I've heard Mercedes has some major upgrades but for Monaco now, as you said won't show much at that track!
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2023 Formula 1 Season thread
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I've heard Mercedes has some major upgrades but for Monaco now, as you said won't show much at that track!
Honda back in 2026 as AMR's Works PU Supplier. Exciting times. Should be interesting to to see how RBRE fairs without any Honda Support. 
Honda back in 2026 as AMR's Works PU Supplier. Exciting times. Should be interesting to to see how RBRE fairs without any Honda Support.
I have a feeling they will do okay since they have been developing their own engine for years and it should be fully ready by the time 2026 rolls around.
Just in time for Monaco, the F1 rumor mill is starting to stir with a claim that Scuderia Ferrari is willing to offer Lewis Hamilton a multi-year contract at GBP 40 million a year either to replace Carlos Sainz or as a swap with LeClerc going to AMG Mercedes to partner with George.
Lewis' current contract with AMG Mercedes expires at the end of this season and rumors say that AMG has offered him the same GBP 40 million (plus incentives) to remain with the team through the end of the 2025 season.
In the past, Lewis has said he would like to end his F1 career with the Prancing Horse, but if he still wants to win an 8th WDC, I think AMG might be the best place to try and do so.
Lewis' current contract with AMG Mercedes expires at the end of this season and rumors say that AMG has offered him the same GBP 40 million (plus incentives) to remain with the team through the end of the 2025 season.
In the past, Lewis has said he would like to end his F1 career with the Prancing Horse, but if he still wants to win an 8th WDC, I think AMG might be the best place to try and do so.
I’d be happy for Lewis to go there for his last year in the sport to get it on his CV, I couldn’t cheer for him there though. He’s still capable of winning titles though so I think it’s a bit early for him to be thinking about Ferrari at this stage. He’s best off where he is, especially for Allison back in charge of technical development. I’d rather he ended his career in a British team personally and the only 2 capable to develop consistently in this era are Red Bull and Mercedes. He doesn’t need the cash either.
I agree with some of your points. I think the fact that Lewis won’t be about the paycheck with this tends to point to a Lewis/Charles swap, if this is serious.
Lewis has always made statements that he would like to drive for Ferrari throughout his career. Toto has also been giving off signals in his interest in Charles.
I don’t see the hunger in his eyes for #8 anymore. Deep down inside I believe he wants to devote much more time to Mission 44.
I could see 2yrs at Ferrari at 40 million GBP, check of that last F1 WC Drivers Team Box, then dedicate his energies to Mission 44.
I think once we see the direction the W14 is going after the summer break will be critical for Lewis.
But LeClerc ? Even though I root for them I personally find both Ferrari drivers underwhelming and while #16 may be faster than #55 they both are prone to stupid mistakes. I think Merc would be trading down.
I'd think Ferrari would be the winner/welcome the trade because I'd assume that Lewie could be very helpful in development, no?
I don’t think it helps both drivers at Ferrari that they haven’t had a team behind them that have been able to maintain development and the decision makers have been appalling in the last decade. Neither driver has experience of challenging for a world championship and the pressure that comes with that, so naturally will make errors from time to time. When they are in a position to possibly win a race they appear out of their comfort zone and I do think LeClerc has potential to be a champion. He kept Verstappen honest pre-F1 and it’s always been said he’s a top talent. Ferrari lacks the support unfortunately. A switch to Mercedes for Charles would be more beneficial than it would be Lewis going the other way IMO.
It used to be a privilege to drive for Ferrari but it does feel like Ferrari should feel privileged to have had such great drivers in Raikkonen, Alonso, Vettel and the newer talents yet haven’t been able to provide a championship winning car since 2008.
It would be nothing but a wealth top-up and another prestigious marque on his cv to join McLaren and Mercedes. I could see him going to Ferrari in 2 or 3 years time and hope for an Alonso style comeback, but realistically he’s still fit and capable enough for titles so I think Mercedes is his best bet right now. He has the support of Toto and the board and quite rightly so after all he’s delivered.
The question is, would Ferrari still want Lewis in a few years (8th WDC or not) when he is winding down his career?
My guess is that they want him now because they believe he has that drive for an 8th WDC and hope that he would be able to pull the team together like Michael did when he arrived (and as they expected Seb to do when they hired him) and get their collective acts together so they can legitimately challenge for wins and WDCs again.
Michael didn’t pull that Ferrari team together on his own though. Jean Todt was the manager who poached the likes of Byrne and later on Brawn to join Michael and it took a further 3-4 years of team building to get that team great. Irvine doesn’t get the credit he deserves in that equation either, possibly because of his outspoken behaviour since leaving them. Ferrari need more than Lewis to get back to the top IMO. They’d need more than a prime Michael Schumacher too!
If you look at Alonso now at 41 who is 3 years older than Lewis and still top of his game, I don’t see why Lewis couldn’t be as fit and sharp at that age.
Besides bringing Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne (just like Andrian Newey, a very good car designer back then), Ferrari had:
- their own private test track for unlimited testing
- their own custom made Bridgestone tyres 100% made for Ferrari (which is why everybody jumped to Michelin as soon as they could, as it was completely unfair riding tyres designed for the Ferrari car)
Expecting Seb and Lewis to repeat what Michael did at Ferrari is not realistic, giving the huge advantages Ferrari had over everybody else.
- their own private test track for unlimited testing
- their own custom made Bridgestone tyres 100% made for Ferrari (which is why everybody jumped to Michelin as soon as they could, as it was completely unfair riding tyres designed for the Ferrari car)
Expecting Seb and Lewis to repeat what Michael did at Ferrari is not realistic, giving the huge advantages Ferrari had over everybody else.
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Don’t forget they got paid more than everyone else back then as well in their ‘special relationship’.
Optimal fuel mix from Shell until regs changed that. Special relationships with Max Mosley also helped, especially when Di Montezemolo was threatening to leave every season lol.
So starting this year, Free Practice 1 and 2 will be on Friday for Monaco instead of Thursday. The reason given is that with Monaco now (normally) directly following another race, holding FP1 and FP2 on Thursday as in the past would not provide sufficient time for the teams to transit and set-up.
Mixed bag from FP1 and 2. Ferrari looked strong in both, with Max coming back in FP2 after a weak FP1. The usual suspects (RBR, Ferrari, Aston, AMG) rotated amongst the Top 10.
It was interesting to watch the drivers spend most of P1 adjusting to the new camber in the track from the repaving. Many were commenting on having to relearn the track in P1.
IMO, Max was the best example of this. You could see him really searching and testing all of P1. Spent the break racing the track in his mind, came out P2 tried his adjustments and went from P6 to P1.
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Lewis was third in FP1 and sixth in FP2. Russel was nowhere in either (15th and 12th). But then, Monaco is not really a track to show off the benefits of any new bits. For that, we will need Barcelona next weekend.
Also agreed. Monaco is my least favourite race weekend.
Yeap they turned an underground section on their site into an engine R and D place. New engine will be ready for the new engine regs in a few years.
I do hope they manage to push sustainable fuels. Otherwise the sport will be forced to go electric!