Forum menu
See there's now rumours floating about on twitter and some of the outlets that the reason it hasn't been formally announced yet is because Ferrari are trying to get Lewis in the drivers seat for this season.
Be mental if it was true but would feel quite badly for Carlos, he's been nothing but a solid driver for Ferrari.
Just been on the radio that "apparently" the Merc factory staff have been told that he's off at the end of the season.
Not April 1st is it?
This is somewhat unexpected!
Being hinted at on The-Race too...
...if he does move this season that really hints that the W15 is a dog and he's been sold a lie by Mercedes.
I hope Carlos has actually signed that Audi deal as he's just lost a chunk of his leverage...
I bet Albon has Toto on speed dial on his phone
Confirmed! Wow!
Why announce it now and not later in the season?
Not sure I get the logic behind that.
Ferrari’s share price has rockected today too!! Going to to be selling a lot of merch soon!! 🤣🤣
Why announce it now and not later in the season?
It seems to have happened very quick - I’m still betting Lewis drove the new car in the sim and as soon he was outside he was on the phone to Fred. It’ll be the same as the last two seasons for Merc.
IMO of course.
So, who to Mercedes then?
Albon? Sainz?
IIRC Norris and Piastri are both under contract, and would they want to move anyway?
De Vries could have had the job if it happened last year while he was still sought-after.
Who else would Merc want, and that would want them? I think Ocon still has ties there, he's decent enough but probably not the top notch driver they would want
I reckon Ocon, then possibly Albon , but he still has red bull support so less likely, but not Sainz - he’ll go to Audi…
I can see why Lewis made the move. Every driver wants to race for Ferrari at some point (As Sebastian Vettel once said, who doesn't love Ferrari?) and seeing as the car is more competitive than the mercedes at the moment it's a safe bet as long as Ferrari get their race strategy sorted, the fact the decision was made this soon implies that this year's Merc W15 hasn't improved much on the W14.
Lewis has always made it clear he'd love to race for Ferrari at some point, plus his hero Ayrton Senna was planning to finish his career with Ferrari so I think he is trying to follow Senna's footsteps.
Imagine winning an 8th championship with Ferrari and then retiring, it'd be the pinnacle to an amazing career.
Not convinced it'll happen but would be great to see.
Charles le Clerc would be seriously pissed if Lewis came in and won the title in his team! Wonder how he’s feeling now!
implies that this year’s Merc W15 hasn’t improved much on the W14.
Hamilton was quite vocal about the fact that Mercedes didnt listen to him last year, so it feels quite likely that's the case. I think I may have said it earlier in last years thread that I wondered whether his current contract had a get out clause if it wasn't a championship capable scenario at Mercedes.
No matter which way you look at it, that’s a brave move.
Lets see if Mercedes keep the zero pod philosophy for the W15 or have gone the same route as RedBull/everyone else.
Lets see if Mercedes keep the zero pod philosophy for the W15
What, you mean the zero pod concept they ditched last year?
Interesting that Norris will have heard about what was happening but still decided to sign long term McLaren deal rather than wait to see about a move to Merc. Seems like it's all a bit BAT at Merc again....
Interesting that Norris will have heard about what was happening but still decided to sign long term McLaren deal rather than wait to see about a move to Merc. Seems like it’s all a bit BAT at Merc again….
It's interesting isn't it? It suggests that either no one in the paddock was aware of Lewis going to Ferrari until the last minute, or that if everyone already knew about the move, that the paddock knows that the new Merc car is a dog and Lando has decided staying where he is will be better long term.
Wonder if Lando has any escape clauses in his new contract. Seeing as Merc are McLarens engine supplier, they could potentially do a deal with heavily discounted engines in exchange for Lando...
Wonder if Lando has any escape clauses in his new contract.
There will be, but I think he will want to wait and see how competitive the teams are before deciding. That's what surprised me about Hamilton - I assumed that he might have signed a tentative contract, but would wait until they saw how competitive the cars were on track before making a final decision. My guess is that he's fairly sure that neither the Ferrari nor the Merc will win the championship this year, but that Ferrari are better positioned to improve over the next two or three years.
I would love to see Alonso get a year or two in a competitive Merc before he retires. He's a difficult person to like, but only two titles really does not do him justice.
I would love to see Alonso get a year or two in a competitive Merc before he retires. He’s a difficult person to like, but only two titles really does not do him justice.
It would be perfect timing for Alonso - leave a team on the rise for one on the fall! 🤣
He deserves x2 titles due to his arsey attitude towards team mates and teams.
I think I'd fancy my chances in either a Ferrari or Maclaren over Mercedes right now. Did Verstappen say at the end of last seasons that the car that they worried about the most was the MacLaren after its updates after the summer break.
I wonder if Toto will go at the same time..... He was muttering about leaving a couple of years ago.
Alonso was eight points away from being a five-times world champion.
Useless fact.
Even more more useless fact, I had a dream last night where Hamilton and Verstappen were racing in one of those Bronco tracked vehicle things which the army use, Verstappen was in the back one but couldn't overtake because they were joined together, although the towing arm was long enough to allow them to crash into each other. It was quite funny to watch
One of these, painted bright blue
I wonder if Toto will go at the same time….. He was muttering about leaving a couple of years ago
He recently extended his contract to 2026 so doubt this changes much for him.
...and he owns a third of the team. So he's not really an employee! 🙂
Anyway, it was funny watching every single F1 journalist lose their shit yesterday. I’ll bet they’ve never had to write so much in an afternoon before 😂
Wonder if Lando has any escape clauses in his new contract. Seeing as Merc are McLarens engine supplier, they could potentially do a deal with heavily discounted engines in exchange for Lando…
McLaren aren't Williams though so that wouldn't work.
Also McLaren now have a seat at the table at Mercedes power trains, they get the same development information as the main Mercedes team does, advanced news on cooling and other efficiencies. Brown apparently negotiated it as part of the contract when they renewed with Mercedes. Quite a strange move on Mercedes part a lot of people thought.
https://www.motorsportweek.com/2023/11/30/mclaren-to-have-more-influence-with-new-mercedes-pu-deal/
There's a car launch today BTW - just in case anyone can be arsed looking at renders of the slowest car on the grid! 🙂
Not a surprise to hear Lewis is off. He's sulked his way round the tracks for a couple of years now, clearly needs a change of scene. Let's be honest the journey from Monaco to Maranello will be a lot nicer that going to MK.
Ooooh look - a black F1 car!...
[img] 
[/img]
Calm yourselves people - I know an F1 car launch is an exciting thing but steady-on with the posting frenzy!! 😂
the-muffin-man
Full MemberCalm yourselves people
😁
TBH i assumed it was just a livery launch but over on F1technical, they think it's (at least some iteration of) the real car.
New front wing inspired by the Merc W14, and quite different around the sidepods (now similar to mclaren) and the cannon (see the louvres behind the engine)
https://twitter.com/Graftechweb/status/1753430590404087966
Their conclusion so far: 'nothing drastic'/'the first of many RB clones'
Their conclusion so far: ‘nothing drastic’/’the first of many RB clones
aka convergence under relatively stable rules.
One year they should all just roll out renders of the same car but with different liveries to see what design features the "experts" spot
thepurist
aka convergence under relatively stable rules.
One year they should all just roll out renders of the same car but with different liveries to see what design features the “experts” spot
Well it's all a bit academic anyway given the magic on these cars is underneath! Besides nobody will be revealing anything spicy before testing, at least not on purpose 🙂
So Andretti didn't attend the meeting with FOM because the invite went into a spam folder 😅
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/andrettis-fresh-f1-rejection-rebutal/
and the cannon
I didn't realise they were allowed heavy munitions. Hispana 404 or something more modern?
So Andretti didn’t attend the meeting with FOM because the invite went into a spam folder 😅
…I use that excuse at least once a week!! 🤣🤣
Part of me wants Hamilton's move to be more about career wishlist fulfilment than an attempt to buck the trend of Ferrari making a bollix of everything. I can't allow myself to get too invested in this.
And what of Sainz? IMO he's pretty bloody good.