2024 Formula 1 Drivers threadFormula 1

[MagpieRacer]

Yeah this will look fantastic in the car.

Could also be a hint at the shade of red Ferrari are going for as we do know he likes a bit of colour matching.

 

[SPDN Stefano]

Imo Lewis is very overrated. His stats are extremely inflated because of the fact that Mercedes were in a league of their own for many years. He lost to Button, Rosberg and Russell. Didn't really dominate Bottas like Senna, Schumacher and Verstappen dominated their teammates. At the end of the day he is just not that special of a driver and now he is way past his prime. I hope Ferrari based their decision to sign him purely on his marketing value and not because they really think he is going to beat Leclerc and save them.

 

[Fezzik]

Lewis Hamilton drives Ferrari F1 car for first time in test at new team's Fiorano track ahead of 2025 season

Ferraris new star signing has started work in Italy this week and has now taken to the track in one of their old F1 cars for the first time; watch every race of the 2025 season live on Sky Sports F1, starting with the Australian GP from March 14-16

www.skysports.com

 

[GlamFM]

Imo Lewis is very overrated. His stats are extremely inflated because of the fact that Mercedes were in a league of their own for many years. He lost to Button, Rosberg and Russell. Didn't really dominate Bottas like Senna, Schumacher and Verstappen dominated their teammates. At the end of the day he is just not that special of a driver and now he is way past his prime. I hope Ferrari based their decision to sign him purely on his marketing value and not because they really think he is going to beat Leclerc and save them.

A take so hot it needs its own fire department.

 

[SPDN Stefano]

Well, how does "the GOAT" lose to Button, Rosberg and Russell in the same car? He is only the goat to people who mindlessly look at statistics. For years it was literally impossible for him to finish lower than P2 because of his car.

Of course he is a good driver and he has a huge amount of marketing value. But the press is acting like the Messiah has arrived and Ferrari's troubles are over. There is no way 'past his prime Lewis' is going to be this huge upgrade compared to Sainz and Leclerc, if at all. The drivers were not the problem at Ferrari.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Imo Lewis is very overrated. His stats are extremely inflated because of the fact that Mercedes were in a league of their own for many years. He lost to Button, Rosberg and Russell. Didn't really dominate Bottas like Senna, Schumacher and Verstappen dominated their teammates. At the end of the day he is just not that special of a driver and now he is way past his prime. I hope Ferrari based their decision to sign him purely on his marketing value and not because they really think he is going to beat Leclerc and save them.

I'm not the biggest fan of Lewis, but this take must just be for attention or something, because it's absolute trash. You fail to mention he beat Alonso so bad he sent him back to Renault, in his debut season, repeatedly beat Vettel when Ferrari had as fast a car as Mercedes, if not faster at times, he and Russell were pretty level pegging as team mates, 2024 swayed to Russell as Hamilton was effectively a test car for most of the season and still managed to win 2 races.

Senna drove for McLaren when they were in a league of their own and didn't dominate Prost, Schumacher dominated some pretty lacklustre team mates and then Barrichello was always reasonably close, Perez was obviously not good enough to compete with Max and he has had a very dominant car for a number of years (2nd half of 2024 excluded). Bottas was very capable, not a driver that realistically could be dominated but was also never really able to get to Hamiltons level, so whilst he didn't dominate Bottas, Bottas had no hope of ever beating him in a championship fight.

If you don't think LH is a special driver then that is of course your opinion, he might be past his prime, but he is still levels above 95% of the grid, and in the right environment, that's all he needs to be to keep being successful. As much as this is a test for Lewis going up against Leclerc, it is equally a massive test for Leclerc, as everyone keeps doubting Hamilton.

Also, no one is claiming that Ferrari's trouble are over, not that they're really in trouble anyway, but it is a massive deal, they, by default, have the strongest driver line up in the field, the most successful driver lineup in the field, had a massively improved car in the latter part of 2024 AND Vasseur is banging the drum for the new car as well, so for us Ferrari fans, there is a lot to be excited for.

 

[Liquid]

Yeah it's a bit much but most things are these days. And yeah, the most successful driver with the most famous team? It was always going to hit the headlines during the off-season.

At least it should go better than when Mansell went to McLaren.

 

[SPDN Stefano]

I'm not the biggest fan of Lewis, but this take must just be for attention or something, because it's absolute trash. You fail to mention he beat Alonso so bad he sent him back to Renault, in his debut season, repeatedly beat Vettel when Ferrari had as fast a car as Mercedes, if not faster at times, he and Russell were pretty level pegging as team mates, 2024 swayed to Russell as Hamilton was effectively a test car for most of the season and still managed to win 2 races.

Senna drove for McLaren when they were in a league of their own and didn't dominate Prost, Schumacher dominated some pretty lacklustre team mates and then Barrichello was always reasonably close, Perez was obviously not good enough to compete with Max and he has had a very dominant car for a number of years (2nd half of 2024 excluded). Bottas was very capable, not a driver that realistically could be dominated but was also never really able to get to Hamiltons level, so whilst he didn't dominate Bottas, Bottas had no hope of ever beating him in a championship fight.

If you don't think LH is a special driver then that is of course your opinion, he might be past his prime, but he is still levels above 95% of the grid, and in the right environment, that's all he needs to be to keep being successful. As much as this is a test for Lewis going up against Leclerc, it is equally a massive test for Leclerc, as everyone keeps doubting Hamilton.

Also, no one is claiming that Ferrari's trouble are over, not that they're really in trouble anyway, but it is a massive deal, they, by default, have the strongest driver line up in the field, the most successful driver lineup in the field, had a massively improved car in the latter part of 2024 AND Vasseur is banging the drum for the new car as well, so for us Ferrari fans, there is a lot to be excited for.

Well, Vettel is also nothing special. He was better than Mark Webber and that was it. Racked up a bunch of titles in a Adrian Newey car with a bad teammate. He got beaten by a huge margin by Ricciardo and Leclerc and couldn't dominate Stroll. Vettel is basically David Coulthard/ Damon Hill level.

Lewis never "beat Alonso so bad he sent him back to Renault". Lewis was Ron Dennis' special boy. Fernando saw the writing on the wall.

Do you think 'past his prime Lewis' is an upgrade to Sainz and Leclerc?

 

[Liquid]

@SPDN Stefano Name a driver with multiple championships who didn't have a top car at a top team.

Spoiler

They all did.

Troll harder somewhere else.