Does Mercedes need Lewis now ?

Does Mercedes need Lewis now ?

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Discussion

Tazar

Original Poster:

466 posts

192 months

Saturday 5th December 2020
quotequote all
Why should M-B pay Lewis the many, many millions he’s demanding when they have George Russell contracted already ?

His pre season tests in a Mercedes showed what he could do and irrespective of the result tomorrow he’s shown he should be in the car. Alongside Lewis he may be the better driver, certainly a truly competitive one.

aponting389

741 posts

178 months

Saturday 5th December 2020
quotequote all
They want him because he’s Lewis Hamilton, I’m sure they have lots of options who could win them both titles.

Nampahc Niloc

910 posts

78 months

Saturday 5th December 2020
quotequote all
One qualifying session and suddenly he’s a replacement for Lewis.

Think they might want a bit more evidence than that before they get rid of their star driver.

Even if you ignore any debate about who’s better, Lewis the seven times world champion brings just a tad more publicity.

WonkeyDonkey

2,340 posts

103 months

Saturday 5th December 2020
quotequote all
Hamilton brings more to Mercedes than just his skill behind the wheel.


Exige77

6,518 posts

191 months

Saturday 5th December 2020
quotequote all
Nampahc Niloc said:
One qualifying session and suddenly he’s a replacement for Lewis.

Think they might want a bit more evidence than that before they get rid of their star driver.

Even if you ignore any debate about who’s better, Lewis the seven times world champion brings just a tad more publicity.
The knowledgeable people in F1 know Lewis’s value over long term. Lewis “regularly” beats Valtteri. George has done very well today but not beaten anybody at the front yet never mind week in week out over a season.

George is a future champion but no match for Lewis yet.

Muzzer79

9,961 posts

187 months

Saturday 5th December 2020
quotequote all
Not this again....

Russell has done well, but it’s one qualifying session. To deliver over a whole season is not the same. Just ask Rosberg and Bottas....

Lewis isn’t paid a lot of money just to drive. They’re paying for him too - the fact he’s a multiple champion, a known quantity, a virtually-guaranteed deliverer of results.
They’re also paying for the exposure of him and the records he’s breaking.

To use a similar analogy I used in another thread - if you owned Barcelona FC, would you sell Lionel Messi to a rival team because a substitute for him scored a hat-trick in one game? No.

abzmike

8,376 posts

106 months

Saturday 5th December 2020
quotequote all
One very good qualifying performance does not make a world champion.
And apart from anything else, Hamilton would get a drive in another decent car and still be competitive, and present a real threat to MB dominance - that would be a disaster for them.

CustardOnChips

1,936 posts

62 months

Saturday 5th December 2020
quotequote all
Because he's the best and most marketable driver in the history of F1.

/Thread

Graveworm

8,496 posts

71 months

Saturday 5th December 2020
quotequote all
A view from an unlikely source

kambites

67,561 posts

221 months

Saturday 5th December 2020
quotequote all
aponting389 said:
They want him because he’s Lewis Hamilton, I’m sure they have lots of options who could win them both titles.
Yup. Next year Mercedes are highly likely to win both championships whoever they have driving for them... but only Lewis Hamilton can give them the opportunity to be the team with which the driver with the outright most championship wins, takes that record.

For the big car manufacturers, F1 is a glorified advertising platform and from that point of view Hamilton is by far the best driver they could have racing for them next year.

SmoothCriminal

5,058 posts

199 months

Saturday 5th December 2020
quotequote all
Tazar said:
Why should M-B pay Lewis the many, many millions he’s demanding when they have George Russell contracted already ?

His pre season tests in a Mercedes showed what he could do and irrespective of the result tomorrow he’s shown he should be in the car. Alongside Lewis he may be the better driver, certainly a truly competitive one.
Max answers this question perfectly for you.

https://youtu.be/ZJCb3QeWv1Y

Schermerhorn

4,342 posts

189 months

Saturday 5th December 2020
quotequote all
Lewis is the face of Mercedes. He is instrumental in helping drive sales of their AMG products but also their lower band of cars like the A-class amongst the younger demographic.

No doubt Lewis has massive appeal in America too and I would wager that Mercedes' sales have been on fire there too in the last few years amongst the younger demographic.

George could be just as good as Lewis but he wont help Mercedes sell cars like Lewis can.

Lewis looks like a rock star.

George looks like a teenage serial killer.

Schermerhorn

4,342 posts

189 months

Saturday 5th December 2020
quotequote all
CustardOnChips said:
Because he's the best and most marketable driver in the history of F1.

/Thread
Pretty Schumacher sure was a bigger and better paid global superstar than Lewis.

Tazar

Original Poster:

466 posts

192 months

Saturday 5th December 2020
quotequote all
This is an age old question as is the saying, “the King is dead, long live the King”.

George Russell was seen as a future talent having proved himself in the lower formulae. Being a driver at Williams he was overlooked to a point by Lando Norris or Alex Albon etc. No doubt those drivers might do well in a Mercedes that might drive to their character or temperament. But we don’t know that at the moment.

I bet several Management people in the pit lane are looking at Russell very differently today.

CustardOnChips

1,936 posts

62 months

Saturday 5th December 2020
quotequote all
Schermerhorn said:
CustardOnChips said:
Because he's the best and most marketable driver in the history of F1.

/Thread
Pretty Schumacher sure was a bigger and better paid global superstar than Lewis.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/csylt/2019/03/31/lewis-hamilton-becomes-f1s-highest-paid-driver-with-500-million-earnings/amp/

angrymoby

2,613 posts

178 months

Saturday 5th December 2020
quotequote all
CustardOnChips said:
quite the achievement considering that Lewis came in just as all the tobacco money left F1

Muzzer79

9,961 posts

187 months

Saturday 5th December 2020
quotequote all
Tazar said:
This is an age old question as is the saying, “the King is dead, long live the King”.
It’s. One. Qualifying. Session.

Jonstar

867 posts

191 months

Saturday 5th December 2020
quotequote all
Muzzer79 said:
It’s. One. Qualifying. Session.
Precisely, PH really is full of morons.

antspants

2,402 posts

175 months

Saturday 5th December 2020
quotequote all
Graveworm said:
A view from an unlikely source
Question that's already been raised in the race thread so didn't need a thread of it's own, but as there is one it should have been closed here.

tozerman

1,175 posts

227 months

Sunday 6th December 2020
quotequote all
I'm a fan of George Russell like many on here.
However turning up and driving a car honed/developed by arguably the best ever F1 driver is completely different to driving a car developed by someone who isn't.