As you phrase it there is no logic in showing a competitor.F1NAC wrote: ↑01 Feb 2024, 20:20Explain me the logic of showing your opponent, engine, chassis, suspension data without signature?S D wrote: ↑01 Feb 2024, 20:18What will be of interest more than the signing is when and why did he sign.
If it's just to close his career with Ferrari
then this is what it is.
If it's because he saw what Merc had in store that's a bad omen, as was seen before.
However, if he saw some Ferrari engine data or data relating to the chassis, aero and suspension improvements, then that is something that will have us on the edge of our seats.
However, when you are courting someone. You might hint of improvements in the hopes of getting them interested. It's a negotiation that goes over many months and there is some sort of trust built up.
LH is part of a very select group with many friends. He is able to hear credible rumours far beyond what we hear. Late in the negotiations when Ferrari feel they are close, LH could say something like "I hear that you have 20 HP over last year's engine" "Oh you heard that! Well it's hard to keep these things a secret for long." LH could say "prove it"
Or, "I might be interested if you can give me a feel of the improved downforce or drag, or can you show that you are addressing better tyre performance. etc etc.
It's up to Ferrari to decide if they want to risk it. And what is the real risk? The teams are committed to their designs now. Engines are frozen other than eg reliability. The other teams will quickly know in testing who has made progress a few weeks from now. There are too many ways to get an idea of other team's progress. There was speculation that LH knew about Mercs progress when he switched.
Maybe none of that happens but LH could attract Brit talent to the team. Perhaps there are top engineers from Merc or other teams that are heading to Maranello. He would be in a position to know.
If none of this is true then maybe it's 2026 that he is really after. Either way I seriously doubt that LH would go to Ferrari if he did not have good info that they are going to be competitive.