[GuidoK]

Originally Posted by Artemis

In the past, Michael Schumacher surprisingly moved on from 'his' Ferrari dream team to Mercedes AMG to end his F1 career,

Schumacher also moved from Benetton (where he was reigning 2x wdc) to Ferrari, which was then a mid field performer for years (with Alesi and Berger, WCC 3rd and 4th for a number of years)
Schumacher (and Todt and his team) had to work for a number of years to get Ferrari to the top.

I think Hammy will stay put. I also wonder what he'll be asking, as I think LEC will demand the same amount in that case.
So I only see place for HAM at Ferrari when LEC goes.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

2022

Sounds about right from him and the rest at the back would give their eye teeth just for a few points.

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Whatever Mercedes improves they will never beat the combination MAX and the RB19 , because that's the holy F1 grail...
Let's keep in mind : MAX was 1 sec. faster during the race than Mercedes and Ferrari while Gianpiero Lambiase (GP) called MAX to please slow down .
Finally MAX slowed down and ran with 90% of the HONDA power because Lambiase said over the onboard radio to MAX :
MAX please slow down ! This Isn't a race for us ...
Useless to say that the RB19 is better than the RB18 from last year and MAX looks sharper than ever before ...
MAX's hunger to win will never stop , put MAX in a competitive car and the rest drives for P2 !
As we have seen last year : MAX won't take prisoners !

Verstappen was effectively repeatedly requested, almost begged, by his race engineer to slow down because no-one could keep up ("Just bring her home, Max" - "There is no race at the moment"). As Verstappen kept going 0.7 seconds faster than requested, he was ordered again to slow down.

OK, it makes sense that keeping pushing on serves no purpose and slowing down preserves the engine longevity, but it goes against a race driver's nature to "slow down" - they want to race rather than to cruise to the chequered flag.

If, from hindsight, it would appear that Bahrain has set a trend, then it looks like Verstappen and his RB19 are going to totally dominate the field this season. Homework for other teams.

See also https://www.si.com/fannation/racing/...-ill-get-bored

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Verstappen was effectively repeatedly requested, almost begged, by his race engineer to slow down because no-one could keep up ("Just bring her home, Max" - "There is no race at the moment"). As Verstappen kept going 0.7 seconds faster than requested, he was ordered again to slow down.

OK, it makes sense that keeping pushing on serves no purpose and slowing down preserves the engine longevity, but it goes against a race driver's nature to "slow down" - they want to race rather than to cruise to the chequered flag.

If, from hindsight, it would appear that Bahrain has set a trend, then it looks like Verstappen and his RB19 are going to totally dominate the field this season. Homework for other teams.

See also https://www.si.com/fannation/racing/...-ill-get-bored

Onboard with MAX and Gianpiero Lambiase

[M5Rick]

We all know what happened to Senna at Monaco with such a huge lead who just couldn't slow up.

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

We all know what happened to Senna at Monaco with such a huge lead who just couldn't slow up.

That was hubris by Senna: he was obsessively determined to pass the chequered flag as Monaco race winner while tailgating his nemesis Prost (almost doubling Prost). Eager to show off that he was better than Prost. So Senna kept on performing perfect laps in a crazy attempt to catch Prost ...until the proverbial race gods pulled the plug: Senna made a mistake and DNF'd. Prost went home with the race win.

The setback did not prevent Senna from becoming WDC that season. Senna and Prost won all 1988 F1 races (except for Monza, won by Berger: DNF for both Prost and Senna). Battle of F1 titans.

First hand info about Senna's Monaco 1988 crash: 02:57 - 06:16:

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by Artemis

That was hubris by Senna

I'll watch it tomorrow Artemis, it's lights out now.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by Artemis

That was hubris by Senna: he was obsessively determined to pass the chequered flag as Monaco race winner while tailgating his nemesis Prost (almost doubling Prost). Eager to show off that he was better than Prost. So Senna kept on performing perfect laps in a crazy attempt to catch Prost ...until the proverbial race gods pulled the plug: Senna made a mistake and DNF'd. Prost went home with the race win.

The setback did not prevent Senna from becoming WDC that season. Senna and Prost won all 1988 F1 races (except for Monza, won by Berger: DNF for both Prost and Senna). Battle of F1 titans.

First hand info about Senna's Monaco 1988 crash: 02:57 - 06:16:

Very good vid with journo Reginaldo Leme explaining the circumstances of Senna's off and understandably his reluctance to talk about his error. Haven't seen this one before, thanks for sharing and I'll watch all the other ones attached at the end.

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

Very good vid with journo Reginaldo Leme explaining the circumstances of Senna's off and understandably his reluctance to talk about his error. Haven't seen this one before, thanks for sharing and I'll watch all the other ones attached at the end.

The 2021 Hamilton-Verstappen rivalry regularly reminded me of the Prost-Senna rivalry. In the late 80s Prost was the established world champion, stoic, "Le Professeur", while Senna was the very talented rascal upsetting the establishment with unorthodox and ruthless racing. Back in their racing days, they despised each other, did not talk to each other. But a change of heart happened after Prost had quit F1: Senna approached Prost, explaining that he truly missed him as challenger and that racing without him was no longer exciting anymore. Prost explained in a recent long interview that they regularly were in touch with each other and actually a bromance blossomed between them. They had left the toxic past behind them and moved on in good terms.

I hope that someday something similar could happen between Hamilton and Verstappen. Different personae, but who knows.

Here's the very interesting interview (by Rosberg) of Prost talking about Senna (see from 31:22 onwards):

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by Artemis

The 2021 Hamilton-Verstappen rivalry regularly reminded me of the Prost-Senna rivalry. In the late 80s Prost was the established world champion, stoic, "Le Professeur", while Senna was the very talented rascal upsetting the establishment with unorthodox and ruthless racing. Back in their racing days, they despised each other, did not talk to each other. But a change of heart happened after Prost had quit F1: Senna approached Prost, explaining that he truly missed him as challenger and that racing without him was no longer exciting anymore. Prost explained in a recent long interview that they regularly were in touch with each other and actually a bromance blossomed between them. They had left the toxic past behind them and moved on in good terms.

I hope that someday something similar could happen between Hamilton and Verstappen. Different personae, but who knows.


Here's the very interesting interview (by Rosberg) of Prost talking about Senna (see from 31:22 onwards):

It's easy to compare the Senna/Prost rivalry with the Max/Lewis of '21-22. The difference is that the Max/Lewis rivalry appears to be (sort of) over at this time with Lewis not able to challenge Max so there is no interaction lately on the track.
I believe if the Merc should improve (tho' not very likely) up to the level of the RB then it may resume and we know that kind of rivalry brings in millions of extra viewers.

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by Marcoose

Hamilton is a superior racer, but the edgy hunger is missing. Last year too, there were times that it seemed he could’ve pushed but didn’t.

He's much smarter than the low-brow's give him credit for.

[G30M]

Hamilton at Ferrari: "guys why are we not pitting the safety car is out?"

Ferrari: "we are checking"

Ham: guys why are we on full wets the track is dry

Ferrari: we are checking

Ham: what's our strategy?

Ferrari: we can confirm if you stay in this position you will end up last.

Ham: you guys are idiots

Ferrari: correction we confirm we are italias

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by GuidoK

I think Hammy will stay put. I also wonder what he'll be asking, as I think LEC will demand the same amount in that case.
So I only see place for HAM at Ferrari when LEC goes.

The idea is a swap of Leclerc and Hamilton (Toto Wolff convinces Leclerc to join Mercedes AMG for way more millions than his current pay check at Ferrari + Hamilton moves over to Ferrari without losing too many millions of cash).

Rumor is strong that Mercedes AMG is currently not negotiating a new contract with Hamilton. Maybe delaying negotiations is meant as an incentive to see this Spring if Hamilton is still worth getting paid ± 10 times Russell's pay. Or to leave the door open for replacing Hamilton by Leclerc or Norris in 2024.

But if Hamilton ever wants to drive for Ferrari, he will need to take Italian classes, because down at Ferrari a lot of internal communication and public relations is in Italian.

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

He's much smarter than the low-brow's give him credit for.

What matters most in the end for teams, drivers and sponsors: results.

Also F1 is a dog-eat-dog world. If you get paid dozens of millions of dollars for racing an F1 car, your team and sponsors want taste for their money with staff and tools put at your disposal, regardless whether you're the smartest, the most seasoned or the most decorated of the field.

[Killed by Death]

When hammy retires, I wanna see if he will nut up and do a few NASCAR races like KIMI and Jenson.

Probably be skeered or busy with his fashion line

[GuidoK]

Originally Posted by Artemis

But if Hamilton ever wants to drive for Ferrari, he will need to take Italian classes, because down at Ferrari a lot of internal communication and public relations is in Italian.

And that probably only gotten worse the last few years as both LEC as SAI are fluent in italian

But indeed a bigger paycheck is always a good motivation to lure LEC away from Ferrari.

[HeelToeShift]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Mercedes AMG made progress compared to 2022. But at this stage, it's not enough to truly threaten Ferrari and Red Bull. They could claw back in forthcoming races if they change the W14 design. Aston Martin shows that the Mercedes engine has potential to keep up with the front runners.

I was surprised that Hamilton didn't manage to pass Sainz in the final stages of the Bahrain race. He came close and it seemed that Sainz couldn't keep him behind him. Maybe tire degradation of the Mercedes from fighting Alonso or did Ferrari change a power setting near the end of the race ? Gap between Sainz and Hamilton was less than 3 seconds (2.925s) at the chequered flag.

Can we really say Aston kept up? Alonso finishing 38 seconds after Max, in a race where he was running 1:37s is not really what I'd call running with them. If Max pushed the entire race Aston would have likely been lapped along with the entire remainder of the field.

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by Artemis

What matters most in the end for teams, drivers and sponsors: results.

Also F1 is a dog-eat-dog world. If you get paid dozens of millions of dollars for racing an F1 car, your team and sponsors want taste for their money with staff and tools put at your disposal, regardless whether you're the smartest, the most seasoned or the most decorated of the field.

Results come and go with the tires, the cars, the engines.

LH is top 10 ever, and it's plain to see, so all arguments about him have an emotional motivation, not a factual one.

Politics, politics, politics...

[Artemis]

[Artemis]

"Charles Leclerc in Mercedes talks as F1 paddock's "open secret" may impact Lewis Hamilton"
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formu...-2024-29793844

[FrankMstein]

He will quit.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by Artemis

"Charles Leclerc in Mercedes talks as F1 paddock's "open secret" may impact Lewis Hamilton"
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formu...-2024-29793844

Charlie will do to Sainz what he did to SEB ...

Then , there's a seat for LEW at Ferrari