Motorsports Thread

[Reynard]

Lando has just committed himself long term to McLaren, so it would have to be an exceptional offer to pry him out of a place where he's really happy and settled. This year's car looks pretty promising and the team, after a long while on the sidelines is definitely on the uptick.

 

[FishFright]

If he doesn't leave F1 to do racing yachts or similar I reckon , with no evidence what so ever, he'll head for Aston Martin. I want him to go to Ferrari but he's said in the past that he didn't want to leave the UK, here's hoping though .

ETA It's just occurred to me that maybe it's how Ferrari tempted Hamilton ?

 

[Drago]

I'm undecided if Fezza tempted Hamilton, or if the perception that Merdedes weren't listening to him pushed him away. Same end result either way.

 

[icowden]

I'm undecided if Fezza tempted Hamilton, or if the perception that Merdedes weren't listening to him pushed him away. Same end result either way.

Possibly a bit of both.

 

[ClichéGuevara]

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1783632329275277799

 

[Illaveago]

I'm undecided if Fezza tempted Hamilton, or if the perception that Merdedes weren't listening to him pushed him away. Same end result either way.

From what we can see from the outside it looks like Lewis made the right decision. It looks like Mercedes haven't a clue in what they are doing. Other teams have made some progress but Mercedes have either stood still or gone backwards. Not listening to your main driver seems a strange way of trying to sort out a car when he is the one that has to drive it .

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

Is Hamilton jumping to the right car, the right team at the right time ... again?

 

[Drago]

Is Hamilton jumping to the right car, the right team at the right time ... again?

Even if all the planets align and Moanilton ends up at Fezza with Newey, I don't think he'll succeed.

He's never been like Verstappen, who can drive a fast car quickly even if the cars behaviour doesn't suit him personally. Provided the car is fundamentally fast he doesn't mind if its twitchy, has a grippy rear or front, understeer, or whatever - he can work around that.

Last year was a good demo session of this. As the car developed it apparently felt a bit strange in some ways. Max adapted, but Perez couldn't and his relative performance fell away.

Hamilton isn't that adaptable, likes a car to fleel a certain way, and if it doesnt he puts his energy into moaning about it instead of hundreds of nours of sim time required to find a solution. The odds of Newey designing a fast car out the gate which also gives the feel that Hamilton seeks is slim.

And then Fezza need to build and develop it, get their strategy and pitlane management sorted...

Never say never, but so many variables need to come good, and fairly quickly at that, I can't see it happening.

 

[figbat]

2026 is a major shake-up of design and Adrian often comes out of those ahead. Might be a slow-burn, long play for Ferrari - get Lewis established and bring on Adrian in 2025 to have the 2026 campaign hit the ground running. Win whatever you can in the meantime.

Although Audi don't appear to be messing about either.

 

[AndyRM]

I don't really understand the flack Hamilton gets from some people (and I include my F1 mad pals in this).

 

[Drago]

2026 is a major shake-up of design and Adrian often comes out of those ahead. Might be a slow-burn, long play for Ferrari - get Lewis established and bring on Adrian in 2025 to have the 2026 campaign hit the ground running. Win whatever you can in the meantime.

The car could be supersonic, but if Hamilton doesn't like the feel it won't work.

It's Newey himself that recently stated he takes no account of the driver, beyond that required by regulations, when designing a car. Its his job to make a car as fast as possible, the drivere job to get on and drive it regardless of how it feels or behaves.

It may well work, but with Newey's design ethos and Ramilton's taste for a car that feels a certain way, its a far from given.

But seeing as Newey has stated multiple times he isn't prepared to relocate overseas it's a non starter, unless he's had a change of heart. He hasn't yet uttered a single syllable to indicate a change of heart on that score.

 

[Drago]

I don't really understand the flack Hamilton gets from some people (and I include my F1 mad pals in this).

It's his comments in 2011 at Monaco that did it for me. He did his best to backtrack, but for me there's no way to unsay that which has been said. It spoke volumes about multiple facets of his character and approach to the sport when it isn't going his way.

I had the utmost respect for his ability, at least in his heyday, but that's as far as it went.

 

[classic33]

All the above assume that Newey will be staying in F1.

Maybe he'll try for a round the world record.
https://www.boatinternational.com/yachts/news/formula-one-red-bull-adrian-newey-oyster-885

 

[Jody]

I don't really understand the flack Hamilton gets from some people (and I include my F1 mad pals in this).

He's never totally comfortable behind the camera and struggles to mask his emotions/thoughts like some others.

It's odd as a lot of people have him as arrogant but I think he's still unsure of himself. Whether that was his upbringing up some of the struggles he faced but he's really hard on himself.

 

[AndyRM]

It's his comments in 2011 at Monaco that did it for me. He did his best to backtrack, but for me there's no way to unsay that which has been said. It spoke volumes about multiple facets of his character and approach to the sport when it isn't going his way.

I had the utmost respect for his ability, at least in his heyday, but that's as far as it went.

I had to look up what he said. Seemed like a heat of the moment kind of comment and I can sort of see why he said it because let's be realistic here, F1 isn't particularly noted for diversity.

I'm with @Jody on this one, I don't think he's arrogant at all. Frustrated may be a better way of describing his media output?