It's not unknow for a sponsor to pay a driver's salary, independently of the team. It all depends how much INEOS wants Hamilton onboard.
Then why they keep him always under pressure with one year contracts? They know that he´ll accept whatever they throw at him, and even if he doesn´t, who cares.
I've said it a 100 times already, I fully understand why Mercedes keeps Bottas in that seat, but doesn't mean we can't talk about wanting something different.
Let’s see: He is a good driver but not exceptional, he is a good team player , does not complain much , is good enough to win the odd time but will never be a threat to the #1 driver , will never be WDC , he knows it and MB knows it too , says yes to everything they tell him to do . Overall good harmony at the team , he knows his place and knows how lucky he is to be in the best car and gets paid very well to be arguably the best butler in F1. Barring LH not renewing his contract , MB has or had a good formula working for them , if it isn’t broke , no need to fix it .
Bernie does not believe the situation is genuine... https://www.grandprix.com/news/hamilton-contract-drama-all-for-show-says-ecclestone.html Rgds
That´s right. But that´s not a sign of respect for Bottas, that was my point. Bottas is a whore and Toto is one of those men who doesn´t treat whores with respect. P.S: hey, is "whore" allowed by the profanity filter or it´s just that I´ve found a "grey area in the rules"? In any case, moderators, please act accordingly.
But most of all, Mercedes doesn't need to change what keeps them happy because they have such a car advantage, they'll still comfortably win both titles even if the 2nd seat was occupied by a brain damaged donkey.
All teams affected. As discussed in this thread LH contract affected potentially -- https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/154635/tost-covid-opened-teams-eyes-on-spending Scuderia AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost says the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic "opened the eyes" of Formula 1 teams over the unsustainable financial nature of the series. Following initial plans to introduce a $175 million cost cap for the 2021 season, F1 teams agreed to reduce the figure to $145 million from this year after the pandemic caused last year's calendar to be heavily altered. The move came as teams braced for a significant fall in prize money payouts from F1 as a result of the reduced revenue from track hosting fees. The decision was also taken to postpone the new technical regulations by one year, and carry over the majority of the 2020 cars into 2021. AlphaTauri team principal Tost explained how a growing realisation from teams over the challenges F1 faced prompted the level of collaboration that allowed the changes to be pushed through. "Regarding the cost cap, the top teams would not have been so open to reduce the amount of money which they want to spend, to $145 million for the first year, without these COVID-19 problems," Tost told Autosport. "Everybody realised how difficult it could become in the future. Formula 1 teams hardly work together, because everyone has their own interest, and unfortunately does not look at the big picture. "But I believe that this special situation with COVID-19 opened the eyes, that there is simply less money on the table as expected. "If you have less money, you can only spend the money which you have. Therefore, I think that some of my colleagues changed a little bit their mind."
The 1-2 finishes last 2 seasons pretty much proved that . Assuming the contract negotiations alleged difficulties are not ******** , I would really like to see MB ditch Lewis even though I like him , he has really gotten too caught up with his self importance
I would prefer it if Hamilton leaves F1 after obtaining his 8th WDC, and not before scoring 100 GP wins and 100 Poles. Then I think his work will be done. Both Hamilton and Mercedes woull have achieved formidable records
I am good with that too , but if one of my staff members acts like Lewis , I would ditch him or her in a second . Cannot let the inmates run the asylum
Which reminds me: Why would anyone with a brain want to keep up with a bunch of overpampered loosers ??
Hamilton needs to be beaten before leaving F1. If not, he'll saying that he's bigger than F1 and got bored, blah, blah. Who will be able to stand the guy then?
+1 For me it's his hypocrisy, such as earlier in 2020 him saying he didn't want to discuss contract details as it would be ''wrong'' for him to negotiate among job losses in the current climate...yet here he is asking for more money with more job losses announced. Yes I do share that believe as well. It would give more pleasure to see him beaten. Sadly, with the way the F1 rules are these days, building a car that can be competitive is rather like pissing against the wind...
...which, in a way, is one of the rare occasions when I'm happy to be old (61 in a few days); I mean, I have stood these seven consecutive years of Mercedes domination with some philosophy, even if it ended with me not watching Formula One any more. But to think how I would have reacted to this, if it had started when I was 13 years old (OR what impression it makes on somebody who was 13 years old in 2014): you end up at 20, having spent ONE THIRD of your life watching Mercedes domination: what a bore Formula One is! If they don't want the series to kill itself for good, they HAVE to fix this, and fast... Rgds
Yep, too right! And inevitably we'll get the comments saying ''well the rest should've done a better job'', it's not quite as simple as that, when the FIA actively seems to help out Mercedes (even extending the current cars for another year, and to add insult to injury, minimize upgrades using that idiotic token upgrade system they failed so miserably with with the engines, and apply it to the entire car...! I'm in no way saying that FIA did this purely to help Mercedes but it's undeniable it helps them out the most...by far).
Maybe Lewis doesn’t realize the global economic situation or thinks this shouldn’t influence his wage claims? If that’s the case, I hope Mercedes will fire him bluntly, What a joke it would be!
He did a few months ago when he didn't want to negotiate his contract yet. So it's either all for show, he's a hypocrite, or he's an idiot...
If Toto and Hamilton staged this for the show then they’re idiots . What’s the point of doing this with this global health crisis? No, I think Hamilton is too greedy. As simple as that.