The '13 driver transfer discussion/speculation thread op updated 16/10

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He did say that, but that was back in 2007 when he was still a rookie. Since then, he has changed his stance - he has said that he will stay with McLaren for as long as he feels McLaren is competitive.
 
Smells to me like McLaren are worried someone is going to make a better offer. Either there genuinely is another offer on the table or Lewis and his manager have played a brilliant game to get a better deal with Macca.
 
How much is Hamilton earning now? 100 million over 5 years means he would be paid 20 million a season - and last I heard, Hamilton was getting 15-18 million per year, so this is probably a slight upgrade. If McLaren were offering 30 million per year, then I'd be wondering whether or not they are worried about someone snatching him away.
 
I'd be wondering why they couldn't spend the £10 million difference on pit procedure training, so he'd be winning races and not want to leave (!)
 
Because it's not a case of throwing money at the problem to fix it. Given that their pit crews are already highly-trained, I don't see how an extra ten million pounds is going to make any difference.
 
I don't know about you PM, but an upgrade of "only 5 million" a year is quite substantial. Thats more than nearly all of the midfield drivers get per year.

Not to mention Lewis has hardly proven lately he is really worth the money he gets (especially in comparison to Jenson who seems to be on a lot less but brings just as good if not better results). I guess it helps when McLaren themselves have made so many mistakes that they can't really blame Hamilton for under-performing.
 
I don't know which Lewis you've been watching, but I thought he was driving the wheels off that McLaren. It's just a shame the team haven't been consistently able to put them back on again.
 
The 2011 Hamilton? Its difficult to forget simply because he had 5 reasonable races this year. He's certainly re-building his respectability this year which is good to see and if he keeps it up he certainly earns his rise. But based on the past 12 months can we really sit and say Lewis has earnt a rise?
 
I suppose not. I really only wanted an excuse to make that joke about the wheels. :)

In all seriousness though, if his current level of racecraft continues my respect for him will have risen massively.
 
I feel he's driving a bit within himself this year as he seems to be forcing himself to cool down and just finish consistently (he's basically said as much in interviews).
So I'm a bit torn on whether I like it or not. I would like to see Hamilton pushing the hell out of the car (like he has visibly been at Monaco) mistakes and all. But equally I did think he needed to really sort his head out and approach his racing a bit more carefully.

I feel he's being a little too careful now and lost a little bit of the excitement factor.

I'm still not a fan of his attitude though this can change with (a lot of) time. He's burnt too often in the past for me to really start liking him again. Every time I start to forget about incidents like the lying (Australia 2009) he then does something foolish again (Monaco 2011). If he has a couple of quiet years in terms of interviews/statements and has some exciting races without stupid mistakes - then I will like him again.
 
I feel the same way, Ardius. My initial dislike of Hamilton was well-documented, but going into 2011, I was right at the point where I was neutral towards him. But then I felt that he just wasn't respecting the other drivers at all, and my outlook on him soured.
 
According to Bild.de, Sebastian Vettel has a 'secret exit clause' that would allow him to leave Red Bull after the 2013 season, and sign for Ferrari in 2014.

This comes a couple of days after both the Independent on Sunday and Sunday Times reported that Vettel has already signed a pre-contract with Ferrari for the 2014 season (source), although this has been denied by Vettel apparently.
 
So, Alonso will stay with Ferrari until 2016 (I believe because I heard he had signed a 5 years contract last year) while at the moment it seems like Massa will leave at the end of this season.

Those who have been in talk with Ferrari are Perez, Webber and now Vettel. Who will end up in one of those seat, I think Perez has to be there. How can either both Webber and Vettel end up in that one Ferrari seat and whose seat it will be? Confuze...
 
It is widely known that Vettel want to drive for Ferrari in the future because of their history, but as long Red Bull give him a competitive car, I can't imagine him leaving.
 
...but as long Red Bull give him a competitive car, I can't imagine him leaving.

Yeah, and for the fact, he did say that.

I'm actually going to take this Vettel move as a grain of salt because I don't see him moving to Ferrari when Ferrari themselves have yet to manage things to its best. That Red Bull car is still competitive unless really Red Bull had dropped its bull at the end of 2013.
 
PM, even though Massa will be kicked out of Ferrari, I think he would still have a place in any midfield team for his experience and Ferrari knowledge. Perhaps Sauber could take him back (simple deal with Perez), or even Lotus could get him to make a stronger (and winner) pair with Raikkonen.
 
PM, even though Massa will be kicked out of Ferrari, I think he would still have a place in any midfield team for his experience and Ferrari knowledge. Perhaps Sauber could take him back (simple deal with Perez), or even Lotus could get him to make a stronger (and winner) pair with Raikkonen.

It really depends on how well he performs this season. If there are more performances like there were in Monaco, I think some other teams will be interested. But if he reverts back to his form before Monaco, no one will touch him. I don't think Sauber will take him. In the event that Perez leaves Sauber, I think Gutierrez will be promoted from GP2. As for Lotus, they have a good pair of drivers already. I can't imagine they'll want to get rid of any of them.
 
If Vettel leaves RB, would that leave the door open for Riccardo? Or do you think they would try to snag Lewis?
 
If Vettel leaves RB, would that leave the door open for Riccardo? Or do you think they would try to snag Lewis?

They'd probably show an interest in a top driver like Lewis if Vettel left. I don't buy into the theory that they'll only hire from Toro Rosso. Red Bull are now a successful, championship winning team. If Ricciardo has an anonymous season with Toro Rosso, and it came down to a choice between Lewis And Ricciardo, then of course they would show an interest in him.
 
If Vettel leaves RB, would that leave the door open for Riccardo? Or do you think they would try to snag Lewis?

The original plan has always been to take Ricciardo in. If they somehow managed to take in Lewis, what will happen to Ricciardo? If he gets left out, I don't think he will be happy because I think Ricciardo is a very good driver and is capable of doing more if given a good car.

Red Bull has brought in so many drivers to the Toro Rosso team, but only Vettel so far managed to climb up to the Red Bull Racing seat.
 
If Vettel leaves RB, would that leave the door open for Riccardo?
Based on their current form so far, I'd say Vergne is the smarter choice.

The original plan has always been to take Ricciardo in.
No, the original plan was to take the best driver available from Toro Rosso. If Ricciardo performs well, it will be him. But if Vergne is more impressive, Ricciardo will be passed over.
 
No, the original plan was to take the best driver available from Toro Rosso. If Ricciardo performs well, it will be him. But if Vergne is more impressive, Ricciardo will be passed over.

Yeah, I think you're right. Currently, Vergne is just 2 points ahead of Ricciardo. At this point, as you said, will be best to take Vergne in.

I still don't think Hamilton is going to Red Bull. Only the 'somehow' can do it...
 
It's not simply a case of Vergne having more points than Ricciardo. Ricciardo is having some very strong qualifying performances, but then failing to capitalise on them in the race, so the performance gap between them is even bigger.
 
Yeah but just as I thought, a driver with most points usually always execute well in the race. I wish I can read all of the drivers' contract.
 
Lotus isn't happy with Kimi Raikkonen at the moment, and if this continues, he might part ways with them. Especially if they start focusing on Romain Grosjean later in the season.

If that were to happen, I'm predicting Kevin Korjus will join the team in Raikkonen's place.
 
The Perez-to-Ferrari thing is off in my book, he already said he wants to stay at Sauber for another year.- Edit :he's changed his mind.... :rolleyes:

Speculation wise, if Massa maintains his Monaco form, it backs up Webber into staying at Red Bull, who then backs Vergne into staying at Toro Rosso (he has shown he clearly has more champion potential in hand than ricciardo), so that's going to be interesting.

Not sure where Hamilton thinks he's going to go if he leaves, because it won't be Red Bull or Ferrari after following the facts for the last year. Which leaves comedic team Lotus and what the Mercedes team turns into next year.
I don't like the guy, but I think he should stay at McLaren if he wants to win, for every season you don't have the best car, you get one season closer to having the right one, they could easily have the best car next year.
 
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