I'm happy for him, he's clearly banging his head at Mercedes. But I do wonder what he hopes to achieve where Alonso, Vettel, and all the other drivers since Kimi failed? Lewis definitely has it in him..... Ferrari, I'm not so sure.
I really don't know whether this is a:
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Mercedes is going nowhere so I'm just going to throw shit at the wall and see what happens
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Nobody other than RB is winning until regulation changes, and by that point I'll be too old anyway. My new challenge will be trying to push Ferrari into being a competent team
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I'm going to retire soon and I'll kick myself if I don't drive for Ferrari at least once in my career, they're a historic team
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The guy is a seven times world champ and leads in victories and poles by quite a margin, he doesn't have much more to prove honestly. Hell winning in a Ferrari is probably the only thing that he could do to cement his legacy.
Even when I saw the leaks I didn't want to believe this to be true. I was convinced Hamilton would be with Mercedes until he couldn't compete anymore.
Hopefully Sainz finds a seat on another team.
Yes, I agree. But to be fair, for the last three years HAM was unable to compete with the mercedes. Let’s see what the future in red will bring!
I think the word that best sums this up for me is surreal.
The question is, what's going to happen to the smooth operator?
I guess his best bet is to go to Sauber and build the team around him, becoming the #1 driver there, even if that implies being in the midfield for all 2025
What do you think would happen with Charles if Lewis gets clear #1 status? I honestly think Lewis is there not only to tick the box, he'll try to win a championship with Ferrari, but he'll need Ferrari's support to do it. I see Charles' fans not too worried about the move, but he could've easily been demoted in this operation, and be filling Sainz's role (you're #2 unless your team mate fails or the team screws his opportunity, try to be reliable and you'll get a chance).
I think Charles is still the established #1 as it stands, meaning not having seen what's going to happen this year nor how Hamilton's going to perform in the same car. I don't think Lewis will get the "gotta prove your worth" treatment you're describing though, he already did that and to a greater extent that pretty much any other human that ever raced. My bet his that Ferrari is banking on him bringing multiple championships worth of experience first but that Charles is still the golden boy. All of that remains to be seen though.
What I’m saying is that I think Charles may be demoted to #2, if anything, just because Lewis won’t accept #2 status, and is the biggest “star” of the two.
So, unless Lewis has horrible performance, and Charles consistently beats him (which I have to admit, it’s a real possibility), in my mind, Ferrari will favor Lewis over Charles if they need to choose between the two.
You don’t sign a 7 times world champion to tell him “now, be quiet and play nice to the promise kid”. At least at the beginning, I think the team will work around Lewis (unless he performs horribly). And Charles will be told to be patient and wait for his opportunity (which is exactly what they told Sainz).
Prime Charles is a better driver than a 40 year old Lewis. Charles is the clear #1
So, that would imply Ferrari has just invested a ton of money in a #2. Why bother then? They had a perfectly capable #2 in Sainz, who’s younger than Lewis, and was very close to Charles in performance. Why would they go to the trouble? And also, do you think Lewis will be ok with #2 role at Ferrari?
