Forum menu
Mm, though Horner has claimed that Honda’s departure doesn’t trigger any clause in Max’s contract—but yeah, there’s always some way out if need be.
I dunno, just doesn’t seem like Hamilton to me. He beat Alonso (albeit by the narrowest margin imaginable) in his rookie year despite the spats; given that they’re both older and wiser and Hamilton’s pocketed seven titles since then, you’d hope he’d fancy his chances now if it came to a rematch.
Maybe driver vetoes should be outlawed in F1. After all, plenty of classic seasons have involved teammates sparring gloves-off in the top car. I mean, Damon’s a nice guy but there’s no one on the planet who wouldn’t have preferred to see either Senna or Mansell alongside Prost in the Williams in 93.
Verstappen might not need an exit clause - if Red Bull don't get their way with an engine development freeze the Red Bull team may cease to exist! 🙂
Mm, though Horner has claimed that Honda’s departure doesn’t trigger any clause in Max’s contract
Which means it probably does 🙂
I quite like Horner, but he is a bit Borisy sometimes, especially about drivers.
Maybe driver vetoes should be outlawed in F1.
I would like to see a system where each team is allowed to hire one driver of their own choosing and the other seat is reserved for the highest placed driver from the previous year, if he wants it. So that would mean that Hamilton would choose his team first (obviously Merc), then Merc could hire whoever they want for the second seat (obviously Bottas). Then Max could choose (obviously Red Bull), then Red Bull could choose their second driver. However, Perez was fourth, so he would be able to choose a seat at any of the remaining teams if he didn't want to go to Red Bull. Then Danny Ric would be allowed to choose his seat, and so on.
Max could choose (obviously Red Bull)
why would Max choose Red Bull?
why would Max choose Red Bull?
Because both Merc seats would be gone and Red Bull currently have the second fastest car, plus the whole team is built around him. He would leave if he could get a Merc seat, but that's not happening so Red Bull is where he's staying.
It would make a great deal of sense to put Russell in the second Merc sooner rather than later. For Russell to stand in for Hamilton in a car that didn't fit him, with minimal prep time AND recover from other people's blunders to fight his way through to the front TWICE was remarkable. We know that Russell is good, but he had an edge over Bottas everywhere except for qualifying, even then the margin was narrow.
Re the driver vetoes, as we know Senna vetoed Derek Warwick from the second Lotus in 1985, Mansell vetoed himself against Prost for 1993 and Prost did the same with Senna for 1994. Ultimately, if two drivers in the same team hate one another then sooner or later they will stop playing nicely to the detriment of the team. Mansell and Piquet famously disliked one another to the extent that both of them asked for the team to reduce the height of their cars' rollover hoops in an attempt to out-psyche one another. Had Alonso and Hamilton not played silly buggers with one another in 2007, Raikkonen probably wouldn't have won the championship by a single point.
I thought any veto rights would be to block Russell from taking the second seat? Didn't think Alonso or Verstappen would be remotely in the picture?
Hamilton likes Botas and he's not a threat for the drivers champ but is good enough to get regular podiums for the constructors championship. So its been a win - win - win situation for all 3, Hamilton, Merc and Botas (I don't think he'd get regular podiums if he wasn't in a Merc).
So far Merc have been happy to play along with this arrangement. But I guess now that Russell is in the picture, Merc are now thinking of the long term plan and to fully develop Russell into a true top end driver. I presume thats the sticking point? How long will Hamilton stick around for, 1 season? maybe 2? Then what? Will Russell still be free to jump into a Merc seat? Also whats the point of young driver program if you don't take your new up coming young drivers into the team and let them go else where?
I'm hoping Netflix have a camera crew in the room during Lewis' contract negotiations...😃
Who knows but I'm not sure Hamilton would veto Russell. I suspect it is more to veto drivers like Verstappen or Vettel (highly unlikely now though) getting into the car. Not that Hamilton would have anything to fear from Vettel I suspect but Verstappen would be like an angry Rosberg and no-one except the other teams on the grid would want to see that.
I just can’t see Hamilton demanding a veto. Vettel, yes, Alonso, yes, but Hamilton seems like he genuinely doesn’t worry about that sort of thing. He must know he can put psyche any of them if he needed to, he’s that good. Even Max.
Only person I can see Hamilton vetoing would be Verstappen - I don't think he'd be too bothered about Alonso or Vettel, and I'd see him being happy playing Stewart to Russell's Cevert.
... to the extent that both of them asked for the team to reduce the height of their cars’ rollover hoops in an attempt to out-psyche one another.
Did not know that - like! 🙂
As a curve ball I wonder if Hamilton wants a stake in an F1 team ala Beckham in MLS franchise. He has entered e extreme team.
Possible. Hasn't Kimi got a stake in Sauber/Alpha?
I’d see him being happy playing Stewart to Russell’s Cevert
I hope not, for George's sake!
I might be being a bit pedantic here, but isn't a race between flying vehicles actually an aircraft race, not a car race.
Also, they seem to be radio-controlled drones that can fly at 120 km/h, which is not very fast, really. Must be a slow newsweek over at ESPN.
Only a single year contract extension for Lewis.
https://the-race.com/formula-1/hamilton-finally-signs-new-f1-deal-with-mercedes/
I'm surprised. I was expecting two more years, win again this year against Botas, then against the protege next year before stepping down and letting Russel pick up the baton.
Russel and Bottas in 22?
Yeah that's a bit of a shock
Title No 8, then sit back and have a think about it. He's dominated in this car, there's less of a guarantee in a new one. Why not go out on a high and as the greatest F1 driver ever?
Thumbs up for the Hamilton Foundation too.
Wonder which side was pushing for 1 year vs multiple years.
Interesting development. Maybe Bottas has pricked his ears up a bit. Maybe Hamilton doesn't want to go into the new era and happy to see out this next year with what he hopes is a good chance of record breaking WDC and walk away. Maybe there's other stuff in his life that he is looking at how that shapes up and this season will allow him to take stock of what that looks like and whether he could maintain that as well as the commitment needed to keep successful in F1 - especially now the number of races per season has crept up. Certainly leaves the speculation open for Russell in a Merc next season
...perhaps he's driven next years car in the simulator and decided he wants no part of the new regs. 🙂
[img] https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/929/665/ff4 [/img]
Unsurprised that it’s only a single year, and I imagine it’s Hamilton keeping his options open. With the salary cap coming in and Toto staying a while, I can’t imagine it was Mercedes who would have been pushing for a short contract.
2022 looks wide open, then. I would guess Hamilton’s presence beyond 21 is more about his enthusiasm to drive the new cars than anything—if he’s on 8 titles and over 100 wins by that point then motivation looks at best very different. I’d reckon 70/30 this will be his last year. Either way, I expect to see Russell in a Mercedes in 22, and I’d say the odds of Bottas getting another extension are now quite long.
So, now the musical chairs have officially ended… Verstappen looks like the only potential title challenger, and even then an outside bet. On-merit race wins on the cards for Perez, Ricciardo, maybe Alonso, and Vettel if he can find his groove again, but I struggle to see any of those realistically sniffing the title beyond the first half-dozen races or so.
Should be fun, though…
Maybe they didn't agree with the veto and compromised with the foundation work. It might have been conceivable that Russell could have been option even at this late stage which played into their hands.
I'm glad we have Hamilton racing with Alonso,Vettel,Verstapen,Leclerc this year.
It's easy to forget this 2021 will be Hamilton's fifteenth(!) in F1. In that time he's only driven for two teams and has had one engine supplier.
I’d reckon 70/30 this will be his last year. Either way, I expect to see Russell in a Mercedes in 22, and I’d say the odds of Bottas getting another extension are now quite long.
I agree with this.
So who to pair with Russell in 2022? Would they want another newbie? I reckon if Hamilton does call it a day they'll stick with Bottas.
So who to pair with Russell in 2022? Would they want another newbie? I reckon if Hamilton does call it a day they’ll stick with Bottas.
Recon it'll be Russell for 2022, with Hamilton if he wants to stay on, or Bottas if Hamilton retires.
Probably constructors champions again so they will at least want 1 driver to continue with them.
2 new drivers and big regulation changes would be too risky.
Tough choice for Bottas. Start looking for another team in case Hamilton stays and they go with Russell/Hamilton, or wait it out and see if the best team want Russell/Bottas but maybe leave it too late and the other teams are all full...
Wonder which side was pushing for 1 year vs multiple years.
My understanding is that both sides wanted a multi-year deal, but I don't think they could agree on terms for that - I suspect Hamilton was asking for a lot of conditions that Merc weren't willing to give him long-term. Therefore they signed a one-year deal because both sides intended from the start for Hamilton to drive a Merc this year. Now they have more time to see if they can sort out a longer term deal. Merc have Russell ready to replace Bottas, but they really need an established championship contender in the other car for the new regs next year. Bottas is a solid driver, but he's not at the level of Hamilton, Alonso, Verstappen, or Ricciardo. If negotiations with Hamilton don't work out by mid year, this gives Merc the chance to steal Verstappen from Red Bull and then tell Hamilton to either accept Max as teammate or replace him with Russell.
If Hamilton takes the driver WC, and Merc the team WC, I'd be surprised if he'd finish the season. Go out on a high, one final victory. GOAT and all that. Look at former champions who have hung on and on, or made a comeback. It never ends well, and I think Lewis is very sharp and has an eye on his legacy. Which is probably why the 1-year deal seems to include lots of provision for exactly that.
Anyone know if the Mercedes cars will revert back to silver this year?
Pretty sure Merc have said they sticking with black again this year.
This should pretty good, so naturally i assume it'll be rejected https://www.crash.net/f1/news/950788/1/more-details-f1-s-sprint-race-plan-emerge-ahead-thursday-vote
Yes, I think the sprint race thing is worth trying, but I assume it will be rejected.
It's a bit... gimmicky.
I’m not sure what it’s supposed to achieve.
Qualifying determines the starting grid… same as normal. Then you have a race but with no strategy, it’ll be a single set of tyres.
The only really new factor is that a crash in a race is much more likely than in qualifying. That probably means everyone’s likely to be even more cautious at the start, because a collision would not only mean no points in the sprint race but a rear-end grid position for Sunday.
Overall it’s hard to figure out how this is going to mix anything up, beyond giving a bit of an advantage to whoever can switch the tyres on in the relevant conditions with a light fuel load (and looking back at recent form you might fancy Red Bull, but then Mercedes figured it out in Turkey so maybe again it’s all cancelled out); but I guess we shall see, if it’s voted through.
I’m not sure what it’s supposed to achieve.
More races will hopefully lead to more TV revenue.
I think it's worth trying. The cars will be racing with a lighter fuel load and without tyre changes, so overtaking will have to be done on track rather than through pit stop strategy. The teams won't like it because it will cost them money, but they have a cost cap and will have to cut back in other areas.
From the BBC story:
One potential sticking point is that, according to sources, F1 is proposing only an extra $75,000 (£55,000) per team per race to cover the new approach.
This is nowhere near enough to cover the costs of any damage to cars in the shorter race - a front wing alone can cost as much as $200,000
I would imagine extra race mileage on the power units would be something the teams would be against too.
extra $75,000 (£55,000) per team per race
Is that dependant on fielding 2 cars? If I ran a back marker team I'd be tempted to just race 1 car or race 2 cars and retire with "problems" to get the cash with minimum risk.
I think it's a dumb idea
I would imagine extra race mileage on the power units would be something the teams would be against too.
Thing is, it's the same for everyone so they will all need to turn down the engines a bit.
One potential sticking point is that, according to sources, F1 is proposing only an extra $75,000 (£55,000) per team per race to cover the new approach.
This is nowhere near enough to cover the costs of any damage to cars in the shorter race – a front wing alone can cost as much as $200,000
It's the same for everyone. They will all have the same budget cap. Maybe hiring drivers who don't play bumper cars would help with this.
Thing is, it’s the same for everyone so they will all need to turn down the engines a bit.
Mid-pack teams might turn it up on Saturday to get a bit of exposure, knowing that thecfront runners will be toned down a smidge? Not that that's a bad thing.
Bez has it - it's a bit of a solution seeking desperately for a problem to solve. I mean, I'd watch it, if it was on terrestrial, but I wouldn't be, like, "yay, that's really enriched 'The Show'!"
Maybe hiring drivers who don’t play bumper cars would help with this.
I’d guess that’s most easily achieved if 9 of the teams have a whip-round to persuade Gene Haas to pull the plug.