Hamilton to Ferrari confirmed

Just an hypothesis directly fueled by the Hamilton arrival.
Nothing more.
Truth is we were all caught by surprise with this announcement.
I hope something serious is being cooked in the background..

 

The reason Toto let Hamilton go wasn't because of Lewis's driving or all of his accolades and accomplishments. Toto let Lewis go because of Hamiltons demands($$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$) which is why Lewis got his demands with Ferrari.

 

Toto said their partnership would've ended "2025 at the latest". What does that tell you? Mercedes were done with Hamilton. They probably haven't taken kindly to what he's said about their technical department (understandably), and also feel he's too old to win races. "Sign here, and retire as a silver arrow in one or two years, or go take the Ferrari offer" is what I have no doubt was said to Hamilton.

IDK how this pairing plays out. I will say that during those years that Vettel became a headcase, I was screaming for Ferrari to go beg Alonso to return to them. Look at how Alonso drives at Aston and before at Renault. He's got the body of a 25 year old, and still sharp. No doubt in my mind he would win races in a car capable of it today.

Perhaps, this is Ferrari's thinking now. They might think Hamilton is not too old and is in good enough shape to contend, and they think Mercedes are making a big mistake letting him go out their door into the arms of other teams.

Maybe it's a success, maybe Hamilton runs his mouth and pisses the Ferrari factory off really good and gets shown the door fast.

I, for one, applaud the boldness of the move, regardless of how it works out.

 

The Mercedes-AMG drivers' retainers (not part of the team budget) are probably paid directly by Daimler-Benz.
Hamilton's demands didn't meet approval from the top management. Toto's hands were tied, IMO.
At Ferrari, the Hamilton side went probably directly to the head, contacting Elkann who liked the idea and agreed.
Vasseur was just instructed to make room for Lewis in 2026. "Fait accompli!" (Done deal)

 

No, I was asleep when you started this thread.

Good heads up on your part.....Bravo I say!

 

+1

 

Agree with half of what you said.

I will say this, MAAAAAD respects for Hamilton in getting a " deal of the century" with Ferrari.

 

I remember Mercedes recruiting Michael Schumacher, after 3 years in retirement, to partner Nico Rosberg in the new team they had just started (former Brawn).
With his experience, Schumi (well past his best) became a good source of advice to kickstart the new MB venture, and partner his younger team mate. Unlike Rosberg, Scumacher didn't win anything during his 3 years tenure but many say that he helped steer the team, and the technical team in the right direction. His replacement and Nico won 7 titles in a row.
Maybe Ferrari thinks along these lines, and will draw from Hamilton's experience.

I hope there will be some benefit for the Scuderia in the end of what looks like a very weird move.

 

I think it's a storm of factors coming together.

You can see there's bad blood between Toto and Hamilton in public. We've heard the former scolding the latter in public over his complaints about the team. I think that's had a major impact on Hamilton's relationship with Mercedes - it had too, imho. I also think that Toto did not like the way Hamilton was racing Russel, and sided with the latter privately.

All those factors together with Hamilton's age and win drought, brought things to a head. imho.

 

If Lewis wins in 2025 and the Ferrari "fans" around here still dump on him, we'll know who really is interested in winning and who just wants to complain about stuff.

If SF doesn't improve the design of the car it won't matter who is behind the wheel.

 

Yeah, I mean, who wouldn't go with the team that wants you the most? Drivers have to look out for number 1 and say "screw loyalty", because at the end of the day, you're just a piece of gum to the race team. Sure, it's always smiles in public, but it's business behind closed doors - understandably so.

Luca didn't care about everything Schumi had done for the team. He believed the future was Kimi and that Schumi was too old, and told the latter to take the door out if he didn't like it. Hell, Dennis didn't think Newey was still relevant, and told him "If you want to make a lot of money, go to RBR. If you want to win, stay here. You're not THAT good".

As insane as it might be to think such legends got told those things, it's what happened. Motorsports isn't even "what have you done for me lately?" it's "what do I BELIEVE you'll do for me next year?" and it's cut-throat more than any other sport.

 

Can't say we've seen Lewis demonstrate the same technical knowledge when compared to Schumacher or Lauda. He was fortunate to jump into cars that were already superior, and with Mercedes on its back leg the past 2 years, he's pretty much relied of the techies to bring the car back.

 

I just hope Elkann doesn't try to make Ferrari get woke, because then they will go broke.

 

You sleep?

 

Lewis’ statement on the move.
Classy and heartfelt, as usual.


https://www.planetf1.com/news/lewis-hamilton-ferrari-mercedes-statement-reaction

 

Before even this year, I had the impression Toto wanted Hamilton to retire and make room for a younger driver.
It looked to me that Toto kept delaying the last contract negotiations to that effect.
The 2022 season and the purpoising issue started to create a division inside the team.
To protect his #1, Toto backed Hamilton and obtained the much criticised TD, but the rot had started.
With his public outbursts Hamilton became difficult to control, and undermined Wolff's authority
A "beautiful friendship" was broken, and Lewis went to look for another pasture.
The Mercedes team may feel better after this coming 2024 season.

 

Lmao all this back and forth needs to be settled with a new poll so we can look back and see who was right! Much better IMO than some of the name calling I’m seeing from the internet tough guys

Maybe something along the lines of “will Lewis win a WDC for Ferrari” or maybe an over/under for wins?

No more talk of merchandise, money, DEI, daddy issues, etc. F1 is ultimately supposed to be about winning after all. Remember?

 

But in the end Hamilton left, Toto didn't push him !

Now, how long do you think before Vasseur starts to have a permanent migraine ?

 

Mercedes to discuss Hamilton's F1 engineer Bono's future before Ferrari move
Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff says that the team is set to discuss a possible move to Ferrari by Lewis Hamilton's race engineer Peter Bonnington.

 

Actively recruited was LH, and by the top echelon of the Corporation.

 

Thanks. I actually do....5 hours at most. My body is already acclimated to an F1 schedule from a news perspective. I go to bed 7pm and wake up at 1pm...but since this is the slow part of F1 we are currently on, I get a bit more sleep.

 

Unless things change on the technical front, I have little hope for wins from SF. Maybe 2025 onward will be different than the last 15+ years. But it's clear SF is not where they need to be from a technical standpoint and until I see consistent wins, I remain skeptical.

 

Couldn't agree more !! It's the racing (what's left of it) that attracts me to F1.

I will put my head on the block, and boldy predict that Hamilton will NEVER win a GP again.

I made the same prediction when Alonso quit Ferrari, and so far I am right.

 

Completely agree. When Mercedes began missing Q3's and Ham missed the points for the first time in over a decade, it got ugly quick. Russell coping with the situation better than Hamilton devalued the latter in a way he's never recovered from, even if Ham bounced back this year and outclassed Russell.

Toto and the team didn't take kindly to Hamilton's various outbursts, no doubt about it. Whether he retired as a silver arrow or not meant nothing to them by last summer, imho.

I will say, if Hamilton carries himself the same way at Ferrari, it won't take long for them to throw him out the door like bouncers at a strip club. Ferrari will tolerate his politics to an extent, but they'll won't take more than one outburst at the team before they have as much as they can't stand. They don't have the thick skin of Mercedes, McLaren, or Red Bull, so Ham has to watch it.