Latest news on Lewis. http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/news/12479/7872487/Hamilton-ready-to-sign-a-deal- But with who?
That article is the definition of a non-story. "Being ready means you've made a decision and you know what you're going to do. At some point soon I would like to get something in place." Well what the **** else would you do if you want to race next season?
I cant see him signing if he has other options available to him - today was awful! Button was poor but he finished only 8 seconds behind him and was stuck in traffic fro most of the race - the Mclaren is fundementally slow!
But where to?, i mean Red Bull is out of the picture,there is no way he and Fernando can drive in the same team, which leaves Mercedes who have had poor reliability and have not had a much more faster car than McLaren this year. Lewis i'm afraid is going to have to stick it out at McLaren as for the moment there are no other viable options despite how poor the Mclaren management has been this season or he can do a Prost and take a year out and hope a drive at RB or Ferrari becomes available
http://totalf1.com/full_story/view/420516/Alonso_has_no_issues_with_Hamilton_Vettel_as_teammates/ Actually Hamilton has a chance at Ferrari with Alonso. Alonso and Hamilton respect each other very highly, and Alonso never had a problem with Hamilton at Mclaren, it was Mclaren he had disagreements with. It was just completely blown out of proportion by the media. I personally think it will be a good pairing. They are both fairly aggressive drivers, so building a car around one driver should favour the other, unlike what's happening at Mclaren with Jenson. Obviously, Alonso will have first driver preference, but I don't think that will dishearten Lewis at all. There is speculation that is already happening at Mclaren, even though Mclaren say otherwise, but that's a different story for a different day. I'd love to see it. I'm sure it'd make the championship even more fascinating with Hamilton closer to the front. And if Webber does go to Ferrari leaving a seat free at Red Bull and Hamilton taking it, I'm pretty sure that would be exciting to see. Didn't Christian Horner once say that he thinks it would be a good combination, and he wouldn't mind having Hamilton in his team if it came to it?
I think Red Bull would be the only step forward. Ferrari are in better shape right now, but over the season they're probably about even and McLaren were much better than Ferrari last year. Mercedes and Lotus would probably be a sideways step, but they're less likely to be strong year on year than McLaren in my opinion. Red Bull are the only team to consistently produce strong cars in the last four years. Webber must be their first choice, but if he goes to Ferrari the kids in the young driver program aren't cutting it and Hamilton could be attractive to them, especially if they fear losing Vettel to Ferrari in 2014/15.
This. Also, I suspect Alonso is given control over his team-mates, Mercedes have their own targets, and Lotus are going to be settled until Kubica returns. Strangely the drivers' market might be in Red Bull's hands... Webber needs to decide whether he's going to Ferrari or not, then we need to know his replacement. (I just hope it's not Ricciardo, who hasn't deserved it based on this year, or Buemi, who was thoroughly average for Toro Rosso)
Bang on the money. Its the reason Lewis hasnt signed anything yet, he's playing the waiting game to see if a Red Bull seat becomes avaliable. Lewis wants to try that car with unbelieveable downforce and compete with Sebastian in the same team. You can really see it in his body language sometimes when he speaks about Red Bull. If Webber resigns then Lewis will stay at McLaren for a year or two. Webbers decision will trigger the driver market!
My expectation is that Hamilton will sign for 1 or 2 years at McLaren. Although the Ferrari and Red Bull options have been mentioned, I don't think those seats are really available to him. In that situation I can't see where he could go where he's guaranteed to be better off. In 2014 we'll find out who's made the best v6 and that will have a big impact on who goes where. Alonso is now at Ferrari for the rest of his career, so it will take Vettel to move or a big change in the competitive order before the situation changes dramatically. I kind of expect next year's main teams to field basically the same line ups. Do Resta to get the Merc seat if Schumi goes.
With Webber now signing for RB, Lewis options seem to becoming less and less. It would appear that staying with Mclaren is his only viable option, its probably jst a question of how many years he signs for. I certainly cant see him earning anywhere near what he has earned in the past, based on his lack of options!
I think this touches on how frustrated Lewis actually is with Mclaren in general. http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/news/12433/7913598/-Webber-deal-is-Lewis-loss-
How badly does Lewis want Red Bull? Is he prepared to wait until 2014, when he could replace Vettel? If so, he needs to sign a one year deal now - but Whitmarsh said yesterday they are "expecting" a longer deal with Hamilton. We know Ferrari only want a one year driver... so could we see Lewis in Ferrari next year? If I were Lewis' management, I would be trying to sign an agreement with Red Bull that would see him join the team in the event Vettel leaves.
I bet he is regretting saying: "They are only a drinks company" considering he is pretty much waiting for Seb to leave for Ferrari as Mark looks happy at staying at Red Bull Racing for longer than 2013. Though I would guess he meant it out of banter and friendly fighting talk.
Further to my previous post, it says in Autosport magazine that "a costly bid for a big name driver has not been ruled out". So it's not impossible that Lewis goes to Ferrari.
With all due respect to many of these articles about Hamilton (Like the one on the sky website), there is very little substantial information given, it's always soundbites like ''Hamilton had eyes on a Red Bull seat'' etc. I think that the media are making a bigger deal about his future because its a story for silly season, fact is Lewis's best bet at the moment is to stay at McLaren and to try to build the team around himself (Similar to Alonso at Ferrari, although I am aware that Whitmarsh and co may have reservations about that)
His best bet may be at staying at Mclaren, but its through team choice rather than Lewis's own choice - thast the problem. In addition his best and only option may be to stay at Mclaren for the 2013 season, but the issue is where he wants to drive in 2014 onwards.
Excellent performance from him today, totaly dominant! Days like this make him worth his weight in gold. I think the coments coming from Ron are very interesting -refering to the fact that Mclaren employ him and they will make the decession - not Lewis!
