My first two points exactly. Which is why Max will never be in Merc as long as the prima donna is there.
Hamilton is not bigger than this mighty Mercedes team. We will see but Mansell in 1993 and Schumacher in 2007 are good examples of surprising outcomes.
Very true, and I think he has changed his mind now. Openly admitting his #2 position shows he is not competing with Russell & since Merc will always be looking for a clear #1 & #2 driver, he secures his claim on the #2 seat. Highest achievable for him & puts a (tiny) amount of pressure on Hamilton's contract, well played Bottas
Oh yes, they were lost indeed, in 1973, 1981, 1986 for instance, but what FUN it was to watch these top drivers with identical equipment going head-on: that was something called RACING; give me a Fittipaldi-Peterson, Jones-Reutemann, or Mansell-Piquet challenge anytime, against the usual Hamilton-Bottas Sunday snorefest. Frankly, I couldn't care less about Mercedes, their image and soforth: I used to watch Formula One for the racing since 1972. Nowadays: I do not watch Formula One anymore (I did not watch even a SINGLE race last year, the most entertaining thing for me remains the silly season), and still could not care less about Mercedes, because they have ruined the racing. Not completly their fault, but the result is here. But that's just me... Rgds
Being the devil's advovate, I would say forgive Mercedes for not wanting to self-destroy by introducing tension inside the team. They had 3 years in intense rivalry between Hamilton and Rosberg, and probably don't want to go through that again.
I don't see it stage managed myself. I think teams have the right to chose their drivers, to suit their goals. Mercedes has been the best team for the last 7 years, and their results reflect that.
The bigger question: Are Mercedes corporate goals suited to F1 the sport ? Battles for championships no longer exist
Has Hamilton signed his contract yet? I have not seen it has been completed for 2021, any news or updates?
No team goal is to be suited to F1 the sport, only to win. If Ferrari or Mclaren were asked to trade seats with Mercedes the last 7 years they would be glad to
FIA rules effectively locked-in Brackley's advantage since 2014. Ferrari tried to exploit a power loophole to try and close the gap, allegedly, and still failed. Todt has been a failure for the sport. Nobody can compete with Brackley.
Remember when the Brit teams were “racers” because they took on the the best drivers available (see Prost/Senna at McLaren) and let them “fight each other? And Ferrari, they said, were “unsportsmanlike” (not to say cynical or cheats) because they would hire a second-rate driver as a 2nd driver (see Schumacher/Irvine, Barrichello, etc.) and impose team orders? So offensive to the sporting nature of F1, they cried! Looks like Merc have learned from the the best... and the sycophants approve now.
https://www.racefans.net/2021/01/18/why-hasnt-hamilton-signed-a-new-mercedes-deal-yet-theres-a-few-million-reasons/ Rgds
I am not against team orders in some specific situation, for instance when the Championship is at stake late in the season, and a team has "too much too loose"; if one remembers, Kimi Räikkonen was neck-to-neck on points with Felipe Massa until late in the 2008 season, then his prospects appeared to fade...and somebody asked him if he would let Massa pass, should the need be for Felipe to preserve his chances for the title; and Kimi said: "I work for the team, I know where my duty is"; fair enough for me (It turned out not to be enough, as we all know). Or, for the old f.rts among us, remember Villeneuve and Scheckter in 1979... What I find really infuriating and anti-sporting, UNFAIR to be precise, is for a team to have the best car on the grid by an enormous marging, and still starting the season already with team orders in place! Let the drivers race, for Christ sake, and decide later on on a pecking order, after mid-season, IF and WHEN there is a threat; if there is no threat, let the boys fight for it until the end, and the best one will win. "Que le meilleur gagne"... Rgds
Yet he stays. Is well like and received and supported in the team. Thank you for the link. Hints of that summary were around recently. I sense teams are moving coherently to limit pay within smaller budgets as Ferrari and others are not at all paying as much as Mercedes were paying. Appears Mercedes intend to move to pay less as others do. Vettel took a large pay reduction. Mercedes will have seen that and then factor Russell and budget etc.
I think that the budget cap has set the tone. Also, because of Covid, Liberty has less monies to redistribute to the teams. In the middle of that we have Hamilton negotiating a new contract, taking no account of F1 economic climate . His demands seem outrageous, and we will see if his gamble pays off, or if he shot himself in the foot.
We see this news but it is only opinion. No party will publish their true positions. I do think cost is now forefront on all aspects of a team. Driver pay is not going to escape. I do think LH has to be a bit more careful as you post.
What I thought, and a "friend" suggested a reason, which could be but couldn't be, so I won't repeat it here.
I think Hamilton is alienating people with his demands, Toto Wolff, but also Kalenius who has to report to the board. Could Ineos be willing to pay what he asks, or Petronas? I don't expect Mercedes to budge. Maybe Hamilton created this situation to exit F1 and claim he has been victimised?
If Daimler proper will not fund as a proposition to avoid cost, I see no reason for INEOS to waste money as well.