Might well be the toughest opponent period given age difference and the fact Leclerc is the incumbent who is integrated with the team.Seanspeed wrote: ↑15 Feb 2024, 23:39In no world will anybody with a sensible brain be expecting Lewis to put a 'colossal beat down' on Leclerc, who might well be the toughest opponent he's faced in the same team since his rookie year.
Whatever Ferrari's intentions with his hiring, that will absolutely not be the reason why they did it.
They certainly do have to worry about being lambasted for 'letting Lewis down', much more than have they for Leclerc, though. There is certainly a circus surrounding Lewis, and Ferrari have done a lot to mostly avoid the ire of close British media scrutiny, but now that veil is lifted and all bets are off. Nothing more that the British press would love than to trash on the Italian team for not doing Lewis proper.
You'd think Hamilton would have made sure that wasn't the case. It's unlikely imo.
Negotiations between Ferrari and Lewis would have started sometime in the last quarter of last year. It was most likely the timeframe when he made up his mind to move. Was there solid enough info about the W15's performance? We can only guess. It's not a contract that a desperate rookie is signing that can be done in a few days. So obviously it would have taken months of negotiations before he signed the deal. He waited until the last possible moment available as per his current Mercedes contract to inform of the decision. It doesn't mean the deal was done at the end of Jan. My gut feeling is, he didn't have any confidence of Mercedes bridging the gap to Red Bull and he knew it would be belaboring 2 more years. I don't think he waited to see if W15 is good or not. There was a lucrative contract in front of him and a nagging feeling of incompetence of Mercedes to match Red Bull.
No way, no how. The deal is announced, can't put that cat back in a bag.
We can only guess, naturally. We have little idea what are Lewis' true motivations.mendis wrote: ↑17 Feb 2024, 10:43Negotiations between Ferrari and Lewis would have started sometime in the last quarter of last year. It was most likely the timeframe when he made up his mind to move. Was there solid enough info about the W15's performance? We can only guess. It's not a contract that a desperate rookie is signing that can be done in a few days. So obviously it would have taken months of negotiations before he signed the deal. He waited until the last possible moment available as per his current Mercedes contract to inform of the decision. It doesn't mean the deal was done at the end of Jan. My gut feeling is, he didn't have any confidence of Mercedes bridging the gap to Red Bull and he knew it would be belaboring 2 more years. I don't think he waited to see if W15 is good or not. There was a lucrative contract in front of him and a nagging feeling of incompetence of Mercedes to match Red Bull.
Afaik by that point car design is quite advanced.Negotiations between Ferrari and Lewis would have started sometime in the last quarter of last year.
Chuckjr wrote: ↑17 Feb 2024, 02:41That’s what makes me just scratch my head from a marketing and legacy point of view. Even in the other thread a poster said they didn’t think Lewis would win in either car. Id have to agree. So why leave an incredibly successful career at a team he’s driven for basically his whole life to go and likely just match or more likely lose to a superior team mate while punting his former team a year early?? Should that happen who would take him seriously at Ferrari? That would be toxic for his marketing efforts. It seems people forget most of the Ferrari fan base has really not preferred Lewis his entire career as he has been racing against their “dearly beloved”, and I think it presumptive to assume they suddenly are going to leave decades of dislike behind and turn around and like the guy to the point of buying his merch, becoming a fan, and do all this if/when he can’t even beat his team mate? Make it make sense.
When Brett Favre went and played for rival team the Vikings it alienated his entire fan base, and when he lost in the playoffs, none of the Viking fans had any time for him. So Brett burned both bridges trying to force a SuperBowl win when he didn’t need to be a legend. To this day it has marred his career and few Green Bay fans really even like him anymore when they would have names their kids after him before his Vikings stunt. This Lewis situation is a similar potential pattern just in a much larger scope tho I don’t think his British will ever leave him. I’ve read posts of Merc fans who are Lewis fans and they really are not that excited about pulling for Ferrari. Who can blame them?
Losing at Merc is really where it would not have mattered at all. But losing at Ferrari it will matter much more. And that’s why I don’t see why there’s so much opinion that this is an amazingly good decision and Ferrari will benefit far more than the 1/2 billion or so they are tossing at him and his woke interests (which btw are highly toxic to many American businesses — the very fan base he’s trying to capture along with the Italians).
The whole thing seems just very odd to me because he really had it in the bag at Merc. 100%. Mercedes Benz likely would have named a car edition after him. He could basically do no wrong. Had the team under him and 100% behind him with a huge, huge global fan base just drooling over him and rarely critical of him. Just wait till he makes a mistake at Ferrari—the graces and can-do-no-wrong position that he enjoys at Merc will vaporize. Does he realize the unforgiving rats nest he is walking into?
I think personally this changes a lot and all simply to drive a Ferrari. Whelp, I hope he likes it! I hope it’s all he ever dreamed because I think it’s going to be very costly to his career, legacy, and his personal life if he can’t deliver the goods and win. If he can win, then great, I’m wrong and he will benefit. I just don’t see it.
I guess we will see in 2025, but yea it’s going to be cringe at Merc this year. Already saw it on his face in the pics. It’s easy to tell he is uneasy. The team is. Who can blame them? I know if I was on the team I’d be disappointed. It’s gonna get awkward when the team starts asking him to leave tech meetings early, and he starts getting a different set of notes than his team mate to keep him from taking anything to Ferrari. I also see them giving car updates to George before Lewis this year. I’ve seen this kinda stuff happen many times before from other veteran drivers who left a big team.
I hope Lewis wins for his sake because the Ferrari fan base will not be as forgiving as his Mercedes counterparts. It’s all gonna add up. We’ll see…it has added some free drama, and for that I’m really thankful.
Well Hamilton did struggle with Russell too '22. Hamilton is ageing 40's and his prime has gone already.Andres125sx wrote:Chuckjr wrote: ↑17 Feb 2024, 02:41That’s what makes me just scratch my head from a marketing and legacy point of view. Even in the other thread a poster said they didn’t think Lewis would win in either car. Id have to agree. So why leave an incredibly successful career at a team he’s driven for basically his whole life to go and likely just match or more likely lose to a superior team mate while punting his former team a year early?? Should that happen who would take him seriously at Ferrari? That would be toxic for his marketing efforts. It seems people forget most of the Ferrari fan base has really not preferred Lewis his entire career as he has been racing against their “dearly beloved”, and I think it presumptive to assume they suddenly are going to leave decades of dislike behind and turn around and like the guy to the point of buying his merch, becoming a fan, and do all this if/when he can’t even beat his team mate? Make it make sense.
When Brett Favre went and played for rival team the Vikings it alienated his entire fan base, and when he lost in the playoffs, none of the Viking fans had any time for him. So Brett burned both bridges trying to force a SuperBowl win when he didn’t need to be a legend. To this day it has marred his career and few Green Bay fans really even like him anymore when they would have names their kids after him before his Vikings stunt. This Lewis situation is a similar potential pattern just in a much larger scope tho I don’t think his British will ever leave him. I’ve read posts of Merc fans who are Lewis fans and they really are not that excited about pulling for Ferrari. Who can blame them?
Losing at Merc is really where it would not have mattered at all. But losing at Ferrari it will matter much more. And that’s why I don’t see why there’s so much opinion that this is an amazingly good decision and Ferrari will benefit far more than the 1/2 billion or so they are tossing at him and his woke interests (which btw are highly toxic to many American businesses — the very fan base he’s trying to capture along with the Italians).
The whole thing seems just very odd to me because he really had it in the bag at Merc. 100%. Mercedes Benz likely would have named a car edition after him. He could basically do no wrong. Had the team under him and 100% behind him with a huge, huge global fan base just drooling over him and rarely critical of him. Just wait till he makes a mistake at Ferrari—the graces and can-do-no-wrong position that he enjoys at Merc will vaporize. Does he realize the unforgiving rats nest he is walking into?
I think personally this changes a lot and all simply to drive a Ferrari. Whelp, I hope he likes it! I hope it’s all he ever dreamed because I think it’s going to be very costly to his career, legacy, and his personal life if he can’t deliver the goods and win. If he can win, then great, I’m wrong and he will benefit. I just don’t see it.
I guess we will see in 2025, but yea it’s going to be cringe at Merc this year. Already saw it on his face in the pics. It’s easy to tell he is uneasy. The team is. Who can blame them? I know if I was on the team I’d be disappointed. It’s gonna get awkward when the team starts asking him to leave tech meetings early, and he starts getting a different set of notes than his team mate to keep him from taking anything to Ferrari. I also see them giving car updates to George before Lewis this year. I’ve seen this kinda stuff happen many times before from other veteran drivers who left a big team.
I hope Lewis wins for his sake because the Ferrari fan base will not be as forgiving as his Mercedes counterparts. It’s all gonna add up. We’ll see…it has added some free drama, and for that I’m really thankful.
Leclerc superior to Hamilton? Leclerc has struggled to beat Sainz (2-1 in 3 seasons, without a single season proving any significant superiority), there´s not a single evidence to state he´s superior to the most successful driver in F1 history. This said by someone who think Lewis is overrated, but only because of the huge title count wich IMHO is not representative of his talent, huge talent, but biggest ever?
Lewis unquestionably is one of the best drivers on current grid, or even ever. Leclerc can´t even beat fair and square a not so talented driver.
Facts
