2014/15 Silly Season

[djos]

I did say crazy right?

[ScottB]

I did say crazy right?

Indeed!

Clearly 'journalists' are just making up nonsense while we don't know anything; post a crazy rumour, drive traffic to your site.

[noel]

another crazy theory from a mate of mine. fernando could be on the move to merc, what with his cryptic interviews et al - not even mentioning honda. it would make sense, too. i mean, if he could somehow buy out nico's contract, because it's sure as --- merc would never let someone go who basically won both titles for the team. personally, i'd very much like to see him driving alongside lewis than britney.

[proracketeer]

Latest crazy Rumor is that Flavio is trying to buy Lotus with Santander money and Alonso will be joining him and will help bring Ferrari engines to the team.

(From Aussie F1 race Broadcast)

So Lotus are going to tear up their Merc contract for Ferrari power...

Ferrari might need a new engine customer, if Marussia foldes and Sauber switches...

[Thunder]

So RTL (German TV Station that shows F1 in Free TV and has Nikki Lauda as their Expert) and their associate Site Sport1 report that the Rumour in the Paddock is Alonso will get a 6 Year Contract at McLaren with Honda paying tha Salary.

http://www.rtl.de/cms/sport/formel-1/ne ... 00332.html
http://www.sport1.de/de/formel1/formel1 ... 78679.html

This Years Silly Season is truly epic.

[noel]

So RTL (German TV Station that shows F1 in Free TV and has Nikki Lauda as their Expert) and their associate Site Sport1 report that the Rumour in the Paddock is Alonso will get a 6 Year Contract at McLaren with Honda paying tha Salary.

http://www.rtl.de/cms/sport/formel-1/ne ... 00332.html
http://www.sport1.de/de/formel1/formel1 ... 78679.html

This Years Silly Season is truly epic.

holy megalomania, batman! 6 years? will they sell their wtcc cars to pay him?
...and maybe throw some motogp bikes in there too.

[Redragon]

I don't know Lotus option but after the weekend and seeing Hamilton changing his management again. My gut feeling tells me his management lost the battle, Alonso to sign for Mercedes and Hamilton back with his daddy as manager and step father Dennis at Mclaren. If Mclaren were sure of Alonso going to their team, they wouldn't be talking of looking other options at this stage. But, if Alo goes to Mclaren, no way he signs a contract of 6 years without a contract clause as in Ferrari where if the team doesn't reach 3rd on Contractors Championship he will be free to go.

[smr]

Looks like Jenson is leaving F1

Jenson Button is in advanced talks with Porsche for a switch to WEC. As soon as he closes the deal, McLaren will make their announcement @pitlanetalk

[Writinglife]

i think i've heard every theory now, except Williams are changing to Honda power in 2016, so Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost have signed to drive for them...

[prince]

I don't know Lotus option but after the weekend and seeing Hamilton changing his management again. My gut feeling tells me his management lost the battle, Alonso to sign for Mercedes and Hamilton back with his daddy as manager and step father Dennis at Mclaren.

It's a known story and has been confirmed by Toto and Lewis multiple times that, Driver's championship is of top priority for both and all the contract negotiations would be done after Abu Dhabi. So where is the question of Lewis' management losing the battle, if there was none fought. Don't be surprised if Lewis signs with Toto's sports management team to handle his sporting affairs !

Why would any sane person would throw away the opportunity of driving the most competitive car out there, when there is another great driver waiting like a vulture to get in that seat? Where else would Lewis would find a car that allows him to win championship? Lewis left McLaren because of a variety of different reasons, including their inability to win championship despite having best car. There is none that is bothering him at this stage at Merc and he has Toto and Niki both behind him with their full support. I have no clue why would people simply be rumouring Lewis' Merc departure story. Alonso's situation is understandable as he is frustrated at not having a race winning car. The one thing that most of sources are saying is the contract settlement money is an issue in Ferrari-Alonso divorce.

Merc need Lewis for the long term future and Toto/Niki know it. They would do everything in their capacity to retain Lewis. Niki played a crucial role in bringing Lewis to Merc and why would he see him go? At a very crucial time, Lewis put breaks on contract talks and made sure the Merc management understands his eagerness for driver's championship. They have played along very fine by ensuring Lewis' reliability problems are sorted.

If Lewis goes on to win the championship, psychologically it would be even more difficult for Nico to compete with Lewis next year. If Nico couldn't stand up to Lewis next year, that is the opportunity the other drivers' would want to poach.

[Moose]

As far as I'm concerned, the only things that Hamilton and Merc have to negotiate are how long they're keeping him, and how much they're paying him for it.

It's clear that Hamilton likes it in this team. It's clear that Merc like having him in the team (hell, Lauda has gone from "he's a bull in a china shop" to "he's one of the best, and most intelligent drivers out there"). I don't think there'll be any hint of "you need to go elsewhere" or "I'm going to look elsewhere".

[George-Jung]

Why would any sane person would throw away the opportunity of driving the most competitive car out there, when there is another great driver waiting like a vulture to get in that seat? Where else would Lewis would find a car that allows him to win championship? Lewis left McLaren because of a variety of different reasons, including their inability to win championship despite having best car.

I could only come up with one reason and that is that Hamilton wants to drive the McLaren Honda, just like his biggest idol..

[Alexgtt]

Forget Lewis moving. It's not happening.

Alonso to McLaren, paid for by Honda. That's it. Just the term and get outs to sort I expect. 2-3 years maybe...............but 6 years is total poop. And that's probably the key here because 2 years at McLaren-Honda would be good time for Audi/VW to get competitive.......whichever route they choose. Then Fred can join his ex-Ferrari mates for glory.

[Redragon]

Obviously Marca is a spanish newspaper and they want Alo on Mercedes but they are reporting
that negotiations between Ham and Merc are not going well
http://www.marca.com/2014/11/03/motor/f ... 08231.html
If it was only about renewing contract that would have happen earlier, the fact Ham changes his management on the middle of negotations it is a bit suspicious IMO
But will see this is F1 and everything could happen

[emaren]

Obviously Marca is a spanish newspaper and they want Alo on Mercedes but they are reporting
that negotiations between Ham and Merc are not going well
http://www.marca.com/2014/11/03/motor/f ... 08231.html
If it was only about renewing contract that would have happen earlier, the fact Ham changes his management on the middle of negotations it is a bit suspicious IMO
But will see this is F1 and everything could happen

My Mercedes source says that Hamilton simply told everyone to stop nagging him about contracts and let him get on with winning the championship this year.

That his contract with his managers has expired might mean that the next round of contract negotiations, whenever they are, may not even happen this year. Hamilton is still contracted to Mercedes for 2015. Perhaps he is being smart here, he realises that he is the key to the musical chairs, if Mercedes want to spend an entire year preparing his contract, that is fine. He is contracted for 2015. In a years time, if he wins this one and is leading this time next year, he could think about perhaps re-signing. Or if the McLaren Honda looks good, he could go home.

There is no compelling reason for Hamilton to sign up beyond 2015 that I can see at the moment.