Zoxxo

That's nonsense. The European and British F1 press is so chock full of alarmists and instigators... In fact, today Nico made it clear that if he had NOT taken the championship he would NOT have quit. He has ticked all the boxes on his racing checklist and now he's on to the rest of his life. This is really not hard to understand.

David Coulthard made it abundantly clear in his article (see link above). Button and Massa have said exactly the same recently. You reach a point in life where even Formula One (gasp!) gets to be just another PITA and a "who needs this s**t?" item. There is more to life than even F1.

Does Nico think that Hamilton is better than he is? YES! He has said so on many occasions. This is not news to him or anyone else. Again, see Coulthard's article that I linked up above. For these despicable media louts to try and turn it into something it's not is par for the course. Then again, it's the BRITISH press louts saying all this BS. Big surprise.

Also, the idea the Wolff *has* to find someone who can challenge Hamilton is also nonsense. He just has to find someone who, given a world-beating car, can be sure to finish SECOND to Hamilton most of the time and ensure another constructor's championship.

Never forget that Sky is owned by Rupert Murdock. You should be able to follow the breadcrumb trail from there :-)

Zoxxo

They could be bought. And I'll bet that Alonso could bring a performance clause into play if he wanted to. If the old, truly competitive Fernando is still in him, he'd offer to do it for free and then Merc could dangle Rosberg money in front of Ojjeh and the McLaren board

Z//

VetteDrmr

That was the stupidest article title I saw out of this. Nico had just BEAT Hamilton, and now Rosberg is so intimidated by Hamilton as to quit? Nah, it was a much deeper decision than that. Are Hamilton and Rosberg trading Christmas letters? I doubt it, but that's a LONG way from having Hamilton so in Rosberg's head as to make him quit.

Have a good one,
Mike

Zoxxo

Wolff on replacing Nico:

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/wo...er-856691/?s=1

Z//

Nowanker

Other than by force, nobody can make you do anything.

VetteDrmr

This is getting fun...


http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/38219533

BierGut

I would like to see it for one reason... I do not want to see LH comfortable in any way and signing FA would certainly do that. From FA getting equal to more press (which would drive LH nuts) to making LH have to show up all in each practice, qualifying and race. I'm just hoping Red Bull can field a car to drive LH and whoever his teammate is crazy.

Zoxxo

My, we do think alike, don't we?

In my universe, it looks like this:

1. Fernando is Hamilton's teammate.
2. Hamilton finds that Fernando is more than a match for his a** and Merc has no choice but to demote him to #2 driver.
3. Red Bull's car is a match for the Merc but it is soooo not to Verstappen's liking that Ricciardo is the only competitor for FA.
4. LH is forced to deal with Verstappen race after race after race over third place.
5. Fernando takes the championship with Ricciardo second. (I like Ricciardo but the rest of Red Bull can take a flying leap.)



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Zoxxo

Most of the news media omits a *very* key element in how this will shake out - what Bernie wants. As I pointed out previously... if we assume that Merc holds onto it's current tech superiority through these 2017 car/tire spec changes then there are two scenarios for how the season will go:

1. Like the past three years with Merc trouncing everyone but at least providing some entertainment within the team

or

2. Hamilton will sail off into the distance making for the same boredom we all endured while watching Vettel do it 4 years straight (and Schumacher 5 years straight.)

Let's all put on our thinking caps and see if we can figure out which way Bernie would like this to turn out, shall we?

And Bernie can provide both carrots and sticks to herd everyone to his way of thinking. He's made a lot of people rich in that paddock so very few are in a position to cross his wishes. Very few people would give King Midas a lot of lip.

Here's another good read on this topic - one that *does* get the Bernie angle.

http://www.pitpass.com/58050/Mercede...nt-in-the-room

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BierGut

THAT, right there, would be perfect! Ah! I suppose we can dream...

thebishman

A dream from a LH hater is all it is.

BierGut

Yes, and I am not alone.

Zoxxo

The numbers are legion.

Fanboys the world over bemoan the facts that most folks will never come around to (a) unanimity, and/or (b) their world view, and/or (c) reverence for their petty, self-worshiping gods.

Z//

Moto One

Just speculation; What if the "New Regulation" MB has already shown that it's not the Hot Rod of past efforts? The rules change could produce changes to Top Dog Ride.

Mark

VetteDrmr

And then there are those of us (well, at least one) that think LH is neither the god of all motorracing nor the spawn of Satan. But that he is an excellent driver in an excellent car with an obsession of winning. Is he going to be a legend? Who knows? Does he have a world-class ego? Of course. Does he do stupid things because of his ego? Sure.

But, in the world of competitive events, that's not necessarily a small population set, either.

Have a good one,
Mike

Nowanker

That pretty much sums it up. In any field of fame and talent the chances of encountering an oversized ego are great.
And get those brown f*ckin' M&Ms out of my dressing room right now!

VetteDrmr

Zoxxo

Of course, but "already shown" isn't possible since first testing happens:

Test 1 2017 27-28 Feb 1-2 March
Test 2 2017 7-8-9-10 March

Both at Barcelona.

Until then there is no way for the teams to know just what they have outside of computer simulations. And even that only tells you what *you* have and offers no way to measure yourself against the other teams.

But yes, it could be a big surprise happens at Barcelona with one team interpreting the rules in a way that both passes legal muster and thumps the competition (see Brawn and the blown diffuser.) Until then...

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Zoxxo

I don't think he's this, I just think he's a 4-star jacka** aiming for 5.

No! Not "of course". There are, and have been, plenty of successful/champion F1 drivers who weren't/aren't operating with a dearth of class. He claims that all he wants is "parity" but apparently only HE gets to decide what that means, when "parity" has been broken (a physics ref for y'all ) and then complain publicly about how the powers are aligning against him.

I can't enough for that baloney.

Z//