Hamilton Signs on the dotted line for Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton is to leave McLaren after signing to race for Mercedes from next season.

The move, predicted by BBC Sport's Eddie Jordan earlier this month, will be announced on Friday, causing huge repercussions throughout Formula 1.

It has forced Michael Schumacher out of Mercedes but it it is not clear whether the German legend will go back into retirement or look for another team.

Sauber driver Sergio Perez has signed as Hamilton's replacement at McLaren.

Hamilton's decision is a huge blow to McLaren, who will now have to do without the speed and inspirational talent of a man they have nurtured since he was 13 years old.

And it is a correspondingly massive coup for Mercedes, who have struggled since returning to the sport as a team owner in 2010 by buying the then world champion Brawn team.

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/19755236

Mclaren are in serious trouble. They've got 2 very similar drivers who rely on tyre strategy and do not have the out and out speed.

The RedBulls won't be as poor next season, Renault are on the up, Ferrari as well and Mercedes have Ross Brawn and an amazing factory behind them.

This could be the beginning of the end

Sorry I think Hamilton is making a massive mistake.

Mercedes have had the benefit of Ross Brawns 'amazing' factory as well as the input of a certain 7 time world champion and what does the team have to show for it? 1 victory in 3 years.

Lewis wants to become world champion but I cannot see it coming at Mercedes. I still believe Mclaren will be the better team next season.

I kind of agree with both of you.

Lewis never looked to be able to win the wdc at mclaren, not since 2008 when Ron was TP. And although Merc at the mo isnt looking that promising for the wdc, the situation for lewis isnt that much different regarding the wdc.

As long as MW is at Mclaren Lewis will be held back. I say good on him for giving something different a go.

As for Mclaren, I think Perez could do well, he can be fast whilst looking after his tyres. But his style does differ from Buttons and we all know the car will be developed arount button, so something has to give.

I agree with you harryspiv but I believe he has been forced out of Mclaren. In the long term, this may be the best move for him.

In the short term, it is a big mistake for Mclaren and Hamilton

You are forgetting Ross Brawn eventually gets it right and pulls the ace out of his sleeve when its needed. Sergio Perez will be a very interesting replacement for Lewis, the Mexican I think will rival Vettel and Alonso for the future.

Belgarion of Riva wrote:I agree with you harryspiv but I believe he has been forced out of Mclaren. In the long term, this may be the best move for him.

Couldnt agree more. By offering Lewis less money, MW knew he'd move. Why would he be paid less than Button? So this has forced Lewis' hand to move.

No Loyalty from Mclaren.

Its good to have a fresh start for Lewis.

And everyone said Eddie Jordan knows nothing
so that's Schumi's return and Hamilton's move he's got right now.

brilliant move for Lewis. new fresh challenge and environment to thrive in and working under brawn will be a fantastic partnership. Perez will destroy button.

John wrote: Perez will destroy button.

That would make my season

Everyone is saying this is a bad move by Mclaren but now they have 2 tyre conservative drivers so it's easy to build a car around the pair of them that they can both be competitive in

Is Perez a tyre conservative driver though or is it a result of Sauber being forced to use that strategy to become competitive over the last two years. Give Perez the machinery then he can showcase his undeniable speed and ability and not be recognised as a very good tyre conserving driver.

Button being beaten by Perez would be hilarious and actually more than likely next season. Just wonder if McLaren will have the consistancy in Button ans Perez to perform like Hamilton did every weekend in gaining wins and podiums.

John wrote:Is Perez a tyre conservative driver though or is it a result of Sauber being forced to use that strategy to become competitive over the last two years. Give Perez the machinery then he can showcase his undeniable speed and ability and not be recognised as a very good tyre conserving driver.

Button being beaten by Perez would be hilarious and actually more than likely next season. Just wonder if McLaren will have the consistancy in Button ans Perez to perform like Hamilton did every weekend in gaining wins and podiums.

That is where Mclaren will struggle. Hamilton always fights for wins or podiums, JB is either winning or trundling about doing nothing.

Whitmarsh should lose his job for this, if I got rid of our most valuable asset, I would lose my job.

Customer engines for the Mclaren from now on, fantastic

Well Kamui struggles on his tyres and he's an aggressive driver so id say his quite good on his tyres. If giving the right car there is no reason why he can't be in the title race next season.

I think Mclaren are settling him in getting used to the team before Button retires and someone else becomes his no.2

Also Vodaphone are leaving Mclaren to be replaced by Perez's Telcel sponsors

Yer I think Carlos Slim had a significant role to play in this deal with McLaren. Still surprised Ferrari let him go to McLaren, would not surprise me if they have a 'buy back' clause in a few years for him though once he's developed.

Still in shock really about Hamilton. I don't think it was really a tough decision for Lewis to leave Whitmarsh. I mean it's a no brainer Whitmarsh or Brawn

In terms of the view that Hamilton was somewhat 'pushed', does anyone think that he felt let down a bit this season?

He's been very quick when he's had the car but there have been a number of things that seem to have disgruntled him this season like pit-stop failures, car failures, preferential treatment of Button (I think) etc.

Singapore was the final nail in the coffin maybe. Quickest man on the track by an absolute mile, cruising to another p1 and his car fails him.

Hamilton just seems to be the polar opposite of Vettel luckwise.

He would of been in the lead of the WDC if it did not take Sam Michael half a season sort the pit crew out. Easily lost upto 40 points in the pits this season. The diabolical and embarrasing fuel error in Barcelona cost him 25 points and the Singapore failure another 25, i'm sure there's more examples throughout the season. He's simply had enough.

People seem to think leaving McLaren is a huge mistake but I dont see how it is. McLaren provide great cars but they are experts and fouling up there drivers at any cost and persisting with this ridiculous equal driver status which is not suited to F1. Ferrari understand that and so do Red Bull, sadly McLaren don't. Just because Mercedes have been uncompetitive means nothing ahead of next season. F1 is about cycles and there is a strong possibility that Mercedes will be a place to offer Lewis championships in the future, I mean Ross Brawn was the last mastermind to bring home a championship before the Red Bull domination.......but people seem to forget that fact.

Cant belive some of the tosh, forced out ?

He has left because of mistakes made by Mclaren and wants the fastest car.

He has has a competitive car with them every year bar one so i think its a bad move, he has never had to battle a poor car like oher drivers have. Perez will be chomping at the bit to start in a mclaren..

As a ferrari fan im disappointed we are not replacing Massa wuh Perez for net year.

A competitive care where he still being unable to win due to other factors - pit stops, or bad strategy for example.

Whats the point in a competitive car when the team are making errors etc. He wont be any worse off at Merc if the team back him, dont make pit errors or strategy errors, but the car isnt fast enough.

Great news... for Perez. Cannot wait to see him in a competitive car next season.

Anyone else feel sorry for Nico?

TopHat24/7 wrote:

Singapore was the final nail in the coffin maybe. Quickest man on the track by an absolute mile, cruising to another p1 and his car fails him.

Hamilton just seems to be the polar opposite of Vettel luckwise.

As if Vettel has not had bad luck before..

And Lewis had a very quick qual, but in he race It was tight with Vettel he was never more than 1.5 seconds behind and with Lewis being told to watch his tires indicating he was pushing hard..

So hardly a mile..

Lewis has not been perfect, this season he has had alot of bad luck.. But last couple seasons he has also made mistakes and his lack of composure has cost him..

Redbull took over the last couple seasons speed wise but mclaren have always been there or here abouts..

If s a toss of a coin for lewis and he may live to regret it and see Perez go on to win a title.

Gregers wrote:Great news... for Perez. Cannot wait to see him in a competitive car next season.

Anyone else feel sorry for Nico?

Why? Youre not the first ive heard say that. But why?

I mean, Nico could benefit from Lewis being on the team in regards to development. After all, neither Michael nor Nico have obviously being able to improve the current car... either that or they cant progress the current car any further.

Nico and Lewis are ex team mates so should get on well together.

Lewis will be bringing vital information to Mercedes regarding the development of the 2013 car too. Lewis would of seen the early development and the route McLaren are going down for next season, which is another important factor.

Ross Brawn would not attempt and later succeed in bringing a driver of Hamilton's ability to a team that would not be having a significant improvement to their car. Financially it's a huge deal and I think the Mercedes bosses have backed the deal and have been told by Ross Brawn that this season has been all about understanding the tyres and developing a competitive car for 2013 and onwards where Lewis can perform. They've already bought a new exhaust system similar to McLaren's and I'm sure there will be a complete rethink of the double drs system which completely plagued their 2012 season.

To rule out Mercedes winning a title next season is stupid. F1 superiority can turn in an instant. Add in 2014 engine regulations and there is a considerable amount of positives that can be found at Mercedes.

tunes666 wrote:

TopHat24/7 wrote:

Singapore was the final nail in the coffin maybe. Quickest man on the track by an absolute mile, cruising to another p1 and his car fails him.

Hamilton just seems to be the polar opposite of Vettel luckwise.

As if Vettel has not had bad luck before..

And Lewis had a very quick qual, but in he race It was tight with Vettel he was never more than 1.5 seconds behind and with Lewis being told to watch his tires indicating he was pushing hard..

So hardly a mile..

Lewis has not been perfect, this season he has had alot of bad luck.. But last couple seasons he has also made mistakes and his lack of composure has cost him..

Redbull took over the last couple seasons speed wise but mclaren have always been there or here abouts..

If s a toss of a coin for lewis and he may live to regret it and see Perez go on to win a title.

Half a second is a mile in F1.

And Vettel, despite one or two moments this season, has always been tremendously lucky. Everything always seems to fall in his favour. Take Monaco a season ago or so, he'd set his Q3 time and Hamilton looked hot as hell and had an excellent chance of beating him but someone goes and crashes and Q3 is cancelled, costing Hamilton and (being Monaco) handing it on a plate to Vettel.

I also think Mosley's FIA have always favoured their perfect Aryan Vettell to council estate upstart Hamilton.

Gold digger

Really??? honestly!?

So he should have stayed with a team like Mclaren and all the going ons. Instead of going elsewhere. The extra cash was a bonus.

sad to see Perez go to Mclearn as i wanted him at Ferrari but then again its a great seat for him and wish him the best.

now i can see Schmui being offered a seat at Ferrari for one year till Vettel joins (if he joins in 2014)

with Massa replacing Perez at Sauber

Massa will sign a new contract at Ferrari. MS will retire, again.

I think MS will retire also. Massa would be good at Sauber.

TopHat24/7 wrote:

tunes666 wrote:

TopHat24/7 wrote:

Singapore was the final nail in the coffin maybe. Quickest man on the track by an absolute mile, cruising to another p1 and his car fails him.

Hamilton just seems to be the polar opposite of Vettel luckwise.

As if Vettel has not had bad luck before..

And Lewis had a very quick qual, but in he race It was tight with Vettel he was never more than 1.5 seconds behind and with Lewis being told to watch his tires indicating he was pushing hard..

So hardly a mile..

Lewis has not been perfect, this season he has had alot of bad luck.. But last couple seasons he has also made mistakes and his lack of composure has cost him..

Redbull took over the last couple seasons speed wise but mclaren have always been there or here abouts..

If s a toss of a coin for lewis and he may live to regret it and see Perez go on to win a title.

Half a second is a mile in F1.

And Vettel, despite one or two moments this season, has always been tremendously lucky. Everything always seems to fall in his favour. Take Monaco a season ago or so, he'd set his Q3 time and Hamilton looked hot as hell and had an excellent chance of beating him but someone goes and crashes and Q3 is cancelled, costing Hamilton and (being Monaco) handing it on a plate to Vettel.

I also think Mosley's FIA have always favoured their perfect Aryan Vettell to council estate upstart Hamilton.

Yea he was lucky losing that second place in Germany, that win by a country mile in Valencia. Getting punted out by an HRT in Malaysia. I take it he will be lucky if he wins his third consecutive title as well?

More often than not Vettel has had fortune favour him, the opposite can be said for Hamilton.

Massa wont sign with ferrari lol they wont keep him

Shame for Sauber because they've lost their superstar driver in the making and lost the huge amounts of money from Mexico sponsorship. Hard road for them now, just when they were making an impression.

Be interested to see who they bring in now

Well it's happened hasn't it! Haha wow.. what a day to be a F1 fan.

I Think Hamilton going to Mercedes represents a fresh new challenge and I wish him the best of luck. Hamilton is without question a fantastic, fast and tough competitor but I just wonder if McLaren can be a little more happier without him.. his sulky, surly attitude these past few months must have made Martin Whitmarsh's job a even tougher one and perhaps a detrimental effect to his team - mate Jenson Button. Most quarters feel this is a bad move on Lewis's part and to a extent I agree.. Brawn and Mercedes will expect Hamilton to be helping the car grow and develop and to me Lewis's just doesn't seem like the type of guy who has the maturity to do this. And I just hope for Lewis's sake the big boys in Stuttgart don't get fed up quick with his clear petulance.

Perez's move to McLaren is one I particularly get highly excited about! Perez is a sublime driver and I believe can be a great ambassador and driver for McLaren with Jenson as the wise old head these two can be great role models and team - mates. I hope Perez can provide a breath of fresh air for McLaren and can win many races along the way. Also Telemex the main sponsor of Perez was probably to hard to turn down from a financial point also.. but he is anything but a Pay driver. This boy is one of the real deals on the grid.

Sauber have a void left to fill and I fully expect Kobayashi to be Sauber driver next year however his team - mate is going to be interesting.. A seven time world champion is floating about if he hasn't made up his mind yet already..

Massa to Sauber.. you watch ;-) and its the first team he drove for.. so will be like old acquaintances meeting once again.

I think Sauber would be better off signing someone like Alguersuari. He's been the Pirelli test driver and understands the tyre, something which should suit Sauber's race strategy. Also losing their main sponsor could mean financial cutbacks and signing Massa would be more expensive than recruiting Alguersuari.

The Schumacher to Ferrari is fascinating as a stop-gap to Vettel potentially joining in 2014 with his 'apparent' pre-contract.

So full predictions of driver line ups?

Red Bull: Vettel, Webber
McLaran: Button, Perez
Ferrari: Alonso, di Resta/Rosberg (Yes you're reading that right!)
Mercedes: Hamilton, Rosberg/di Resta
Lotus: Raikkonen, Grosjean
Williams: Maldonaldo, Senna
Sauber: Kobayashi, Massa
Force India: The Incredible Jaime, Hulkenberg
Toro Rosso: Who knows! Maybe Webbers protege...
Caterham/Murussia/HRT: probably keep them same on the whole, HRT to have one new driver

Red Bull: Vettel, Webber
McLaran: Button, Perez
Ferrari: Alonso, Schumi
Mercedes: Hamilton, Rosberg
Lotus: Raikkonen, Di resta
Williams: Maldonaldo, that new finish driver
Sauber: Kobayashi, Massa
Force India: Di Resta, Hulkenberg
Toro Rosso: Who knows! Maybe Webbers protege...
Caterham/Murussia/HRT: probably keep them same on the whole, HRT to have one new driver

No senna or Grosjean bull?

Red Bull: Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber
McLaren: Jensin Button, Sergio Perez
Ferrari: Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa
Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg
Lotus: Kimi Raikkonen, Romain Grosjean
Williams: Pastor Maldonado, Valtteri Bottas
Sauber: Kamui Kobayashi, Michael Schumacher
Force India: Paul Di Resta, Nico Hulkenberg
Toro Rosso: Daniel Ricciardo, Jean Eric- Vergne
Caterham: Hekki Kovalainen, Charles Pic
Marussia: Timo Glock, Max Chilton
HRT: Pedro De La Rosa, Dani Clos

Omission of Vitaly Petrov due to his sponsorship issues from Russia..

TopHat24/7 wrote:

tunes666 wrote:

TopHat24/7 wrote:

Singapore was the final nail in the coffin maybe. Quickest man on the track by an absolute mile, cruising to another p1 and his car fails him.

Hamilton just seems to be the polar opposite of Vettel luckwise.

As if Vettel has not had bad luck before..

And Lewis had a very quick qual, but in he race It was tight with Vettel he was never more than 1.5 seconds behind and with Lewis being told to watch his tires indicating he was pushing hard..

So hardly a mile..

Lewis has not been perfect, this season he has had alot of bad luck.. But last couple seasons he has also made mistakes and his lack of composure has cost him..

Redbull took over the last couple seasons speed wise but mclaren have always been there or here abouts..

If s a toss of a coin for lewis and he may live to regret it and see Perez go on to win a title.

Half a second is a mile in F1.

And Vettel, despite one or two moments this season, has always been tremendously lucky. Everything always seems to fall in his favour. Take Monaco a season ago or so, he'd set his Q3 time and Hamilton looked hot as hell and had an excellent chance of beating him but someone goes and crashes and Q3 is cancelled, costing Hamilton and (being Monaco) handing it on a plate to Vettel.

I also think Mosley's FIA have always favoured their perfect Aryan Vettell to council estate upstart Hamilton.

A second in a half in F1 is not a mile should you lose a little pace or make a mistake... Im not saying Lewis would not have won the race, but it was certainly not going to be a breeze.

Im not even going to comment on that Aryan tosh..

yeah gregers i think Senna will lose out on a drive and Grojeaon will be dumped to 3rd driver for Di Resta

TheBrahmaBull wrote:sad to see Perez go to Mclearn as i wanted him at Ferrari but then again its a great seat for him and wish him the best.

now i can see Schmui being offered a seat at Ferrari for one year till Vettel joins (if he joins in 2014)

hmmm, sadly I think Massa may be just about doing enough to Merritt a year long extension of his contract before Vettel joins in 2014.

They only want someone for one year, and cant see old version we see now do much better than Massa.

Its a shame, as much as Massa was a world class driver, since his injury he has not been the same and it really has damaged Ferrari's Constructors championships... which it will do for another year I fear.

I would like to see Di Resta come in now, but cant see it.

Ferrari: Alonso/Hulkenburg
Mclaren: Button/Perez
Red Bull: Vettel/Webber
Mercedes: Hamilton/Rosberg
Lotus: Raikkonen/ D'Ambrosio
Williams: Maldonado/Bottas
Toro Rosso: Ricciardo/Vernge
Force India: Di Resta/Bianchi
Sauber: Kobyashi/Alguersuari
Caterham: Kovalainen/Razia if Vitaly's sponsorship goes
Marussia: Glock/Pic
Hrt: whoever brings the most money

Grosjean being dumped is ridiculous. Clearly you know nothing about F1 politics and the fact that Eric Boullier is Grosjean's manager. Senna will be replaced by Bottas and his management team are already in full discussions along with Mika Hakkinen to push through this negotiation.

Di Resta will be going nowhere. Alguersuari will probably end up at Sauber replacing Perez as the team have already stated they are interested in him and his tyre knowledge he gained during his Pirelli testing role are seen as important attributes to have in a car such as the Sauber.

Schumacher replacing Massa is up in the air. Entirely dependent upon the German, if he retires then Massa will keep his drive. Vettel's pre-contract agreement never got dismissed or rejected and I fully expect him to leave Red Bull in 2014. His representatives will know that Renault engines will probably be the weakest of the three being designed. Hamilton has already made his move in preparation for 2014, expect Vettel to follow.

I have sources telling me that Red Bull are extremely interested in replacing Vettel with Kimi Raikkonen in 2014 after his contract is up at Lotus. If that goes through then Robert Kubica may have the opportunity to return to Lotus in 2014, dependent upon fitness and the previous driver changes being completed.

I have a feeling that once Perez establishes himself as no.1 at McLaren, Di Resta will replace a retiring Button, probably in 2015.

That's my educated thoughts.

Hamilton always fights for wins or podiums, JB is either winning or trundling about doing nothing.

Lewis would have 2 WC's by now if he chose to trundle instead of kamikaze.

TopHat24/7 wrote:More often than not Vettel has had fortune favour him, the opposite can be said for Hamilton.

Rubbish, luck evens it's self out. You don't fluke your way to all the victories and pole that Vettel has.

Despite all the talk about Merc I must admit it was still a bit of a shock when it became reality. Many have talked about commercial freedom but that's more for his management company. For Hamilton the racer it seems more to do with technical freedom and the opportunity of having a car built specifically to his needs - to become more of a team leader similar to Alonso. You can trace this back to earlier in the season when the car wasn't performing so well and a frustrated Hamilton wanted to become more technically involved offering his services at Mugello only to be rebuffed by corporate Mclaren.

Leaving Mclaren is a big gamble - but obviously a calculated one and I hope (and pray) it all comes good.