why did hamilton move to mercedes GP ?

[AlainFrost]

One things for sure.. He silents all the critics.

Not me. He won't convince me with this car. Chilton could be WDC in the W05. Unfortunately I'd rather win the title as Vettel 10 and 12 or how Lewis did in 08. This year will only be remembered as the one where Mercedes had the trick turbo. Just like the DDD or the EBD. Best case for Lewis is a Rosberg challenge as we had in 88. Otherwise the history books won't have a very long chapter for 2014 season.

Regarding leaving macca for merc we will never truly know. Lewis likes it that way.

You'd rather win the title like Vettel but any driver would take it any way they can.

I think any would rather win the title by taking every pole and winning every race. They are not there to convince everyone, only the people that pay their salaries and any potential employment for the future.

At the end of the day and 100 years from now it's the poles, wins and WDCs that make the front page of the record books, not a particular season.

In Lewis favour is that he lost and won the WDC by one point.. I think, and that was among a more competitive field.

With that behind him he, along with Alonso don't really need to convince me of anything, but that's just me.

For me he was going nowhere at McLaren and even his form dropped. He just didn't look happy there anymore. Even before he signed for Mercs talk was always about 2014 being the year of their dominance. This surely played a massive part in his decision.

Two quotes stand out after he made the decision.

1) Button: " The decision is up to Lewis but personally I do not think it is a good idea".
2) Hamilton: " I have seen the 2013 McLaren and it is a very good car. They should get a few wins this year (2013) and compete for the championships".

They were both wrong.

[Sevach]

I'm not sure why he made this move that at the time looked like a leap of faith... but it sure worked well for him.

And not so great for Whitmarsh...

[copperkipper1]

He had to leave McLaren

Apparently the environment there was grim and becoming intolerable...I mean just look how Lewis has been allowed to express himself as a human ever since he joined Mercedes...McLaren have had him in a straitjacket for many years.

Also Lewis and Paddy Lowe both acknowledged what Ross Brawn had done for the team (which is funny since they are the newcomers from McLaren)

It was no leap of faith. It was an educated informed decision. still extremely hard to make...only because McLaren had a decent car in 2012 & Lewis had been there for so long.

[PlatinumZealot]

One things for sure.. He silents all the critics.

Not me. He won't convince me with this car. Chilton could be WDC in the W05. Unfortunately I'd rather win the title as Vettel 10 and 12 or how Lewis did in 08. This year will only be remembered as the one where Mercedes had the trick turbo. Just like the DDD or the EBD. Best case for Lewis is a Rosberg challenge as we had in 88. Otherwise the history books won't have a very long chapter for 2014 season.

Regarding leaving macca for merc we will never truly know. Lewis likes it that way.

Not with Rosberg in the other seat!

[johnsonwax]

I think it's clear Lewis knew that Mercedes was investing more in their own team than in Mclaren and that by this year, they'd be much more competitive. No shortage of people around Mercedes to tell him that.

But Lewis also indicated that he sees his future in the US, either racing or endorsing here. Mercedes hasn't been great for him on that front, but Mclaren had nothing to offer, and Mercedes at least has a solid presence in the states. Look at the jump Webber made. He can be a factory Porsche driver for the rest of his career, with no shortage of series featuring Porsche on multiple continents. I don't know to what extent Mercedes will be returning to racing, but they have DTM and Australian V8. They're offering cars back into endurance racing, but not as a factory team. I could see them entering ALMS. It's probably as good of a fit for the US market outside of Red Bull at least until Honda returns to the sport.

[Sevach]

Not with Rosberg in the other seat!

Not with just about any F1 quality driver in the other seat.

[Shakeman]

Not with Rosberg in the other seat!

Quite right n smikle, Rosberg is no Webber or Massa.

For me Rosberg is right up there with Alonso and should Hamilton win the WDC (or Rosberg for that matter) it will be one of the more hard fought and deserved WDC wins for many a year.

[MercedesAMGSpy]

''Followed the money'' I remembered comments like that in the media. They couldn't be more wrong.

And don't forget that even 2013 was a good year for Mercedes.

[WaikeCU]

I have the feeling that a lot has to be down on Whitmarsh running things at Mclaren and like we maybe now realize, Whitmarsh hasn't been the right man for the job. Generally speaking I think Mclaren hasn't been on their level since Ron Dennis left the F1 scenery. Maybe that's also one of the reasons why Lewis left.

[siskue2005]

i think Lauda persuaded him, i think he showed him some data of their new engine?? and also he added that he wanted to emulate Schumacher
both these reasons made him change his mind ...there could be other reasons also

hindsight is 20/20 but what a move by Lewis =D> this is going to fetch him atleast 1 WDC
just for fun got this from another forum

[elMaestro]

Its kinda funny since Hamilton left the team dipped in form!

[dieguezzz]

These headlines... they hurt as a McLaren fan.

But I have another way of looking at the switch Hamilton made.

McLaren switching to Honda. Whats the best way of learning Mercedes engine secrets? Brawn said to Hamilton "go to Mercedes and learn as much as you can about driving this NEW formula, mercedes is already ahead so go and win. Once Im directing Honda, and as soon as Mercedes loses their golden advantage, you can come back to McLaren - Honda"

I know i know this is very far fetched, but if Ross goes on with Honda, it kind of makes sense to send the best driver in the world to learn the secrets of the silver arrows driving specifications. You guarantee the drivers happiness and in the long term the driver knows what is needed to DRIVE°

Do not forget Hamilton is McLaren... he will always be McLaren. Hamilton is not only winning but is gathering data to bring back to something UNREAL... Ron-McLaren-Honda-Brawn-Hamilton, one team for the future. Lauda might want to emulate Schumacher, but Brawn wants to emulate Ayrton.

sorry for this conspiracy theory, but I seriously believe it

[SweetApex]

Interesting to also note that Hamilton was influenced by Lauda that he could do what Schumacher did when he moved to Ferrari. Essentially taking the team from mediocre performances to dominance which is exactly what he's currently doing. Funnily enough it was Brawn who was involved in both dominance periods (although only the beginning of this one when development was taking place.

I think I found the source here: http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2012/10/h ... ling-team/

Also mentioned Rosberg's small role in this at the end.

[turbof1]

Hmmm, I noticed that the article was made when he was still at Mclaren. He's probably speaking one truth, but due contractual obligations couldn't tell anything that is even remotely criticism to Mclaren.

The headlines put up by siskue are telling. I indeed remember Whitmarsh saying Hamilton made the wrong decision. Not that Hamilton took a risk-free decision, but Mclaren did got a very harsh lesson in being humble last year, and this year. I don't believe it's all coincidence. Lauda must have been able accurately predict how Mercedes were to evolve, and based on that probably was able to convince Hamilton.

[Shakeman]

These headlines... they hurt as a McLaren fan.

But I have another way of looking at the switch Hamilton made.

McLaren switching to Honda. Whats the best way of learning Mercedes engine secrets? Brawn said to Hamilton "go to Mercedes and learn as much as you can about driving this NEW formula, mercedes is already ahead so go and win. Once Im directing Honda, and as soon as Mercedes loses their golden advantage, you can come back to McLaren - Honda"

I know i know this is very far fetched, but if Ross goes on with Honda, it kind of makes sense to send the best driver in the world to learn the secrets of the silver arrows driving specifications. You guarantee the drivers happiness and in the long term the driver knows what is needed to DRIVE°

Do not forget Hamilton is McLaren... he will always be McLaren. Hamilton is not only winning but is gathering data to bring back to something UNREAL... Ron-McLaren-Honda-Brawn-Hamilton, one team for the future. Lauda might want to emulate Schumacher, but Brawn wants to emulate Ayrton.

sorry for this conspiracy theory, but I seriously believe it

The real problem for McLaren is how to get any downforce onto the car and even if the Honda engine is a Merc beater that wouldn't necessarily result in a win win combination for McLaren. McLaren have slipped behind a long way and despite Ron returning changes of fortune could take years.

Your post is way too far fetched to be plausible. There are many better ways for McLaren to get hold of Merc data that waiting for a driver to return with it, for example, they could simply actively recruit Merc engineers. No doubt cheque books will be flexed in the future but I doubt that would include Lewis as a target again.

Lewis appears to be much more relaxed, has a massive advantage in the car and has some of the finest F1 engineers around him why would he want to return to McLaren? Yes, this could all change but it would have to change a lot.