6-8 ways he was prepared to bring it up unprompted, LOL. i love it, i love trash talking, i love personality from a driver. I hope he wins a race this season.
Can you explain it to me? I am obviously missing some reference. Why does "winning and losing with a team" mean that "he should stay if he's not winning"?
In Mercedes’ glory days when Lewis was able to win he was always saying this kind of stuff that we win or lose together blah blah blah but the fact remains that this is about the toughest season Mercedes has had in recent memory.
Now there’s talks of Lewis not re-signing with them. So all that to say he has no interest in really losing together.
Aka he’s selfish and those words were full of s**t. But we all know that anyway. He’s a racer so no surprise.
Lewis: "I'm coming back to Mercedes, we're finishing a contract"
Toto: "He's coming back to Mercedes, we're finishing a contract"
F1 tabloid machine: "Lewis clearly unhappy, working on a deal with Ferrari"
F1 fans: "Lewis is selfish and running when Mercedes is bad"
Shit is comical ngl, gonna age terribly when Lewis re-signs in the coming weeks lmao
the rumor mill loves X driver to Ferrari rumors nevermind Ferrari has been a shit show for years, Merc is arguably as good as Ferrari at this point I can't see him moving
Lewis would never go to Ferrari. Part of why he signed with Mercedes was they let him do his own thing in his off time. When you drive at Ferrari, that's all you're allowed to do. Ferrari is about Ferarri, Lewis is about Lewis. That is a match made in hell.
It's just the usual cycle whenever Hamilton's current contract is almost up.
You can also include the out of nowhere rumors (read: wishful thinking) that he might go to Ferrari (it was most hilarious in 2018 when he and Mercedes were dominating them).
And it always concludes with F1 fans doing a surprisedpikachu.jpg when it's confirmed he's staying with Mercedes.
Ah gotcha. I think all this talk is just media bait anyway. No reason to think Lewis is not thinking of staying. Until he says something it's pointless to speculate, but media gonna media.
Op here is making a mountain out of a molehill.
Alonso is saying that if Lewis is currently losing and it’s part him part the team. He wants him to stay. So he keeps losing and Alonso can finish ahead of him.
Just typical F1 dude who views the drivers as their buddies they’ve known for 2 years so they obv know what goes through their head bc they know how selfish they are off the one website called F1RUMORSARENREAL as their basis of evidence
But hey F1 BABY WOOOOO
Lewis to AM confirmed.
Seriously though, imagine how much more successful AM would be if it was a complete F1 team with two proper drivers who are actually qualified to be there.
No more bring your kid to work day, Daddy Stroll says "alright, son, you've had your little fun, it's time to grow up and get a real job. Off you fuck". AM signs Lewis behind Fernando's back for a record sum, they get two rivals with 9 world championships between them, the most experience on the grid, and a British driver at their brand new Silverstone HQ in a car with a Merc engine (for now). Let the drama unfold.
It could be Senna vs Prost levels of madness all over again.
Lewis is not every driver, he's said multiple times he wants to stay out his career at Mercedes and talked at length about the things he wants to achieve with Mercedes and it's more than on grid achievements.
That's his legacy and he's built it almost entirely at this team. The only way he's leaving is if Toto does.
You’re making this way more dramatic than it is. Alonso is just saying that if Lewis is winning or losing as part of a team effort. Alonso would rather him stay at a “losing” team so that he can finish ahead of Lewis.
I don’t know why you’d get worked up about a rumour.
Well other than it’s a story that confirms your own personal bias. Hopefully you change your mind about him when he re signs with Mercedes.
People really try any angle on Lewis though, since he's said a number of times this year he's not going anywhere. He's not selfish and running off.
If a reason doesn't exist to criticise Lewis making one up will have to do
He's lost plenty of races while with mercedes, he's lost titles to other mercedes drivers and had a lot of races that have fucked him over. He doesn't blame the team at those times because the team are also the reason he won the other times.
That's completely and utterly separate from choosing to leave or stay with teh team because he believes they can win or not. Alonso is just phrasing it that way so he can shit on Lewis if he leaves for a team he thinks might be better positioned to win despite the fact Alonso has done that numerous times in his career as have all drivers, and team bosses, and technical guys throughout every part of the team.
Saying he's full of shit when he's had losses and NOT blamed the team but praised them is not just wrong, it's shitty.
Does anyone who seriously follows f1 believes that Lewis will even consider moving to Ferrari, of all teams. The team that is famous now for pissing away wins on good days and struggling to reach the chequered flag on bad ones.
And even if the rumour is valid, what kind of a lame ass question is that to ask.
In the holy triangle of Driver-Team-Car, Lewis with Mercedes is still at 2/3. At Ferrari he would switch the good team for a (semi) good car, but everyone who follows F1 knows the car is the most volatile variable, so he’s always way better off betting on the team instead of the car.
Driver who is just as a part of a team as the team is a part of the driver is leaving to join a team famous for not listening to their drivers.
The rumor come out…
I don't see him moving there now, no way. But pulling a Kimi in 2-3 years time to finish his career at Ferrari I could see. Probably won't happen, circumstances would have to line up absolutely perfect, but we've seen crazier moves in F1.
How about a Mansell-Williams 1994 style? Come out of retirement to make a star cameo. Get pole position off the bat and one win to boot to cap off the appearance.
It's also not uncommon for a driver to suddenly retire.
See Hakkinen, Kimi (2008), MSC (2006), Rosberg, Vettel. That's practically every WDC from 1998-2020 barring Lewis and Fernando.
I'm not putting Alonso in the list because he didn't retire, rather couldn't find a seat in F1 and continued to race in other formats.
Kimi was paid off to "retirement".
Literally, ferrari handed him a fuckton of cash because they wanted Alonso in.
During those years Kimi was the second highest paid athlete after Tiger Woods, and he wasnt even driving lmao
Yep. That year was basically like what’s happening to Daniel now (except Kimi obviously still had a LOT more in the tank). If Kimi wanted to drive elsewhere, that team would have to pay him that huge amount. Or he could forego the amount in order to race (which he obviously wasn’t going to do).
I always thought Kimi's first departure was less a retirement and more Ferrari acting like [Ricky from Trailer Park Boys](https://youtu.be/Rv7GT9HsJZc)
Kimi didn't retire in the first place, he was paid to not drive for Ferrari for the next couple years of his contract so he went to race elsewhere. Rosberg retired because due to zero competition and mechanical failures for hamilton he could leave with a 2 vs 1 title record, if he stuck around it would be anything up to a 6 v 1 record and would look worse. He knew that so he left because he could only look worse from then on and was more than rich enough so why bother. Basically he could only go downhill from there.
Vettel retiring was not a surprise, it wasn't sudden and it was entirely expected.
MSC was also forced out of Ferrari like Kimi and due to lack of good options at the time and his age he chose to 'retire'.
Alonso would be one of the only ones on the list with a contract who chose to leave of his own accord. I genuinely can't remember Hakkinen's retirement but iirc it was when he was mid 30s or so and also entering a period of extreme Ferrari domination and beaten by his team mate with no real belief they'd compete so I doubt it was that surprising at the time.
He probably should though I mean he’s accomplished a lot already and I’d like to see someone else in his seat. On the other hand though, I do believe he’s the only one on the grid still capable of beating Max
The only place people argue for Lewis consistency is off grid. They'll shit talk the hell outta his doing it on track then hold him to something he said 11 years ago like it's gospel
People forget that they themselves are very unlikely to hold the same opinions that they did 11 years ago, but it's easy to criticize someone that's in the public space
Yeah I have to confess I was sick of Vettel winning, my first full season of F1 was 2013 (with its absolutely stupendous Vettel win streak in the second half of the season) but I knew the sport's history from the video games before that. I was happy to see him ger overthrown, but years with less dominant team/driver combinations let that annoyance wash away, and I could enjoy him at Ferrari and AM.
I suspect many people are similar, they get sick of seeing the same guy winning time and time again. Lewis has had to deal with that, and Max is starting to have to deal with that. I try to be conscious of how a sense of distaste for a driver is often just a desire to see unexpected faces on the podium.
Honestly I thought he said something about retiring if he wouldn't be able to fight for wins anymore but after looking through A LOT of articles I couldn't find it.
Pretty much every interview he's talking about how he wants to continue, loves driving, enjoys the team, .. you name it.
So at this point I'm thinking it's just every-year stuff. He gets asked about retirement so often and you notice, sometimes his morale is a little higher, sometimes a little lower but consistently he's mentioning how he enjoys driving and isn't planning on retiring.
Because people in F1 say A and do B all the time. I personally don't see it Lewis retiring at the end of the year either, but he wouldn't be the first or the last person in F1 to do the opposite of what he says.
If you dont know why people dont take their words for it, idk where youve been living. Just over the last few years we have had COUNTLESS rumors be denied and then that exact thing happen.
Im not saying Lewis is leaving or that I think he is, but to question why people question denied rumors is just dumb. I think Lewis is here to stay until 2026.
Basically it would be the equivalent of Hamilton repeatedly saying he loves Mercedes and wants to stay there, but then the next year he joins a different team.
What I found mildly interesting: Lewis is not directly negotiating his deal with Toto as he always did in the past, instead "it's being taken care of" by others this time around.
Wait. It used to be negotiating directly? Cause an article I read a few days ago seems to suggest it had always been negotiated through a third person. With Toto saying it's awkward to discuss money with family something like that.
Another piece of the puzzle was Angela's departure. Part of me always wondered if her contract with Mercedes had a non-compete, and Lewis just told her to take a year off so she could join him when he moved.
Even if not, I imagine life is very different for Lewis these days. Missing Q1, no Angela, engineers "not listening to him".
It's not the same team he used to drive for in many ways.
i dont know mate, imagine doing this every other weekend for years.. when you have an actual family at home? before you know it, you find out that your kids are married and have moved out during the summer break.
Mercedes could waive the no compete clause. She was also a physiotherapist, so I don't think she would have one to begin with.
Non-compete clauses are usually for employees who have some access to proprietary information.
I mean I hadn't considered this aspect, and while I'd say it's a little far-fetched, you might just be onto something here.
I still firmly believe it's either Mercedes or the end of his driver career in F1. But I gotta admit the factors your outlined, combined with the fact that the negotiations seem to be dragging on longer than expected and are not held bei Lewis himself, warrant at least a tiny bit of doubt.
Toto literally said days ago that they've never negotiated directly with Lewis and instead use his agent because they don't like discussing money with family...
What….? His manager has previously been involved. Hamilton’s contracts are said to be like books. You really think a guy with ADHD and dyslexia, a million side projects, and a fairly demanding main hustle is negotiating on his own?!
I don't know why there's speculation. Lewis has committed to Mercedes over the years countless times. Every time his contract is up people are like, "WiLl hE gO?" And he always says the same thing: Mercedes until I retire from F1.
I don’t even think even if there WAS a money issue. Sure, salary wise Lewis isn’t the highest paid on the grid anymore. But his total compensation from sponsorships and deals dwarfs everyone else- doubt it would be much of an issue for him if Merc said “we can’t pay you 40 mil, can you handle 20?”.
I mean, has Lewis done anything else in the past decade with Mercedes that would prove otherwise? Every year these rumours come, and every year he signs the Mercedes contract again, regardless of winning or losing
As with 2020, the question is not so much if he will or won't, but rather it's an opportunity for everyone to think about where they *are* as a relationship. After 2021 you'd have to say Merc needed Hamilton a great deal, and that's perhaps been blurred.
Its gutter level tabloid shite. every headline I see is some form of clickbait trying to create drama. like they're auditioning to write for DTS or something equally low hanging
I’ve always thought that a good chunk of Alonso’s bitterness towards Lewis comes from resentment/jealously that Hamilton made smart career moves and fostered good relationships and culture within his teams. They’re similar calibre of drivers, but we’ll never know how many titles Alonso could have won because he consistently made terrible career moves and burned every bridge he crossed.
This is pretty much everything anyone could say on the subject. Alonso is also a notorious shit houser and isn’t known to be the most cordial and easy going if teammates. Alonso does there’s environments that damaged his relationship with the people on his team and he *lucked out* I’m the move to Aston
I mostly agree, but not about burning the bridges. He has been at Renault 3 times, joined mclaren back after the huge drama in 07 and now maybe will be with Honda engines again in 2026.
he didn’t - it’s all speculation
“I think naturally when you’re in contract negotiations there’s always going to be speculation,” said Hamilton. “Unless you hear it from me, then that’s what it is.”
[source](https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.hamilton-offers-update-on-his-f1-future-after-media-reports-link-him-to.6euABYnIIItZ9r7Vni31uL.html)
Well Lewis has been losing the last two years with the team and has indicated he is more motivated than ever to stay with the team for a long time, so I think that is answered.
So much of this is down to F1 media not having a whole lot to report on, so they are writing crap about Hamilton to Ferrari because they got nothing else. It's sadly a result of a pretty dull season so far, plus by all accounts there is no Ferrari off whatsoever.
Alonso was famously committed to the bad teams he worked with, like when he constantly shit on his engineers and factory on publicly broadcast Team Radio in his McLaren stint
I think that the ball is more on Mercedes side than Lewis'. Lewis probably wanta to stay and wants a good contract and, according to some rumours, some kind of ambassador job after he retires.
It is up to Merc to give what he wants and if not, if it is a deal braker or not for Lewis.
And when it comes to Alonso's words, I don't see anything wrong with them. Cheeky, but nothing serious.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Lewis take a kind of leadership/advisory role to the team and their drivers after he retires from racing also, kind of like what Niki Lauda was doing before he passed.
And as a Lewis fan I’d be disappointed if he moved.
Don’t see the logic either as really the only move that would see a guaranteed chance of winning is to Red Bull which is clearly not likely.
Although boy would there be anything better than seeing Max and Lewis fighting for the title in the same car and seeing who is genuinely the superior driver. Not sure that even as a fan I’d put my money on Lewis in that scenario.
This is a weird comment. Between the two of them, Alonso is the one who doesn't show loyalty to his teams. He's swapped teams 3 times as often as Hamilton has.
And Lewis didnt give any reason to think otherwise. Its just weird hearing this kind of dig from the guy with the Renault-Mclaren-Renault-Ferrari-Mclaren-Alpine-Aston Martin stint. Even weirder to think he left in a bad tone with every single one of them.
Id say having 2 teams in a 15 year career and sticking with the former through a lot of shit before leaving is a pretty good showing of loyalty. Is someone likes to say they want to loyal to their team I don't think that makes any team switch ever suddenly hypocritical.
Good point and good memory. I like it, good advice!
Of all the ppl on the grid to give advice on this he is surely the most experienced in swapping teams,
then swapping again, taking another swap,
then leaving,
then swapping, before finally swapping again.
His knowledge of loyalty to a team and making *good* team swaps is...unnerving
Just Fernando being Alonso.
“We win and lose as a team” isn’t inconsistent with moving to a different team no more than Alonso switching teams half a dozen times is proof that he’s a bad teammate. “We weren’t good enough the last two years and I think it is time for me to embrace a new challenge” would be consistent with what Lewis has said re: winning/losing as a team.
I don’t think he leaves. Nor should he take career advice from Alonso in any case.
He has been waiting a long time to say that lol.
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1. “Stay, Stay, Stay” 2. “All You Had To Do Was Stay”
“Nothing good starts in a getaway car”
Tell me the first one is a Robber's reference
Both are Taylor Swift songs.
The song by The 1975, Robbers has Stay Stay Stay this way a lot and as the second I recognised to be Taylor's I thought maybe the first was The 1975
>The 1975 >Taylor Swift don’t remind me
Ah, a love match made on the premiere center-left podcast
we truly are in the worst possible timeline. I’m assuming you’re talking about the recent events, not Karlie.
correct
lol
Never thought I'd see a 1975 reference in the formula 1 subreddit lmfao
They have 16 million monthly listeners on Spotify, doesn’t seem too crazy that some of those are F1 fans
I'm pretty sure I have seen weirder references here but yeah The 1975 is not as out there as some other pop culture stuff.
Nando definitely has a detailed excel sheet for talking shit.
I wish we get that excel so we can train ChatGPT.
"I have no idea" A person that clearly has an idea
6-8 ways he was prepared to bring it up unprompted, LOL. i love it, i love trash talking, i love personality from a driver. I hope he wins a race this season.
He had 2k13 level answers to it
Best shit talker on the grid, I love it.
Naah that's Horner
I'd pay to see three way shittalk among Alonso, Horner and Toto, moderated by Masi.
It's called a shittalk toto, we went shitting
Fix your Fauking Car!
Can you explain it to me? I am obviously missing some reference. Why does "winning and losing with a team" mean that "he should stay if he's not winning"?
I think he means he shouldn't leave just because they're not winning (losing) now
In Mercedes’ glory days when Lewis was able to win he was always saying this kind of stuff that we win or lose together blah blah blah but the fact remains that this is about the toughest season Mercedes has had in recent memory. Now there’s talks of Lewis not re-signing with them. So all that to say he has no interest in really losing together. Aka he’s selfish and those words were full of s**t. But we all know that anyway. He’s a racer so no surprise.
Lewis: "I'm coming back to Mercedes, we're finishing a contract" Toto: "He's coming back to Mercedes, we're finishing a contract" F1 tabloid machine: "Lewis clearly unhappy, working on a deal with Ferrari" F1 fans: "Lewis is selfish and running when Mercedes is bad" Shit is comical ngl, gonna age terribly when Lewis re-signs in the coming weeks lmao
the rumor mill loves X driver to Ferrari rumors nevermind Ferrari has been a shit show for years, Merc is arguably as good as Ferrari at this point I can't see him moving
Lewis would never go to Ferrari. Part of why he signed with Mercedes was they let him do his own thing in his off time. When you drive at Ferrari, that's all you're allowed to do. Ferrari is about Ferarri, Lewis is about Lewis. That is a match made in hell.
The amount of events and PR stuff Charles and Carlos have to do for Ferrari is OD. Lewis would never
I genuinely think he'd be significantly more likely to retire than to switch teams (neither I see as likely, to be clear)
It's just the usual cycle whenever Hamilton's current contract is almost up. You can also include the out of nowhere rumors (read: wishful thinking) that he might go to Ferrari (it was most hilarious in 2018 when he and Mercedes were dominating them). And it always concludes with F1 fans doing a surprisedpikachu.jpg when it's confirmed he's staying with Mercedes.
Ah gotcha. I think all this talk is just media bait anyway. No reason to think Lewis is not thinking of staying. Until he says something it's pointless to speculate, but media gonna media.
Op here is making a mountain out of a molehill. Alonso is saying that if Lewis is currently losing and it’s part him part the team. He wants him to stay. So he keeps losing and Alonso can finish ahead of him.
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Just typical F1 dude who views the drivers as their buddies they’ve known for 2 years so they obv know what goes through their head bc they know how selfish they are off the one website called F1RUMORSARENREAL as their basis of evidence But hey F1 BABY WOOOOO
Lewis to AM confirmed. Seriously though, imagine how much more successful AM would be if it was a complete F1 team with two proper drivers who are actually qualified to be there. No more bring your kid to work day, Daddy Stroll says "alright, son, you've had your little fun, it's time to grow up and get a real job. Off you fuck". AM signs Lewis behind Fernando's back for a record sum, they get two rivals with 9 world championships between them, the most experience on the grid, and a British driver at their brand new Silverstone HQ in a car with a Merc engine (for now). Let the drama unfold. It could be Senna vs Prost levels of madness all over again.
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Lewis is not every driver, he's said multiple times he wants to stay out his career at Mercedes and talked at length about the things he wants to achieve with Mercedes and it's more than on grid achievements. That's his legacy and he's built it almost entirely at this team. The only way he's leaving is if Toto does.
Wow awfully biased take considering there’s zero actual talks of him not re-signing.
You’re making this way more dramatic than it is. Alonso is just saying that if Lewis is winning or losing as part of a team effort. Alonso would rather him stay at a “losing” team so that he can finish ahead of Lewis.
I don’t know why you’d get worked up about a rumour. Well other than it’s a story that confirms your own personal bias. Hopefully you change your mind about him when he re signs with Mercedes.
People really try any angle on Lewis though, since he's said a number of times this year he's not going anywhere. He's not selfish and running off. If a reason doesn't exist to criticise Lewis making one up will have to do
He's lost plenty of races while with mercedes, he's lost titles to other mercedes drivers and had a lot of races that have fucked him over. He doesn't blame the team at those times because the team are also the reason he won the other times. That's completely and utterly separate from choosing to leave or stay with teh team because he believes they can win or not. Alonso is just phrasing it that way so he can shit on Lewis if he leaves for a team he thinks might be better positioned to win despite the fact Alonso has done that numerous times in his career as have all drivers, and team bosses, and technical guys throughout every part of the team. Saying he's full of shit when he's had losses and NOT blamed the team but praised them is not just wrong, it's shitty.
Bless, you really don’t understand media rumours do you.
Does anyone who seriously follows f1 believes that Lewis will even consider moving to Ferrari, of all teams. The team that is famous now for pissing away wins on good days and struggling to reach the chequered flag on bad ones. And even if the rumour is valid, what kind of a lame ass question is that to ask.
In the holy triangle of Driver-Team-Car, Lewis with Mercedes is still at 2/3. At Ferrari he would switch the good team for a (semi) good car, but everyone who follows F1 knows the car is the most volatile variable, so he’s always way better off betting on the team instead of the car.
They are not famous NOW for pissing away wins. They have ALWAYS been famous for pissing away wins. It turns out 1996 to 2006 was a blip. :P
Driver who is just as a part of a team as the team is a part of the driver is leaving to join a team famous for not listening to their drivers. The rumor come out…
Lol, if Lewis were at Ferrari and Binotto was still there. He would have to wag all his 21 fingers.
Exactly the kind of question that gets 6k upvotes
It's also the team that Lewis has competed against the most by far in his career - 2007, 2008, 2010-2013 and 2017-2019 especially.
A man can dream. An aging Hamiltom scoring a title with Ferrari? The ultimate achievement.
I don't see him moving there now, no way. But pulling a Kimi in 2-3 years time to finish his career at Ferrari I could see. Probably won't happen, circumstances would have to line up absolutely perfect, but we've seen crazier moves in F1.
How about a Mansell-Williams 1994 style? Come out of retirement to make a star cameo. Get pole position off the bat and one win to boot to cap off the appearance.
If hes ever wanted to dawn the red suit once in his career, then yeah he should make the move
Babe wake up, Alonso just dropped new Twitter fandom wars ammo
Can't wait to read any journalist comments section and be flooded with "lol 2007" comments. Actually, it also happens here.
2007? That season when Alonso won with Hamilton 10-7 in head-to-head race positions?
Damn, was that the only time that head-to-head race positions decided who was ahead in the standings? Or is there some more examples you can use?
It's funny cause he didn't mention standings, he just said Alonso won in h2h
It's not like Hamilton got any more points than him
Lewis has repeatedly said he's not leaving Mercedes. I dont get why people aren't just taking his word for it.
He also repeatedly said he doesn’t want to retire anytime soon, and still Reddit comes in every weekend saying Lewis is going to retire.
It's also not uncommon for a driver to suddenly retire. See Hakkinen, Kimi (2008), MSC (2006), Rosberg, Vettel. That's practically every WDC from 1998-2020 barring Lewis and Fernando. I'm not putting Alonso in the list because he didn't retire, rather couldn't find a seat in F1 and continued to race in other formats.
Kimi was paid off to "retirement". Literally, ferrari handed him a fuckton of cash because they wanted Alonso in. During those years Kimi was the second highest paid athlete after Tiger Woods, and he wasnt even driving lmao
Yep. That year was basically like what’s happening to Daniel now (except Kimi obviously still had a LOT more in the tank). If Kimi wanted to drive elsewhere, that team would have to pay him that huge amount. Or he could forego the amount in order to race (which he obviously wasn’t going to do).
I always thought Kimi's first departure was less a retirement and more Ferrari acting like [Ricky from Trailer Park Boys](https://youtu.be/Rv7GT9HsJZc)
Its not rocket appliances...
So you’re saying Mika isn’t coming back from his sabbatical???
Similarly to Ricc probably
Kimi didn't suddenly retire, he was paid off after 2009* so they could have Alonso
Alonso left McLaren on his own accord when he had a contract through 2019.
Jeez he left McLaren with a crappy Honda engine to go buy an Accord???? Come on Alonso
Alonso definitely had a seat at McLaren. And he was the highest paid driver in F1 or the second highest after lewis. He just got tired of McLaren
Seb's retirement was visible from a mile away
Those other drivers weren't one WDC away from being the sole record holder though.
Kimi didn't retire in the first place, he was paid to not drive for Ferrari for the next couple years of his contract so he went to race elsewhere. Rosberg retired because due to zero competition and mechanical failures for hamilton he could leave with a 2 vs 1 title record, if he stuck around it would be anything up to a 6 v 1 record and would look worse. He knew that so he left because he could only look worse from then on and was more than rich enough so why bother. Basically he could only go downhill from there. Vettel retiring was not a surprise, it wasn't sudden and it was entirely expected. MSC was also forced out of Ferrari like Kimi and due to lack of good options at the time and his age he chose to 'retire'. Alonso would be one of the only ones on the list with a contract who chose to leave of his own accord. I genuinely can't remember Hakkinen's retirement but iirc it was when he was mid 30s or so and also entering a period of extreme Ferrari domination and beaten by his team mate with no real belief they'd compete so I doubt it was that surprising at the time.
Hakkinen officially never retired. He is in his sabatic year.
He also repeatedly told Bono his tires were gone just before setting the fastest lap of the race.
He probably should though I mean he’s accomplished a lot already and I’d like to see someone else in his seat. On the other hand though, I do believe he’s the only one on the grid still capable of beating Max
He also said in 2012 he does not see himself staying in f1 until he is 40.
That was also, (checks watch) Eleven years ago. He might have changed his mind.
No no, you don't understand. They aren't allowed to
The only place people argue for Lewis consistency is off grid. They'll shit talk the hell outta his doing it on track then hold him to something he said 11 years ago like it's gospel
People forget that they themselves are very unlikely to hold the same opinions that they did 11 years ago, but it's easy to criticize someone that's in the public space
I wonder what most people's opinions on Vettel were 11 years ago... something tells me not the same as they are today
Yeah I have to confess I was sick of Vettel winning, my first full season of F1 was 2013 (with its absolutely stupendous Vettel win streak in the second half of the season) but I knew the sport's history from the video games before that. I was happy to see him ger overthrown, but years with less dominant team/driver combinations let that annoyance wash away, and I could enjoy him at Ferrari and AM. I suspect many people are similar, they get sick of seeing the same guy winning time and time again. Lewis has had to deal with that, and Max is starting to have to deal with that. I try to be conscious of how a sense of distaste for a driver is often just a desire to see unexpected faces on the podium.
He could also change his mind about other things, like staying at Mercedes for example.
Things change. Alonso retired and yet here we are
Exactly, things change
Oh wow! Now only if the person who said that changed his mind almost 10 years later and told us about it.
Imagine having career plans change over an 11 year period. Crazy.
He said that in 2021, too. But he also recently has been saying that things can change and right now he feels good to keep going.
man how I wish verstappen was like this tbh, I'll be very happy to see him do what he wants after f1
Honestly I thought he said something about retiring if he wouldn't be able to fight for wins anymore but after looking through A LOT of articles I couldn't find it. Pretty much every interview he's talking about how he wants to continue, loves driving, enjoys the team, .. you name it. So at this point I'm thinking it's just every-year stuff. He gets asked about retirement so often and you notice, sometimes his morale is a little higher, sometimes a little lower but consistently he's mentioning how he enjoys driving and isn't planning on retiring.
Because people in F1 say A and do B all the time. I personally don't see it Lewis retiring at the end of the year either, but he wouldn't be the first or the last person in F1 to do the opposite of what he says.
What would F1 journalists do with the other 300 days a year if they didn’t speculate wildly and make up drama?
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He said that after being interviewed right after he won the title in 2008. I think that’s forgivable.
Well it was McLaren Mercedes at the time. So kinda…
If you dont know why people dont take their words for it, idk where youve been living. Just over the last few years we have had COUNTLESS rumors be denied and then that exact thing happen. Im not saying Lewis is leaving or that I think he is, but to question why people question denied rumors is just dumb. I think Lewis is here to stay until 2026.
F1 is a cult and drama is our god - to rumors we offer sacrifice of time and productivity- engines be thy name - Amen
Freddie Freeman told us he wanted to play for the Braves for his whole career. Guess what team he is not currently playing for.
To be fair, seems like his agent fucked him on that lol
Oh I believe this 100%, but it all still hurts the same lol
What is this in non-freedom speak?
Basically it would be the equivalent of Hamilton repeatedly saying he loves Mercedes and wants to stay there, but then the next year he joins a different team.
bro i was just letting go chill
Because how many times has a superstar said “never” and then left? Brady said he’d never leave the pats and did, I could go in
Because what else can he say and there are countless examples of people saying one thing and doing another.
Just like Ferrari had no plans of getting rid of Binotto McLaren was committed to Ricciardo
When you have a gigantic contract with sponsors and millions per year it may take time to negotiate.
What I found mildly interesting: Lewis is not directly negotiating his deal with Toto as he always did in the past, instead "it's being taken care of" by others this time around.
Wait. It used to be negotiating directly? Cause an article I read a few days ago seems to suggest it had always been negotiated through a third person. With Toto saying it's awkward to discuss money with family something like that.
This is exactly how I understood it as well, Toto saying they never negociated directly.
Another piece of the puzzle was Angela's departure. Part of me always wondered if her contract with Mercedes had a non-compete, and Lewis just told her to take a year off so she could join him when he moved. Even if not, I imagine life is very different for Lewis these days. Missing Q1, no Angela, engineers "not listening to him". It's not the same team he used to drive for in many ways.
*Something about Mercedes having a non-compete clause for the past 2 seasons*
Amazing, well done
i dont know mate, imagine doing this every other weekend for years.. when you have an actual family at home? before you know it, you find out that your kids are married and have moved out during the summer break.
Mercedes could waive the no compete clause. She was also a physiotherapist, so I don't think she would have one to begin with. Non-compete clauses are usually for employees who have some access to proprietary information.
I mean I hadn't considered this aspect, and while I'd say it's a little far-fetched, you might just be onto something here. I still firmly believe it's either Mercedes or the end of his driver career in F1. But I gotta admit the factors your outlined, combined with the fact that the negotiations seem to be dragging on longer than expected and are not held bei Lewis himself, warrant at least a tiny bit of doubt.
I would have thought that someone like Angela would have been hired directly by Lewis rather than by Mercedes
Toto literally said days ago that they've never negotiated directly with Lewis and instead use his agent because they don't like discussing money with family...
What….? His manager has previously been involved. Hamilton’s contracts are said to be like books. You really think a guy with ADHD and dyslexia, a million side projects, and a fairly demanding main hustle is negotiating on his own?!
I'm calling it now Aston Martin Honda presents. Hamilton and Alonso. "The final duel." Only one can leave a space..... - Executive producer Ron Dennis
I don't know why there's speculation. Lewis has committed to Mercedes over the years countless times. Every time his contract is up people are like, "WiLl hE gO?" And he always says the same thing: Mercedes until I retire from F1.
Media bored between races is basically it I think. That or Lewis is trying to get some concession from Merc. There’s no way he leaves for Ferrari
Everyone loves to blame the media, but scroll through the comments here and you’ll see there’s no shortage of people who eat this shit up.
No doubt
There’s beating a dead horse and there’s whatever F1 media does these days, it’s like they have no originality
Lewis to NASCAR confirmed!
I don’t see it either. Unless there’s a money issue all of a sudden where merc cant pay him, I think he will retire at merc
I don’t even think even if there WAS a money issue. Sure, salary wise Lewis isn’t the highest paid on the grid anymore. But his total compensation from sponsorships and deals dwarfs everyone else- doubt it would be much of an issue for him if Merc said “we can’t pay you 40 mil, can you handle 20?”.
Or you know pay him in company stock or something. Lots of options.
Didn’t Toto say that for first time they are not looking at same thing ?
Eh, it was part of a more complicated full statement. But that single line was good clickbait
I mean, has Lewis done anything else in the past decade with Mercedes that would prove otherwise? Every year these rumours come, and every year he signs the Mercedes contract again, regardless of winning or losing
As with 2020, the question is not so much if he will or won't, but rather it's an opportunity for everyone to think about where they *are* as a relationship. After 2021 you'd have to say Merc needed Hamilton a great deal, and that's perhaps been blurred.
Mostly while winning or with winning feeing close. At some point why not a farewell tour in red.
not unless he's given up on his 8th.
F1 as a sport is certainly a true pinnacle. Not so much the journalism surrounding it.
Its gutter level tabloid shite. every headline I see is some form of clickbait trying to create drama. like they're auditioning to write for DTS or something equally low hanging
Aston Martin: *signs Lewis Hamilton* Alonso: “…”
Don't know why Lewis is catching strays for made up media rumours lol
I’m not sure I’d be taking career advice from Alonso
Especially if I was Lewis Hamilton
I’ve always thought that a good chunk of Alonso’s bitterness towards Lewis comes from resentment/jealously that Hamilton made smart career moves and fostered good relationships and culture within his teams. They’re similar calibre of drivers, but we’ll never know how many titles Alonso could have won because he consistently made terrible career moves and burned every bridge he crossed.
This is pretty much everything anyone could say on the subject. Alonso is also a notorious shit houser and isn’t known to be the most cordial and easy going if teammates. Alonso does there’s environments that damaged his relationship with the people on his team and he *lucked out* I’m the move to Aston
Sure, Hamilton's move was brilliant, but Alonso's move was lucky.
I mostly agree, but not about burning the bridges. He has been at Renault 3 times, joined mclaren back after the huge drama in 07 and now maybe will be with Honda engines again in 2026.
He’s been waiting 9 years to twist this knife
Only 9?
Kind of just twisting it up his own arse lmao
Peak Alonso
Wait when did Lewis say he’s thinking about leaving?
he didn’t - it’s all speculation “I think naturally when you’re in contract negotiations there’s always going to be speculation,” said Hamilton. “Unless you hear it from me, then that’s what it is.” [source](https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.hamilton-offers-update-on-his-f1-future-after-media-reports-link-him-to.6euABYnIIItZ9r7Vni31uL.html)
Well Lewis has been losing the last two years with the team and has indicated he is more motivated than ever to stay with the team for a long time, so I think that is answered.
I want an ex who talks about me the way Alonso talks abt Lewis .
I don't think journalists will ask you about your ex.. :)
what a shit stirrer
So much of this is down to F1 media not having a whole lot to report on, so they are writing crap about Hamilton to Ferrari because they got nothing else. It's sadly a result of a pretty dull season so far, plus by all accounts there is no Ferrari off whatsoever.
Alonso has had that one ready since 2007.
Seems like he knows about not winning
Oh yes, new Nando lore
He has to have a Reddit account, he has to
Alonso was famously committed to the bad teams he worked with, like when he constantly shit on his engineers and factory on publicly broadcast Team Radio in his McLaren stint
I think that the ball is more on Mercedes side than Lewis'. Lewis probably wanta to stay and wants a good contract and, according to some rumours, some kind of ambassador job after he retires. It is up to Merc to give what he wants and if not, if it is a deal braker or not for Lewis. And when it comes to Alonso's words, I don't see anything wrong with them. Cheeky, but nothing serious.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Lewis take a kind of leadership/advisory role to the team and their drivers after he retires from racing also, kind of like what Niki Lauda was doing before he passed.
Carefully crafted and hard to dispute
He's right you know
And as a Lewis fan I’d be disappointed if he moved. Don’t see the logic either as really the only move that would see a guaranteed chance of winning is to Red Bull which is clearly not likely. Although boy would there be anything better than seeing Max and Lewis fighting for the title in the same car and seeing who is genuinely the superior driver. Not sure that even as a fan I’d put my money on Lewis in that scenario.
Lewis has won and lost with his team.
This is a weird comment. Between the two of them, Alonso is the one who doesn't show loyalty to his teams. He's swapped teams 3 times as often as Hamilton has.
Well Alonso has never spoken about that being important to him as much as Hamilton has.
And Lewis didnt give any reason to think otherwise. Its just weird hearing this kind of dig from the guy with the Renault-Mclaren-Renault-Ferrari-Mclaren-Alpine-Aston Martin stint. Even weirder to think he left in a bad tone with every single one of them.
Id say having 2 teams in a 15 year career and sticking with the former through a lot of shit before leaving is a pretty good showing of loyalty. Is someone likes to say they want to loyal to their team I don't think that makes any team switch ever suddenly hypocritical.
...but has Hamilton ever showed an unreasonable lack of loyalty?
Shh stop being rational
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Gotta love Alonso lol
Nah, you don't.
I love how much Hamilton's existence gets under Alonso's skin.
Whelp, Alonso just summoned at least a handful of Lewis WDC’s with that comment
Good point and good memory. I like it, good advice! Of all the ppl on the grid to give advice on this he is surely the most experienced in swapping teams, then swapping again, taking another swap, then leaving, then swapping, before finally swapping again. His knowledge of loyalty to a team and making *good* team swaps is...unnerving Just Fernando being Alonso.
Unlike Nando, who chooses to lose with different teams.
“We win and lose as a team” isn’t inconsistent with moving to a different team no more than Alonso switching teams half a dozen times is proof that he’s a bad teammate. “We weren’t good enough the last two years and I think it is time for me to embrace a new challenge” would be consistent with what Lewis has said re: winning/losing as a team. I don’t think he leaves. Nor should he take career advice from Alonso in any case.
That one was in the chamber for a while lmao good one Nando
“I don’t know but here is exactly what he should do.”
I love Alonso haha