Official 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS***
Discussion
HustleRussell said:
TheDeuce said:
Bring it back to point then - why do you assume that Lewis wanted more than a single year? What is you assumption based upon?
I’m not going to find you a bunch of sources on this but I seem to recall either Lewis or Toto saying to the press that the one year was a stop-gap solution and there was mutual interest in continued talks to enhance it in some way. I thought at the time (February?) that being who they are, they would probably have it all sorted by the time the season started. I’m still expecting to hear that they’ve sat down and reached an enhanced agreement going into 2022 (and beyond?)
Speculating now, I think Hamilton wants to see out his F1 career at Mercedes but isn’t really ready to consider retiring at the end of 2021. To my mind there must’ve been sticking points.
Edited by HustleRussell on Friday 2nd April 01:14
But still, nothing said suggests to me that Lewis would or would not want more than a year at the time of signing, there is a lot of reporting that a single year contract isn't 'positive' and is somehow evidence of a struggle to agree terms... But other than that being an interesting theory to report and debate on (trouble at the top sells papers..), I don't see any foundation or sense in it at all.
I would agree with you that Lewis probably wants to see out his career at Mercedes, and he probably will imo. But that doesn't mean he would want or need a multi year deal either. So long as he works out well for Merc they're going to renew him, if it doesn't work out well for whatever reason, why would he want to be tied to them?
I'd be amazed if we don't see Hamilton re-sign for 2022 unless he sees something in the development of the 2022 car which makes him believe Mercedes wont be at the front. As long as he's enjoying it, and he very much seems to be, why would he go; and why would Mercedes not want to keep him?
Edited by kambites on Friday 2nd April 18:58
jsf said:
Driving a 1000BHP 750Kg racing car capable of 5G is fun and one hell of a rush. Do that in the middle of 19 other idiots doing the same thing and trying to beat you and that's one hell of a thing to walk away from whilst you are good at it and enjoying the challenge.
What tends to grind drivers down is all the bulls
t that comes with the job, Lewis has been very smart from the start of his Mercedes career to make sure he limits that to a minimum and has a life outside F1. That will help him go on for longer and perform at the limit more.
Too many teams push their drivers into doing too much of the bullst, it's not healthy. McLaren were terrible for it under Ron.
McLaren...? Can't be as bad as Red Bull are these days! Not been so bad since covid times but in general the workload of additional BS must be suffocating for their drivers. It seemed to hit a pinnacle with the highly marketable Max & Daniel bromance.What tends to grind drivers down is all the bulls
t that comes with the job, Lewis has been very smart from the start of his Mercedes career to make sure he limits that to a minimum and has a life outside F1. That will help him go on for longer and perform at the limit more.Too many teams push their drivers into doing too much of the bulls
t, it's not healthy. McLaren were terrible for it under Ron.Even Horner seems required to get his opinion/quotes in to the media as often as possible. He spends so much time talking to the Sky team from the pitwall, he might as well just walk upstairs and squeeze in to the commentary box with them and do the job full time.
kambites said:
I'd be amazed if we don't see Hamilton re-sign for 2022 unless he sees something in the development of the 2022 car which makes him believe Mercedes wont be at the front. As long as he's enjoying it, and he never much seems to be, why would he go; and why would Mercedes not want to keep him?
Exactly. And so long as that is the case, he has no reason to want more than a single year contract, as they WILL resign him if it works out well... and if it doesn't, he won't want to be committed for another year anyway. Yet everyone sees this single year contract as some sort of issue for Lewis!?I don't know what's behind the single year, none of us do. But I do strongly suspect it isn't seen as any sort of problem by Lewis.
TheDeuce said:
Even Horner seems required to get his opinion/quotes in to the media as often as possible. He spends so much time talking to the Sky team from the pitwall, he might as well just walk upstairs and squeeze in to the commentary box with them and do the job full time.
I always like that Horner is so willing to talk to the TV crew in the middle of the race. I suppose he's happy delegating the second-by-second running of the team to the strategists so it makes no practical difference to the decision making, but how many other team principles do it? kambites said:
TheDeuce said:
Even Horner seems required to get his opinion/quotes in to the media as often as possible. He spends so much time talking to the Sky team from the pitwall, he might as well just walk upstairs and squeeze in to the commentary box with them and do the job full time.
I always like that Horner is so willing to talk to the TV crew in the middle of the race. I suppose he's happy delegating the second-by-second running of the team to the strategists so it makes no practical difference to the decision making, but how many other team principles do it? TheDeuce said:
kambites said:
TheDeuce said:
Even Horner seems required to get his opinion/quotes in to the media as often as possible. He spends so much time talking to the Sky team from the pitwall, he might as well just walk upstairs and squeeze in to the commentary box with them and do the job full time.
I always like that Horner is so willing to talk to the TV crew in the middle of the race. I suppose he's happy delegating the second-by-second running of the team to the strategists so it makes no practical difference to the decision making, but how many other team principles do it? kambites said:
I always like that Horner is so willing to talk to the TV crew in the middle of the race. I suppose he's happy delegating the second-by-second running of the team to the strategists so it makes no practical difference to the decision making, but how many other team principles do it?
More like he’s an annoying smug git that loves being on tv? Edited by rallycross on Friday 2nd April 21:03
Flooble said:
Yeah, Otmar thingy and Gunther Steiner seemed to be on quite a lot too, whereas the others never seem to have popped up from what I can remember.
Binotto seems to have been a bit out of the limelight recently too. Understandable during the poor SF 20 season but still noticeable. Szafnauer is pushing an agenda, you might have noticed
Gunther's on for the Netflix converts. Seidl and Brown are hitting the right notes at the moment for me. Great attitudes, and quite clearly bloody good at their respective jobs but not on every minute of the day.
jsf said:
Driving a 1000BHP 750Kg racing car capable of 5G is fun and one hell of a rush. Do that in the middle of 19 other idiots doing the same thing and trying to beat you and that's one hell of a thing to walk away from whilst you are good at it and enjoying the challenge.
What tends to grind drivers down is all the bullst that comes with the job, Lewis has been very smart from the start of his Mercedes career to make sure he limits that to a minimum and has a life outside F1. That will help him go on for longer and perform at the limit more.
Too many teams push their drivers into doing too much of the bullst, it's not healthy. McLaren were terrible for it under Ron.
That is a perfect definition of Kimi's mentality. He loves driving at the pinnacle of motorsport and in low profile Alfa, he doesn't have to deal with the media bullsWhat tends to grind drivers down is all the bulls
t that comes with the job, Lewis has been very smart from the start of his Mercedes career to make sure he limits that to a minimum and has a life outside F1. That will help him go on for longer and perform at the limit more.Too many teams push their drivers into doing too much of the bulls
t, it's not healthy. McLaren were terrible for it under Ron.t and pressure.BigBen said:
leef44 said:
That is a perfect definition of Kimi's mentality. He loves driving at the pinnacle of motorsport and in low profile Alfa, he doesn't have to deal with the media bullst and pressure.
Not true he has to do those inexplicable Alfa adverts.t and pressure.leef44 said:
BigBen said:
leef44 said:
That is a perfect definition of Kimi's mentality. He loves driving at the pinnacle of motorsport and in low profile Alfa, he doesn't have to deal with the media bullst and pressure.
Not true he has to do those inexplicable Alfa adverts.t and pressure.BigBen said:
leef44 said:
BigBen said:
leef44 said:
That is a perfect definition of Kimi's mentality. He loves driving at the pinnacle of motorsport and in low profile Alfa, he doesn't have to deal with the media bullst and pressure.
Not true he has to do those inexplicable Alfa adverts.t and pressure.k was going on in the advert even less than those of us who have watched it at least 50 times.I think Kimi is literally just Kimi, very relaxed as a result of never trying to be anything other than 'Kimi'. He says he just wants to race... Alfa allows him to pretty much do nothing other than race. He'll do that until they say no more, at which point I don't think he'll have much of a reaction other than to transfer all his attention to his family and say a polite goodbye
What a nice guy. Shows how easy life can be when you're humble and honest. He's pretty much avoided all of the typical F1 bulls
t since day one by never having anything to say unless he genuinely feels there is something worth saying.TheDeuce said:
That's about the only thing Kimi has done for the brand since he went to Alfa - I've spent the last 15 years in TV and I'm going to guess that he got his contribution to that advert done within a single 10 hour day. I also imagine he would have understood what the fk was going on in the advert even less than those of us who have watched it at least 50 times.
I think Kimi is literally just Kimi, very relaxed as a result of never trying to be anything other than 'Kimi'. He says he just wants to race... Alfa allows him to pretty much do nothing other than race. He'll do that until they say no more, at which point I don't think he'll have much of a reaction other than to transfer all his attention to his family and say a polite goodbye
What a nice guy. Shows how easy life can be when you're humble and honest. He's pretty much avoided all of the typical F1 bullst since day one by never having anything to say unless he genuinely feels there is something worth saying.
I totally agree k was going on in the advert even less than those of us who have watched it at least 50 times.I think Kimi is literally just Kimi, very relaxed as a result of never trying to be anything other than 'Kimi'. He says he just wants to race... Alfa allows him to pretty much do nothing other than race. He'll do that until they say no more, at which point I don't think he'll have much of a reaction other than to transfer all his attention to his family and say a polite goodbye
What a nice guy. Shows how easy life can be when you're humble and honest. He's pretty much avoided all of the typical F1 bulls
t since day one by never having anything to say unless he genuinely feels there is something worth saying.
I have so much respect for him on this front. Given his high profile F1 portfolio which can really get to anyone as a top driver, he has been so cool throughout.
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