Formula 1 2025 Season

Saw this pic on FB, pretty funny if it's not a photoshop......

In reply to MiniDave :

The situation with Sainz and Hamilton is really interesting from a broader strategy standpoint. Hamilton is obviously a marketing boon, but what if he's also slower than Sainz was? What if he's about the same speed, but 9 years older? How much does the marketing boon make up for if Sainz is as good/better and also much younger? I ask because I don't think anybody expects 40 year old Hamilton to be a big upgrade on Sainz as far as talent or car development. 

In reply to DaewooOfDeath :

He might be an upgrade in car development. He's certainly got the experience. And you certainly cannot overlook his value to sponsors. Casual fans are more excited about Ferrari than they have been for years. 

Keith Tanner said:

In reply to DaewooOfDeath :

He might be an upgrade in car development. He's certainly got the experience. And you certainly cannot overlook his value to sponsors. Casual fans are more excited about Ferrari than they have been for years. 

Yeah, that's what I mean. The marketing payoff is real for sure. 

As far as car development, it's possible Hamilton is better. That said, I'm not certain that's a safe assumption. Mercedes didn't exactly light the world on fire with development over this rules cycle. Ferrari arguably did better. 

Hamilton effected the stock price. I'd say there's a bigger picture than just the race performance. The marketing power is massive.  Always multiple factors at play, but prior to announcement Ferrari stock RACE was trading around ~$350/share on NYSE, and popped 10% overnight to $385, a record high for Ferrari stock.  That translates to a $7Billion dollar increase in market cap.  The month following it continued to climb  to ~$420/share in the Hamilton era.  Today it sits ~$465/share. That's a tremendous amount of wealth, a large chunk of which is arguably directly attributable to the Hamilton signing.  

I also think that letting Sainz go was a lot easier than people want to think.  Sainz came from the RBR line of drivers, and parted with them reasonably early in his career, so he has no real team affiliation.  Meaning he really has no real affiliation with Ferrari.  Given the choice of a race winner and a 7 time world champion who has the chance to beat the WC record set by a Ferrari driver, that choice was really easy.

To replace LeClerc, that would be considerably more difficult for Ferrari- since they have so much invested in him.

Really- it was harder for Mercedes to let Hamilton go than it was for Ferrari to let Sainz go.

In two years, when it's speculated that Hamilton's contract is over at Ferrari, then Ferrari can move up one of it's own investments into their team.

But in terms of the team, LeClerc v Sainz- unless Carlos really shook up the team and started winning a LOT, Ferrari was always going to side with Charles.  So even in Sainz's view, he had no real standing there.

I also think this discussion ignores what Williams is doing- they are very much on the same track as McLaren was, and if they keep this up, they will make it back to the front before any other team, and get back into their historical position.  Meaning that they could be champs in the next few years- especially with the rule change in 2026.  As far as I can see, Sainz basically reversed his decision to leave McLaren for Ferrari- which ended up being a questionable decision now that McLaren is above Ferrari.

I think Lewis wants to retire while driving for Ferrari. I believe has said he may continue in F1 until he's 50. Honestly,  I can see him and Alonso remaining competitive to 50, and maybe beyond.