Silly season 2021-2022-2023

[Big Tea]

I don't like the smell of Ineos. lead by another British fogurehead who wishes to squash Hamilton down and control him. It would be better if another non-British company hard partnered with Mercedes.

I guess you mean figurehead? Representative without acutual power?

That would be Lewis Hamilton.

Jim Ratcliffe:
- son of a carpenter
- self made billionaire
- founder of ineos
- richest man of the uk 2018
- paying bills for the F1 team

Sounds like you're just mad, that they wont bend over for HAM's ridiculous contract demands.

But we do not know what they are, do we?
Its fine backing someone in a disagreement if you know what they are disagreeing over, but I feel sure that if it was just money we would not be having this problem. One way or another it would be solved by cash or 'perks'

[aMessageToCharlie]

Of course, it's all speculation.

Just like we don’t know that anybody "wishes to squash Hamilton down and control him". lol.

Here's the speculation around HAM's demands:

"The rejection from the team came due to Hamilton’s lofty contract demands.

He reportedly made four demands to the team in the hunt for a new deal. Here’s a list of those mind-blowing demands.

- Four-year, $200 million salary ($50 million per year)

-10% of Mercedes’ winnings, should they win more championships

-Limited-production AMG One car

- A role that “goes beyond being a driver and more than a mere testimonial”

Source:
https://beyondtheflag.com/2021/01/08/fo ... d-blowing/

[Manoah2u]

yes, that's what the discussion is about for quite a while now.

the first two are financial hits that probably will result in finding eachother along the way. it's quite the money, but still not really 'way out of the ballpark'.
the car really is a laugh, that's not an issue, if it was made, it'll probably already be in his driveway.

the last one probably is a bit of a thing, depending on how it's really written down on paper.
i would argue that this goes into the area of having 'too great' of influence to what mercedes wants.
after all it's Mercedes-Benz, not Hamilton F1, no matter whether he's a 'SIR'.

It's probably more the case of 'unravelling' what he really desires with the latter, and finding the writable/firmable limits/boundries of such.

After all, what Mercedes -rightfully so- doesn't want is Hamilton deciding what clothes the crew are allowed to wear and what they're allowed to eat. Again, i'm not at all claiming there is proof Hamilton fe wants everybody vegan, i do believe that it's neccesary that you don't accidentally give somebody the room to do that. And again, that 4th 'speculation' leaves room for just such a thing.

Money can be negotiated and filled in. the last part cannot. it'll be a combination of these. meanwhile, nobody has a rush, both surely will have already have a verbal agreement to race, it's just a matter of paperwork, and it's being dragged out by the media because it's essentially 'all the media has' and Lewis is a 'celebrity' right now so a moneymaker for the tabloids and clicbait articles.

[Just_a_fan]

Of course, it's all speculation.

Exactly. It's rumour and "reports". The only people who know are Hamilton, Wolff and whichever Merc execs are involved, plus their immediate staff. If any of those are leaking key info about contracts then there will be fallout.

So until there is an official statement about it, it's all just fluff in the wind.

[Just_a_fan]

One thing we can say, if Hamilton doesn't sign for Mercedes, it's a dead certainty that his detractors will claim he ran away from Russell coming in to the team.

[aMessageToCharlie]

Would be pretty hard to make an argument for HAM walking from an almost guaranteed (record breaking) championship title, just to avoid a comparison with Russell. The latter of whom wouldnt join before 2022 anyways.

[PlatinumZealot]

I don't like the smell of Ineos. lead by another British fogurehead who wishes to squash Hamilton down and control him. It would be better if another non-British company hard partnered with Mercedes.

I guess you mean figurehead? Representative without acutual power?

That would be Lewis Hamilton.

Jim Ratcliffe:
- son of a carpenter
- self made billionaire
- founder of ineos
- richest man of the uk 2018
- paying bills for the F1 team

Sounds like you're just mad, that they wont bend over for HAM's ridiculous contract demands.

Yeah. Meant head-honcho.
Not mad. This happens a lot in sports.

[PlatinumZealot]

One thing we can say, if Hamilton doesn't sign for Mercedes, it's a dead certainty that his detractors will claim he ran away from Russell coming in to the team.

I feel Ratcliffe is using Russell as a bargaining chip. He rather have Russell in the seat for no other reason than to kick Ham in the balls and show him he is not bigger than the team.

[tangodjango]

Of course, it's all speculation.

Just like we don’t know that anybody "wishes to squash Hamilton down and control him". lol.

Here's the speculation around HAM's demands:

"The rejection from the team came due to Hamilton’s lofty contract demands.

He reportedly made four demands to the team in the hunt for a new deal. Here’s a list of those mind-blowing demands.

- Four-year, $200 million salary ($50 million per year)

-10% of Mercedes’ winnings, should they win more championships

-Limited-production AMG One car

- A role that “goes beyond being a driver and more than a mere testimonial”

Source:
https://beyondtheflag.com/2021/01/08/fo ... d-blowing/

Lol source written by some rando who has no connection with the F1 world.

[JordanMugen]

I feel Ratcliffe is using Russell as a bargaining chip. He rather have Russell in the seat for no other reason than to kick Ham in the balls and show him he is not bigger than the team.

A Russell-Hamilton swap during 2021 would be a lot of fun for fans.

Does Hamilton do enough for Williams to justify a $20m-50m/year salary? [Assuming Hamilton even comes to an agreement to take the Williams seat vacated by Russell.]

Does Russell do enough for Mercedes-Benz to justify the promotion and $2m/year salary + $5m/year to buyout his Williams contract?

It would be a great way to sidestep the baffling Bottas contract issue (why was Bottas contracted by Mercedes for 2021, who knows, all fans know is it makes no sense), let Russell collect the 2021 WDC title, and then bring back Hamilton for 2022.

Aah.. But their NEW regulation car is not guaranteed to be dominant. This is the most important bit and where you need a driver with strong institutional knowledge and exper raport with the engineers. He will be worth every penny if he can usher in the new Era with a championship.

Exactly. So let Hamilton sit out the year, save 30m+ EUR, and have Russell collect a WDC (car permitting, hopefully the Red Bull - Honda will be too fast for Mercedes), and then bring Hamilton back for 2022.

[Just_a_fan]

I think Hamilton wants a long contract to take him to the end of his career. I think Mercedes want to keep the drivers on short contracts of a single year or two as that gives them flexibility.

[Fulcrum]

I feel Ratcliffe is using Russell as a bargaining chip. He rather have Russell in the seat for no other reason than to kick Ham in the balls and show him he is not bigger than the team.

A Russell-Hamilton swap during 2021 would be a lot of fun for fans.

Does Hamilton do enough for Williams to justify a $20m-50m/year salary? [Assuming Hamilton even comes to an agreement to take the Williams seat vacated by Russell.]

Does Russell do enough for Mercedes-Benz to justify the promotion and $2m/year salary + $5m/year to buyout his Williams contract?

It would be a great way to sidestep the baffling Bottas contract issue (why was Bottas contracted by Mercedes for 2021, who knows, all fans know is it makes no sense), let Russell collect the 2021 WDC title, and then bring back Hamilton for 2022.

Aah.. But their NEW regulation car is not guaranteed to be dominant. This is the most important bit and where you need a driver with strong institutional knowledge and exper raport with the engineers. He will be worth every penny if he can usher in the new Era with a championship.

Exactly. So let Hamilton sit out the year, save 30m+ EUR, and have Russell collect a WDC (car permitting, hopefully the Red Bull - Honda will be too fast for Mercedes), and then bring Hamilton back for 2022.

Because Bottas is the most competitive, and best value, doormat they can find.

[ESPImperium]

heard a rumour today that Hamilton is only after a single year deal for £50m for it. He wants the 8, and that's his figure. Mercedes know it, and he knows only they can provide it for him. If they thrash it out, its down to PR days, they didn't do the 75 he is contracted to do last year, that's been forgotten about, Mercedes want him to do 50 he wants a much lower 28 or 30 day figure. Lewis hates PR days, even the tedious afternoon ones.

He wants the 8, then he wants to call it quits as he wants to focus on his political affairs.

Russell is being used as a bargaining chip, He will be in the Mercedes in 2022 alongside someone other than Bottas id recon, probably Ocon to be honest with Ocon being replaced with Gasly at Alpine. Ill take a early shout, Albon to replace Gasly as Red Bull will stay with Perez and Verstappen.

The fireworks will be at Haas, it will be a probable CatHAAStrophie.

Back to Mercedes, I can see Russell in there next year, as if Hamilton doesn't get that deal, a sabbatical and a year out may happen, with Williams having to scramble for a diver. There will be one or two interested in that last minute seat.

[raymondu999]

ESPI is that the same source that confirmed to you Kobayashi was replacing Massa mid 2011

[Fulcrum]

heard a rumour today that Hamilton is only after a single year deal for £50m for it. He wants the 8, and that's his figure. Mercedes know it, and he knows only they can provide it for him. If they thrash it out, its down to PR days, they didn't do the 75 he is contracted to do last year, that's been forgotten about, Mercedes want him to do 50 he wants a much lower 28 or 30 day figure. Lewis hates PR days, even the tedious afternoon ones.

He wants the 8, then he wants to call it quits as he wants to focus on his political affairs.

Russell is being used as a bargaining chip, He will be in the Mercedes in 2022 alongside someone other than Bottas id recon, probably Ocon to be honest with Ocon being replaced with Gasly at Alpine. Ill take a early shout, Albon to replace Gasly as Red Bull will stay with Perez and Verstappen.

The fireworks will be at Haas, it will be a probable CatHAAStrophie.

Back to Mercedes, I can see Russell in there next year, as if Hamilton doesn't get that deal, a sabbatical and a year out may happen, with Williams having to scramble for a diver. There will be one or two interested in that last minute seat.

If this is true, then he is aiming for the Mayweather deal - bowing out on top, undefeated, with a big paycheck.

He will be perceived to be ducking Russell, but doing so is smart. Racing against Russell won't reflect well on Hamilton.