Mercedes’ Bottas decision gets Hamilton’s blessing

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: Lewis Hamilton endorsed Mercedes’ decision to hire Valtteri Bottas as Nico Rosberg’s replacement.

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Did Bottas really deserve a penalty for this?
What was the most unjustified penalty of 2016? Ben has a nomination:

I still think the most harsh penalty of the season was possibly the one given to Bottas in Bahrain. A drive-through penalty and some penalty points was extremely harsh given it was just at the first corner.

These sorts of things have happened loads of times last season as well as previous ones before that, but if they have affected drivers that are closer to the back, they don’t seem to be as important as the faster cars so it is often the case that whoever caused the accident is less likely to be punished.
Ben Rowe (@Thegianthogweed)

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140 comments on “Mercedes’ Bottas decision gets Hamilton’s blessing”

  1. Ah dear. Gutted to hear those ugly 2008-2010 shark fins will be back.

    2 steps forward, but 1 back, sadly… Can’t have it all, I guess.

    1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
      19th January 2017, 9:53

      I actually quite liked them. Looks a bit more aggressive IMO.

    2. @ecwdanselby agreed.

      its interesting to go back & remember that one of the reasons they were banned to begin with was because most people felt they were ugly.

    3. Quite ironic considering Red Bull was the team that introduced the shark fin covers to Formula One.

    4. @ecwdanselby I actually liked them.

    5. Fudge Kobayashi (@)
      19th January 2017, 13:45

      Which article mentions the shark fins please? Just scanned the Newey one but don’t see any mention?

      Thanks

      1. It is in the tweet by Tobi Grüner , it isn’t in the stories.

    6. I think Red Bull were actually trying to ban the sail like engine cover fins seen on most of the 2016 cars (largest and most obvious being on the Williams and Toro Roso). Red Bull being the only car without a fin I think.

      It doesn’t mean we will now see a return of the giant advertising boards of a few years ago. It just means they will remain the same as in 2016.

      1. Nope there was a report about this a week ago and it’s likely that every single team (apart from maybe red bull??) will run them.

    7. Ugly, ugly, ugly..hate the shark fin

  2. SaturnVF1 (@doublestuffpenguin)
    19th January 2017, 0:06

    Well, an orange car might help the Belgian win some Dutch fans.

    1. Looking back at past performance thank god they didn’t choose Lemon.

      1. The Blade Runner (@)
        19th January 2017, 15:57

        Tee hee!

    2. @doublestuffpenguin That’s two seasons too late. We’ve got Mad Max, so why would we support Stoffel? ;-)

  3. Sure am glad VB met with LH’s blessing. Phew – what a relief.

    1. That somehow pales in comparison to Trump having Flavio’s blessing. That’s everything I needed to trust an US-president.

      1. Bernie thinks Trump getting elected President is the best thing that’s ever happened, and that Putin should rule Europe.
        Flavio and Trump were made for each other, like two peas in a pod.

      2. @crammond

        Lots of trust with Hilary Clinton right?

        1. @s2g-unit

          I have some trouble connecting any F1-personality with Clinton… but I’d say the young 80’s Gerhard Berger would have voted Vermin Supreme.

          1. +1 for the Vernon Supreme reference! Always told people I was voting for him and was always met with blank stares.

        2. Every time, someone does this…..BUT HILARY… BUT BILL!

          It’s not about them, stop it!

          1. spafrancorchamps
            19th January 2017, 5:30

            It is about Hillary. She was the only alternative. And a really bad one indeed. If the US had provided good candidates, citizens would not have had to vote for the lesser out of two evils.

        3. Clinton is, at this stage, unlikely to become the next president. So now we can allow ourselves to focus on what is actually happening.

          1. Who cares about Hillary or any American politician. Get over it and back to important things like boring races, fake sparks flying, bemoaning lack of pace from Ferrari.

          2. @spafrancorchamps

            It is no longer about Hilary, she is irrelevant now. It is all about the narcissistic orange nightmare, and his dodgy cronies.

    2. Dont over read what is reported, you seriously dont think the team would talk to their 3 time world champion about who will be his team mate ?
      He reacted as anyone would, he was asked and his repose…he’s a nice guy.
      Perfectly normal interaction in the work place.

      1. You’re being sarcastic I hope..

        1. No, I suspect @smudgersmith1 is being sincere. At least, I hope so, since it matches my version of reality.

          1. +1 grat.

    3. Dont over read what is reported, you seriously dont think the team wouldn’t talk to their 3 time world champion about who will be his team mate ?
      He reacted as anyone would, he was asked and his repose…he’s a nice guy.
      Perfectly normal interaction in the work place.

    4. @sjzelli exactly what part of Lewis’s response do you take exception to? Sounds fairly basic to me. Did you perhaps expect him to say Bottas does not meet with the Merc brand? Or some such disparaging remark?

      1. I suspect a lot of people believe Hamilton’s true reaction to be: “OMG! Nooooess!! Bottas too fast! I’m only champion ‘cuz my teammates have always sucked!”

        Of course, there’s a name for people like this: “idiots”

        The number of people who believe Hamilton hasn’t earned his success, and Trump has, is truly terrifying, and probably one of the signs of the apocalypse.

      2. Yeah the headline possibly suggests to some they asked for or needed LH’s blessing and I’m sure that’s not the case. Otherwise they wouldn’t have told him just before Christmas. Nothing in the article suggests ‘his blessing’ other than in a very mundane kind of way. There are no quotes from LH, just paraphrasing from TW about what LH said to him upon being told who his new teammate would be. LH actually had nothing to do with this other than to sit and be told who his teammate would be. LH saying he’s a nice guy and they get along is a form of blessing I suppose, but I think even if it was someone else that LH wouldn’t have preferred and he expressed dismay to TW, I doubt TW would have put that out there to us but perhaps would have said LH has accepted that so and so will be his teammate, and that could have sounded like a blessing too.

        Overall it sounded in the fall like LH wouldn’t care who his teammate was going to be anyway, so they all would have gotten ‘his blessing’, or perhaps already did in a way, when he said he was indifferent as to who it would be.

  4. I suppose Lewis is very much into the Heikkis and Valtteris of the world. As a fan of the sport, I’d rather have someone competitive in the second dominant car.

    1. Well the appointment is more to do with Mercedes bosses not wanting to pull their hair out any more rather than Hamilton’s desires.

      Most of the time I find you can take Hamilton’s comments at face value. I think with his ego he’d be up for a fight with anyone just to show that he’s the best, he’s always been more about performing heroics than collecting trophies, but he’s probably looking forward to a less hostile work environment this year.

      1. @george the appointment has more to do with the fact that every other viable option was locked down in a contract. Alonso even if he was available the Merc boss doesn’t like him because Mercedes had to payout $100 million after Spygate, so off the table. To get Vettel from Ferrari Merc would have had to offer Ferrari 50% shares in Mercedes-Benz, return Aldo Costa immediately and have every team member including Toto and Niki kiss Marchionne’s ring…:-)

        1. I think you mean Maclaren paid $100 not Merc. Strangely Alsono drives for Maclaren so your point makes no sense.

          1. @tiomkin actually as McLaren engine partner Mercedes’s Norbet Haug had to do a lot of wheeling and dealing to foot the bill

          2. The team was called McLaren-Mercedes, so yea Mercedes also paid.

        2. Love the part about kissing Marchionne’s ring @blackmamba lmao :-D

        3. @blackmamba As Tiomkin has pointed out, you’re way off the mark with respect to FA and Mercedes. Firstly it was McLaren that was fined not Mercedes, and secondly FA played only a very very minor role in the whole mess. And here he sits driving for Ron Dennis again, or at least was until RD just got ousted. There is absolutely nothing true about what you have posted other than to say other viable options were locked down in contracts elsewhere. From what we heard in the Fall, Mercedes approached FA but he has decided to see his contract through with McHonda.

          1. The team was called ‘McLaren Mercedes’ so yes, Mercedes were also fined.

            “FA played a very very minor role in the whole mess”

            Really? So blackmailing your team is a minor deal?

          2. Well I reviewed some articles on the topic and Mercedes gets no mention…it is all McLaren McLaren McLaren. Provide something that says Mercedes had some responsibility or paid a fine, if you insist I’m wrong.

            And yes FA wasn’t Stepney from Ferrari who passed the 780 pages of info on to Coughlan of McLaren, nor was he Coughlan’s wife who went to get the info copied onto CD’s only to accidentally find a clerk who was a Ferrari fan who contacted Ferrari about the wife of Coughlan coming to his shop to get the copying done.

            FA wasn’t RD who sat on the knowledge of having this info hoping it would go away. Coughlan had supposedly vetted all their engineers as to what they knew or had of this info but that still didn’t stop someone emailing some of it to FA.

            So when in Hungary 07 LH blocked FA from passing him in quali, FA blocked LH in the pit lane in retaliation, got a penalty for it, was furious at being treated as he was by a rookie, and went to RD and threatened him with exposing the info he had had emailed to him. This was info RD was well aware of but had no idea it had spread around enough that even FA had a bit of it.

            Upon finding out that even FA had some of the info, RD decided he better fess up and get ahead of the mess he had known about and been sitting on, so he spoke to Mosely about it and a month or so later an investigation was well under way and the drivers were cooperative.

            The fact that FA has been back at McLaren is a pretty strong indication that back in 07 his threat to RD privately, was as much borne out of FA’s frustration as it was of FA actually having anything other than incidental involvement in Spygate, and RD obviously had moved well past it by hiring FA back. FA never did actually ‘blow the whistle’ on the issue, RD did, although some would argue it was the clerk at the copy shop that actually blew the whistle on Coughlan and Stepney. FA was a minor player, was never charged or fined with anything, was co-operative in the investigation, and obviously so upset RD that he’s back on the team for his 3rd season of his re-hire.

    2. @proesterchen
      What makes you think Bottas will be like Kovalainen? I think he’s a lot closer to Rosberg or Button level tbh.

      1. I hope you’re right for the sport’s sake, but the cross-comparison (HAM-ALO, ALO-MAS pre/post Hungary, MAS-BOT) doesn’t seem to bode well for that, and I wasn’t particularly impressed with the list of races he was supposed to have shone in posted a couple of days ago.

    3. That’s the spirit! Put an Alonso or a Ricciardo in that car!!!!!!!!

      1. @andras

        It’s funny you mention it. I was watching an interview of Lewis after Rosberg had announced his retirement, and Lewis was as chivalrous as ever by constantly reminding viewers that he wasn’t afraid of any driver filling that 2nd seat at Mercedes.

        However, he quickly followed by his statements by mentioning that Mercedes should be wise by appointing a driver who wouldn’t disrupt the team chemistry at Mercedes. He then talked at length about how he has encountered difficult teammates in the past (pretty much hinting that he doesn’t want Fernando as a teammate).

        So, I’m not surprised that Hamilton has given Bottas his ‘blessing’… if it was Alonso, Vettel or Ricciardo iin that second seat, Lewis would probably cut his holiday short to start preparing for the 2017 season.

        1. @todfod This sums up Hamilton’s 2016 season perfectly! Either he thought he didn’t have anything to be afraid of and everything would come his way, or he was just plainly beaten by Rosberg (albeit marginally). Either way, he knows he has to give 100% at all times in order to be world champion again, so a teammate that’s a tad slower than the fastest options out there, is always a win for him.

        2. Agreed. I do believe that Hamilton with Bottas as team-mate will be able to spend as much time as he wishes on Instagram and/or with Justin Bieber without risking to lose the 2017 F1 title

    4. @proesterchen I bet you did not complain when Alonso was happy with Massa right..

      1. Remind me, when did Ferrari have a dominant car during their ALO & MAS days?

        1. That wasn’t the question.

          1. There was no question.

            And his comment referenced exactly no part of my post.

    5. I think Bottas will be a lot more competitive that Kovalainen was.

    6. @proesterchen after seeing how Rosberg performed, I’ll reserve judgement on Bottas until I see how he performs. Something tells me that the naysayers may well be very surprised. You never know until you see them towards the sharp end…

    7. Kovalainen and Rosberg were actually quite well matched in GP2. Up until the last race weekend at least.

      And we all know Rosberg was massively flattered by all the technical difficulties Hamilton has had over the years.

      I don’t think we have really seen what Bottas can do though. He was amazing in F3 and for Williams he had several great races ruined by Williams’ stupidity in strategy or poor pitstops.

      1. @patrickl
        Let’s wait to see what Bottas can do. No one has great expectations of him, so I guess he cannot disappoint massively.

        Regarding Rosberg, I completely agree about Hamlton’s tech problems flattering Rosberg’s performances. If it wasn’t for Malaysia 2016, Hamilton would have beaten Rosberg 4 seasons in a row. I don’t know if I’m the only one who found the Hamilton-Rosberg rivalry a little overrated. Hamilton was always the better qualifier and racer, and the only thing that kept Rosberg in the title fight was good luck and the fact that there were no other drivers in a car capable of challenging Mercedes.

  5. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
    19th January 2017, 0:26

    So Valteri has been #blessed.

    1. hahaha, my exact thoughts

    2. Valtteri should be on the dictionary alongside “boring” definition IMHO

    3. Fudge Kobayashi (@)
      19th January 2017, 10:41

      COTD

    4. Hahahaha COTD! :)

  6. A role for Bernie ? Someone has to suck up to the despots that use F1 to legitimize their rule.

  7. COTD is absolutely right. I was somebody who was in favour of calling it a racing incident, but regardless of what your stance is, given that it was one of the few drive-through penalties actually given, it was very out of place.

    I would like to see one of McLaren’s special paints, like the sort (can’t remember what they call it) that changes colour at different angles. Having said that, I imagine to achieve this it has to be slightly heavier, so it would be unlikely.

    Although the current livery is distinctive due to its sparkle and has grown on me, orange would be a welcome sight, but I’m surprised that they’re still calling it MP4.

    1. Orange would be very welcome @strontium. I’ve found their recent liveries, including the last one very uninspiring. More colour on the grid would be fantastic, instead of 10 (or 11) shades of grey

    2. @strontium

      …like the sort (can’t remember what they call it) that changes colour at different angles.

      I believe the term you’re looking for is Pearlescent and, as good as it may well look, I don’t think anyone would run it on an F1 car these days because a) it’s hard to mix with sponsor logos (not that McLaren have many) and b) it’s heavy – it involves mixing ceramics into the paint mix and several bouts of layering, at a time when manufacturers are picking matte paint because it shaves a few grams off here and there.

  8. “one of the guys he actually got along with well in Formula One”

    Wolff accidentally giving away how deeply unlikable Lewis is to most of the paddock. Brilliant.

    1. There is nothing at all in that statement to suggest Lewis is DEEPLY UNLIKABLE! Jesus! What a leap. Anyway is it a pre-requisite for an F1 driver to get along with all the other drivers??? They have respect, that’s it. And that should suffice. Non of them are close enough to say for example be each other’s best man at weddings. So why should Hamilton be held up to different standards?

      1. Well, you rarely if ever see Lewis taking part in the group activities that many of the other drivers do. Things like flying home together after races (http://www.thisisf1.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Massa-urges-F1-drivers-windbags-to-stay-united.jpg) or going for meals together (https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/1f/ef/da/1fefda67e60bfe4ebf64889b8bdf9ac3.jpg).

        “Deeply unlikeable” is a stretch, but it definitely seems like he’s a loner.

        1. Why fly with everyone to the races when you’ve got your own plane?

          Did you forget the team dinner they all had and I believed they said Lewis paid the bill?

          Selective memory.

        2. @graham228221 When most of them are going to Monaco and Lewis is going to the USA, I think it’s clear why they don’t share planes often.

  9. Well, he used to be a ‘close friend’ to Nico…

  10. The picture used to illustrate COTD shows the exact moment Bottas secured his Mercedes seat for the upcoming season.

    1. Heh. Better to have him driving with you than against you, right? ;-)

  11. I guess they couldn’t have fitted those wet weather tyres to Stroll’s Williams and had the benefit of endless miles of testing too, right?

  12. Ron is out, so it’s no longer Project 4 racing and FINALLY we get the proper McLaren papaya yellow livery.
    They had one of Hakkinen’s Macs in that colour testing back in late nineties right up until the first race and it was gorgeous

    1. Agreed! I also remember De la Rosa in such livery during pre-season testing so they did it again after Mika left Mclaren

    2. I do actually quite like Ron Dennis, but I have to admit that I found it frustrating when he said that McLaren were going to have a striking livery and they revealed….. dark grey with thin red stripes :-s

      1. @3dom i just read the original post and was shocked to know that Ron ‘saw no reason to change just because fans wanted the car to look better’.

  13. You’ve missed the best news of the day. Drivers will have less interference from stewards next season! Finally

    1. What is the source for this?

  14. An orange McLaren??That would be awesome!!

    1. Agreed 100%!

  15. On the Halo device, does anyone know if this is also being considered for GP2, GP3 etcetera?

    1. @nickwyatt Yes, they are considering the introduction of the Halo

      A new gp2 chassis will most likely be introduced in 2018, which will give them time to evaluate the halo, and if necessary properly introduce it in the chassis

      1. Thanks for that @johnmilk
        I wonder if the FIA will trial it on GP2 in 2018 before making a decision on F1.

        1. don’t think so @nickwyatt, it will be introduced first in F1 and scalled down afterwards (or at the same time).

          The plan is to have some sort of head protection by the beginning of the 2018 season. I just want them to test other solutions, the halo is one of the ugliest thing I have ever seen in a F1 car, and it wouldn’t be very helpful for example in a accident similar to Massa’s

          1. Also, the devices we’ve seen so far don’t offer protection for Surtees accident. I also doubt it would’ve saved Wilsons live.

    2. I was wondering the same. Especially IndyCar who suffered the most fatality’s/injury’s the past couple of year.
      F1 seems to be the series who’s less in need of such a device based on the past.

  16. Bottas will be a new Kovalainen for Hamilton. A lame team-mate to keep him warm and un-challenged. I expect W08H to be at least as strong as W07H in comparison to its competition therefore Bottas might win few races during those weekends when Hamilton is just too busy on Instagram and/or with Justin Bieber. But I’m pretty sure LH44 will get his fourth title this year without even breaking his sweat. Redbull just don’t have an engine worth the Mercedes one and Ferrari well, it’s been seriously off the pace since those 3 races won in 2015. So thank you Toto Wolff to have taken out the only possible interest for 2017 season, someone who could have worried Lewis Hamilton.
    Someone like Fernando Alonso for example.

    1. @Andras I don’t you complained when Alonso was partnered with massa bit when Hamilton is partnered with someone some considered “less” then it’s a problem. From what i hsve heard Alonso is not very liked by Mercedes top brass considered how he black mailed McLaren and Mercedes had to pay the £100,000,000,- fine.

      1. As a matter of fact I despise Ferrari’s politics on drivers’ choice. My idea of line up is Redbull’s. Two guys willing to do whatever it takes to win over the other. It was Enzo Ferrari’s original idea and it got lost from Schumacher onwards. I’d put Ricciardo alongside Vettel immediately in Ferrari for example, today’s Raikkonen is still fast but he lost the itch since years. He would never battle Vettel and that makes him a second drive.
        Ciao

        1. Red Bull only let Webber do his thing in the first few seasons. That was clearly over when they stabbed Webber in the back during that Silverstone race and after that he was clearly the No2 driver. No say in car development, no say in strategy, always with the worst team of mechanics etc.

          With Verstappen en Ricciardo is now all smiles and giggles because they are not figting for a championship. Just like Hamilton and Rosberg were having fun in 2014 when Mercedes started winning races after Hamilton and Lowe joined. The fun quickly went away when they were actually fighting for the title.

          1. @patrickl Redbull did the same in 2014. And 2015. And 2016. Drivers free to fight each other like there is no tomorrow. That’s the spirit I love

      2. @revelations Perhaps you should educate yourself on F1 first.

  17. I’m sure Hamilton goes to a Grand Prix with making friends and being liked by everyone in mind………

  18. I partly don’t want McLaren to go back to orange. I see that as Bruce’s McLaren, which disappeared a long time ago. The team we all know was built around Ron, but under the McLaren name. I don’t think sentimental thtowbacks will help the team find a new identity under the new management. And Ginetta are orange these days, aren’t aren’t they?

    But then then again, it’s just a livery.

    1. I’d love the glorious Orange. What has the current Mclaren livery to do with its history?
      Ciao

      1. What does orange have to do with it’s history? The first car in 1966 was white with green. The next 2 in 1967 were red. It was only fully orange from 1968 to 1971, used a little bit of orange with lots of white in 72 and 73, and was then red and white from 1974 all the way until 1996 and then silver and black from 1997 to 2013 when it went all chrome (and chrome and black) in 14 to mostly all black in 15 and 16.

        So in McLaren’s 50 years in the sport it has a full orange livery for 3. Yeah, real ‘historic’. The most iconic livery has been Marlboro’s red and white followed closely by the West colors of silver and black, in my humble McLaren fanatic’s opinion.

        1. Typo correction: 4 years.

        2. Easy: ask someone to close his eyes and imagine a Mclaren livery and hear what he says.
          I bet it’s either the Marlboro one or the Orange.
          Sounds better? Besides, you really think those guys at Paragon think of 2014/2016 as their “history” or wish to forget those years a.s.a.p. since for the moment the whole #makehistory thing is on its way to be the joke of the decade?
          Ciao

    2. I think it wouldn’t be wise, but due to another factor @splittimes

      If they paint it orange, and aren’t careful with the design, they will look like Force Indias.

      I would like to see them with shades of British racing green (and there is no green on the grid)

      1. Ron from the article “Do you create an aesthetically pleasing design? But for what purpose?” – Well Ron to increase your brands appeal – having happy fans and attracting new ones – the payoffs are great – a brand everyone loves means a brand everyone wants to be part of (Increase sponsors, car sale, merchandise etc.). I would say have thought creating the most aesthetically beautiful and distinctive car on the grid would be of paramount importance, second only to creating the fastest/best car. But judging by what teams come up with (Haas particularly spring to mind), am obviously missing something.

    3. I’m sure I read somewhere that McLaren have agreed sponsorship with BP, which co-incidentally has the McLaren Orange in its logo. So we may see a primarily orange car with green trim.

      1. @emu55 is it orange or yellow? If you are referring to the flower thingy it is mainly green with a bit of yellow and white in the centre, that could actually work quite well. (something like this: http://www.bp.com/content/bp-country/en_au/australia/products-services/fuels/racing-fuels/jcr:content/sublanding_dropzone/carousel_0/image1.img.840.high.jpg/1401864337047.jpg

        or this: http://blogs.timeslive.co.za/wheeldeal/files/2010/08/Dyson-Racing.jpg)

        If they go green and orange, they will really look like Force Indias

        1. My apologies, just realised my work PC is badly set up colour wise, when I checked at lunchtime it looked orange.

          Orange with green and yellow looks pretty cool, though seeing as mclaren like minimal, I’d guess they go the same way as Williams did with the martini stripe

          1. Additionally, I’m curious if any of this years cats will copy red bull and be matte, that might help mclaren look sufficiently different from a shiny force India

          2. It seems to be a trend this days. Mercedes road cars are presented with matte finish.

            The Renaults were also styled that way, but half matte half gloss ( their FE car is also blue matte)

            And I think the letter M in the Manors engine cover was also matte.

            I quite like it, but I don’t know if would work in less colorful cars, like the Mercedes or Haas

  19. I can imagine why Hamilton blessed Bottas’ arrival since I cannot possibly think of an easier team-mate among the possibilities evaluated by MB after Nico Rosberg left the Circus. A new Kovalainen for a 2017 which will be much easier than 2008 for the Briton. F1 season could be really boring this year unless someone is a serious Hamiton fan.
    Ciao

    1. Fudge Kobayashi (@)
      19th January 2017, 14:03

      Lewis relishes a strong opponent, he just doesn’t relish lopsided reliability. Pretty understandable. If Bottas is slow and can’t challenge him he will not enjoy it, Vettel is the stats man who would trade respect for easy wins and records not Lewis.

      1. “Lewis relishes a strong opponent”

        No he doesn’t. When Nico was beating him, the tears started flowing from Hamilton. The mechanic swap, the team conspiracy, the “higher power”, snapchat gate, the crybaby excuses etc,etc. This is typical Hamilton. We saw this childlike behavior in 2011 when Jenson beat him.

        1. Rosberg wasn’t beating Hamilton. As Fudge Kobayashi already explained, it was the “lopsided reliability” Hamilton had an issue with. Rightly so.

          Hamilton didn’t have any issue with Button scoring more points than him in 2011. He did have an issue with south american F1 drivers seeking crashes rather than being overtaken. Just like Ricciardo didn’t care that Kcyat scored more points than him in 2015.

          Ricciardo and Hamilton go for the best result and indeed sometimes take too much risk and lose it all. So what, at least they tried. I’d much rather see that than people who simply finish the race without ever being seen in a TV broadcast because they did nothing noteworthy. ie Button and Kvyat

        2. Fudge Kobayashi (@)
          19th January 2017, 22:33

          Rubbish mark jackson. He bit his lip when his car was blowing up and his teammate was cruising to effortless wins. You quite obviously have something personal against the man himself and are fabricating nonsense.

  20. That bit about teams turning down the opportunity to buy shares because it’s too long-term reminds me of a snippet from “Life on the Limit” (which I saw for the first time recently) in which it was said that when Bernie Ecclestone first acquired the TV rights to F1 he gave the teams the opportunity to buy equal shares in them, and none of them did because they’d rather spend the money on racing. Which in turn reminds me of the saying that the only thing we learn from history is that we never learn anything from history….

    This time around it seems to me that the only ones with the money to spend are also the ones most likely to want to cut and run as soon as something goes against them.

    1. Such a good comment @jimg

    2. Ecclestone never offered the teams a cut. He told them they should have bougth the shares themselves.

      As if the teams had gotten the same deal from Mosley. I don’t know how or how much Mosley was paid, but there is something insanely fishy about that whole deal.

  21. On Hamilton’s ‘friendliness’. It is almost impossible to compete hard against a friend. Your winning means their loss and it hurts them. You don’t want to hurt your friend. So to be successful on track nobody is your friend. I think Lewis comes across as an amiable person. Off track and on it. No matter who filled the departing chicken’s seat, Hamilton would treat them the same as any champion would.

    1. The Blade Runner (@)
      19th January 2017, 16:05

      “I think Lewis comes across as an amiable person”

      That’s irony, right?!

      1. Why? Have you ever seen an interview with Hamilton? He really does come over as a very amiable person.

  22. Evil Homer (@)
    19th January 2017, 12:21

    @jimg
    Maybe mate. I assume you are talkng Red Bull looking to leave? Things have changed since BE made that offer over three decades ago, he was smart, others didn’t see his vision. Bernie was great for our sport, no denying that, but then he became the money man, no so good for our sport.

    As for if teams would like to invest in new management (personally I can see the up side, if equal on income payout (different story) but you need to look at where the teams are at:

    Merc & Ferrari: top end, selling cars and enanhcing image. Dont care who is WDC but WCC, thats why Toto & Lewis may have issues.

    Williams, Force India & Sauber: Racers, through and through ! Maybe the teams that need shares in Liberty!

    Red Bull Racing: I am an Aussie so followed Mark then of course Dan, (with all due respect to Mark) Daniel is a better talent and will win as a title. But Red Bull sell drinks, they are not the full racers like Sir Frank
    (I mean this as a business model not the team the garage, been in Red Bull, they are like Rocky Balboa) but they dont need F1 to survive, Williams do though!

    So if teams do get to invest in Liberty I guess it depends where their business modle is currently at!

    I would hope Manor get an investor and line up in Melbourne, we need more teams, not less (income distribution!!!)

  23. Hamilton picked Bottas from a list of drivers including Alonso. He wanted someone he could “get along with” and BOT is one of few that would meet that demand.
    Merc knows HAM gives them the best shot at a WCC and don’t want to upset the applecart.
    Merc works for him now – not the other way around.

    1. Where did you get that info he picked which driver he wanted to team up with?

      1. Who do you think he is referring to, Maldonado?

        “I’ve had experiences with certain individuals in the past which I would strongly advise not in a team, to have that scenario. But what I meant is I will drive against any single driver you want”

        https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/headlines/2016/12/f1-2017-hamilton-mercedes-team-mate.html

      2. In case you need more evidence:

        Hamilton backed ‘nice guy’ Bottas as team mate (Reuters)

    2. Fudge Kobayashi (@)
      19th January 2017, 14:13

      Delusional much? Mercedes footed much of the bill for Spygate and McLaren is under contract if you hadn’t noticed, with a salary paid for by HONDA, you know another manufacturer with more money in the bank than Mercedes?

      If they work for him then why did his car blow up so much and cost him a championship last year?

      1. @offdutyrockstar Mercedes didn’t foot no bill, the 100 million was rescinded. Ross Brawn convinced Mercedes not to pull the plug on the basis that Ross himself was capable of courting Lewis, which then lead McLaren not only to have to find another PU maker but also new sponsors as Lewis brought most of them with him and the rest simply gave up formula one after Lewis left McLaren. On the ham conspiracy, I would entice your illuminati brain to figure out what is the difference between 2014 and 2016?

        1. Fudge Kobayashi (@)
          19th January 2017, 22:39

          No conspiracy, merely pointing out that if Lewis runs the team as Luke asserts then he would have been the benefactor of better reliability, not his teammate.

          And i’m not sure what comparison your blinkered brain is attempting to conjure up but in 2014 Hamilton and Rosberg each experienced five such problems during competitive sessions (qualifying and races). Of these Hamilton twice retired from the lead of the race (Australia and Canada), while Rosberg lost one likely win (Britain, although Hamilton was catching him).

          Even Rosberg admitted himself that his Abu Dhabi retirement in 2014 was of no consequence as Hamilton was running away with the win and the best he could have hoped for was 2nd, which wouldnt have changed anything.

          Malaysia 2016 won Rosberg the title and even then, only by 5 points despite that one race providing a 32 point swing!

          1. What do you mean by the benefactor of better reliability?

            No doubt part of the reason Hamilton lost was due to poor reliability but he still could have won the WDC handily if not several bad starts.

            He says his focus will be stronger next year – it’s an admission he “took off” some races in 2016.

            Hopefully Merc will provide him a car that will give him a chance of winning another WDC next year but there are no guarantees.

  24. I actually liked them. An orange car might help to win some Dutch fans

  25. I don’t agree with cotd. Bottas was guilty, the definition of a bad penalty is one that shouldn’t have been given in the first place. Warwick was harsh because he didn’t want anybody to ruin Lewis championship. The stewards also had an hand on spicing up the championship or perhaps Red bull did with 2 completely unjustified penalties on Nico.
    McLaren can’t go orange as then McLaren would resemble Renault and potentially SFI. McLaren can only go greenish and blueish or stay the same colour.

    1. Unjustifiable penalties on Rosberg? Simply not braking and turning in when you already lost the lead and run the guy that just overtook you off track?

      It doesn’t happen a whole lot since most F1 drivers have more sense than Rosberg, but for instance Vettel did it in 2009 on Kubica and got a penalty too.

      As a matter of fact, Rosberg should have been penalized for what he did in Spain and in Hungary.

  26. Lewis will be happy to have a nice guy in the team and therefore a team player.
    That will make one.I do think he will be competitive as the mercs will roll a strong car from day one and when the mind games start i dont think Bottas will take a backseat to Lewis.

  27. Just to be clear: I love LH44 when he’s in “Hammertime”-mode.
    I just hate him when he’s too busy off the track to keep his focus where it needs to be kept.
    Behind the wheel

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