Agree with hols2 analysis. Ocon is good but I think he also has a fighting spirit as shown when he was in Force India and has real ambitions to be top driver. This could destabilise Hamilton and I think at the moment Merc are fully behind Hamilton. Bottas fully understands his position as the rear gunner / support role for Hamilton and has done a good (if not amazing) job of it in the last few years so I can see why Merc have kept the situation as it is.

I believe Merc will do what it takes to keep Hamilton happy till his current contract but won’t pay crazy money for the next one as Hamilton may well decide to retire soon. By then Verstappen will have matured well and will still be young and have the potential for long term success at a top team so it important to snap him up when his current contract is over otherwise who knows when the opportunity to snap up Verstappen will arrive again?

Merc are certainly going to be interested in Verstappen but Verstappen may not be that interested in them! There is every chance that Merc’s time as reigning supreme is coming to an end. They’ve already lasted longer than any other team, ever!

Ferrari won the WDC and WCC with Schumacher for 5 consecutive years so Hamilton and Merc still have a bit further to go in lasting longer than any team ever!.

Ferrari won the WDC and WCC with Schumacher for 5 consecutive years so Hamilton and Merc still have a bit further to go in lasting longer than any team ever!.

Mercedes have already matched that and are very (very!) likely to surpass it by winning the WDC and WCC this season to make it 6

Ferrari won the WDC and WCC with Schumacher for 5 consecutive years so Hamilton and Merc still have a bit further to go in lasting longer than any team ever!.

Ferrari won the constructors champs 6 years in a row (which Merc will equal this year) and the drivers title 5 years in a row (which Merc have already done and this year will make it 6)

There is every chance that Merc’s time as reigning supreme is coming to an end. They’ve already lasted longer than any other team, ever!

Which is evidence that they have a very solid technical department that will continue to produce good cars in the future. Red Bull are currently capable of winning the occasional race when Merc or Ferrari have a bad day, but they are still a long way from being title contenders. The Merc seat is still the most desirable on the grid, Verstappen would dump Red Bull in a second if he could get into a Merc.

Ocon and Verstappen at the same team would be interesting. Don’t they have a history of dislike for one another?

Im wondering if Lewis will look to go to Ferrari for 2021

I reckon he will be in talks with Ferrari next season about their 2021 car and weighing it up against the 2021 Merc, could be a gamble as no one really knows what the new cars will be like

But if he wins this year’s championship, which we know is more than likely then if he moved to Ferrari for 2021 and won that season he would be able to match Schumacher’s record at the same team he set it at or even beat it if he wins the 2020 season at Merc

Every driver wants to be a Ferrari driver at some point in their career and the chance to match or beat Schumacher’s record with the same team he set it with must be very tempting for Lewis

Just a little. If Verstappen went to Merc I’d say Russell would be first in line for the second seat. But are Merc looking for two title contenders, or one and a wingman? It seems fair to say they’ve had a more harmonious team post 2016, and if they no longer have a car that’s a step ahead of all the rest then they may not want two drivers robbing points from each other, because that’s how a guy in red overalls won in 2007.

It’ll be interesting to see who they sign for 2020 (Bottas, Ocon, Russell or a wildcard), and for how long, before the reshuffle of the whole grid in 2021.

Ocon and Verstappen at the same team would be interesting. Don’t they have a history of dislike for one another?

Only the collision/Handbags at interlagos I think?

Im wondering if Lewis will look to go to Ferrari for 2021

Why would he? He’s comfortable where he is, he’s top dog in the top team. Teenage boys get all excited about the romance of Ferrari, but drivers care much more about who has the best car, plus whether the team will give them priority if team orders are needed. Hamilton is happy where he is, he’s said so publicly. Supposed rumours of him wanting to drive for Ferrari are just wishful thinking.

What drivers say publicly isnt always what they are thinking!

I agree why move when you are top dog in a top team but everything will change in 2021 and chances are Merc may no longer be top dog

Never discount the allure of Ferrari, Lewis made the right move to leave multiple world champions Mclaren a year before the Hybrid era started and Joined Mercedes, who is to say that leaving multiple world champions Mercedes just as the regs change again isn’t the right thing to do?

Its a gamble but if it paid off it would put him even more firmly in the F1 history books!

everything will change in 2021 and chances are Merc may no longer be top dog

They’re the best bet to be top dog. It’s not guaranteed, but if I had to bet on who will be top in two years, the team that has dominated for the last 5 1/2 years would be the safe bet. Ferrari have an excellent engine and have produced good cars for the last 3 years, but the team as a whole has not got the best out of their resources. The Merc hasn’t always been the best car, but the team overall have been incredibly impressive at getting the best out of it.

Very true, Hamilton has helped build the team around him and they have great leadership in Toto along with all the staff back in the UK working on development

Maybe its just wishful thinking on my part but you never know what may happen in the next couple of years

Ferrari won the WDC and WCC with Schumacher for 5 consecutive years so Hamilton and Merc still have a bit further to go in lasting longer than any team ever!.

I forgot Rosberg won in the Merc!

I don’t think that we will see Hamilton in a Ferrari for 2021. Why? Well, Leclerc for starters, he clearly doesn’t want to be Vettel’s understudy and has a legitimate claim to be number one driver. I cannot see a 24 year old Leclerc, who’ll have three seasons in F1 behind him being particularly enamoured at having a thirty-six year old Lewis Hamilton rock up.

Hamilton has helped build the team around him

No, Hamilton has no part in team management. He just drives the car and works with the engineers to develop it. The team was established by Ross Brawn and Hamilton joined after all the hard work had been done setting it up. That’s not to say that Hamilton hasn’t contributed a lot, but he had little to do with building the team.

That’s broadly true but “he just drives the car and works to develop it” is a little unfair. Drivers obviously play a part in motivating the team, from the race engineers they interact with tightly to the factory team who they see less of. It seems to me, in as much as it’s possible to judge from afar, that Hamilton does a decent job of that. If you look at the trail of chaos that Alonso left in his wake, and how the relevant teams recovered quickly afterwards, it shines a light on how much better some drivers are at providing a more effective form of inspiration. Not so much building a team in terms of finding and employing its components, but building it in terms of binding them together effectively. But you’re right that Brawn, Lauda et al laid the foundations and built on them, and that Hamilton will have little involvement in the team’s hiring decisions.

Only the collision/Handbags at interlagos I think?

When that happened I’m sure I heard a reference to their relationship in the feeder series.

if they no longer have a car that’s a step ahead of all the rest then they may not want two drivers robbing points from each other, because that’s how a guy in red overalls won in 2007.

Without wanting to sound paranoid, I’m sure Ferrari won in ‘07 because a McLaren driver wasn’t allowed to win as part of the punishment for them having Ferrari info, but no one wanted to disqualify or take points from the drivers as it would have ruined the spectacle.  Why else would they leaveHamilton out on tyres that were through to the canvas?

I agree that Merc were incredibly dominant between 2014 and 2016, and managed to carry on winning by being a better complete team for the last two seasons after Ferrari had caught up with their engine design, but in 2021 all the chips get thrown up in the air again and I reckon it could also equally be Red Bull or Ferrari as well as Merc who get it right that time around.

Is there any indication on how the power units will change with the new regs?

Without wanting to sound paranoid…

You might not want to, but… 😉

LAT

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Is there any indication on how the power units will change with the new regs?

They were talking about removing the MGU-H and making them rev a fair bit higher to improve the sound. Haven’t heard anything about it for a while though.

Is there any indication on how the power units will change with the new regs?

Last I heard was that they are staying the same.

Is there any indication on how the power units will change with the new regs?

The announcement is expected in October but it currently looks like the power unit regs will remain stable, with the main changes being centred around aero (to improve over taking), a reduction in driver aids and telemetry so that the driver is more responsible for more stuff like tyre wear, fuel management etc and an attempt to reduce the costs (again!)

in 2021 all the chips get thrown up in the air again and I reckon it could also equally be Red Bull or Ferrari as well as Merc who get it right that time around.

If they have equal odds, then a driver’s best bet is to stay in their current team if they are comfortable there. However, when a team dominates for six years, it’s an indication that their technical department is better than the rivals, so they have better odds of being ahead after a major rule change, or of catching the leader if they miss something big. Whatever way you look at it, Hamilton’s best option is to stay where he is, and he knows that.

Hamilton’s best option is to stay where he is, and he knows that.

Yep, you’re prob right. Or, more accurately, next year he’ll make a lot of noise about considering a move to one of the other top teams (most likely Ferrari) to give himself some leverage as he negotiates his new contract, then stay at Mercedes.

Joe Saward seems to think that Ferrari are chasing Hamilton and Verstappen, not the other way around.

https://www.motorsportweek.com/joesaward/id/00558

There are persistent rumours that Ferrari wants either Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen but the team needs to show solid and consistent performance for more than 10 minutes to get that kind of commitment from one or the other.

Following the BBC live updates on the web. Dear god, what a pool of vapid, illiterate, uninsightful dross that place has become.

“Bottas remains in third, only six tenths he has nailed it down to so not a great improvement after losing time in the final sector.”

“It doesn’t look like the most appealing of beaches. It’s very dark isn’t it?”

“It’s funny you say that you do get a whiff of the sea air and it’s not nice sea air so I don’t know if he gets a ponginess. It could be that, pongy water.”

“Honda have definitely improved this season there’s no doubt about that they probably started the year a little bit ahead of Renault. Renault now have the third best engine they’ve leap-frogged ahead again.”

I mean, these people are paid to write, FFS. One of them’s spent decades doing it professionally, and still can’t manage to construct a sentence properly.

still can’t manage to construct a sentence properly

Sure, but their technical insights are what people tune in for. Who would’ve noticed that the Honda engine isn’t as shit as it used to be if we didn’t have experts to point it out?

I see one of them (posting anonymously) is a shameless middle lane hogger:

“Hamilton overtook on the inside on of the bend… like one of those annoying drivers who undertake on the motorway, and then scowl at you through the window.”

A racing driver overtaking on the inside of a bend? Whodathunkit?

“like one of those annoying drivers who undertake on the motorway, and then scowl at you through the window.”

Yep, if someone is physically able to undertake you on the motorway then you’re not doing it right

Joe Saward seems to think that Ferrari are chasing Hamilton and Verstappen, not the other way around.

I’d forgotten about Joe Saward, thanks for the reminder! Always a good read

BBC reporting McLaren are getting Mercedes engines from 2021. Hamilton back to McLaren for the end of his career?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/49859259

Leclerc is looking mighty impressive right now!

I reckon without all the Ferrari team orders tomfoolery at the start of the season he could have been easily on track for 2nd place in the Driver’s Championship

Back at Silverstone Eddie Jordan was saying that mclaren will be going back to Mercedes power units.

He also said about the Hamilton ferrari move, but I think that’s pie in the sky.

Nice lap by Lewis.

Crap work from the tv feed director. People on hot laps setting purples? Oh nah, nobody will want to see that. Let’s watch a ferrari trundle round on an outlap for a minute instead.

Its all going off at Mercedes

Hamilton has kicked an engineer in the face!!!!!!

(not quite true, just a good camera angle)

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hnputm]$[/url] by escrs1, on Flickr

comparison of hamilton and charles’ laps … brilliant s3 from lewis