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[CookinFlat6]

Murray is a better bet I reckon for that

[bud]

If Lewis leaves McLaren his only option is Ferrari. Anyone else I doubt could bring him long term success. If he goes to any other team I can see him turning into another Jaques Villeneuve.

[andrew]

Murray is a better bet I reckon for that

We've disowned him for being a miserable git.

[CookinFlat6]

If Lewis leaves McLaren his only option is Ferrari. Anyone else I doubt could bring him long term success. If he goes to any other team I can see him turning into another Jaques Villeneuve.

possible, however BAR were a mickey mouse affair. Now Mercedes with the best engine production facilities + vast financial resources looking for a figurehead + new engine regs in 2014 are a different proposition

Whitmarsh and Sam Michael + B spec customer engines = the wilderness years before Ron strong armed Mercedes into an exclusive engine deal

Brawn + his newly assembled team + a grandee outfit willing to spend to reclaim past glories = Ferrari + MS + Todt + Brawn = domination like the Germans like it (not like DDs version)

So all in all a risk worth taking for Lewis

I'm just saying

[CookinFlat6]

Murray is a better bet I reckon for that

We've disowned him for being a miserable git.

God help us, whats next, disown Gordon brown for being tight?

[andrew]

Murray is a better bet I reckon for that

We've disowned him for being a miserable git.

God help us, whats next, disown Gordon brown for being tight?

No. We've disowned him for his part in bankrupting the nation and being from Fife.

[CookinFlat6]

Fair enough, no excuse for coming from the kingdom of Fife

[andrew]

[Bladesman]

If Lewis leaves McLaren his only option is Ferrari. Anyone else I doubt could bring him long term success. If he goes to any other team I can see him turning into another Jaques Villeneuve.

possible, however BAR were a mickey mouse affair. Now Mercedes with the best engine production facilities + vast financial resources looking for a figurehead + new engine regs in 2014 are a different proposition

Whitmarsh and Sam Michael + B spec customer engines = the wilderness years before Ron strong armed Mercedes into an exclusive engine deal

Brawn + his newly assembled team + a grandee outfit willing to spend to reclaim past glories = Ferrari + MS + Todt + Brawn = domination like the Germans like it (not like DDs version)

So all in all a risk worth taking for Lewis

I'm just saying

True although I think Lewis could probably spend another year or so at McLaren then assess his options.

It seems to be taking Mercedes a while to get their car into championship winning shape.

[bud]

McLaren is doing pretty well for a Merc B team now cookin flat. Clearly engine works is not hindering them, and with new spec engines soon whos to say Merc will be top in that area?

By all means Lewis can take a risk and go to Merc but the guys there haven't shown much in all honesty. It's a risky move for Lewis if he wants to win. Not sure how his fans could handle him down the grid for the rest of his career.

[LewEngBridewell]

McLaren is doing pretty well for a Merc B team now cookin flat. Clearly engine works is not hindering them, and with new spec engines soon whos to say Merc will be top in that area?

By all means Lewis can take a risk and go to Merc but the guys there haven't shown much in all honesty. It's a risky move for Lewis if he wants to win. Not sure how his fans could handle him down the grid for the rest of his career.

Thank "god" that someone else comes from my school of thought! I was thinking I was fighting a lone battle on this one.

[CookinFlat6]

It was a similar risk for MS when he left Benetton for Ferrari. And we found out that a grandee team with a massive pedigree and history to resurrect have the incentive to buy their way to the front

As Alonso says only Lewis can do what MS did for Ferrari - drive the team to the front by winning when the car is not fastest,

Alonso confirmed: "I have said he is the only one capable of winning without having the best car. The others win if the car is good, and when it is not (good), they do not (win)."

this galvanises the staff and allows them to to concentrate their efforts on giving Lewis what he needs - If MS was the driver he was before Merc would have improved a lot more

If Nico has won one race this year vs 3 for Lewis in the best car, I would argue that Lewis in the Merc this year would have won 2 races with Nico also winning 2 at McLaren.

And to those saying that Merc have not done much so far, well what they have done is stealthy build posibly the best collection of aero guys and engineers. So they can only improve providing Merc open the tap on endless funds, and with the best driver on the grid as figurehead they cannot afford not to

McLaren might have Merc engines now at the tail end of their engine deal which undoubtedly came with lots of extras FI dont have, come 2014 it will be a different ballgame

I would even bet that Merc could decide not to supply customers with the new engine or supply them with a version that requires lots of bells and whistles that only they keep to themselves.
The least of this will be assistance in helping teams integrate the engine on different chassis

Last but not least, Mercs chassis guys already have the dimensions etc of the new engine, non of the customers will get this info for another year or so, I doubt Merc will not derive a massive advantage from this

So Lewis doesnt challenge for a couple of years, he will have a break clause in the contract, post McLaren Alonso at Renault for 2 years didnt seem to consign him to the back of the grid for the rest of his career

i'm just musing

[CookinFlat6]

Report in Sportsmail (sports section of daily Fail, but still)

The report continued saying that, despite just one win in three seasons for Mercedes, Hamilton is "understood to be satisfied that, with Brawn at the helm and the backing of one of the planet's biggest car manufacturers, Mercedes can provide him with a car capable of realising his dream of emulating Ayrton Senna's record of three World titles.

"Key to this belief is the fact that Mercedes, along with Ferrari and Renault, are developing the new V6 turbo engine scheduled to be used in Formula One from 2014.

"Brawn admitted that while McLaren will remain a Mercedes customer, the fact his is the 'works team' means they are privy to all of the research and development of the new engine and are therefore better placed to design their car around it."

[vaptin]

Mercedes F1 is funded by sponsorship only. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson ... d_not.html. They are however, of course, underwritten by Mercedes group.

I don't quite see the analogy with Schumacher and Ferrari, Ferrari were determined to build the best race team, they put together the resources and staff to achieve that, Ferrari's commitment to F1 wasn't in question. The team still expected to win.

Brawn F1 flew through a massively expensive Honda backed F1 car.

Lewis Hamilton is good for Mercedes's marketing and brand association. It's probably easier for Mercedes to invest and hire him, than to build a championship winning car. They still have to go against McLaren, Ferrari and Redbull who aren't going to lie down. Ferrari must be in the best place for engines, probably using roadcar developmental as sneaky experiments.

[CookinFlat6]

Brawn F1 flew through a massively expensive Honda backed F1 car.

Brawn F1 flew through a massive Double Diffuser loophole

Who would have believed Red Bull dominating 5 years ago? A lot was down to new regulations and money spent on staff

The biggest wiping of the slate clean IMO will be 2014, Ferrari or Merc are the best seats in that case

Ferrari have Alonso, Lewis needs to be paid properly and to have the same situation Alonso has wrt team focus and resources

The top two drivers, the top two seats come 2014

i'm just hoping