Eddie Jordan predicted Hamilton to Ferrari just 10 days ago https://f1-insider.com/en/formula1/formula-1-news-eddie-jordan-hamilton-will-move-to-ferrari/
I think he was talking to Ferrari and decided not to. With Toto at Merc and the new rules delayed I cant see Hamilton leaving for another couple of years. Anyone for a Surprise return to Ferrari for Raikkonen for a season?
I see Ferrari recruiting an understudy to CLC - He's clearly the real deal, and I can't see him being a no.2. I'm not a fan, so I'm probably a little biased, but Vettel's options are probably severely limited. Those four WDCs won't mean a great deal in contract negotiations any more - I think he's rinsed that for all it's worth over the last six years, and I don't think he's distinguished himself enough over younger, cheaper drivers to be an attractive option. Plus his penchant for hissy fits will count against him.
Shame I was looking forward to seeing him getting annihilated by leclerc this year and I'm sure it's more about him becoming the number 2 than money. I don't know if he will walk away, he's stubborn enough to hang around and try and prove he's still got it. If mercedes jnr or Renault offer him a seat it might be tempting. I wouldn't be surprised if Lewis went to Ferrari, I wouldn't be surprised if he stayed at Merc. He really can't lose as leclerc is still on a steep learning curve, even with all that natural talent and Lewis would likely come out the victor when mind games come into play and Mercedes don't seem like the team to take a severe wrong tune in development of the new reg cars. Ferrari might though.
Well that writing's been on the wall since Sochi, at least they've all acknowledged it now. I reckon it will be Sainz or Ricciardo, which is why Seb has offer from Renault and Mclaren, they're both trying to pull a driver swap. My bet is Ricciardo in the end, Renault don't seem to know if they're going to take F1 seriously or not, Ricciardo really, really wants to be champion and he's pretty bulletproof under pressure. If Ferrari make him a low-ish ball offer but promise a fair stab at the title (beat Leclerc, we support you, don't beat Leclerc, do as we tell you) he'll be there in a flash. I don't think Ferrari will define a number 1 and 2 between Leclerc and whoever comes next. It'll be the first time since 2007 they've had two drivers who aren't already a champion driving and they'll let the two of them sort it out like Kimi and Felipe did. Hamilton or Alonso would be very surprising to me. I don't see Hamilton turning his back on the Mercedes crew like that, some of them have been with him since 2007 and I doubt Ferrari woul take them on. Alonso's got his eye on Indy and other stuff that's more fun.
I think when he crashed in Germany 2018... the writing was on the wall then imo. That was when the penny seemed to drop he wasn't winning another title and/or winning one with/for Ferrari. It's been pretty much downhill for him since then.
Be amusing if Riccardo signs for McLaren, Renault decide to take a French driver because French so he ends up at Alfa with Kimmi.
Well given he has 3 kids... doubtful... and [imo] his current slump started long before sprog #3 happened.
I'm expecting retirement and/or dicking about in GT3 and prototypes. First kid came shortly before the 2014 season... dun dun duuuuhhhhh!!!
Seb was alaways error prone especially wheel to wheel racing and made a meal of winning titles even where the car clearly better. Alonso/Ferrari had no business being contenders yet he somehow dragged the car into contention. The Red Bull was formidable during that title run. 2018 when Ferrari had the better car for most of the season both him and the team screwed up what should have been a Ferrari championship. Yes Raikkonen wasnt spectacular but was still solid while Bottas was nowhere for Merc. Hamilton dragged and beat that merc into submission to win that title. His lack of form came from that crash in Germany. That snowballed into more and more errors eg spin at Imola as merc improved and he came under more scrutiny before Leclerc arrived and went toe to toe further increasing the scrutiny and pressure. For me he has always been on par with Hill or Villeneuve. Good driver who happened to be in the right car at the right time but ultimately needed to be undisputed number one otherwise he would start to crack under pressure. I will say in his defence that he likes a certain driving style that the blown double diffuser afforded. The change in Regs for the turbo era and loosing the rear downforce it afforded seems to impacted him harder than most other drivers
Planet F1 thinks Sainz is set to sign in the next 48hours https://www.planetf1.com/news/carlos-sainz-ferrari-4/
