If anyone questions Hamilton's impact on Ferrari, simply look at the effect he had on their stock when it was announced that he would be joining them next season. Can he still impact the team in the short team, i firmly believe so but I am also realistic in knowing that he may not have the same impact when he is on year 3 of the contract.

:peek:

Carlos is a superb driver but when you have the opportunity to have one of the GOATs to drive for you, it's a no brainer

Watch Leclerc destroy Hamilton next year lol.

They won't let that happen, they'll hamper Leclerc's car if they have to lol

I'm totally confused here, are you just fucking with me or something? I don't understand your comparison of Sainz to Hamilton here.

Sainz is a fantastic driver, but as said Hamilton is Hamilton, arguably one of the best F1 drivers of all time.

Not only that, I've heard for years it was the dream to see Hamilton go over to Ferrari and end his career there, much like Schumacher.

It's the equivalent of signing and ending your contract with Real Madrid or Barcelona, it's a legacy move.

If Ferrari's main goal is media exposure and hype, than I guess that it'll be considered a good move.

If Ferrari's main goal is actual performance (which I would imagine is the more important goal), then I'm not so sure.

Sainz is currently delivering for Ferrari, even beating who is currently considered their "#1 driver". Hamilton is having a seriously hard time even matching Russell lately.

Who knows, maybe Hamilton will pull something out of his ass next year, I would actually hope so. However, I've seen this story before in F1 and it hardly ever pans out

https://i.redd.it/pllk1v7r7ogb1.jpg

Thats 2023... In Australia Hamilton's Q2 time was 0.06 behind Russel. We're 3 races deep into the season and there is a 10 point difference with what looks to be a fucking tractor of a car.

I see this take about Hamilton all over the place, mainly because I think it gets clicks. Neither of the Merc drivers are doing well. Even in Australia, Russel crashed fighting for 6th in a race with a free position off the start (Max).

The most annoying part of watching Max dominate seasons like he's doing is these "hot take" headlines trying to keep people engaged.

Rich

Did I touch a nerve with a Hamilton fan?

Yes, I said lately, as in "as of late" or "most recently" IE THIS SEASON. Not 2023. (How about 2022 then? what happened there?)

Both of them are driving that same tractor.

Every teams goal is performance (except maybe Alpine) and the best way to get performance is with money. If Ferrari is able to get Newey, it will be by giving him a boatload of money. Having Leclerc and Hamilton in their car will not only give them the best driver pairing but it will give them one of the most marketable drivers of all time. How many of the sponsors for Merc will leave with Hamilton at years end to go to Ferrari? I can imagine 1 or two will go with him.

This is a pretty wild take lol how you're comparing Sainz that has not even fought for a WDC

Sharl beat Sainz in '22 and '23, and is currently 7-points ahead EVEN with a Sainz win. Did you start watching when Drive to Survive aired?

Exactly.

Take a look at the current rumblings today with current Mercedes partners 'shopping around' now that Hamilton's leaving the team.

By the start of next season Hamilton will be 40.

He hasn’t been competitive in 3 years, Russel has consistently out performed him in the same car race to race.

Hamilton is Hamilton but I don’t think it’s a slam dunk that he all of a sudden goes to Ferrari and leads them to a championship

My opinion is also that the drivers make a bigger difference in developing a car than some of you. Drivers like Hamilton, Alonso, Max, and Schumacher are not just the best because they are fast over a single lap and devastatingly consistent. Its their input to the engineers that which the ability to move the car up the grid during the year.

I think part of why Ferrari picked up Hamilton was to guide Charles towards being that kind of driver in the future. There is no doubt Leclerc is a naturally talented guy but he could learn a from a senior driver who I think he'll be faster than often next year.

Btw if we're talking age, Alonso is old as fuck and racing really well. The last time he won a DWC Hamilton was in GP2. There are other stale farts at the back of the grid that could free up a seat.

Rich

Dude, Hamilton was the best driver not in a Red Bull in 2023 and finished 3rd in the drivers standings. Russell was 8th in the standings, Sainz was 7th, Leclerc was 5th. How can you say hat he wasn't competitive or that Russell consistently outperformed him?

2022 is the only one of the last 3 seasons where George outperformed Lewis. 2021, Lewis was robbed of his 8th championship. George was 16th 3 years ago.

It's only been 3 races so far in the 2024 season, there are still 21 races to go this season.

I like Lewis, and I'm sure he'll be competitive at Ferrari but like most sports it's a young man's game. At his age it's impossible that he has the same reflexes as a few years ago and that's consistently going to get worse with each year going forward.

I'm not saying he can't win but Ferrari is going to have to build one rocket of a car if he's going to get that 8th Championship.

Lewis was 'robbed' just 3 seasons ago, and was champion before that. He's still good 6 of his 7 championships were won in his 30's. (and btw 5 of Schumi's 7 titles were won in his 30's)

Agree that Ferrari needs to develop an insane car to compete with RBR. But having the best driver will help too.

And like Mike said, the sponsorships and all that, but I don't care about that stuff. Well, it will be weird to see Lewis sporting those gaudy Richard Mille watches instead of classically well designed IWCs WutFace

Edit: like, come on

https://media.gqmagazine.fr/photos/6...W388114_02.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Qd3a314.png

https://library.sportingnews.com/sty...20Leclerc.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/NjCYd5F.png

(admittedly the engineering of the RM is insane, but.. ugh...)

Are you seriously using George's Williams season here?

LOL.

It's true many athletes are still very good the first half of their 30s, very few are just as good in the second half, and beyond that the number drops like a rock.

Anyways I'll be cheering for him and hope he proves me wrong

For sure. There's Tom Brady and there's Ben Roethlisberger.

But I'd go for the legend who has had pretty recent success, over the guy who has proven to be upper mid at best so far in his career.

Can we get back to the topic at hand, the real goat is PIFF.

Well, there’s a direct comparable in the field right now in the “old guy” in Alonso

I really doubt Alonso could hop into the RB and outperform Max. Could Alonso in a Ferrari ecen outperform Leclerc? Probably not either

Never been a Hamilton fan but I can appreciate he may be the goat.. but I also think you can’t underestimate the fact it’s been 3 years since he was fighting for a championship and that will be 4 when he’s finally in a brand new rules Ferrari

And before the “did ya start watching since drive to survive bro?!?!” Comments. I’ve watched F1 on and off Since Villeneuve. I’ve always been about the Finnish drivers, and as a result, I can tell you, people get washed up and passed by in this sport before you even realize it’s happening.

Alonso CAN still be dominant, but it's a mood thing, he comes in and out of that mode... maybe something trips mid-race or whatever and he dials in and gets his back up and suddenly he's the best driver on the entire track.

But in general he doesn't have that same hunger or focus like the younger guys. He doesn't really need to I guess... part of that just comes with age, age calms you.

I honestly think Alonso can bring the fight to Max if he went to RBR and I don't like Alonso very much. He might be just a tad under in one lap pace but he could probably be on-par race pace wise.

Lol Sky needs to hire this guy as a commentator