Post Melbourne - Did Lewis make right choice to jump ship?

[Scuffers]

Following on from all the previous talk on him moving to Merc and his reasons, after this weekend, what's the consensus?

[Pints]

Presumably you mean the right choice from his point of view, not McLaren's.

[Scuffers]

Pints said:

Presumably you mean the right choice from his point of view, not McLaren's.

yes...

was really thinking about the whole up-side-down suspension bit, etc..

[RockDoctor]

I think he made the right choice leaving Mclaren, regardless of where he went. He wasn't happy at Mclaren, needed a change.

Bernie said Lewis would rather have taken a year off than stay another year at Mclaren. Whether that's true or not, who knows, it is Bernie.

[Jasandjules]

The only person who can answer that is Lewis.

He certainly seems happy though.

[ewenm]

RockDoctor said:

I think he made the right choice leaving Mclaren, regardless of where he went. He wasn't happy at Mclaren, needed a change.

This. He made the right decision.

RockDoctor said:

Bernie said Lewis would rather have taken a year off than stay another year at Mclaren. Whether that's true or not, who knows, it is Bernie.

Sounds like a classic "Bernie-ism" using his big media-stirring spoon!

[Derek Smith]

I'm a big McL fan and regret Hamilton's move but for him it was the right one.

Not happy with the phrase 'jump ship'. He's moved to another team.

I don't think we should read too much into one race, especially it being the first one of the season at a very cold circuit. It's by no means certain that Merc will be on the pace at the next series of hot tracks. Further, the strength of McL is in developing a poor car over the season. They'll be backin the top five soon enough.

[SMGB]

Of course he was right to do it, once he started to feel he had been at McL too long it was the only thing to do. When I was his age I used to like to look for challenges, or maybe trouble, to get into.

[P-Jay]

Even forgetting the mess McL were in at the weekend it was the right choice for him. I think it's easy when you read all the mega-million pound contracts and the like to forget the human element. He was unhappy at McL for whatever reason, he didn't seem to fall out with the team, but he needed a change - He seems to me his old self at Merc, yeah 5th isn't fantastic, but it's pretty good and he had the potential to do better with the Car.

I don' think he's be in the WDC chase at the end like he has been, but he's going to have a good season (fingers crossed) and fk ups aside he'll take WDC in 2014.

[Teppic]

He made the right decisoin. McLaren are a fking shambles at the moment. They will hopefully get a grip on their problems and sort them out, but there is no chance of McLaren winning either the drivers or constructors championships this season.

[TheHeretic]

Irregardless of how McLaren are doing, Lewis seems happy, which makes it the right choice. I very much doubt the move can be based entirely on this one weekend, and the test days. A season is a long time, as is the contracts with Mercedes.

[Dunit]

Sadly McLaren have gone downhill since they stopped being a pure race team and started on their road car project, Ferrari have had lifetime to perfect this and it is part of their heritage.
Regards to Lewis going as i said at the time its a disaster for Mclaren, Any way Jenson you got what you wanted as team leader and a car built around your driving demands so now step up to the plate and get it sorted!!
At least you never had the shame of Lewis passing you ,There again he was allways well down the road!
As a lifetime Mac fan i am in total despair and hoping Perez can help bring some joy to me as i thought he did Great considdering the cock ups he had to endure.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

P-Jay said:

Even forgetting the mess McL were in at the weekend it was the right choice for him. I think it's easy when you read all the mega-million pound contracts and the like to forget the human element. He was unhappy at McL for whatever reason, he didn't seem to fall out with the team, but he needed a change - He seems to me his old self at Merc, yeah 5th isn't fantastic, but it's pretty good and he had the potential to do better with the Car.

I don' think he's be in the WDC chase at the end like he has been, but he's going to have a good season (fingers crossed) and fk ups aside he'll take WDC in 2014.

agree with your first point but why do people think merc will be such a shoe in for the title come 2014? They have no more an advantage than Ferrari?

[mattikake]

Jasandjules said:

He certainly seems happy though.

I dunno. He was happy at 3rd on the grid before the race, but those who follow/know him or watched the Damon Hill interview, know he hates being overtaken or going backwards. He did a lot of that this race.

If he qualifies well and goes backwards often, I can see him getting p!ssed off with that soon, as Schumacher clearly did.

At the moment this seems like a good choice, but we know McLaren are very good at developing a car, Merc/Brawn aren't... Also Melbourne doesn't have many high speed corners, most are point and squirt, that will hide downforce issues. I'd expect the Merc to be worse in Malaysia, although relatively, other cars may be worse too!

[TheHeretic]

Dunit said:

Sadly McLaren have gone downhill since they stopped being a pure race team and started on their road car project, Ferrari have had lifetime to perfect this and it is part of their heritage.
Regards to Lewis going as i said at the time its a disaster for Mclaren, Any way Jenson you got what you wanted as team leader and a car built around your driving demands so now step up to the plate and get it sorted!!
At least you never had the shame of Lewis passing you ,There again he was allways well down the road!
As a lifetime Mac fan i am in total despair and hoping Perez can help bring some joy to me as i thought he did Great considdering the cock ups he had to endure.

What does Jenson have to do with it? If you think it is Jenson's fault regarding the current issues with the Mclaren, I don't think you really understand the process.

[anonymous-user]

mattikake said:

Jasandjules said:

He certainly seems happy though.

At the moment this seems like a good choice, but we know McLaren are very good at developing a car, Merc/Brawn aren't... Also Melbourne doesn't have many high speed corners, most are point and squirt, that will hide downforce issues. I'd expect the Merc to be worse in Malaysia, although relatively, other cars may be worse too!

I agree. McLaren have done a great job of developing their car over the winter. Oh, wait a minute..........

[anonymous-user]

Dunit said:

Sadly McLaren have gone downhill since they stopped being a pure race team and started on their road car project, Ferrari have had lifetime to perfect this and it is part of their heritage.
Regards to Lewis going as i said at the time its a disaster for Mclaren, Any way Jenson you got what you wanted as team leader and a car built around your driving demands so now step up to the plate and get it sorted!!
At least you never had the shame of Lewis passing you ,There again he was allways well down the road!
As a lifetime Mac fan i am in total despair and hoping Perez can help bring some joy to me as i thought he did Great considdering the cock ups he had to endure.

Must be pretty saddening, as a lifetime fan, to have to look to Perez for salvation. Oh dear.

[Wanta996Gotta]

Its still too early to completely write off the Mclaren but it does look like a re-run of 2009 when the car just looked a bit off a mess on track. What does worry me is that Jenson has never been the best qualifier so we dont really know the cars single lap race. I wonder how much Martin Whitmarsh would love to put Lewis in the car and let him have a blast to see what the car can actually do when pushed.

As for Mercedes? Was pleased with the qualifying pace but watched in alarm as Ferrari and Renault caught up and breezed past Lewis as if he was not there. Race pace issues or tyres? Malaysia if dry will give us a better idea of where the Mercedes is.

P.S. As a Mclaren fan,still gutted to see Lewis leave as there is something not quite right not seeing him in a Mclaren and my 6 year old son does'nt understand why Mercedes dont have Tooned episodes.

Edited by Wanta996Gotta on Monday 18th March 10:46

[Triggers Broom]

At the moment it looks like a good choice for Hamilton, but McLaren have F1 in their DNA. They will always be challenging at the sharp end of championships.

Perez is a very lucky boy.

[woof]

It's obvious to see that Lewis is a much happier camper than he has been.
In his Sky interview he said that he had to leave home to find some independence and find himself. And it's very much that scenario of a child leaving home for the first time.

I'm 100% certain that Mclaren will come back and will end up scoring more points than Mercedes this year. But we'll have to wait and see what 2014 brings.

In the meantime I look forward to a more open and likeable Lewis and one I hope more people will appreciate as a great driver and a nice chap.

( and I wouldn't rule out Lewis returning "home" at some point in the future )

Button won't be there post 2015 and I doubt Perez will be there next year.