Who slept worst last night: Lewis Hamilton

(Motorsport-Total.com) – Dear readers,

At least last night it was not easier to explain to “casual” Formula 1 fans that Lewis Hamilton was not a six-time world champion at Mercedes due to his exceptional talent and tireless pursuit of perfection.

My own Facebook page “Formula 1 in with Christian Nimmervoll” (I’m happy that I like them and win as many washing machines as you can carry with one hand!) Is the best proof of that.

“At last, everyone can see that Hamilton’s successes do not have the value that many believe,” someone writes, or: “With today’s example it can be clearly seen that probably any good driver could move the Mercedes quickly. That was too much ‘Schumi’ – Times are different. So, for me, Hamilton is definitely not the best driver at the moment. “

Now, of course, there is no question that not only Hamilton can win races with Mercedes. Rather, you have to approach the subject from a different direction if you want to properly classify what happened Sunday night at the Sachir Grand Prix.

Could Russell beat Hamilton in the Mercedes?

I mean, like this: Who could beat a Lewis Hamilton teammate in a Mercedes?

Valtteri Bottas, that has been sufficiently proven in the last four years, at least not. And since Bottas is one of the seven or eight best drivers in Formula 1 for me, in my opinion (very subjective) there are not too many candidates to whom this question can be accurately answered with a yes.

George Russell belongs to you now, there’s no getting around it.

I’ve always been of the opinion that the young man who once marched to Toto Wolff as a 15-year-old boy and armed himself with a Powerpoint presentation to use lists and charts to show how good he is, is even better. than its already good reputation.

In hindsight, some eyes will be widened when it comes to Robert Kubica’s performance on his return to Williams. If Russell can drive at Hamilton’s level with the Mercedes pulled out of his sleeve, then 2019 might not have been so bad for Kubica, but Russell was just as good.

A thesis that I have raised over and over again in the Formula 1 podcast “Starting Grid”, for example.

How fans classify the Sachir Grand Prix

“Today it became very clear who the real star of Mercedes is: the car,” writes one of my Facebook friends. “There may be the Hamilton factor, but this young rider has shown us in recent days that he is probably not as extraordinary as previously negotiated.”

I really wish I was with Lewis Hamilton in his hotel room in Bahrain on Sunday night (where he is presumably still staying, we haven’t heard from him for days) and would have watched the race with him. Hear how you rate what Russell has done to “his” car.

You also have to get out of the village church a bit: on a fast lap in qualifying, Bottas was closer than expected, but still faster. But in the race, Russell had the Finn under control.

Had it not been Russell but Hamilton who sat in the car we would have had a sharp analysis today as this is proof once again that Hamilton is simply a better class than Bottas in the race when it comes to handling the tires . And exactly how that sets it apart from the rest. One of the many qualities that made him a seven-time world champion.

I can imagine Lewis didn’t sleep well. He certainly congratulated his substitute on his performance at least via WhatsApp and wrote to him not to be sad because he still has time to win many races. After all, he is a fair sportsman.

But Lewis wouldn’t be Lewis if he didn’t mind at least a little bit that a young man showed up, got in his car, disenchanted Bottas almost from a standstill just as he would have, and incidentally also the overtaking maneuver of the year. sample.

The overtaking maneuver of the year

Because, wow, did you see how cheeky Russell edged out Bottas after the botched pit stop? And that without touching, fair enough, on the spot? This is the wood that the champions of tomorrow are made of! Chapeau.

Now I have to reveal a secret. A few weeks ago I met the Dr. I called Marko and faced him with insanity on my part. My theory: as long as Hamilton hasn’t signed a new contract with Mercedes, you can simply buy the 2021 World Championship title at Red Bull for big bucks.

Suppose Hamilton earns a good 40 million euros per season at Mercedes (pure speculation on my part, according to estimates from other media). Then Dietrich Mateschitz could use the unresolved contract situation at Mercedes to offer Mr. Hamilton double that (as is well known, there is still no “salary cap”).

So, I thought, Toto Wolff has to dress warm if he wants to become world champion with Bottas as # 1 against a Hamilton / Verstappen duo at Red Bull. Or, put another way: if Red Bull is worth 80 million euros, then you can buy the 2021 World Cup.

Now, of course, my mental game has some flaws.

First, that Dr. Marko would have to deviate from his creed of never bringing an expensive superstar to the team rather than an internal junior. He never would, he assured me.

Second, the decision makers at Red Bull have very little desire to kneel in front of Hamilton.

And third, that Verstappen, Marko’s “golden boy” for years to come, probably wouldn’t taste good.

But let’s put all of that aside for a moment and assume that Hamilton could get involved in such a deal, although it may gild the rest of his life at Mercedes even after his active career as a brand ambassador.

Why the Nimmervoll Master Plan is Nonsense

With the Sachir Grand Prix, my logic completely collapsed. Because of the $ 40 million he would save in salary for Hamilton, Wolff could take one and pass it on to George Russell, who would accept the offer with a kiss. And if the 2021 Mercedes is as superior as the 2020, Russell will likely become world champion.

Yesterday after the race I participated in a Zoom conference with Toto Wolff. My colleague Andrew Benson from the BBC asked the Mercedes team boss the inescapable question he wanted to ask him, namely, how is he now explaining to people that Lewis Hamilton is not winning race after race just because he’s the best. The car sits.

His answer sounds like this: “Lewis Hamilton wins so many races and titles because he is the best driver in the best car right now. We are very humble about it because it is not a natural thing for us to give him the best car. And so we have an impact. positive in its success when the car is working well and a negative one when our car does not work “.

“There is no driver who makes a difference alone and there is no car that makes a difference alone. It is always a combination of both. Lewis is still the benchmark, he is the best driver there is. He has shown it with his many records. And we should leave the church in town after a phenomenal ride from a young man who has a great future in Formula One. Because Lewis is still the benchmark. “

Daimler Group: strengthened negotiating position

But one thing is also clear: if, in the stormy times of the crown crisis, Hamilton should demand an even more exorbitant fee for his next contract with Mercedes than he has won so far (we don’t know if he actually does, as some media reports), then the Daimler group diligently compiled counter arguments last night. Because the scenario that in 2021 you could be lost without Hamilton has clearly lost its horror in Bahrain thanks to Russell.

But the Mercedes boss does not want to exploit this indisputable dynamic in the negotiations with Hamilton that have not yet been carried out, as Wolff revealed in the aforementioned zoom call, to reduce the salary of the seven-time world champion: “They are two different things . Lewis has been on the team for eight years. We have had great successes in the past. He is a member of the team. “

Therefore, events in Bahrain will not influence the contract negotiations, he says: “That would not be fair to Lewis. And it would not be fair to us either, because it could well have been the other way around if George had not been quick. I think Lewis insisted for a minute that now is an advantage for him. “

I’m not so sure about that, Toto Wolff’s confidence in Hamilton in all honors. But I believe him when he says, “Our foundation of trust goes much further.”

Is there something in the bush at Mercedes?

By the way, is it just me who always found Toto Wolff a little cool last weekend when asked about Lewis Hamilton? It just seems strange to me that Formula 1’s # 1 influencer hasn’t shown up since the informal notification that he has the corona virus and Bahrain 2 can’t drive.

Not okay physically? In any case, I wish you a speedy recovery with all my heart! My girlfriend has already had COVID-19, and so could I. So I know this is not “lercherlschas” even for (relatively) young people.

I don’t know what it is, but the feeling comes over me: something strange there.

Perhaps Hamilton, who is thinking more about his life in 2020 than ever, after the accident with Romain Grosjean realized that he is risking his life in Formula 1 and that he does not intend to risk it, but still. just as the most successful racing driver of all time (that’s what he is now, undisputed) could abdicate, if necessary with seven instead of eight world championship titles?

I can’t answer that. The euphoria surrounding his records has become much calmer in just a few days.

The next question for me now is: Does he also face Russell’s challenge to finally silence the doubters? Or do you resign with the stain (either immediately or later) that there might have been someone? Who would have faced him in the same car?

What the fans want is clear: “We want George vs. Lewis already in 2021!”, Write one about “Formula 1 in with Christian Nimmervoll”.

I agree with him.

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Christian nimmervoll

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