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McLaren and Hamilton having regrets? (13 posts)

Topic tags: Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Mercedes, Nico Hulkenberg, Sergio Perez

Viewing post 1 to 13 (13 total posts)

The Radical said 6 months ago:

Since Mercedes confirmed Lewis Hamilton for 2013, they haven’t scored a point.

Hamilton’s successor Sergio Perez hasn’t scored a point since being confirmed at McLaren.

Nico Hulkenberg has scored points at four of the five races since being turned down for the McLaren seat in favour of Perez…

Which begs the question, McLaren and Lewis Hamilton respectively must be giving more than a passing thought to the notion they’ve made a massive mistake.

We can’t be sure until Melbourne, but as things stand, McLaren must be kicking themselves for passing on Hulkenberg who could end up at Ferrari in 2014, whilst Hamilton would be trying to mend fences so there is a prospect of returning to McLaren if the Mercedes debacle continues into next season.

Put it this way, nobody would be smiling more than Michael Schumacher if Mercedes continues to free fall in 2013…

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Paulzx said 6 months ago:

God knows how they make some of these decisions, maybe ego plays a part, money definitely helps but that’s a bit short sighted when you’re already on the sort of retainers that Hamilton would be on.

It is a strange decision, Merc are a big outfit no doubt, but you would have a better chance in a lower team right now, and I don’t see any real evidence of them suddenly making up the ground

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Nick said 6 months ago:

We can’t be sure until Melbourne

I think you kind of answered your own question there. Sure, signing a new driver or a team will always be a challenge. We’ve seen drivers failing their potential at top teams in the past, just as much as we’ve seen top drivers moving to the wrong team at the wrong time (I think Jean Alesi might have a story or two about that).

I think stuff like this won’t really bother McLaren and Hamilton until the winter, and not even that much. Perez is believed to have a multi-year deal; they can develop him and if he still isn’t up to the job, they can let him go. If Hamilton feels 3 years of Mercedes wasn’t worth it, a lot of top teams would probably sign him for 2016. But with the 2014 rule changes, Perez being only 22 years old and Hamilton a fantastic driver, I don’t think anyone involved is coming up with doomsday scenarios just yet.

Put it this way, nobody would be smiling more than Michael Schumacher if Mercedes continues to free fall in 2013…

I don’t think he is that much of a sadist.

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Michael said 6 months ago:

There’s no doubt that Hamilton deserves to go to a faster team. Unfortunately this is 2012 and teams and drivers have perfect hindsight. History has shown that 2 top drivers at the same team is a recipe for disaster for the driver and for the team. Vettel would never accept Hamilton as his teammate and neither would Alonso.
That shows the pecking order as a confident driver would not fear another driver.

Hamilton for instance welcomed Button and still that somehow destroyed his relationship with McLaren even though the 2 didn’t really fight or have issues until perhaps the middle of this season.

As for Hamilton leaving, he has to. There really is NOT much choice. He can’t finish 4th or 5th for the rest of his career.

He might actually end up regretting this enormously but he’s hoping that in 2014, Mercedes will be one of the top teams. I hate to say it but Lewis is a huge part of F1 – if he’s relegated to a losing team, F1 will suffer a lot.

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Calum said 6 months ago:

I’m quite excited about 2013 with Lewis at Mercedes. If he stayed at Mclaren he would be in the top 3 for favourites for the title, but there is no pressure next year. I want a Kubica style performance, like we saw the Pole have in 2010 (Renault), where the car is not a winner, but the driver pushes it to it’s limit.

Hopefully they deliver in 2014 though! If not, 2015 Lewis Hamilton to replace a retiring JB at Mclaren?

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electrolite said 6 months ago:

Up until that point Perez had outshone Hulkenberg…in my opinion. Obviously since then it’s been a different story. I’m a big fan of both drivers, but Hulkenberg of lately in particular, has been brilliant. The Force India (as per usual) has been the class of the midfield in the latter races which has pushed Sauber back a little results-wise.

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The Radical said 6 months ago:

Hulkenberg himself might even be regretting leaving Force India, their own pace at recent races, coupled with this $80 million investment promised by Mr Mallya, does confuse the situation even further!

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electrolite said 6 months ago:

@TheRadical with not too many rules changing for 2013 you can bet the Sauber C32 will be a mere development of the C31, and fundamentally pretty good. I sure hope so, anyway.

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sumedhvidwans said 6 months ago:

I agree with The Radical. I think the 2014 silly season will undo a lot of the wrong things that have happened in this year’s silly season. Here are my predictions.
1) Kamui will come back.
2) Lewis will be back at Mclaren but may be at the cost of Jenson (as Mclaren will still need Sergio’s cash).
3) Pastor might move to Mclaren to replace Sergio and Sergio’s cash.
4) Vettel will move to Ferrari.
5) One of the Toro Rosso boys or Kimi will move to Red Bull.
6) The other seat at Red Bull will be filled by either Webber or Jenson with the other person retiring from the sport altogether.
7)Mercedes will have Rosberg and Sam Bird.

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matthew said 6 months ago:

not really whitmarsh has been talking to brawn

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raymondu999 said 6 months ago:

I find it half-odd that Lewis likens this to a teenager leaving home to see the world. Perhaps a hint that – as teenagers do – he’d end up going back “home?”

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Garns said 6 months ago:

“There’s no doubt that Hamilton deserves to go to a faster team”
Um……how much of a faster team can he go to?? Red Bull have only really taken that honour ahead of McLaren in the last 1/3rd of the season, but at no point his year I dont think people could really say Lewis has been a title contender.

While he had a great start to his carreer and is certainly a very important part of F1 I truely believe that Hamilton is the most overated driver in the top four teams. With the write ups in the media you could be excused for thinking the guy is Superman, but I think if Jenson wins tonight and Lewis doesnt finish then Button will have outscored Hamilton in points in their time as team-mates.

While ultra-fast and great to watch he does sometimes either go missing or gets into trouble, then will pull off the great drive we saw in Austin last week. In anyone deserves a faster car it would be Alonso. But if you put him in the Red Bull we would have seen the run away title like in 2011- and that was just plain boring.

I am really looking forward to next year and hope Lewis does well and drives the Merc beyond its limits, just like Alonso has done this year. We will see how Checco goes against Button, Lewis against Nico, which I think will be closer than many expect and see if Red Bull can keep the trophies coming.

Garns

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Soph Morgan said 5 months, 4 weeks ago:

I’m sure Lewis has some regrets about leaving McLaren but this is natural for anybody who has worked with a group of people for so long. Its been clear for months now that Mercedes have been working on their car for 2013 at the expense of 2012 so lets see what next season brings. I doubt we will see Lewis winning the championship but I would love to see him win a couple of races while he finds his feet in the team. I think long term he has made the right decision and it is McLaren who have the regret. They should have tried harder to keep him and given him the support he needed to win the WDC this year. They lost him rather than the other way around.

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