Following the announcement that Lewis Hamilton has signed a three-year agreement to race for Mercedes, McLaren announced that Sergio Perez would be his replacement at McLaren. This means that Michael Schumacher is on the market and that Perez’s Sauber drive is available. It will likely go to a driver with money, unless the Mexicans come up with more cash and put Esteban Gutierrez into the drive. It is a blow for Ferrari, who had Perez in its young driver scheme, but if it could not offer him a ride then one cannot blame him for taking up the McLaren offer. The fact that Ferrari did not take Perez suggests that they have other plans. A lot of people think Sebastian Vettel will go there, but I do not see why Ferrari would disrupt things. Fernando Alonso is the most complete driver in the world right now and Ferrari wants to keep him happy. I see his team-mate in 2014 being Mark Webber.
Michael Schuamcher’s future remains uncertain and it will now be interesting if he wants to continue racing for teams further down the grid – if anyone wants him – or whether he will have to face up to life without an F1 drive, which was something he found hard to do after he was eased out at Ferrari.
The Mercedes team has also named Niki Lauda as non-executive chairman of the board of the team. It is not clear what this will entail, but it gives them a famous racing name on the books.
Hamilton’s decision is an interesting and not really very logical but only time will tell whether it was the right thing to do, or whether his optimism for the team in the future is flawed. Leaving a top team to go to one with potential is fraught with risk and one wonders who swayed Lewis in his decision-making and how things will work out if it all goes wrong. Lewis will no doubt be richer and perhaps feels that he is free to be more of his own man, away from the McLaren influence that has figured so strongly in his career. That maybe so, but he may also come to realise that it was worth a lot more than he thinks. McLaren is one of the most solid teams in F1 and to walk away is quite a move.
Naturally the Mercedes statement was full of optimism about rising to the challenge and all the excitement of the new driver pairing. It is a good deal for Mercedes if they can build a car that Lewis can use to win races, but it is not going to be easy. Nico Rosberg has been Hamilton’s team-mate in the past in junior racing and he will need to up his game if he is to keep up his reputation.
McLaren announced in turn that it had signed 22-year-old Mexican Sergio Perez to a multi-year deal from the start of the 2013 season. It is a forward-looking move but there are still question marks about Perez’s ability to be a top F1 driver. This is is his chance.
“I’m thrilled and delighted to have become a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver,” he said. “The McLaren name is one of the greatest in the history of Formula 1. For more than 40 years McLaren has been a team that every racing driver has aspired to drive for – I was brought up on the great stories of Ayrton Senna’s many world championship triumphs for McLaren – and I’m truly honoured that they’ve chosen me to partner Jenson from 2013 onwards. I’ve spent the 2012 season working very hard to demonstrate my potential, but I’ve always remained humble and focused. I am, and always will be, extremely grateful to Peter [Sauber] and everybody at the Sauber Formula 1 team for their belief in me, and for giving me the chance to race in Formula 1. In fact, they gave me the perfect opportunity to demonstrate what I can do – and I’m now equally grateful to Martin [Whitmarsh] and everyone at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes for giving me the chance to take this next very big step in my career. I’m under no illusion that it is indeed a very big step – as it would be for any driver – but I’m ready for it. So, while I’m still fully focused on doing my best for Sauber for the remainder of this season, I’m already massively looking forward to working with everyone at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, and with Jenson, who’s someone I’ve long admired as a brilliant driver and a great champion.”
Martin Whitmarsh thanked Hamilton for his work with the team.
“He wrote a huge chapter of his life and career with us, and was, and always will be, a fine member of an exclusive club: the McLaren World Champions’ club. It goes without saying that we all wish him well for the future, just as it also goes without saying that we hope and believe that Sergio, too, will become a member of that exclusive club before too long.”
When all is said and done, this interlude highlights that logic has no real place in F1 driver dealings. One cannot say someone was right or wrong to do something, but in time we will find out whether the move is sensible or not. I hope from a personal point of view that things work out for Lewis because I believe he has great talent, but I am slightly worried that moving out of a top team to a wannabe team is not the right thing for a man in his position to be doing.
joeblogsf1 
Money talks….
I said on here last week Lewis was being pushed and he has been. McLaren aren’t short of a couple of million quid year to keep Lewis – they’ve had around $500m as a group from their Bahraini investors who have liquid funds into the thousands of millions. Money talks – “Lewis we think you’re only worth 2/3rds of what we’ve been paying you – capiche?” http://wp.me/p2HWOP-5q
I will only take Mercedes seriously when they stop supplying engines to McLaren. Mercedes should view McLaren as enemy number 1, not as their safe, backup plan if they produce another poor chassis.
Why exactly? The Mercedes customer engine (nee works engine) is a business decision.
By the same measure, are you saying Renault should stop supplying Lotus with Renault engines, as they’ve been pretty much as competitive as their Works outfit (the Red Bull team), likewise for Sauber preventing Ferrari having a double podium at Monza?
If I take my cynic hat off for a minute, I can actually see this going well for Hamilton. His relationship with McLaren was akin to that a son has to his father. He’s been connected with that team throughout his career, so he couldn’t lash out at them, and they wouldn’t wan’t to slam him down either. So a fresh start under the wings of the stern Ross Brawn might be exactly what little Lewis needs to grow up. And whilst Mercedes is indeed a wannabe team, 2014 is only around the corner, and with it a massive shake-up of the balances on the grid; there’s no reason for Mercedes to not land on top.
It’s not as if the son had not lashed out at his father. In fact the son was not happy when his friend Nico Rosberg graduated to F1 in 2006 and was known to have hobnobbing with Williams management, while the father wanted him to drive in GP2 and hone his racing skills. What happened in Monaco’07, Hungary’07 is well documented. And then there were more instances in the relationship when son through the team under the bus.
So like all relationship it was always complicated. If you look at McLaren management style, the management, bent over to accommodate their special project, to that extent, that one wondered whatever happened to the team that was so controlling when it came to non racing aspects of “McLaren driver’s” life. May it be the drunken escapades of Kimi or Montoya bringing his wife and kid (and occasionally the kids of the charity Montoyas run), the McLaren management never liked those things and there were always tension between those drivers and the team management.
The look on Ron Dennis’ face at the Canadian’11 GP when McLaren garage was flooded with their driver’s American celebrity friends and Lewis busy showing his car under the umbrella, after a self inflicted DNF told it all.
Dennis made his point of “nature vs nurture” by one driver’s title in 2008, but one would wonder at what cost.
Do you think that Slim is willing to put Telmex money in Vodafone team?
I’ve heard, through friends, that Vodafone wont be the title sponsor after 2013, possibly earlier. These “friends of mine” are fairly well placed to comment on such rumours as they’re telecom industry people.
I think Slim, who’s very cash rich, would be more than happy to write big cheques for his company to be on Mclaren’s cars.
Rich people rarely spend their own money.
I believe it stops being Vodafone next year
There are rumblings Vodafone is looking to partner with Telmex to conduct business in Mexico and Latin America, which means we could well see Vodafone branding alongside Telmex for the next year or two.
No, that is why Vodafone, who are reducing their overall sponsorship budget, might follow Lewis with personal sponsorship.
I wonder about Santander, too, as that is sponsorship is attached to the drivers but taken in by McLaren. Perhaps one of the other concerns Lewis’s management has.
Overall the Ron Denis approach of publicly cutting Lewis’s salary and treating him like a kid has not only lost the fastest driver but may have lost more sponsorship than the savings from having a newbie in the seat.
If so, not clever business.
A big “if so”
Perhaps “wannabe” team was a harsh choice of words that you might come to regret, Joe… Mercedes might not have put all the pieces together yet but they have shown that they are a serious F1 team. It took Red Bull a few years to start winning consistently but once they did, they showed that the years they spent building up the structure to get to the top were indeed serious, and that they were not a wannabe team as many had thought they were at the time.
No, because right now that is a fair description of the team. If they rise to the occasion then I am happy for them and they will cease to be that. Right now they have a lot to prove.
Lewis will come to regret this move, and probably before the end of 2013
Mercedes do not have the team spirit they had before RB arrived, and the people there are not the happy bunch they used to be.
I assume by “team spirit before RB arrived, you mean when they raced at Le Mans, or in DTM? I’m sure you know that RB brought his eponymous team to Mercedes, so in F-1 terms, there was no team or team spirit before RB arrived.
They won a race this year. Sure one race is not a season, but it shows that they can be competitive.
It is all relative.
Also, RBR never had a budget slow down as a necessity. Brawn culled head count and all sorts to survive, and though they weren’t stupid about it, RB himself was talking about the difficulty of bulking up again at one point. Imagine if you’re in a market and everyone is selling the same product, has to look alike, feel alike, do alike. That’s a strange and unusual position except maybe I can think of internet search companies and a lot of that crowd doing me too products. With the regs so tight as they are, you wonder if there is every going to be any difference. If the aim is the same, theoretically at least, who puts more less in at any time may be playing catchup. I do far homogeneity also risks simplistic pay more go faster equations and defeats budget caps, because a lean year leaves you behind.
ugly typos, sorry, end of my day, “I do fear homogeneity […]” was meant, the rest are obvious slips.
Hard to argue with the fact that Ross Brawn has used this same formula in the past with “some” success though that was Ferrari whose sole purpose is to win in F1. But I tend to agree with you.
Any idea how long Sergio’s deal is?
The team at Ferrari was run by Jean Todt. It will be interesting to see if Ross Brawn can match his achievements.
I like that clarification. It surprises me when all credit for Schumis years go to Ross. As important as he was to the team, the fact is that Jean was the boss.
The credit often goes to Brawn because he, Schumi, Byrne and a good proportion of the people below them at Ferrari arrived in a job lot from another team where they’d already worked together to win two WDC and one WCC. So rightly or wrongly, it’s easy to argue that Jean was not an essential ingredient to the mix.
That doesn’t however mean that if you build a team with Ross in Jean’s old job and someone else (Bob Bell?) in Ross’s that you’ll have the same success. My impression perhaps wrongly is that Norbert is in the Luca di role, dishing out the pressure rather than soaking it up. Which puts Ross in the hot seat of managing the politics. I doubt he’ll be able to do that and take on the role he had at Benetton or Ferrari as well, not that I think he’s trying to.
Rory Byrne was a super catch for Ferrari, also.
Depends on what you think is a good catch.
Point taken. But the Shoe brought a pretty complete package with him, which is as far as I can tell, very different from what Lewis will be able to muster. I think I was commenting more in reply to those who argued the “build a team around him” applying to Lewis, as it supposedly did with the MSC’s Benetton to Ferrari move. Shoe walked with about everyone save TW. I don’t see McL allowing that to happen.
For Lewis, I should have piped up earlier, instead of commenting ex post facto. I was too busy scratching my beard wondering how he could decide on emotions alone. He worries me. That’s going to have to be a very highfalutin new engine, year after next.
Below Schumacher, Brawn and Byrne, there was a whole cadre of other people who took big money packages to relocate to Maranello from Enstone. The most significant guy -not- to move was Pat Symonds, who was reported to have been made an offer which he declined.
Interesting comment, Joe. Was it Jean Todt that really got the strategic and factory operational job done and RB the race tactician?
Jean Todt made it happen. Ross brawn was part of the team.
And at Benetton? Surely you’re not saying that Flav made it happen and Brawn was part of the team?
I don’t mean to have a poke – disconfirming evidence is always much more interesting than anything reinforcing existing beliefs. I’d just always believed that what Jean Todt did was protect what was basically the same team that had already won stuff at Benetton from all the political pressure from Luca di and the Italian public. That’s no small thing, as we saw at the end of the 2010 season – no-one does their best work under that kind of pressure. But I never really gave Todt much credit for the team’s performance on track. Are you saying that that’s a mistake?
The history of Benetton’s World Championships will one day be written.
Including 1995?
Will we have to wait til you no longer need accreditation?
No. You cannot libel a dead man.
Bernie?
While the blog owner of this blog and I don’t meet eye to eye on most subjects in F1, I am with him on this one. Ross Brawn is no doubt a talented individual, but is given too much credit for his achievements.
If you look at the titles he won from Benetton to Ferrari and then the one for Brawn, there will always be question mark in front of all the titles, coz most of them had elements of unfair play and dodgy role of FIA, in assisting those titles, either through overlooking technical infractions or unfair treatment of competition (Michelin’03, Michelin’05).
One can’t help but wonder, if Fry had not underhandedly thrown Aguri Suzuki and the minnow Aguri team, and the unnamed Super Aguri engineer had not fallen in laps of the parent Honda team to take the interpretation of Double diffuser to the parent team would 2009 would have even happened?
You have not got the history right there.
Why is Ferrari not considering Schumacher for a one-year deal if indeed they have signed an option for Sebastian in 2014? He might be off his peak but I think he would be doing better than Massa.
I do hope they don’t think that. Felipe is showing signs of a better recovery. I suppose it could come down to whether Luca di has a personal angle on how that might work. Nothing has played out well for Michael. I was a big fan when he was chasing for the red team, but now I can only remember him nearly putting Rubens into the wall the other year. If you consider it that way, that’s a very difficult man to put in a car for a valedictory season. Because I like Schumi, I have viewed every race with a “can he please pull it off this time” and a dulling of excitement when he’s effectively put himself out. I don’t even sense that much now, that he might be a dark horse, with a bit of luck, and honestly pester the sharp end. Sure, I think mechanical failures have been unfair to him, but if he is either being taken off by young guns feeling he’s someone to nail, or sluggish on the brakes, he’s just squeezed. It would be a very brave LdM _and MSC to put him in a red car again.
I would rather the sent him out with a “special” engine – who cares if it breaks, he’s taken so many penalties anyhow – and give him a farewell with some speed under his foot, see what he can do. There must be quite a few KMph to be eeked out of the engines, and you could play with that since his failures are now expected. Start of the year, I wondered if they were not already doing that, though. I often think they put more experimental things in Schumi’s car, to milk his feedback, and it’s all let down because he’s jumping at ever narrower opportunities he doesn’t have the reactions for, entering a corner. If that were the case, to give him speed and test tricky parts, he’s let down the team with mistakes. I’m only speculating, but that is what I’d have wanted MSC for, on my team, and so have to consider the unspoken contract broken once he puts it in the wall or up someone’s rear for no good reason.
I am sure he doesn’t want to retire, but in the English media his presentation has mellowed so much, I would very much like him to see what he can do for F1 off the track. There’s a lot to do, even if we all feel like CVC have us in a vice. Michael would be listened to. He’d be wicked fun if he did some cameo commentary and let his sense of humor out for a weekend.
Unsure as I am about Lewis to MB, Nico will be a good team mate for him. They’re both very fresh faces still, and that idea may have swayed the corporate think also. MB do like to be a bit “holier than thou” and when someone argued the other day Lewis was maybe a attraction because he was hanging out with hip hop people, my biz parter, who is cousin to a young and big name in that game, just rolled his eyes. Lewis is nice boy, so is Nico. It may be a bit dressing the top of a wedding cake with figures, but it’s unlikely to be unseemly. Another year of Michael might have gotten a bit difficult to present.
I don’t know about a ‘special’ engine, as they are homologated to a certain spec, but I guess they could run at maximum power with no concern that it wouldn’t last the required number of races. Of course, that requires more fuel so what’s a person to do? Go out with a bang not a whimper?
I have no idea how much tolerance there is in the specs, but I still assume there must be some leeway, to choose maybe the sillier side of the numbers, and tweak things a bit. Can it all be now so taught as to be down to simple things like how rich you make the gasoline on a dashboard switch? However it is, I would be really interested to draw a top engineer on the subject, a simple question, what sort of percentage can be wrung out of the system in a pinch, regardless of setup? I think that might be answered safely if referring to a past car, but then again, are the regs so tight they are removing such possibilities? Not being a engineer in the field, I have far less than a clue. I’m just harping on a recent worry as to how much has been regulated out of the sport. I do think it’s gotten narrowed so much that a engineering comeback is a rarity, save for gizmos. That’d have a bad effect I think on hiring talent. Rev limiters are objects of disgust for me.
Anyway, it seems the shoe has let things happen around him. As if he rather let others decide, and didn’t want to get in the way of Lewis. That seems honourable to me, even poignant. Ross is quoted in press today hoping he’ll not fizzle out. So maybe tweaking things is possible, but, yeah, I’m dubious how much can be done.
Good comment. I have always thought that Schumi’s squeeze on Rubens had a smell of “old guy desperate to prove he still belongs” to it.
Agreed. Farewell tour would get the tifosi excited. If they’re really only looking for a one-year driver, signing Schumi would be a fun twist to this story.
I’m not certain he would be doing a lot better than Massa, but I agree it would make a lot of sense (in the the nonsensical F1 world). Schumacher back to Ferrari to face his old rival Alonso – a marketing man’s dream, however unrealistic his chances would be on the track. Alonso though might not welcome the return of the man he replaced as Ferrari’s favourite son. But Schumacher wants a drive, Ferrari need a driver for a year. Why not. Joe, is there any chance on earth that this could happen?
I highly doubt Ferrari would go for that. More specifically… I doubt Alonso would be comfortable with that. Depends on what they could agree to with Michael. Would he agree to be a non-threat to Alonso and simply mop up points behind him. If they put the Shoe into a red car again with the intention of having him battle Alonso for points, all hell will break loose.
That also makes sense to me.
It would be interesting to know if MS is leaving merc on good terms. If I MS i’d be spitting feathers at being thrown out the way he has been, especially at Ross Brawn.
Personally, I feel the intent was always to have MS help RB develop the Mercedes unit. His contract was always for three years, so I really don’t feel there are any hard feelings. Would Michael have preferred more success? Likely. But perhaps that would have been a “bonus” and not a objective.
I highly doubt it too. Just pointing out that it is a possibility, especially as it makes sense for those who run the sport, even if it makes little sporting sense. Bernie has already pulled enough strings in EJ puppeteering to let most things be possible.
Honestly, I feel like they will stick with Massa.
Bartosz Wróblewski beat me to the punch but then I thought about the rumours about Vodafone pulling out and the lack of slickers on the McLaren these days and added 2 and 2 together and got anywhere between 3 and sponsorship hole!
Hi Joe,
If Williams promotes Bottas to replace Senna, do you think Senna is a candidate for a Sauber seat (given he could bring money)?
Read that Alguersari is a candidate, but he doesn’t seem to have much money with him.
Yes, but so are several others. Pic etc
Alguersuari lacks money, but has Pirelli 2013 knowledge.
Money is more important. He is not known as being a technical genius.
Jaime has oodles of cash, and also the right connections. His Daddy for one….
No he does not. Otherwise he’d be employed by a racing team rather than a radio station.
Doesn’t he have repsol funds still?
Like having a change of wife/husband, sometimes you just need to gain a new sense of perspective! I think this move has the potential to galvanise Button, Perez, Hamilton, McLaren AND Mercedes! It can’t be anything but good for the fans…..and that’s no bad thing.
Hear hear!!
Yes, but I never recall gaining or loosing a wife being a exactly straight forward matter . . nor necessarily all fun. I’m possibly out of turn here, but Lewis has certainly been affected by his personal relationships, and if anything is a strong commitment man. That’s good, not bad, but it means he’s going to feel the wrench more than many would. Putting my fan’s cap back on, can’t moan at all about the shake up. I just have this lingering worry, that had he any management other than the Fuller lot, he’s have stuck on with McL for one more year or two. On balance though, he’s been taking control of his life step by step lately, so further change fits with that approach.
Somehow I think even the teams are not really sure they have the reg changes pinned down. Surely if he had taken a 1yr contract, he could have waited until MB would do something like say they are dead certain their new engine is the nuts? It’s only a few months either way. I know 1yr contracts or race to race deals can be awful, understanding what commitment each party has to each other. The suggestion via Autosport, that Schumi stepped aside from all this and did not sign his own deal, so leaving Lewis free to choose, makes me think the older man perceived Lewis was in career gambling mode. Kind of like mental adultery, once you think of it, how so is that different from a real infidelity? It’s very interesting to me, anyhow, the idea that Schumacher may have aligned his loyalties with his team above himself. No doubt lots of deep thought going on in the older man’s mind.
>”Yes, but I never recall gaining or loosing a wife being a exactly straight forward matter . . nor necessarily all fun.”
+1 to that.
Joe, Webber recently said he was approached by Ferrari before signing with RedBull and he rejected them, why do you see him signing for them in 2014?? it makes no sense to me
Because that is what I think will happen.
Mark was very close to signing with Ferrari.
He did not because of his relationship with his teammates and I guess he had he salary matched by RedBull.
Actually – that is what happened…
The contract with Ferrari also meant they could fire him at the end of each year – also what he has now.
Work it out – he is in a good position with a successful team.
Who knows what happens next year – he would always be number two (although that is effectively is what he is today)….
You think Red Bull would ease him out, rather than him decide to go?
I think MW would be just right for the red team. But one more chance to use a consistently top car before the all change regs is a good bet. That, and levelling any score sheet with SB would be a good thing. Generally I think making a move as the reg changes come in is the default smart thing to do. I am sceptical testing and other things can affect the lottery factor that much for year after next.
MW a daft pick for Ferrari. They need to start thinking ahead. Also allegedly he was only offered a 1 year deal in 2013, but all of a sudden Joe is saying they want him for 2014…..so what has changed? Oh yeah Lewis wasn’t gonna go to Mercedes. Wait a sec…what has Lewis got to do with this? He was never mooted to RB or Ferrari LOL.
MW was first choice for Ferrari this year. Red Bull forced his hand as he was ahead of Vettel in WC at the time. Thus he HAD to stay for 2013 to keep his hopes alive for 2012. I think he may have already agreed pre- contract for 2014. Just an opinion, but I don’t see Ferrari hiring another driver to disrupt Alonso. What is needed is a driver who is complementary to FA.
> I don’t see Ferrari hiring another driver to disrupt Alonso
Agreed. I think that’s the real reason why they didn’t take Perez. He might be pretty average, or he might be inconsistent….but he might just turn out to be the real deal, and that’s actually the last thing Ferrari needs now. (Mclaren on the other hand…)
I think they’re going to keep Massa for another year, and if they decide not to, I’d probably take Kovalainen in their position.
Joe, what I don’t get is, why did Red Bull -want- to force Webber’s hand? They’ve not shown any great enthusiasm for him for the last couple of years. If he had an offer from Ferrari, why didn’t they just tell him not to let the door bang his arse on the way out? Did they think the risk of him taking the WDC and the #1 off to Ferrari was that high, or was there another reason?
Oh, and – OT but silly season related – I very much enjoyed Kim’s plaintive “I am under contract – so please come and buy me out of it, chaps!” dog whistles to Ferrari and Mclaren the other week (that’s my take on the ‘well you never know’ stuff anyway). Joe – was no-one impressed enough to bother, or wouldn’t Boullier and his bosses play ball?
Webber is unlikely going to flunk it next year, so maybe it comes down to having a guy on the pace hit it fresh just like most others, or a guy who just chose a difficult transition year and got bogged down. I reckon when you are all facing so much change, it’s possibly easier to fit in with a new crowd, rather than take over a existing car and have expectations of current performance put on you.
I know it’s the other way around from usual thinking, but I think who are “late” to make a move may be better off. Also, the virtue of staying with RBR, when all the noise is other moves, solidifies Mark’s trademark “solid guy” brand. I reckon he got it sussed, and when so much changes, as in ’14, then it does make some more sense to gamble a bit in that situation. Today’s silly season is definitely going to affect a lot of team attitudes, so I fancy the guy who is measuring twice and cutting once.
Joe, its interesting that you think Webber will partner Alonso. At times the Vettel/Webber relationship has not been easy. Do you think there is potential that if Mark does better than expected at Ferrari (assuming he goes there), that this will create unwanted tension?
I guess it shows volumes of RBR’s respect for Webber in that they preferred to keep him for 2013 rather than risk him move to Ferrari. After all, they have a stable of other drivers to pick from that could have replaced him.
I’m more interested in Perez moving to McLaren, rather than Lewis moving to Mercedes. It seems that over the past season Lewis has started coming out of the McLaren mould to show who he really is, and personally I prefer Perez in Woking to Hamilton.
The big thing is, if it all goes to pot with Mercedes, the only top team (assuming the current running order) that could possibly accommodate him from a performance standpoint is Red Bull, and we all know their F1 involvement could be fleeting in the long term.
Likewise. One of the wonders of F1 is that the Sauber team (for which you might expect a “German culture”) is less buttoned-up than some in the UK. OK, stereotypes are rubbish, but it is difficult to escape unconscious biases. It’ll be interesting to see how Sergio fits in at McLaren and also how Martin Whitmarsh handles what is effectively his first big driver signing.
I’ll be most pleased for Perez if the selection is shown to have been made on talent and potential rather than his appeal to a particular sponsor. He has earned the drive in my opinion. No matter how it turns out, Sergio has demonstrated that “pay drivers” deserve to be measured on the same merit scale as everyone else on the grid.
Michael above asks an open question about Red Bull’s long term commitment to F1. Red Bull has sponsored a lot of other sport activities which might give us a clue about potential loss of interest. Any thoughts from students of the Red Bull company? The Infiniti deal implies that Red Bull are very happy to spread the costs and advertising space. I distantly recall that some F1 team owners aspired to break even or possibly make a profit…
Nice one. There’s definitely a bunch of Swiss who took exception to Orson Welles’ ad libbed “Cuckoo Clock” speech in The Third Man and never let themselves be pigeon holed. They took a rap in some comments about a sponsor the other day, because someone forgot the same brand of gun saved our bacon also, and that despite there was a real long gap between the gun maker and the town regaining the name for itself and more positive developments. Peter S is the unlikeliest fool in the game, on my reckoning, and apt to surprise, even if it’s not a imperative for him. Name some lady team bosses! It wouldn’t shock me if he took MSC for a season, but I think that by now they have a more thorough game plan, and that’s Monisha’s choice I am fairly sure. One team I do believe that if they take a “pay” driver or not, they do things on their own terms. I can see the logic too, in favour: that Peter S is a gentleman’s team manager, and since Michael has acted with some contrition, maybe he will pay a tribute, gaining something, and saving Michael’s face. That could help him later, quite possibly. It’s hard to say what actual influence Schumacher has in F1, because he has never been in a independent position to do so. There might just be business logic in a final year. For Schumi I am pretty sure this has to be a saving face exercise, so whoever helps will be well remembered. These are going to be tough years in business, in any game, and F1 is doing a “all change” I think doesn’t do anything to truly benefit the sport.
I still think it would have been more fun if you took MW to the red team, Nico to McL, MSC to a FI, PdResta to Ferrari, or any other mix up. But none of that was ever going to happen. I just look at it and see a shed load of really good drivers, and fantasise . . . How about a new rule, that every four years, any driver could switch teams without contractual penalty? I guess I just don’t suss the races well, as the tire thing develops. So I yearn for seeing comparisons in the same car more often.
I agree. What Perez can do in a settled high performing team is going to show more readily than Lewis acclimatising to a unknown. Been chatting amongst friends here, for weeks over this, and nobody reckons it’s the money, just LH wanting to grow up his own way. I hope it all works out. The remaining top drives are all hard choices.
This will be a rebirth for Lewis – to get a different result you have to do something different – McLaren can apparently win races but not so hot on championships – simply not consistent enough – and Lewis wants more World Championships and is not getting younger. The designer team at Mercedes now with Brawn, Bell, Willis and Costa is the strongest line up in F1. Mercedes is a much better brand that McLaren. How long will McLaren keep Mercedes engines? Lewis has won all his F1 races with Mercedes engines. Lewis will be a much stronger championship contender in 2013 even if he wins less races.
Calling McLaren inconsistent is short-term thinking, likely taking just 2009-2012 into account. They’re the second highest scoring team after Ferrari and since (I believe) 2007 they have actually won more races than any other team and they’d have won the Constructors in 2007 were it not for Coughlan/Stepney’s little game of ‘pass the blueprints’.
Next point – The Mercedes design team cannot be feasibly called ‘the strongest in F1’ by any measure than number of heads named on their press release. Too many chefs..?
Whitmarsh also said they will ‘more than likely’ be a Mercedes customer whilst it suits them. After all, they will be paying money for them and Mercedes cannot charge more for them than prescribed in the Concorde Agreement and they must be identical units as supplied to their other customers and their works team, again as per the rules and I doubt the new CA will invalidate this.
I think you misunderstand Lewis Hamilton. He wants to win races and Championships are the consequences of lots of good results. He is a young man who has ten good seasons ahead of him.
He can drive the wheels off a car — like Alonso does at Ferrari — when circumstances happen. Ot maybe not. But when Hamilton has a car that works, everyone looks at the dust.
So you think Lewis and Mercedes will catch Fernando and Ferrari.
Why shouldn’t they? Ferrari has produced pretty average cars in the last couple of years, and if it wasn’t for mclarens screw ups and lack of reliability alonso wouldn’t lead the championship this year.
and by the way, red bull was a crappy team before vettel joined. look at them now. he was the missing piece to the puzzel.
Sadly, Joe, I suspect that LH will initially struggle to be as competitive as he is at McLaren. This season, Nico has had some great results, but with respect to him, LH is quicker. 2013 will therefore be interesting, assuming that Mercedes have a car as good as this year’s model. And assuming that the team politics work OK during the first season, LH is hoping for something special in 2014.
If it doesn’t work out, Lewis is still a young man with eight championships to go for.
I wouldn’t rule out a team led by Brawn and with any kind of sensible budget out of hand ,altho’ I think the chances of this one getting mired in politics and infighting are fair to middling.
What I’d be more concerned about is that the word is already going out positioning 2013 as a year of consolidation and preparation before a big push in 2014. Am I alone in thinking that if that’s the plan, then even if it works perfectly, there’s a good chance that Lewis will have gone off the deep end long before the end of 2013? I can’t see him spending a whole year not-quite-on-the-pace in a team with no -consistent- history of producing competitive cars, quietly biding his time. Am I being unfair? He certainly does seem to have matured in the last few years, so maybe I’m wrong. Joe?
Schumi went from a top team to a wannabe team in 96 (which Ferrari by then had becone) , didn’t work out too bad for him now did it. Granted, Bennetton was not of the same racing pedigree as Mclaren, but they were champs of the past 2 yrs.
If it works, Hamilton can build the Mercedes legacy and latch on to it, much like Schumi did for Ferrari. If it doesn’t work he’ll rue this day forever.
Anyway will be much fun to see how it plays out for him, and gotta love how this just threw the 2013 driver market wide open!
Lewis doesn’t have the personality or the character to mold a team around himself and make it successful as Schumacher did with Ferrari. Really, I don’t see the work ethic or the drive in Lewis. He’s a very good driver but I don’t think he can become a great driver in the true F1 sense of all around motivation and drive. He just wants to be a superstar.
Could it be he felt a bit trapped by that? I mean he was almost smothered with care at McL.
And how do you think he’ll react when the dynamic changes from molly-coddling to criticising?
Benetton were never a top team, they didn’t have the budget to be a permanent fixture at the top.
More importantly, Schumacher – took half his team with him – and the same guys who’d given him his first two championships set about a complete reorganisation of the Ferrari team. Lewis won’t be doing that.
I think logic does figure Joe, but everyone has different priorities that they base their logic on
One of us really must start using a different name
So, what of recent stories that McLaren designed their 2013 car around LH? Are they too far down the process to change course? I have to say that JB comes out on top in this one, despite what everyone said when he switched to Macca. A real fox, he is.
The BBC reported it, so I guess there’s some weight, but given it’s nearly 6 months until the 2013 car hits the track, there’s surely plenty of time to change it.
As a bonus, Perez’s driving style is very similar in principal to Jenson’s.
How much will Mercedes miss Schumacher’s expertise in setting up a car? I believe the perception is that Lewis isn’t quite so strong in this area?
That aside, I guess we finally get to see how good Nico is.
I would think that Sergio can learn a lot from JB if JB is willing to teach him and of course, if Sergio is willing to listen. What McLaren save from not paying Lewis, will almost pay for their engines.
Wilson
The engines are capped at £8 million a year, so that’s in theory another £7 million for car development rather than nannying Hamilton.
Driver salaries are outside the RRA. But from a total cost perspective, I agree.
Absolutely right for Lewis to leave. Mclaren have cocked up his races far too many times this year with strategy miscalls, pit stop fiascos and also lack of reliability. No doubt in my mind that Lewis is absolutely the fastest driver in F1 and he deserves better.
McLaren will miss him far more than they think. After getting his focus back from whatever distractions he had last year, Lewis has made Jenson look second rate at practically every qualy and race this year. and dont forget what he did to Fernando when they were team mates. McLaren are definitely masters of making a quick car but only in the second half of a season and Lewis must be tired of that. He is their most recent Champion and I dont see Mclaren adding any more Championships with Jenson and Sergio as drivers.
When Joe finally gets round to writing his History of McLaren, the next few years will come under the chapter titled “The barran years 1998 – to who knows when?”
Joe, how badly will losing Lewis to a rival impact Martin Whitmarsh standing at McLaren ?
Good question
As Joe will know, racing teams are like fish bowls – they are very different looking from the inside out to how they seem looking from the outside in.
Ron Dennis must surely take ultimate responsibility for losing Lewis.
If you look at the top team managers, when their teams have been at their peak – eg Ron and Frank – they have always gambled that their car was more of a factor than the driver. The lure of the team name/prestige would mean they could secure the services of another top steerer. After all, not many of the up and comers would refuse a McLaren drive at the moment.
Merc’s decision to bring Lauda into the management simply doesn’t ring right to me. I remember him using a similarly vague role to undermine a lot of good work undertaken by Bobby Rahal, as a fairly well-proven team principal, in his tenure at Jaguar Racing.
If I were Ross Brawn I’d be looking forward to Niki’s arrival as much as root canal work. His achievements as a driver and an airline proprietor are unimpeachable, but in team management… erm… not so much.
As for Lewis – who knows? Personally I’ve ceased to care either way, and I suspect Martin Whitmarsh feels much the same.
Only two days ago Lauder confirmed that Hamilton was staying at Big Mac.
I feel the same way about Lauda.
Rahal was out of his depth and also going through marital problems. between his near zero experience with F1 and their workings and his other business interests, he was doomed to failure before he even left Ohio. Enter the ‘Rat’. Well they don’t call him that for his sunny personality. He saw an opening and he took it. Undermining is his specialty. I wouldn’t want to be sitting in Fry’s chair or Bell’s chair right now. I can’t believe that anyone at the sharp end of the team thinks Lauda’s appointment is a good idea. Brawn? Don’t know why we would believe things will be better with hi along side as the two of them know each other, which means they know too much about each other! Norbert behind this? Maybe. Probably was a higher pay level that thought this was a good idea and pushed for it. There’s shaking things up and then there is shaking things until you break stuff. Probably will end in tears. Lauda makes Red Bull’s Marko look like a PR dream. Good luck with the brown stuff he’ll stir up Merc.
I think your opening sentence is hogwash. The problem Bobby had was that Ford management kept changing and they all wanted to intervene. Everyone got screwed in that role. It was a classic example of how a manufacturer should not run a racing team. Hmmm… Wonder if Lewis ever heard of Jaguar Racing… Or Toyota come to that.
How about BMW Sauber?
>It was a classic example of how a manufacturer should not run a racing team
Indeed. Which raises two questions I wonder if you’d kindly opine on, Joe?
– Since -some- of that is standard big company MO, do Mercedes and Norbert know better? (I thought that recent quote of having the balance right, in the sense of spending the right budget – but not getting good enough results on track (!) didn’t sound too promising…)
– Does Niki have something positive to contribute to Merc? (& if so, what might it be?)
Considering Nick Fry still own a shareholding in the team, I’m sure I would quite like to be in his seat.
He does not.
According to a companies house file, he currently owns 7.72% of the team, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler. He is not a Director though and neither is Brawn.
Have not looked recently but was under impression that the shared had been sold to MB. You also need to check holding companies.
I did.
There must be a game behind this. Whats Laudas relationship to Mr. E? Or, is it just to shut his big mouth?
Maybe lewis needs the extra cash, does he have a high maintinence lifestyle? Now Mclaren will now pay for their engines next year, does that mean checo will bring in fresh money from Telmex,s carlos slim?
THIS JUST IN……..SCHUMACHER’S OFF THE MARKET!! He has taken the job he auditioned for in 2006 – Valet Parking Attendant at La Rascasse. He answered an advert in the Monaco newspaper specifying “prior experience required”.
Now, THAT is truly funny, and sheds the appropriately tinted light on the Schumi discussion.
The relationship was not great with Mclaren and apparently in particular with Ron Dennis. Also, a move is good for anybody in their careers to help stimulate them particularly one that will mean that Lewis can attempt to help turn Mercedes around and lead it to the championship (like Alonso has done with Ferrari).
Therefore, I would actually say that it is quite logical, even if Mclaren are a solid team at the moment. To be honest I think nearly everybody has done well out of this (Mercedes, Hamilton, Mclaren, Perez, and at least Schumi has his place taken by someone of Hamilton’s calibre).
And Jenson, who must be over the moon.
I can see LH piss RD off all day long given what McLaren has done for him and LHs character and behavior. RD is all about getting the job done and LH is all glory – IMHO.
Michael at Sauber does not seem to be happening as a Esteban Gutierrez/Jaime Alguersuari line-up is being mooted for the Swiss team.
Looks a life without F1 for him…. don’t you/
Hope Jaime gets another go. He deserves it, and was so badly treated last year. And after all the Pirelli work, he must have upped his abiities lots – he’s the only driver who’s been allowed to test all year !
But wouldn’t Sauber want to keep Kobayashi to have some continuity ? Or has it really gone bad there ?
Great. Now we, the fans, have to decide if A) we follow Hamilton’s jump to Mercedes, or B) we stay true to team Macca.
I don’t think Mercedes has earned it yet, in fact quite the opposite – Schumi really didn’t help the team develop and they really haven’t held up Rosberg as the next world-champion driver, either.
Money really can cloud judgement, I guess. What would I do for $100mil ?
“Great. Now we, the fans, have to decide if A) we follow Hamilton’s jump to Mercedes, or B) we stay true to team Macca.” Depends whether you’re a fan of something with a rather impeccable racing history and pedigree, OR a conceited, arrogant, self-appraising (successful, granted) upstart, who’s trapped himself in the disgusting bling of celebrity culture.
I don’t think your last clause here is a remotely fair description of Ron Dennis.
🙂
Please justify the arrogant and conceited tag with facts. I find you type of posting irresponsible and childish.
Interesting times, though I agree with you on the magnitude of Hamilton’s gamble and am unsure that it will pan out for him the way he hopes, it looks like there will be interesting developments in the near future.
I hope Perez will prove himself at Mclaren and that Brawn will be able to make the MB team work, I have the utmost respect for his talent but from my armchair it looks like there are too many chiefs in that tribe.
Whatever happens and whomever end’s up on top, I hope we get some great racing in the process.
Following F-1 since 1967 –and having worked in it three seasons –albeit a while ago, there are few constants. But one of them is there are two teams –and only two –that no smart man ever ‘leaves’ of his own volition — Ferrari and McLaren. What on earth is he thinking??? Perhaps he didn’t appreciate the ‘challenge’ of Mr. Button….????
Really? Didn’t Senna ditch McLaren for Williams?
Not to mention a lot of people have walked away from Ferrari.
At the time that was a step up.
Only for the off-season…..
William’s were on the up, whilst McLaren were in their early-mid 90s decline.
Cyclical F1….
Well Joe when I saw R Dennis being quoted in the press about drivers salaries a while back (a rare event these days) I knew something was up. As a F1 fan I think it’s good to mix things up a bit, don’t you? On the other hand, I think you’re right – leaving McLaren was brave.
What really surprises me is the speed of McLaren’s announcement concerning Perez. That wasn’t an off-the cuff decision was it?
Hamilton has been talking openly about keeping his options open for some time, and more recently it was confirmed that he was in talks with Mercedes.
Given that is it really that surprising that Mclaren had been exploring their options as well? I’d have been more surprised if they didn’t have something lined up…
Of course, I’m just surprised at the speed – what’s hurry? Even if McLaren had lined up Perez I don’t think they gained anything from a PR point of view. No doubt everything will become soon…….
From what I gather, McLaren actually released their news BEFORE Mercedes did………..
Any ideas about the Sauber vacancies?
As there will obviously be well-funded drivers like Pic, Senna, Max Chilton and perhaps Esteban Gutiérrez (If Slim fancies another Mexican in F1) kicking the door in, (not to mention Der Michael) do you think they will choose two deep pockets or a combination of the former with a young talent (e.g. Robin Frijns) as a pairing?
A last thought – surely Ross Brawn’s future is not in doubt? Can’t be thinking straight.
Is Vodafone’s sponsorship still up for renewal? I wonder if they will stick around, now that the marketable star on the grid is no longer part of the deal.
Telmex Mclaren Mercedes?
At least Mclaren could ditch their current bland livery.
If you Google Telmex and Vodafone, there’s lots of rumour and conjecture (including some ahead of this announcement) that they’re either merging to take on South America or at least partnering up in some way.
This might have sweetened the deal and may even result in Vodafone staying on with McL
It’s very curious how some people believe so much of what they think, regardless of the facts of the matter. Example: Pundits who find it “not very logical” that Hamilton would choose a pay raise over a pay cut, when you consider a F1 driver has a very limited opportunity to make top dollar. And who wouldn’t want to drive for a factory/manufacturer team, rather than a customer team that may have Mercedes one year and Cosworth (or worse) the next” Think it can’t happen? Ask Ayrton Senna, who saw his McLaren go from the almighty Honda engine to a lowly, customer Ford lump. Finally, as it has been widely reported (by pundits) and obvious to us lowly fans, Lewis was far from happy with the McLaren environment. In view of these facts, his move seems very logical.
>Ask Ayrton Senna, who saw his McLaren go from the almighty Honda engine to a lowly, customer Ford lump.
Indeed. Even the brilliant Senna could only win 5 races with that heap of junk in ’93, after winning a magnificent, err, 3 races the previous year with Honda.
Fortunately, Mclaren bounced straight back in ’94 with a works Peugeot deal. As Ron said at the time, there was no way that Peugeot would come in to F1 when Renault, their closest rival, were the dominant F1 engine supplier, unless they were ready to do -whatever it took- to succeed. So it all worked out in the end. About as well as it did for Eddie J when he scaled the heights of works (Yamaha) team status after a year of rubbish customer Fords. Fab.
Merc tho’ seem to me to be the new Jaguar, or Peugeot, or BMW.They only want to win if it’s not -too- expensive. Good luck with that.
Historically, since the beginning of the 1960s, customer teams have almost always performed better than manufacturer teams. Ferrari is the only real exception to that rule, but you have to remember that it is a company that started out as a racing team and only branched out into making road cars.
Hopefully for Lewis, Mercedes will be an exception, like Renault in 05-06. And please, no-one mention Toyota, Jaguar, Aston Martin or Honda.
Hey, what about Schumy going to Ferrari and replace Massa?? Hehehe, just sayin’
Don’t think it will happen, but Schumacher’s driving seemed pretty decent to me this year when the car wasn’t broken. The question seems to be motivation. He had an option on 2013 with Merc, and he chose to let it expire because he wasn’t sure if he was up for it. Damon Hill showed us what a bad idea it is to go on when you’ve lost the hunger.
If I was running Ferrari or Lotus, I’d be very tempted to offer him a race-by-race deal, for little or no money, have it if you want it, walk away when/if you’ve had enough, on the basis that I’d keep Massa / Grosjean under contract in case. Dunno if Schumacher would play, but last year particularly when his driving didn’t seem all that, it genuinely didn’t seem to phase him that much. There was all that rumour that he might quit, but he had the contract in his pocket and he just looked like someone doing what he loved on someone else’s tab. I think he’s turned into his own tribute band.
Most of the talk is about how much Lewis may be giving up in terms of car/team performance by going to Mercedes, but I would think, since that seems to be obvious to all the blog readers, it must be obvious to Lewis, too. My question is, how do Mercedes persuade him that perhaps their car would be good for him? What technical information can they share with Lewis about the team and/or the car that can persuade him he’s not just getting an extra $5million or so per year to finish 6th, but that he has a real chance to win? Any thoughts?
Did Schumi read about his departure this morning? Or had it been agreed with him? Yesterday Ross said it was difficult.
He must either retire properly or take an advisory/ambassadorial role for Merc. To go to a lesser team will smell of desperation.
Another driver with “Senna Dreams” joining Mclaren. Every time I read that it ends in issues. Alonso had the Dream, Lewis was all about the Dream and now Sergio. The only driver that fulfilled his “Senna Dreams” at Mclaren was Senna. These other two “Senna Dreamers” left Mclaren on uneasy or just bad terms. I’d learn something from that if I were Sergio.
P.S. Nice to see you’ve calmed down now. In the Lewis blog post and following comments you were very rude. Made me laugh though and recommend others to read it. 😉
It seems Lewis had no option but to sign for Mercedes as top drives weren’t available. There are no openings at Ferrari or Red Bull, so where to go? (Assuming he wanted to leave Mclaren.)
We’ve read stories about the amount of mundane sponsorship work he has had to do at Mclaren, as well as them owning his image rights and when you have a beautiful woman to make love to, you need all the time in the world… 😉
His management are taking a long term gamble with this move.
Lewis wants to be World Champion again and his management want to exploit his global appeal.
Let’s hope Michael can find a drive.
One thing for sure – Every year we read all the eye-rolling about silly season moves. 2012 can be the year we all point to in future and go ‘well you never know, it might be true…’
I’m looking forward to all this change as a fan of F1, even if as a fan of certain drivers it is quite challenging.
If you were of a cynical mind and felt F1 was developed like a reality soap, you’d suspect 2012 was the boards ‘ratings reshuffle’. If nothing else it will make some compelling viewing next year.
I think no one can know if the decision of Hamilton is right or wrong, time will tell. On the other hand this is exactly a big blow for Mclaren as they lost one of the best 3 f1 drivers who can make a difference.
I also have doubt about their driver choice as like Button, Perez is not a very good qualifier.
I really am excited about Perez going to Mclaren, similar to when Kimi went to Mclaren. Could they tread the same path i.e. Sauber to Mclaren to ferrari, who knows, but for now i think we can look forward to a great 2013.
Ignoring Perez’s Ferrari connection, this sounds feasible. Raikonnen was a similar rough diamond when McLaren took a punt.
Uncertainty all around.
Mercedes still has everything to prove. One concern is they seem to have to abandon the current car’s development to concentrate on next year’s car. It hasn’t worked so far. Their technical team is also an uncertainty; Aldo Costa was fired from Ferrari for creating a much too conservative car last year. The others are also a bit risky as well as they don’t seem to be retained by their respective former teams; however this could be for various reasons not necessarily related to poor productivity/performance/talent, but…
As for Sergio Perez, I think he still has everything to prove. He has the chance of driving a car that is one of the most gentle on its tyres and that has allowed him to shine on some occasions. There are other races where he’s been closer to the bottom of the grid. If he’s only good when the conditions are perfect then he’s like most of the other drivers, no better. In a season when tyres are such an important variable I’m not at all convinced that he’s a potential winner without the benefit of a favourable combination of factors. You also have to wonder why Ferrari are letting him go…
Furthermore, if Lewis thinks he’s going to do a Schumacher/Ferrari build up I don’t think he’s got the required intellectual mindset for it. Somehow, I don’t think Michael would have tweeted his car setup and neither would Alonso. That mistake alone shows a serious weakness in his approach. But you never know, he may surprise us all and put out a really good rap CD…
Costa was the only ‘firing’ as such. Geoff Willis left Red Bull on his own volition and freelanced for HRT for a while, likewise for Bob Bell who left Renault once the Genii outfit took hold.
McLaren’s problem now is that they don’t have a benchmark driver. One-offs like Spa notwithstanding, Hamilton has generally out-paced Button by 0.3-0.5 seconds per lap, and Perez hasn’t proved himself quicker than Kobayashi. Rather, Perez (like Kobayashi) has occasionally been flattered by a good tire strategy (see Monza this year). But pure pace? No.
So how will McLaren know if the car they field in 2013 is on the pace, when neither of their drivers is known for outright speed? Ironic that McLaren should take on not only Perez, but Sauber’s dilemma of not knowing whether their lack of speed is down to the driver or the car…
And what of DiResta and the Hulk? Neither is apparently being paid, and the Mercedes seats (a logical next step for either driver) are now locked up. Unless of course, Britney wilts under either Hamilton’s speed or the size of his entourage…
Meanwhile, Massa continues to get reprieves from the hangman – inexplicable for team as unsentimental as Ferrari. What is up with that? The Kimster wore out his welcome only 18 months after a WDC there. Massa must have video of Montezemelo in some pretty compromising positions…
Fair point, but we must remember his terrible accident when part of the Brawn GP car hit him straight in the face. Imagine a piece of metal weighing the same as a bag of sugar hitting you at 200mph, helmet or not…
Feel really sorry for Di Resta, who would have been a solid candidate for both seats. And the Hulk too, who I really rate.
I think this has worked out well for all concerned, except perhaps Michael Schumacher.
I appreciate that it doesn’t look that way for Lewis but if I were him I would do the same. There’s nothing worse than not trying something and never knowing if it might have worked out. He obviously feels that McLaren cramp his style a bit and needs to experience something else to be satisfied in his own mind that he didn’t leave avenues unexplored. He can only become a better man for it, whatever success (or lack of) he achieves at Mercedes.
Most (F1 employees too) see it as LH cramping the “style” of McL.
Really good to see such good quality comments on this article.
Personally I’m more or less in line with IAJeff. I do think LH is still displaying immaturity and maybe after leaving Mclaren he will finish his growing up.
Unlikely getting wins has been his real driving force in this move. In the meantime good luck Sergio. I’m now going to show how fickle I can be in who I support!
Lewis will regret this. Mercedes hasn’t turned into a consistent performer and they’ve had a few years to achieve that.
Think you could be right
“If you can’t stand the heat, get out of …” Interesting that Alonso bleated and ran when the whippersnapper Hamilton embarrassed him as a rookie and then Button proved his mettle at McLaren. It is no good to the marketing men to have an awkward competitor in the same team. Logical for him to move when, no doubt, he heard Ros’s persuasive siren song. And the money ain’t bad!
I think MW could match FA. Just that is all in my fantasy 2013 season . .
Very silly comment. Altho’ I think JB thought long and hard about how he was going to play it at McL. And he’s played an absolute blinder.
Alonso got sacked.
I’m rather surprised that some conspiracy theorists haven’t put forward the idea yet that Lewis’s move to Mercedes has been secretly funded by Mr E – to keep ‘that story’ out of the papers!
What a shame Williams is not a top team at the moment. Whatever one thinks about Frank’s carelessness with world champoins (Nigel, Damon) at least there drivers have the space to be men. It would have been a good environment for Lewis, who no doubt craves exactly this after all the mother-hen thing at McL.
I can understand Lewis wanting to be his own man but the simple fact is he is heading back down the grid and he already has loads of money so more isn’t going to matter much in real terms. If he thinks he was frustrated at times with McLaren he’d better get used to a lot more as Mercedes don’t look like being consistent front-runner anytime soon.
That said I think McLaren have done well getting Perez. He has really stepped up this year and put in some absolutely brilliant performances in a car that is not a top unit. With a McLaren next year I won’t be surprised so see him as a regular race winner and championship challenger.
DiResta to Ferrari
Dream on. I think Massa is staying for one more year.
That seems a bad idea. Having someone bedding-in for year prior to the reg changes in 2014 would seem a smarter move
Give me one good reason?
Schumacher, Hülkenberg and Di Resta to fight it out for a Sauber seat?
Which one has the most money?
At a guess I’d say Michael isn’t short a dollar or two.
I think Perez will learn a lot off Button. They may not be the fastest on the grid but consistency is the key. Look at Ferrari this year. They have a fast driver but the car is slow. If Mclaren has a fast car next year, and consistent drivers who look after tyres, anything is possible. Spices things up for next year. Bring it on, GO McLAREN.
Joe, what’s the word on Hamilton’s technical/car development ability? Is he likely to be able to bring anything to Mercedes that will help push them up the grid?
I don’t recall anything outstanding being reported previously so surely it’d seem to be unlikely that he could do what Brawn/Schumacher/Rosberg et al have been unable to do (consistently) to date. Then again, maybe he can.
as has been mentioned..AMG Mercedes has upgraded the technical staff in the last 6 months..and they needed corporate approval for a bigger 3 yr budget if they were to win a championship..ok well whats the plan? oh a old former champ and 5 yr driver with one win! no long term concord agreement to split the money and maybe run a team at a profit. engine rules and how many manufacturers? so it all came together..a new concord agreement (rumoured soon), the best driver available and drivers lined up for 3 yrs, corporate board approves budget, Lauda helps out on the worst part of Ross Brawn..team principle! and everyone pays for engines and a budget cap agreement.
Upgrading technical staff does not automatically mean a winning team. As the team has proved this year.
I agree Joe
+1. I really thought that Bob Bell and Ross in one team would be unstoppable, and in time maybe they still will be. But they aren’t looking it so far.
Merc’s sure piling the pressure on. Must only have at most one season of dismal performance left – one way or the other.
I’d rather spend tens or a hundred million or two in an F1 Grand Prix team that is watched by a billion people than spend that same amount on TV spots no one watches anymore (DVR anyone?).
At least I can plaster F1 all over the dealerships when people walk in. It definitely has an impact on even a pedestrian who will walk into a dealership (in this case M-B) and see the Silver Arrows racing around a track. There is a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ no doubt about it. Did I say that right, Joe? I don’t do French very well, except for things bottled from Rhone :0
Apparently, Eddie Jordan is now The Pundit to listen to!
Credit where it is due.
I rarely comment here but this time I have to weigh in to say – Joe, you are so right. I am flabbergasted Lewis has made this choice. On the upside, it gives us the opportunity for what should be some very interesting teammate comparisons at Macca and Merc. And what will be MSC’s fate…
Until we get to next season, it is all speculation.
Lewis has to stand or fall based on what he has done. It is a long-term move which will probably mean that 2013 will not see anything spectacular happening, but after that there should be some progress.
Mercedes have effectively the same engine as McLaren, so the main differences in the cars are aero and packaging, so I don’t think that Lewis will be that far away from the front runners, and Ross is one of the best strategists on one of his good days.
Joe,
Don’t you think it is a strange coincidence that both Alonso & Vettel said this year, that would accept each other as a team mate? And Ferrari consigned Perez to the “others”. I think Monty is slowly digesting the idea of giving up the concept of one-and-a-half-pilot. Maybe Pat Fry has given him courses how to handle 2 winning pilots “not-the-Ferrari-way”.
I think Shuey will be doing DTM for Mercedes, they only need him to sell cars in Germany.
Lewis will be able to shift SUVs to middle America and AMGs to rich Arabs.
A sideways thought on all this is how Eddie Jordan, save for some inaccuracies with dates, has called this correctly. Now most of the time on the TV he spouts the blarney and tortures the English language but every now and again, he seems to have an outlandish (at the time) piece of information that comes true. He predicted the return of Michael too.
Ross Brawn denies that Lewis Hamilton asked for No1 driver status:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/19765967
At least it is all settled now, my feeling is Lewis just wanted a new challenge, and McLaren had perhaps tired of the baggage that Lewis brings.
There will be some questions answered as a result of this. Is Perez top drawer? He has had some great races this season, and put in some astonishing lap times in the races, but has had some quiet days as well. You can get away with those at a mid field team, but not at McLaren. Have sauber produced a great car, or has it come from the driver? We will find out.
Will Jenson grow into the team leader role? I think JB has spent a bit too much time trying to beat Lewis this year, rather than just getting the best set up that he can. Removing the Hamilton factor could make Jenson faster.
Is Nico any good? He hasn’t really had a decent team mate since Webber at Williams, and that was his debut season. From what Mercedes has been saying about Lewis it’s clear they don’t see Nico as being on the same level. It will be interesting to see how he gets on.
It’s been a bad week for Paul Diresta, both of his possible big team moves have vanished. Maybe he could be a replacement for Jenson at McLaren in a few years, and perhaps Hulkenberg could get Rosberg’s drive if he doesn’t match up well to Lewis.
Di Resta, sorry.
mhhm would be nice to here something about Jérome d’ambrosio… chance he will stay 3the driver but i think he will go to Touring racing….
It’s a pitty because he has tallent!
Did you here something Joe?
Joe,
I’m tired of the shooting game on “old” people !
Yesterday :
The 100 years old, Robert Marchand has successfuly managed to cover 100 kms with an average speed of 23 km/h, that took him 4 h 17’27’’ to make the 300 laps of the Lyon’s vélodrome (Rhône, france) !
http://translate.google.fr/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=fr&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lepoint.fr%2Fsport%2Frobert-marchand-ses-capacites-physiologiques-sont-celles-d-un-homme-de-50-ans-28-09-2012-1511439_26.php
FORMER Jamaican speedster Merlene Ottey is hoping age has not wearied her too much with the former champion runner attempting to make her mark in the international arena again at the ripe old age of 52. news emerged this morning that Ottey will head to next week’s European Athletics championships in Helsinki.
JEANNIE LONGO-CIPRELLI – 53 ans – Country : France –
Saison 2012
5th Championnat de France CLM (F)
Championnat de France CLM (F)
11 titles (1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
Championnat de France (F)
20 titles (1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008)
Championnat du monde CLM (F)
4 titles (1995, 1996, 1997, 2001)
Championnat du monde (F)
5 titles (1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1995)
Bernie Ecclestone 81 years old! that’s almost twice Michael Schumacher’s age!
Joe wrote:
“When all is said and done, this interlude highlights that logic has no real place in F1 driver dealings”.
Should have been the title of your posting!
I hope young Mr. Perez seizes the day and shows his true skills next year.
Joe, did McLaren have to strike any agreements with Ferrari to sign Perez? I thought he was a Ferrari signed young driver under development with Sauber.
Undoubtedly the clinching factor in Lewis’ decision was MB’s concession he could keep any (emphasis on ANY!) trophies he may collect 🙂
Perez is 22 and in just two seasons has impressed. 3 podiums this season and has outperformed and outqualified much more experienced teammate Kobayashi. Additionally, has put fastest laps in races and has overtaken Alonso, Schumacher, Webber, Di Resta, Vettel, among others. Also, has taken risks in developing different race strategies that had paid off. He is young, fast, overtakes, not intimidated by big names, takes risks, hungry, as well as humble. He “is in” to become a world champion, not to grab money. His deal with Mclaren is a driver’s deal. Telmex-Telcel will not join Sergio in Mclaren. Great move for Sergio and great deal for Mclaren. Give the car to someone hungry for it, that is the fastest car on earth.
Joe, you don’t think that Webber has burned his bridges to Maranello after turning them down this year?
It’s just business.
As an Uncle, it’s often hard remembering to treat my Nieces and Nephews like the adults they are, when in my mind they’re still the crazy 11 & 12 year old bundles of energy from a decade or so back. I wonder if this has plagued Lewis at McLaren. They’ve had him there since he was a nipper and I can well imagine many there still treating him as if he’s their ‘kid’, maybe a move to a new team can blow these cobwebs for Hamilton and provide him with an extra level of respect he probably feels he deserves.
I think, given that the reoprts (from Whitmarsh, Brawn & Hamilton) all state that money wasn’t the issue, we should be applauding Lewis on a very very brave move. As Joe and others here have pointed out, it might or might not be a smart move, but I think you have to admire LH at least for taking the huge risk.
….and what a result for Perez ! Nice work !
Is Adrian Sutil’s name popping up anywhere Joe?
Not much.
Joe wrote:
“… I am slightly worried that moving out of a top team to a wannabe team is not the right thing for a man in his position to be doing.”
I know that Mercedes are not in the top ranks, I know it: but I find it extraordinary that a company with their clout, people, and money can’t get seem to get there. I thought the same thing about Honda.
So why is it that a large multi-national can’t achieve what a smaller team can? There has to be some sort of rational and logical explanation, surely?
Manufacturers always approach F1 with the wrong attitude. But you cannot tell them that. They always know better. Or they think they do. Then they spend a lot of money, realise it is not easy and go back to selling cars until another generation has the same idea and the process is repeated.
Hi JOE…who do you think will replace Sergio Perez????
If Schumacher really wanted to race he would have found a drive after he left Ferrari. He is only looking to massage his ego and pad his reputation. He has been humbled by Rosberg at Mercedes. Schumacher fans will twist reality in order to give him the advantage but he hasn’t been bringing home the points. His crashes have ruined 4 races and robbed the team of points. His terrible lack of production has left Mercedes in danger of falling behind Sauber in the standings. He has become a journeyman driver.
Hamilton’s skills are not in question. The big question is Mercedes ability to make a massive improvement. It is scary to hear them talking about 2014 instead of 2013.
I disagree. The problem, I believe, is that Michael does not know what else to do.
If people don’t know what to do with themself ,
7 time F1 winner and cashed up $$$ like no tomorrow,
It’s SAD, very SAD, says alot about them really.
What does it say about him then?
I am no Schumacher fan but to me it says that he puts his love for the challenge of F1 before his image.
The fact that you only talk about how many championships he’s won and how much money he’s earned says more about you than it does about him.
ThrustSSC is the fastest car on Earth.
not round silverstone
One day you might stop the anti-Lewis stance a bit?
Listen to my commenters and I am too pro-Lewis and too anti-Lewis. I guess I must be doing something right.
Im surprised no one has broached the idea of schumi as an owner/driver at Sauber. It would be nice to see Michael become a co-owner at Sauber as well as announce a set in stone three-year driving term to help develop the team in all aspects and hopefully keep the press from asking him every half-hour if he will be retiring. Regardless of whether he’s not what he used to be, he has a lot of fans and commands media coverage wherever he goes which means he can bring a lot of advertising dollars to the team. It would be a great way to see him transition into a team owner and a good chance for Sauber to become a major independent in the mold of McLaren, Williams, etc. I also think it would provide a less pressurized siutation and he would perform better. I’m sure the major concern for Schumacher would be avoiding the stigma that he was effectively paying for a drive. However, Peter Sauber said he would sign Schumacher “immediately” if he wanted to drive for Sauber…he may have said that anticipating this exact scenario (getting ahead of pay driver talk from media that would cause schumi to not want to undertake such an endeavor).
Dear Joe,
I do agree there is no apparent logic in Hamilton’s move. Moving Mercedes’ team up the grid will take time and geniu$. Ross Brawn and his team have proven they can come up with an ace up their sleeve (double diffuser, double DRS) which any team needs to truly dominate until the device is (most of the time) outlawed. Williams’ active suspension, Ferrari’s bespoke tires for Schumi, Renault’s sticky Michelin front tires/mass damper, Brawn’s or Red Bull’s double diffuser… all come to mind.
Can the Mercedes team really hope to pull off one of those? Are they counting on Aldo Costa to achieve this?
I can only think the McLaren mould became too much for Lewis Hamilton. Overall micro-management comes to mind. If you are bickering about original or “fake” trophies, it seems the real issues would be more fundamental…
It will be interesting to watch if Lewis Hamilton can maintain his composure as well as showing maturity and patience if next year’s car fails to be a dramatic improvement over this season’s. This year’s Mercedes has actually moved them down the grid, has it not?
Furthermore, what if those new engines, for which Mercedes seems to have been considered a better option, are never introduced or simply delayed?
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/937322.aspx
“New engines set to be scrapped”
“Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has revealed that controversial environmentally-friendly new engines which are due to be introduced to the sport in 2014 are likely to be scrapped. He says the move will save the teams as much as 30% of their projected budgets, which will help them stay in business during the economic downturn.”
Finally, is it really “wholesome” for a sportsman to be lured by the “starmaking” pedigree of one’s management and its superior ability to do so at a different, more commercially open team? Shouldn’t your results speak for themselves? It may be naïve to say so, but it seems David Beckham achieved much more than the equivalent of a single championship before becoming the international star he now is.
Joe, do you really think he has a strong chance of avoiding becoming the next Fittipaldi or Villeneuve?
Mario
PS: your blog is the best out there. Many thanks!
You need to consider your sources.
That well known authority on motor sport, the ‘Hindustantimes’!
I write for the Hindustan Times and it has a far larger daily circulation than the biggest newspapers in the UK. The fact that F1 continues to pander to the UK newspapers is because they are copied the world over and, I suspect, because the teams have not yet cottoned on to the fact that there are big and significant newspapers outside Europe.
Sorry Joe! However, it’s circulation is less than, say, The Sun (2m plus) but more than three times that of The Times (source Wikipedia) – given India’s population (1.21 billion) that’s hardly surprising. Blame Wikipedia if my figures are wrong – and me if I have brain fade.
I’ll look out for your articles in The Hindustan Times – any other papers I should look out for?
No it is more than The Sun.
There is no question, Perez has talent.But, I feel that business and Mexican money was the deciding factor for McLaren. It’s probably not a huge risk with Jensen as team leader holding the fort until 2014,when the new regulations kick in and level the playing field. Hopefully by that time Perez should be up to speed. Paul Di Resta must be very disappointed considering his long standing relationship with Mercedes, but that stands for nothing if you have no money to match your talent. I love to see Frank Williams signs him for 2013 season.
“Someone I’ve always admired as a ‘brilliant’ driver”…..Must have been Withmarsh who wrote his speech, because only English men, generally use such terms to describe and individual.
And for how long has he known Button to be Brilliant? Since 2009?
Not saying Button isn’t brilliant, but its just funny how the drivers get to use canned phrases