Mercedes now have best F1 driver in Lewis Hamilton

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Mercedes now have the 'best driver' in Formula 1 after signing Lewis Hamilton, says triple world champion Niki Lauda.

Mercedes have won just one race in the last three years but Lauda - who is also joining the team - expects Hamilton to turn round their fortunes.

"In a bad car he is the best driver in the world because he is unbelievably quick and he makes no compromise," Lauda told Sportsweek on BBC 5 live.

"Lewis joining is high motivation. They have realised their weaknesses."

Hamilton has dramatically shaken up the 2013 F1 field by joining Mercedes in a three-year deal , ending both his 14-year association with McLaren and Michael Schumacher's comeback with the Silver Arrows.

Lauda, who is also joining Mercedes as a board member, talked through a potential move with Hamilton and tempted the 27-year-old with a chance to succeed where seven-time champion Schumacher failed.

"I was impressed with his approach to things, very pragmatic, no emotions whatsoever," revealed Lauda, who won the world title in 1975, 1977 and 1984.

"The real discussion was 'why should I leave a competitive car where my life is easy in the future?' So my argument was if you're looking for a new challenge then certainly the Mercedes team is one.

"And think of it the other way round, if Schumacher couldn't get the Mercedes team running up front for three years and you next year are doing much better it makes a huge impact on your personality and people will rate you much higher.

"In the end it convinced him that the challenge is what he wants to do. For a competitive guy like Lewis, it's very interesting."


Link to full story:http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/19776917

Ciabbata isn't going to like this at all

dyrewolfe wrote:

SteveG wrote:

harryspiv wrote:I wouldn't be surprised if Alonso was right, if a 7 time world champ can't develop the car over 3 seasons with the same guy whom he spent his career at Ferrari with, what hope does Lewis have? If anything Mercedes have gone backwards and my prediction is that Hamilton will not be challenging for the title at Mercedes.

Schumi basically went to a greenfield site with a small capacity and has probably already contributed a large amount of spadework. Since then it seems that Merc have re-assessed where they want to be and have been seriously ramping up staff no more so than their landing of one of the best drivers in the business. If Ross Brawn now has the tools for the job (and that includes Hamilton himself) then it may yet come good.

Are you calling Lewis Hamilton a tool? How very dare you, sir!

lol - always read my posts back b4 sending them and still didnt spot that one. Very good.

dyrewolfe wrote:We do know from recent seasons that Lewis struggles with uncompetitive cars. While he will take a car by the scruff and throw it round a circuit, it doesn't usually yield better results.

Hmmm I dunno DW. Hami out drove his 2 secs off the pace MP4-24 in 2009 on a number of occasions early in the season and were it not for telling porkies at Aus (a brilliant drive that should've been 3rd place) would've collected more points than Alonso over the first half of the season who was also driving a poorish but arguably quicker car (ignoring the 2nd half of the season as the car was back near the front). And I've always said he should have landed the WDC in 2010 in a car that for the most part was slower than both Red Bull and Ferrari - but a sequence of events that started with an over optimistic move on Massa at Monza and ended with a gearbox failure at Suzuka put paid to that one - but it was still in the mix right to the end.

2011 was poor - apart from off track stuff I also think the new Pirellis played a part - but like all good drivers he has since adapted and can manage them as good as anyone.

Either way I'm expecting him to get more out of the car than Ross or Schumi (the 2nd incarnation) - but realistic to know that it won't be enough for 2013.

Dunno where 1st race is for 2013 - hope its still Aus - gotten used to it being the opener.

Can't argue too much with that. I think my main point was that Lewis tends to "over-drive" in an effort to get more out of the car, which often leads to mistakes.

No doubting he's managed to pull a few good results out of the bag though, with below-par equipment.

I just hope both he and the Mercedes team are patient and don't expect the results to come straight away.

dyrewolfe wrote:I think my main point was that Lewis tends to "over-drive" in an effort to get more out of the car, which often leads to mistakes.

I suppose thats why many agree Alonso is the complete driver. He seems to already know what is and is not possible. Similarly in combat - at Valencia Alonso would've let Maldonado go, bagged the points and lived to fight another day.

If Hami ever asked Alonso his secret (hyperthetically of course) then I'm sure he would just tell him to go watch
the last 30 seconds of the film Magnum Force when Eastwood whispers the immortal words as only he can:-
"A man's got to know his limitations"

If Mercedes could not get their act together for a 7 time WDC like Schumacher then why are they suddenly going to make another mass investment for the Ros-Ham pairing?

Hamilton will do a year and join Newey at RBR in 2014.

Alessandro Ciambella wrote:
Hamilton will do a year and join Newey at RBR in 2014.

Only if Vettel isnt there and i cant see him moving to Ferrari when Alonso is there. Especially with the success he's had at RBR.

The bosses at Mercedes AMG had expressed huge disappointment in their F1 performace since coming back into F1. They had a restructuring of their investment plan and also appointed Niki Lauda to become an non-executive chairman of the F1 team in attempt to improve their F1 performance. Lauda was apparently instrumental in bringing Hamilton to Mercedes and with this signing, Mercedes believe they now have the fastest driver on the grid and are willing to invest in the car and the team to achieve the goals they originally set out on their return to F1.

Hamilton joining Red Bull now in my opinion is 0%. His management have agreed a fantastic deal with Mercedes and I am sure he will see out the multiple year contract. Mercedes, having financially commited to Lewis, would also have made sure there was no-get out clause. If anyone is likely to replace Vettel at Red Bull, it's more likely to be Raikkonen.

The most frustrating thing about F1 is that we just don't get enough head to heads in equal equipment. Would love to see Hamilton in a Red Bull - especially if Vettel was still there. RB are built on an image of extreme sports and being hip. Hamilton is a shoe-in, an absolute no brainer and yet as you say John it's never gonna happen. The only team that are prepared to give the punters what they want is Mclaren, and despite sometimes making a complete hash of things it's the one thing I'll always give them credit for.

John wrote:The bosses at Mercedes AMG had expressed huge disappointment in their F1 performace since coming back into F1. They had a restructuring of their investment plan and also appointed Niki Lauda to become an non-executive chairman of the F1 team in attempt to improve their F1 performance. Lauda was apparently instrumental in bringing Hamilton to Mercedes and with this signing, Mercedes believe they now have the fastest driver on the grid and are willing to invest in the car and the team to achieve the goals they originally set out on their return to F1.

Thats good to hear, lets hope the extra financial backing it'll mean the car development will be better and faster.

Still no guarantees though...

SteveG wrote:The most frustrating thing about F1 is that we just don't get enough head to heads in equal equipment. Would love to see Hamilton in a Red Bull - especially if Vettel was still there. RB are built on an image of extreme sports and being hip. Hamilton is a shoe-in, an absolute no brainer and yet as you say John it's never gonna happen. The only team that are prepared to give the punters what they want is Mclaren, and despite sometimes making a complete hash of things it's the one thing I'll always give them credit for.

This equal driver treatment has occurred during the Whitmarsh era and long may it continue when Perez arrives next year. Mclaren were just as guilty for favouring one driver during the Ron Dennis time. Senna, Kimi and Mika to name a few who gained preferential team mate over a competitive team mate.

Hi guys just won't to get this point across when button was driving for Honda they stop developing there car in 2008 at the start of the season and in 2009 when it was rename they won the title which that what they have done this year so don't be surprised if Ross b has done it again. So look out folks Lewis mite be back on top

harryspiv wrote:

Fernando wrote:

Belgarion of Riva wrote: Fernando Alonso says Lewis Hamilton has made the right choice in leaving McLaren for Mercedes next year.

The Ferrari driver said McLaren, for whom he drove in 2007, have not been as successful as they would have liked.

He said: "For Lewis, it is good to move on. From McLaren, [Alain] Prost was going out, [Ayrton] Senna, me, normally for a better life, a good change.

"McLaren is 14 years without winning a constructors' championship, most of these sometimes with the best car."

Now why do we think he is saying this?

A) He actually means it
or
B) He's thinks now he has seen the last of him until 2014

im suspecting B

I wouldn't be surprised if Alonso was right, if a 7 time world champ can't develop the car over 3 seasons with the same guy whom he spent his career at Ferrari with, what hope does Lewis have? If anything Mercedes have gone backwards and my prediction is that Hamilton will not be challenging for the title at Mercedes.

Hi guys just won't to get this point across when button was driving for Honda they stop developing there car in 2008 at the start of the season and in 2009 when it was rename they won the title which that what they have done this year so don't be surprised if Ross b has done it again. So look out folks Lewis mite be back on top

Lockdown212 wrote:Hi guys just won't to get this point across when button was driving for Honda they stop developing there car in 2008 at the start of the season and in 2009 when it was rename they won the title which that what they have done this year so don't be surprised if Ross b has done it again. So look out folks Lewis mite be back on top

Could you try writing in English next time? It makes it a lot easier to understand your points.

One thing you neglected to mention is that Brawn's success for the first half of the season was largely down to the team's "clever" interpretation of the aero rules, which allowed them to run a double-diffuser, which none of the other teams had, for the first half of the 2009 season.

Once Red Bull had their own version, Brawn suddenly became a lot less dominant. However, since they'd already built up a pretty commanding lead, they could afford to just finish in the points.

The aero regs are a lot stricter now and its becoming increasingly difficult to find loopholes to exploit...Red Bull seem to be the masters of that at the moment. Put it this way, if I were a betting man, my money would be on them for next season as well. The next major changes won't happen until 2014 at the earliest (providing there are no more schedule changes) and thats what Mercedes have said they are aiming for.

If Hamilton can at least match, or slightly better, Rosberg's performances next season and get help them get both cars in the top 10 on a regular basis, I reckon he'll have done a great job.