[msk340i]

Originally Posted by hellrotm

Guess you forget the headlines when Lewis left for Mercedes? Why, what is he doing, chasing money, etc. Short memory I guess. Merc was not what it was today, not even close.

Quote from a 2012 article:
"McLaren have the fastest car this season, while Mercedes have slipped backwards after a promising start to the year.
But Mercedes have sold the move to Hamilton on the basis that they are preparing for a huge push in 2014, when new chassis and engine rules are introduced."

Merc was still struggling during Lewis's first season at Merc. The team won a total of 3 races in 2013. Absolutely nothing was promised from the new rules(2014 hybrid era). Lewis isn't nostradamus, he had no idea what was coming. So saying he left for a strong car is far fetched at best, if anything he took a huge gamble.

Exactly. Everyone in the media thought he made a horrible decision. The Merc's were notorious for blowing through tires in a couple laps when Lewis arrived.

What you're saying doesn't contradict what I'm saying. You're just telling a different part of the same story. All I'm saying is that he didn't leave for the "challenge". He left for a looooot of reasons and none of them is because winning at McLaren is easy and he wanted a challenge. He left because McLaren was on the decline (hindsight is 20/20 but it's true) and another team (the only big team who would take him) that gave him more money and more leeway and more future was the obvious choice.

[hellrotm]

Originally Posted by msk340i

Lol Hamilton loves a challenge? Is that why he left McLaren. Hamilton and any other driver wants to be in a strong car with a strong team behind him so he can beat everyone. If he really loves a challenge why didn't he stay in McLaren and "challenged" in that car?

Guess I miss understood your post above. To me it reads he left McLaren for Merc because he wanted a stronger car and team. But in fact at the time he left McLaren, McLaren was actually one of the quickest cars on the grid. McLaren had same amount of poles and race wins as Red Bull in 2012. Merc was fumbling around in 9th and 13th in the championship.

Originally Posted by msk340i

What you're saying doesn't contradict what I'm saying. You're just telling a different part of the same story. All I'm saying is that he didn't leave for the "challenge". He left for a looooot of reasons and none of them is because winning at McLaren is easy and he wanted a challenge. He left because McLaren was on the decline (hindsight is 20/20 but it's true) and another team (the only big team who would take him) that gave him more money and more leeway and more future was the obvious choice.

[SenorFunkyPants]

Originally Posted by hellrotm

Guess I miss understood your post above.

I don't think so...People who actually followed F1 at the time watched Hamilton take a gamble on Mercedes being able to produce a winning car under the new regs. The same gamble that backfired so badly for Alonso (with McLaren/Honda).
No one thought McLaren was in decline when the decision was made.
He took the risk and it paid off, it could just have easily gone tits up instead.

[M5theonlyone]

The '07 spy scandal where McLaren Mercedes were fined £100 million for knowingly stealing Ferrari secrets when a quick thinking copy shop owner in Surrey informed police when he spotted what was going on may have had a bearing on Hamilton winning the championship the following year.