I don't particularly blame him for being a tax exile as it goes but JKR summed things up quite well
I chose to remain a domiciled taxpayer for a couple of reasons. The main one was that I wanted my children to grow up where I grew up, to have proper roots in a culture as old and magnificent as Britain’s; to be citizens, with everything that implies, of a real country, not free-floating ex-pats, living in the limbo of some tax haven and associating only with the children of similarly greedy tax exiles.A second reason, however, was that I am indebted to the British welfare state; the very one that Mr Cameron would like to replace with charity handouts. When my life hit rock bottom, that safety net, threadbare though it had become under John Major’s Government, was there to break the fall. I cannot help feeling, therefore, that it would have been contemptible to scarper for the West Indies at the first sniff of a seven-figure royalty cheque. This, if you like, is my notion of patriotism. On the available evidence, I suspect that it is Lord Ashcroft’s idea of being a mug.
J.K. Rowling
atlaz - Member
Yet McLaren have 5 wins and are 2nd in the constructors championship a good race away from the lead. Mercedes are 5th, barely ahead of Sauber (a privateer team) and will not overhaul Lotus for 4th. Hamilton is trading results for money.Yes, McLaren have messed up but Mercedes have been no better and will not match McLaren next season.
BUT... how many WC's have McL drivers won recently? Yes, it's better to be in the hunt than not but there's a plausible case that Merc may be the better option, not in 2012 but 2013 and onwards, particularly when you consider that they went up a blind alley with the double DRS this year. I would suggest that as a racer, sticking with a team that consistently fails to quite deliver the best car and going to a team that might possibly produce one isn't quite as illogical as some may thing, particularly if you're a 'winning is all' type person.
(Merc double DRS blind alley explanation: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/19064856 )
What a greedy idiot Hammy is. That team has gone, and is going nowhere unless in 2014 it decides to not give its engines to anyone else and totally focus as a works team, yet it seems they are still undecided about even signing the concorde agreement! that car has had hardly any development or progress and it STILL after 2 seasons cannot get the tyres working correctly at any race in any temperatures.
Prediction - Hamilton will exit after 1 year after consistently burning up the tyres and crashing trying to battle midfield cars.
Schumi to fill Massa seat for 1 more season, his finale to Ferrari.
What is Alonso's beef with Perez?
He's too quick? 😀
Nah, I wouldn't have thought he would have an issue tbh - Perez seems perfect for Ferrari except that he's maybe too green and the weight of expectation at Ferrari might have been bad for his career.
clubber - You can say that about almost every team. Red Bull won two, Brawn one, McLaren one, Renault a couple. No era of dominance. But you CAN say that Hamilton has won 20% of all F1 races he's started, been on pole for nearly 25%, and been on the podium for 50% of them. To put that winning % into perspective, of the current stars of F1, only Schumacher is better.
I don't think you could argue he'd have done better anywhere else.
F1 fans,any reason why there was so little coverage (and praise )of Di Resta's fourth spot in Singapore recently ?.
Di Resta to Ferrari because he sounds Italian.
Until he speaks at least...
Perez definitely one to watch for the future. Agreed that he might be a bit green for the Big Red but it will be nice to see him in a Ferrari one day.
I think Di Resta will now be in doubt of ever getting in a top F1 seat. The two favourite options - Merc and McLaren - have now been closed. And Ferrari already have good junior drivers on the books (and possibly Vettel for 2014 if rumours are to be believed).
So McLaren have confirmed the Perez signing
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/102891
I'd like to think that Hamilton leaving shows his lack of ambition and proves that money is his motivator.
However it's probably more like this
"Dear Ron and Martin
I've been with Macca a long time and I think of you as my family. However as you are aware, I signed up with my new management company (XIX) a couple of years ago and Simon Fuller sees me as a bit of a cash cow! I'd love to stay at Macca but unfortunately my annual management fees are so high, that I need to earn £20m a year minimum just to pay them and live a basic existence.
As I said, I love to stay and I know I won't win anything with Merc but the have thrown in a SLS. Although Simon tells me he is having the SLS.
Kind regards
Lewie
PS - I wish my Dad was still my manager, as he never raped me!"
Seriously, big regulation changes including engines in 2014. He's just moved to the best engine manufacturer with the best team principle for interpreting new regulations. My money is on Brawn doing a repeat of what he did for Button come 2014, only he'll have the budget to follow it up.
Very wise move and not just about the money IMO!
atlaz - Member
clubber - You can say that about almost every team......I don't think you could argue he'd have done better anywhere else.
Red Bull came up and won so you can't really claim the comparison over more than about three or four years IMO
Renault produced some great cars that were (until the FIA intervened) the class of the field
McL have consistently produced good cars, just never the best (or if they have, they've made a mess of actually winning)
Hamilton would likely have been more competitive at Red Bull, wouldn't he?
GaryLake +1
I'd like to think that Hamilton leaving shows his lack of ambition and proves that money is his motivator.
No I was gobsmacked at their mistakes. Utterly stupid.
What was worse was they REPEATED them.
Not everyone is as perfect as you, clearly.
That isn't the point/correct analogy is it. 😐
atlaz - Member
clubber - You can say that about almost every team. Red Bull won two, Brawn one, McLaren one, Renault a couple. No era of dominance.<snip>
To be fair, Brawn didn't [i]really[/i] win this. Brawn bought the team from Honda for peanuts (was it £10? Can't recall) after Honda had sunk $200 million into development. In Honda guise, they spotted the double defuser loophole and then Brawn did nothing to develop the car in season due to budget limitations. IIRC, Jenson won the first 5 or 6 races in his Championship winning season (when everyone else was scrabbling to develop their own DD) and struggled for the rest of the season?
McLaren has heritage, present Mercedes does not. Mercedes=Brawn=Honda=BAR an upstart team that was going to win the championship in it's second year according to the silly team principal (Craig Pollock).
That isn't the point/correct analogy is it
Yes. People make mistakes, stuff breaks. McL are now the slickest pit crew out there. It shows that they have learned and improved. They have more or less the quickest car and the quickest pitstops. Merc are slower, eat tyres and take longer to change them.
Hamo must be confident that the new regs will be a game changer.
Mind, it must be a bit galling that JB signed an £85 Million 3 year deal, and then they can't find £60 million for the other World Champ in the squad.
[quote=clubber ]Red Bull came up and won so you can't really claim the comparison over more than about three or four years IMO
Renault produced some great cars that were (until the FIA intervened) the class of the field
McL have consistently produced good cars, just never the best (or if they have, they've made a mess of actually winning)
Hamilton would likely have been more competitive at Red Bull, wouldn't he?
From 2009 I'd say quite possibly. Before then, definitely not (2005-2008 they only scored 3 podiums in total). Not disagreeing that he might have won more by team hopping but taken as a whole, he's driven for the most successful team overall during the timespan of his career.
Red Bull were consistent underachievers for the previous decade of their existence with 1 win for the something like 1 billion dollars spent by Ford and other partners.
However as you are aware, I signed up with my new management company (XIX) a couple of years ago and Simon Fuller sees me as a bit of a cash cow! I'd love to stay at Macca but unfortunately my annual management fees are so high, that I need to earn £20m a year minimum just to pay them and live a basic existence.
I can neither remember nor be arsed to google for the source, and am therefore happy to be corrected, but I read in one newspaper or other the other day that XIX take 50% of Hamilton's money.
Would that be about right, as it seems a very high % to me?
I've seen the 50% figure somewhere too - possibly an Andrew Benson story on BBC website
Would that be about right, as it seems a very high % to me?
50% of sponsorship deals they arrange for him I understand? His salary is untouched.
Ah I see. Big incentive for XIX to steer him Mercwards then.
To be fair, Brawn didn't really win this. Brawn bought the team from Honda for peanuts (was it £10? Can't recall) after Honda had sunk $200 million into development. In Honda guise, they spotted the double defuser loophole and then Brawn did nothing to develop the car in season due to budget limitations. IIRC, Jenson won the first 5 or 6 races in his Championship winning season (when everyone else was scrabbling to develop their own DD) and struggled for the rest of the season?
From memory- at the time Brawn was the team's associations tech rep and he kept this potential wow/under the reg's development close to his chest (why wouldn't he?)- they all kicked off when it was wheeled out of the garage for the first time/saw what was happening but it took a lot of protests etc didn't it...by then it was too late.
Hat firmly off to Brawn.
I ride past Lewis' new house on a regular basis.
I appreciate this has little to do with the discussions above but it is the ugliest carbuncle of a house I've ever seen and its in a nasty dark plot of land.
To be fair, Brawn didn't really win this. Brawn bought the team from Honda for peanuts (was it £10? Can't recall) after Honda had sunk $200 million into development.
Yeah, they sunk $200 million into it [i][b]under[/b][/i] his stewardship at the time.
If I had my way, I'd have his helmet permanently welded to his head and make him live in one of the McC trucks only allowed out when he needs to drive.
I love watching him drive but out of the car ....... I dunno, is he related to Chris Ewbank at all?
Indeed, but it wasn't Brawn's money, it was Honda's. Again, IIRC, Brawn went on to sell his £10 investment to Mercedes for ~£70m a year (and a double world championship) later.
jota180 that has to be the funniest post of the year HamoStig- and bang on 😆
In fairness to Team Brawn and the lack of development, they had three chassis for the whole year due to lack of cash.
Button won the World Championship in the oldest chassis in the field. No wonder everyone caught up, they were broke.
Honda could have stayed with F1 for one more year and reaped the benefit; I'm sure Brawn shared his optimism for the following year with them. But they didn't.
All this claptrap aside, I can't see Perez joining in the fun with McLaren Tooned next year. Shame.
Wonder if Mercedes have something up their sleeve with regards to the cars performance. A Ross Braun loophole or something. As it stands their car is upper mid pack, so it seems difficult to understand why if not for the money he is moving there.
Personally I think he needs to give up his dream of becoming 50 cent or Pharrell, ditch the bimbo and the objectionable entourage and get his Dad back as a manager.
retro- I thought that initially but I imagine theres alot of cross-team gossip and industry chatter as well that we don't know of. Hamo may also have talked to Schu? Who knows?
alot of cross-team gossip
That got McL a big fine.
As for getting his Dad back as manager, Paul Di Resta had him but has now dumped him and his now suing him for loss of earnings.
It's not a great thing to have on your CV.
ScottChegg - Memberalot of cross-team gossip
That got McL a big fine.
As for getting his Dad back as manager, Paul Di Resta had him but has now dumped him and his now suing him for loss of earnings.
It's not a great thing to have on your CV.
I didn't say that he was a good manager in general, just that he was good for Lewis. He got him from grass roots karting up to F1 world champion so he must have done something right.
Hamilton hasn't really seemed happy this season (as much as you can tell from the TV/media anyway), even when he's won. Disillusionment with his situation at McLaren is probably a big factor, as much as the money and the potential for championships- maybe he just doesn't want to be there any more?
Aren't there still question marks about Merc's long-term commitment to F1 though? At least you know McLaren aren't going anywhere.
Good move by Perez though, be good to see what he can do next year- he might even manage a win this year still.
Maybe that's all this McLaren move is about; moving away from another "parental influence". Whitmarsh and Dennis have been with him since he was a kid so perhaps he just wants to be his own man.
Oh, and $100M of course, because $60M+ is barely a living wage.
moving away from another "parental influence". Whitmarsh and Dennis have been with him since he was a kid so perhaps he just wants to be his own man
You might have something there; I hadn't considered that.
Aren't there still question marks about Merc's long-term commitment to F1 though? At least you know McLaren aren't going anywhere.
Ferrari are the only car maker who have managed to stick in F1, and that's because F1 is central to their marketing & image. Toyota, Honda, Ford/Jaguar, Alfa Romeo etc. have all come & gone - there's only so long a board will sign off a few hundred million without getting some serious results.
Seems that Merc have signed up to the next Concorde agreement which means they'll owe Bernie a bucket load of cash if they bail, but it's not beyond possibility that they'll do a Honda and sell the team/entry on for a pittance.
And Ferrari are (arguably, certainly were) a racing team first and a road car maker second, to fund the racing if memory serves me right.
Hamilton has always struck me as a 'toys out of the pram' sort of driver, in contrast to Jenson Button 'just grateful to get a drive'. Time wil tell. I've always though the mark of a great driver is one who can get results out of a mediocre car, the way Senna, Schemacher, Alonso and more recently Perez have. Jaques Villeneive was world champion n a great car, but nowhere in his other drives. Vettel did really well in the Torro Rosso before he joined red Bull. hamilton enjoyed a great career start, in a great car, but seems to have struggled mentally since. Maybe bing mid-pack will focus him more, allow him to settle.
Who decided to pay Button $85m?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nice bloke but his win was thanks down mainly to a double-diffuser, as the season progressed it was a case of can he hold onto the lead long enough as he slid backwards and tech-wise Brawn was caught!
...and Hamilton's world championship was only thanks to Timo Glock pulling over.
...and (etc)
Good point actually. And wouldn't Massa have won under the new points system, by fact of winning more races?
I dunno Fred, who'd have won if they'd used the points system from 1959?
