dominant F1 team so it's odd the dealership wouldn't capitalise on that fact. Maybe just missing a trick? Although whether or not they shout about it, pretty much every current or potential Merc customer is going to be aware of the F1 team I would have thought. I can't say last time I visited our local one that I paid any attention to F1 bragging, although I have definitely flicked through AMG brochures that make a few strained references to F1.I don't envy you having to deal with Mercedes parts dept. The last time I car shopped I was also amazed at how little the sales guy knew about what options needed to be ticked to get certain functions. He kept saying 'yes, that's included in this pack/option', and then moments later questioning himself and then having a team debate with his colleagues and a group session on the online configurator. It seems the Mercedes options list and endless acronyms are now so convoluted that even their own sales team don't know what's what. Net result, I left confused and bought another BMW. BMW also have a convoluted set of options, but the sales team do seem more clued up and, they always seem a little more brand passionate in my experience.
For other reasons latest car ordered is Jaguar, which I'm sure will be interesting. The last time I borrowed an F-type for the day the 'J' fell off the rear badge on the A1, the fuel guage stuck at zero no matter how much I filled it, the tread plate on the passenger side popped up and got jammed in the door and the up shift paddle was broken. That last one was slightly embarrassing as I roared off up to 40mph and then spent the next several seconds bouncing off the rev limiter.. Upon returning the car I was assured that stronger glue was being sent for the badges and tread plates
Edited by TheDeuce on Sunday 26th January 15:23
The Vambo said:
sparta6 said:
Bottas has shown he can win the WDC in a Merc if Lewis stops or switches team.
No he hasn't, he has shown he can win races.It's two very different things.
Apparently this year he's concluded that he needs to be more consistent to beat Lewis. Can't disagree but I think such consistency is easier said than done..
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.consist...
sparta6 said:
Bottas has shown he can win the WDC in a Merc if Lewis stops or switches team.
Provided that the relative performance of the teams remains the same...Even as it was, how many times did we see
“I wonder whether Bottas can resist the attacking Verstappen / Leclerc / Vettel...” one lap later...
HustleRussell said:
sparta6 said:
Bottas has shown he can win the WDC in a Merc if Lewis stops or switches team.
Provided that the relative performance of the teams remains the same...Even as it was, how many times did we see
“I wonder whether Bottas can resist the attacking Verstappen / Leclerc / Vettel...” one lap later...
I don't see quite the same drive in Bottas to beat Lewis to start with. He's too nice a guy to go so extreme. He also went down the relationship route which (perhaps in a sad way?) Lewis has avoided since Nicole. I do like Bottas though, he comes across as a very sincere and pleasant guy.
jsf said:
You need an and?
Sorry I meant, what is the relevance of the divorce in terms of Bottas's performance? I had noted that Lewis has eschewed relationships and that Bottas had not, which could in some way explain Lewis's focus. The fact Bottas also had to deal with a separation wouldn't detract from that.TheDeuce said:
Sorry I meant, what is the relevance of the divorce in terms of Bottas's performance? I had noted that Lewis has eschewed relationships and that Bottas had not, which could in some way explain Lewis's focus. The fact Bottas also had to deal with a separation wouldn't detract from that.
Hamilton was in a relationship with Nicole whateverherfaceis until February 2016, by which time he'd won 3 World Championships. The year they finished, Rosberg beat Hamilton to the title.
Schumacher was a family man.
Do you ever think about what you're typing?
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