The F1 thread

sinbaadi

Agreed he doesn't have anything to lose at this point.

The odds are basically stacked against him winning another title no matter what team he is driving for.

I imagine that not going to Ferrari has to be one of those decisions which would possibly be a regret in later life.  If he's not winning at Mercedes then he's just going to fade away, at least like this there's some drama to it.

Rule change dice rolls coming too.

sweepy

Lewis wants to be the only F1 driver to win titles in three teams , cementing his clsim to be GOAT

goldtop

Looking at the news from a different direction:

euan

Ferrari also released their quarterly report. Which was very healthy. 

euan

sweepy said:

Lewis wants to be the only F1 driver to win titles in three teams , cementing his clsim to be GOAT

Only driver. Except Fangio with his five titles with four teams. 

sinbaadi

The entire sport was so different back then.

Not that anyone seems to be able to see past statistics when it comes to this stuff.  How many people got a chance to even drive a car, let alone have a go at racing one, in the 1950s?

One person's greatest is another's winningest I suppose.

Hamilton will go up in my estimation if he can soundly beat Charles.  He doesn't need to win a single race for that comparison to be meaningful, the car may simply not be capable.  Hamilton has decidedly not looked like he's on another level compared with Russell, though.  (I accept that he's technically past his prime, age wise).

fretmeister

stickyfiddle said:

My only bit of F1 merch is a Damon Hill Jordan cap from 1997/1998-ish. 

Hill’s chevrons on a navy cap with Jordan sponsors on it. I still wear it whenever I go to a race  

I had a blue Rothmans hat for Williams but I have no idea what happened to it.

I've got a Seb / Redbull 4 WDC hat that was a gift from a mate who worked on the Aero team at RB. He said it was a team only item but I can't see any difference between it and the one that was on sale. Obviously I've never worn that out of the house because it's RB!!  

Maybe I'll wear it when I need to paint the ceilings.

fretmeister

goldtop said:

Looking at the news from a different direction:

euan said:

Ferrari also released their quarterly report. Which was very healthy. 

Yeah - that news was far more about their quarterly report.

An actual LH related bump will come when he actually starts with them.

Boromedic

sinbaadi said:

The entire sport was so different back then.

Not that anyone seems to be able to see past statistics when it comes to this stuff.  How many people got a chance to even drive a car, let alone have a go at racing one, in the 1950s?

One person's greatest is another's winningest I suppose.

Hamilton will go up in my estimation if he can soundly beat Charles.  He doesn't need to win a single race for that comparison to be meaningful, the car may simply not be capable.  Hamilton has decidedly not looked like he's on another level compared with Russell, though.  (I accept that he's technically past his prime, age wise).

You strike me as possibly one of those people who won't give him his props regardless. I'm pretty sure he won't be bothered whilst he's polishing his 7 WDC titles. Lewis cemented himself as a great when he nearly took the title his debut season against the reigning World Champion in his prime, and on some race days he was clearly ahead of Alonso by some margin. A driver who many see as one of the best ever. If McLaren had simply pitted him on time in China, he would've been world champion, unfortunately his lack of experience counted against him slightly also.

We all know it's difficult to compare generations, and its far from all about stats. Lewis has beaten 3 other world champions in equal machinery. Regularly being faster than them, he's beaten Verstappen a number of times despite dirty tricks from Red Bull. What more does he have to do?

Fast drivers are fast in any generation, Fangio, Moss, Clark, Hawthorn would all be quick now, Lewis, Alonso, Max would all have been quick back then. The best drivers get the best cars, and it's more than being fast. As an example Fisichella could be blindingly quick over a lap, but he was a terrible race driver and lazy also. 

On your other point about, who could afford to race in the 50s, what about when Lewis was coming up? He's from a pretty ordinary background and has proved himself against all the rich kids, one of which is Max. Same as Schumacher did back in the day.

Am I right on saying, and apologies if someone else has mentioned it already, that Lewis is the first British driver in a Ferrari since Mansell? That's class, loved Nige in the Red 27!!

sinbaadi

Boromedic said:

sinbaadi said:

The entire sport was so different back then.

Not that anyone seems to be able to see past statistics when it comes to this stuff.  How many people got a chance to even drive a car, let alone have a go at racing one, in the 1950s?

One person's greatest is another's winningest I suppose.

Hamilton will go up in my estimation if he can soundly beat Charles.  He doesn't need to win a single race for that comparison to be meaningful, the car may simply not be capable.  Hamilton has decidedly not looked like he's on another level compared with Russell, though.  (I accept that he's technically past his prime, age wise).

You strike me as possibly one of those people who won't give him his props regardless. I'm pretty sure he won't be bothered whilst he's polishing his 7 WDC titles. Lewis cemented himself as a great when he nearly took the title his debut season against the reigning World Champion in his prime, and on some race days he was clearly ahead of Alonso by some margin. A driver who many see as one of the best ever. If McLaren had simply pitted him on time in China, he would've been world champion, unfortunately his lack of experience counted against him slightly also.

We all know it's difficult to compare generations, and its far from all about stats. Lewis has beaten 3 other world champions in equal machinery. Regularly being faster than them, he's beaten Verstappen a number of times despite dirty tricks from Red Bull. What more does he have to do?

Fast drivers are fast in any generation, Fangio, Moss, Clark, Hawthorn would all be quick now, Lewis, Alonso, Max would all have been quick back then. The best drivers get the best cars, and it's more than being fast. As an example Fisichella could be blindingly quick over a lap, but he was a terrible race driver and lazy also. 

On your other point about, who could afford to race in the 50s, what about when Lewis was coming up? He's from a pretty ordinary background and has proved himself against all the rich kids, one of which is Max. Same as Schumacher did back in the day.

Am I right on saying, and apologies if someone else has mentioned it already, that Lewis is the first British driver in a Ferrari since Mansell? That's class, loved Nige in the Red 27!!

I wouldn't say that.  In fact I would still think he's been excellent even if the Mercedes hadn't been a fast, championship winning, car and Timo Glock had been 20 seconds further up the road in 2008.  I don't think he's better than a lot of other drivers, though.  

pigface

Boromedic said:

Am I right on saying, and apologies if someone else has mentioned it already, that Lewis is the first British driver in a Ferrari since Mansell? That's class, loved Nige in the Red 27!!

Not quite. Eddie Irvine.

Boromedic

pigface said:

Boromedic said:

Am I right on saying, and apologies if someone else has mentioned it already, that Lewis is the first British driver in a Ferrari since Mansell? That's class, loved Nige in the Red 27!!

Not quite. Eddie Irvine.

He was Irish, no? 

Edit: my mistake, he is indeed from Northern Ireland 

Boromedic

sinbaadi said:

Boromedic said:

sinbaadi said:

The entire sport was so different back then.

Not that anyone seems to be able to see past statistics when it comes to this stuff.  How many people got a chance to even drive a car, let alone have a go at racing one, in the 1950s?

One person's greatest is another's winningest I suppose.

Hamilton will go up in my estimation if he can soundly beat Charles.  He doesn't need to win a single race for that comparison to be meaningful, the car may simply not be capable.  Hamilton has decidedly not looked like he's on another level compared with Russell, though.  (I accept that he's technically past his prime, age wise).

You strike me as possibly one of those people who won't give him his props regardless. I'm pretty sure he won't be bothered whilst he's polishing his 7 WDC titles. Lewis cemented himself as a great when he nearly took the title his debut season against the reigning World Champion in his prime, and on some race days he was clearly ahead of Alonso by some margin. A driver who many see as one of the best ever. If McLaren had simply pitted him on time in China, he would've been world champion, unfortunately his lack of experience counted against him slightly also.

We all know it's difficult to compare generations, and its far from all about stats. Lewis has beaten 3 other world champions in equal machinery. Regularly being faster than them, he's beaten Verstappen a number of times despite dirty tricks from Red Bull. What more does he have to do?

Fast drivers are fast in any generation, Fangio, Moss, Clark, Hawthorn would all be quick now, Lewis, Alonso, Max would all have been quick back then. The best drivers get the best cars, and it's more than being fast. As an example Fisichella could be blindingly quick over a lap, but he was a terrible race driver and lazy also. 

On your other point about, who could afford to race in the 50s, what about when Lewis was coming up? He's from a pretty ordinary background and has proved himself against all the rich kids, one of which is Max. Same as Schumacher did back in the day.

Am I right on saying, and apologies if someone else has mentioned it already, that Lewis is the first British driver in a Ferrari since Mansell? That's class, loved Nige in the Red 27!!

I wouldn't say that.  In fact I would still think he's been excellent even if the Mercedes hadn't been a fast, championship winning, car and Timo Glock had been 20 seconds further up the road in 2008.  I don't think he's better than a lot of other drivers, though.  

So who is equal to or better than him then, and we can argue about that as well

Cols

Boromedic said:

pigface said:

Boromedic said:

Am I right on saying, and apologies if someone else has mentioned it already, that Lewis is the first British driver in a Ferrari since Mansell? That's class, loved Nige in the Red 27!!

Not quite. Eddie Irvine.

He was Irish, no? 

Edit: my mistake, he is indeed

Northern Irish.  He held a racing license issued by the Republic of Ireland, but raced under the British flag.

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Thoughts from the man himself...

https://twitter.com/LewisHamilton/status/1753770955212456206

Boromedic

Cols said:

Boromedic said:

pigface said:

Boromedic said:

Am I right on saying, and apologies if someone else has mentioned it already, that Lewis is the first British driver in a Ferrari since Mansell? That's class, loved Nige in the Red 27!!

Not quite. Eddie Irvine.

He was Irish, no? 

Edit: my mistake, he is indeed

Northern Irish.  He held a racing license issued by the Republic of Ireland, but raced under the British flag.

Ayeeeee, I can't believe I'd forgotten he was Northern Irish, I really liked him as a driver as well. Lacked a 10th or 2 from the greats but still excellent.

dazzajl

Eddie was the second best driver in F1, behind Michael. According to…… himself 

Always liked him. He managed to be fierce and himself and a fighter while being the number 2 at Ferrari. Everyone else has been worn down by the job. 

Cols

Boromedic said:

Ayeeeee, I can't believe I'd forgotten he was Northern Irish, I really liked him as a driver as well. Lacked a 10th or 2 from the greats but still excellent.

The quintessential bigmouthed Ulster gobshite.  I liked him a lot.  Comedy gold in press conferences.

He was pragmatic enough to understand his role in Ferrari as Schumacher’s wingman, much as Berger had accepted at McLaren that he wasn’t there to beat Senna.

Boromedic

Cols said:

Boromedic said:

Ayeeeee, I can't believe I'd forgotten he was Northern Irish, I really liked him as a driver as well. Lacked a 10th or 2 from the greats but still excellent.

The quintessential bigmouthed Ulster gobshite.  I liked him a lot.  Comedy gold in press conferences.

He was pragmatic enough to understand his role in Ferrari as Schumacher’s wingman, much as Berger had accepted at McLaren that he wasn’t there to beat Senna.

Hahaha, yeah that was one of the reasons I really liked him, funny and outspoken. Unlike Jacques V who was just outspoken and bitter, never really took to him.

goldtop

Eddie Irvine? Hard to like, but at least he gave Salo the trophy he missed out on due to team orders.