planetf1.com

He had to leave Mclaren...He'd burnt enough bridges both in his own head and externally within the team that staying wasn't an option.

Ferrari weren't going to challenge Alonso, Red Bull and Lotus were happy with their lineups (or in the latter case they maybe couldn't afford two top tier drivers)...who's left? Mercedes.

Frankly, the fact he got a pay rise out of it was a bonus. Add to that he would be teaming up with one of his friends in the paddock, finding a more friendly working environment and working under Ross Brawn (who he no doubt admired, as any F1 fan in the early 00s did) and you have the end result we've arrived at today.

_________________

As far as I saw it, the bridges were burnt from his side...the team did do some nasty race goof-ups, but that was not intentional, Button got his share too, and I believe they would still wanted him on board.

However, your post makes a lot of sense at this time. It all depends on how Mercedes will fare, and what will be Hamilton's reactions and expectations in regards to that. I still believe he's got that spark I was saying earlier, I just can't see Hamilton chilling down and cruising through F1 just for the fun of it.

A lot has been said about Hammy, let's talk a bit about his team-mate, Rosberg. where does he stand in all this? What would you consider the team's approach towards him? will we have a clear no 1 and no 2 driver, the way Ferrari does it - in your face? or a RBR tragi-comedia, all our drivers are equal until the season starts? or an equal status, Macca style? difficult to say with Ross Brawn...

_________________
Olivier Panis fan.
...and also Jenson Button fan.

Success & wins are not everything in live. McLaren is not the greatest thing on earth there is a live outside F1 & McLaren
Maybe Hamilton realised that.[/quote]

you think Vettel and Alonso think that?[/quote]
I'm sure Vettel & Alonso think McLaren is not the greatest thing on earth. thats not what I said! I asked if you thought they think that winning isnt everything?
Whatelse they think, I don't care
Vettel & Alonso are not Hamilton, everyone is different agreed
Hamilton has lived a different live than them[/quote] agreed

_________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Lets look sharp people, I want a quick dispersal this time.............check those corners......check those corners!!!!!

He could have easily stayed at Mclaren If it ws about wins
Maybe I said it a bit too drastic, I'm sure he has still a burning desire to win, but he looked for a different challenge,and for a different quality of live
At Mercedes he has only about a quarter (25%) of PR days & events than he had at McLaren. So he has some more time he can spent this time different with his family,friends, training etc
Also the challenge to try to turn Mercedes into a winnig team is different .
Yes, there is a big risk it may fail, but it's also very exciting to build up something, to be a important part of something new. To try something different, to make new experiences - this brings a different quality in your live
Hamilton did not know much outside McLaren most of his live

_________________
"Everything you can imagine is real." Pablo Picasso

From that point of view, I can agree with that. Many tried this approach, most of them failed, but this type of motivation is understandable. Which is why I believe someday Vettel will also leave RBR, for instance.
Time will tell whether Hammy got on the good train or made a mistake about it.

_________________
Olivier Panis fan.
...and also Jenson Button fan.

Even Ron Dennis said once
"(you)Show me a man who failed, I'll show you someone who never tried!"

_________________
"Everything you can imagine is real." Pablo Picasso

Im only talking 2013 here, just to be clear. 2014 is a beast that none of us can imagine or understand. Hammy's lifeline is the 2014 car! if its doesnt deliver, hes toast! to many youngsters coming through to swallow up the fast drives with minimal pay (or paid drive) in any team for him to find a way back![/quote]

Alonso endured 2 years at Renault from 2008-2009. The final season was particularly dreadful, but he found a way back. Schumacher too, when Ferrari was struggling, always had McLaren banging on his door to try and prise him away. Raikkonen made a comeback just this year after a few years away.

There is young talent around competing for the top seats, but if Hamilton continues to deliver top performances and critically, beats Rosberg, there will be a way back for him. The big teams don't need pay drivers, paying Hamilton's salary won't be an issue. Further, Hamilton can in his own way, pay for himself with the sponsors he attracts. He reaches a bigger demographic by being the only black driver in F1 at the moment.

I'm not saying he would be hired because of that-his driving is enough, but he is still a commercial dream for a team and their sponsors when he is not posting telemetry on Twitter. Plus, if by the end of 2014 the Mercedes is not delivering, I'm sure he would take a pay cut to get into a good car because by then it would have been 6 seasons without another drivers title and he would be 30 years old.

_________________
"Jean Alesi is using the Maginot Line policy-You shall not pass!"-Murray Walker

you forgot never .

_________________
My Top 5 drivers of all times:
1) Prost/ Schumacher
3) Fangio
4) Lauda
5) Brabham

if you don't like it, too bad! There's a reason why it says "My Top 5"

loved the bit about twatter. trouble is, as of now Ferrari have Alonso, RBR have Vettel, Lotus has Kimi, McLaren have Jens... with Jens being the only one who is perhaps on his way out in 2-3 years. RBR and Ferrari have said no to Lewis once already but as they say, never say never. if not, I guess he may have to, make it be willing to swallow that bitter pill.

_________________
My Top 5 drivers of all times:
1) Prost/ Schumacher
3) Fangio
4) Lauda
5) Brabham

if you don't like it, too bad! There's a reason why it says "My Top 5"

It would take a team confident enough that they could manage two superstars. Hamilton with Alonso, Vettel or Kimi on paper at least, would be a dream team, not seen since Prost and Senna. Though both Hamilton and Alonso seem to have moved on a lot since 2007, I think that season will condemn both of them to be trapped at Mercedes and Ferrari for the next few seasons so long as Kimi, Button and Vettel stay where they are.

I'm not sure team bosses are going to take the chance on pairing either of them with another big name, even though it has been almost six years already since then. Reconciliation and mutual respect between the two off the track is one thing, but signing either into a race team alongside another champion is quite another.

_________________
"Jean Alesi is using the Maginot Line policy-You shall not pass!"-Murray Walker

Overheating, as always.

via auto-motor-und-sport.de

IMO it's from Tuesday, as it cought fire, don't think they painted it new

_________________
"Everything you can imagine is real." Pablo Picasso

The fire was more towards the rear though. Ok, there may be burn marks that high up, but there would be more marks around the rear end aswell (i'd have thought)

...Plus wasn't the fire mainly on the other side of the car?

_________________

Depends on which side of the track the photo was taken.

_________________
Guess the Pole Position time/driver 2013!

We saw only one side
I don't think there are any overheating issues, Rosberg has done about 90 laps today without any problem.
Could be the colour reacts with the heat from the exhaust gasses

_________________
"Everything you can imagine is real." Pablo Picasso

If it's just a little discolouration it shouldn't be an issue, but I'm sure they'll be keeping an eye on the temperatures.

_________________

It's overheating. The marks were exactly the same last year. Who knows if it's just the paint or the bodywork itself but they'll probably have that area black like the 2012 car by the next test.

_________________
1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Get well soon Schumi.

No one call anyone a moo-pickle...

122 laps with a car that is overheating, not bad!!!

If you look at the other cars, most cars have this area not painted, exhausts are usually not painted for obvious reasons

_________________
"Everything you can imagine is real." Pablo Picasso

So which dunce at Merc thought it'd be a good idea again when last year proved it didn't work?

If it is just paint then there is no problem. If it is the bodywork then they have some issues to sort out in that area again. We'll see come Barca.

_________________
1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Get well soon Schumi.

No one call anyone a moo-pickle...

its got pace tho

Possibly, we won't know their true pace relative to others until Melbourne. Last year Schumacher was topping time sheets at this test and we all know how that turned out.

_________________
1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Get well soon Schumi.

No one call anyone a moo-pickle...

nothing really does matter until the last five minutes of Q3 then you could know what is ur driver and ur team ?

Yes we do, Mercedes were one of the quickest cars Qualifying near the front for the first 5 races and winning in China.

They then messed up their development of the car.

was the fire on both sides?


didn't look that bad yesterday...


backing meilow for the overheating theory ...

_________________
How to fix F1:
1. Stop seeking consensuses on rules - it will always turn out to be the least favourible option for everyone involved...
2. Listen to the fans - there are plenty of them and they have good ideas...

Even if the colour gets a bit burned, that does not mean the car overheats
It run 148 laps today, if they had an overheating problem, they would not have been able to do it

_________________
"Everything you can imagine is real." Pablo Picasso

Their reliability was also shocking.

It seems Mercedes can't keep up with other teams in a development war. I don't see why this season will change anything, especially when they'll likely switch focus to 2014 quite early in the year since they have pinpointed that as their golden opportunity to catch and overtake the top teams.

_________________
1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Get well soon Schumi.

No one call anyone a moo-pickle...

Well, if Lotus, nowadays a customer team, can keep up, then Mercedes should be able to keep up too. Maybe the parent company doesn't exactly pour money with the barrel, Toyota-style, but to my knowledge last year they had a more-than-decent budget.

Besides, whatever happened to "give it all you've got"? If they always go by the principle of dropping this year in favor of the next one, sooner or later they're going to find out there ain't no next year.

Plus, the power of example, I seem to remember another German team, some 5 years ago, switching to next year's car when one of their drivers was still in the WDC game. And we know how that worked out. That was a stupid call. Not Honda-stupid, but stupid nevertheless.

_________________
Olivier Panis fan.
...and also Jenson Button fan.

Lotus just seem more capable of getting more consistent development rates from their factory than Mecredes do. It's nothing to do with money, it's you utilise what money you do have and Lotus did that much better in 2012.

_________________
1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Get well soon Schumi.

No one call anyone a moo-pickle...

During testing are Lewis and Nico share a car? or do they have their own for their own different days?
because that would explain why there is less of a burn mark on yesterdays practice when lewis was driving.

Same chassis. They can only use one car per test.

As for the burn marks Lewis wasn't on track long enough yesterday to have them.

_________________
1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Get well soon Schumi.

No one call anyone a moo-pickle...

For reference, this is the burning they had last year during practice:



Their solution wasnt to fix it. They just did this:


Slap a bit of black on it so nobody notices.

_________________

That's what leads me to think it's just the paint burning. If it was bodywork they would have had to change it completly.

_________________
1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Get well soon Schumi.

No one call anyone a moo-pickle...

Also what has helped Lotus is they over the last few years have spent a fortune improving there facilities at the factory such as upgrading the wind tunnel, new dyno / test beds brand new simulator facility with top not simulator and lots more on top of that so I'm sure all this has help with their recent improvement.

Yeah highly likely just paint. Not sure if anyone else has noticed but a few teams (I know McLaren do it) have an ice blanket they put on the same spot whenever the car comes in during quali/practice.

_________________

Indeed. Seems weird though you'd think the material would just catch fire given the temps of the paint and bodywork can't cope! I suppose it'll be fireproof material.

The more teams try and compact the rear end the more likely cooling will be a problem though. Newey is the master at shrink wrap sometimes to the cost of reliability. Lotus look to have a super sleek rear end this year too, very Red Bull esque. The Mercedes looks a real chunker in comparison to the top teams cars and the Sauber.

_________________
1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Get well soon Schumi.

No one call anyone a moo-pickle...

What did Schumacher and Rosberg think of the 2011 and 2012 Mercedes when they first tested them?

Schumacher kept saying "lets wait and see" a lot. We're still waiting...

Anyway,

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97194 - Merc claimed missing the first test last year would do no harm...

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/ ... 11810.html - Schumacher topped the time sheets in 2011 as well and said everything was as expected...

So the general gist from Merc pre season is top the times and say everything is going as they expected only to underperformed come the season itself. Who knows if they'll change that this year.

_________________
1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Get well soon Schumi.

No one call anyone a moo-pickle...

Well, like the old saying goes, let's wait and see
Reliability improved yesterday by quite a margin. Hamilton claims downforce is not on par with McLaren, but not as bad as it would have firstly believed. Other than that, everybody's swimming in shallow water for the time being.

_________________
Olivier Panis fan.
...and also Jenson Button fan.