Chuckjr wrote: ↑02 Apr 2024, 16:04
Venturiation wrote: ↑02 Apr 2024, 13:22
Chuckjr wrote: ↑01 Apr 2024, 17:33
My god the irony is so thick in Ham’s words. He claims to be inspired by their “not giving up”, yet he himself bailed on the team and signed with a rival before this season even started. SMH. What a coward.
“ So every time we take one or two sets forward, it’d take five back. It’s been hugely frustrating, I think, for the engineers.
“But I think what’s been inspiring is that they’ve just not given up. They’re continuing to show up every day and give it their best and that’s all you can ever ask.”
The irony is from you
The team abandoned him because they wanted to replace him with antonelli by not giving him a contract
Anyone in hamilton position would have left before 2025 and go at Ferrari for 2024
You’re assuming that as contract details and future actions within a team are private. In fact it’s looking less and less like Antonelli will be at Merc in 2025.
How is the irony with me when Ham is the one bailing on the team when he had his moment to stay and see through the struggle? Be there for the team that was there for him, handing him a car he could not lose in for almost a decade. Then he says how proud he is of them for staying with it and continuing to fight,
while at the same time leaving the team for a rival. What part of that makes me ironic? He’s the one who is abandoning ship when the going gets tough. It’s what a coward does and it’s why I called him out on it.
And no, not everyone in his position would bail. Guys with character and integrity would dig in deeper and try harder for the team that served them so well for so long to see them back to competitiveness. Stick it out and be a hero to help bring them back. Nope. Ham
covertly uses an exit clause to grab another guys seat (who quite frankly deserves to stay at Ferrari) to try to force another title. This is next level greed. Disgusting behavior afaic. I hope CS beats CL just to render further how messed up this whole situation is.
Look, Chuck, there is nothing ironic or cowardly about professing admiration for a team that words hard and suffers setbacks, yet continues to persevere. It doesn't make Hamilton a liar because he signed with Ferrari. Just because an employee leaves a job for a dream job doesn't mean everything good they said about it becomes a betrayal. You're judging him as if he should just suffer the rest of his career like a moron.
In fact, his own team boss, Toto Wolff contradicts everything you said, and if anyone has a right to call LH a coward, it would have been him. When asked if he was disappointed that LH left for Ferrari:
“No, not at all,” he insisted.
“I think sportspeople have a limited shelf life when they are at the peak of their performance, peak of their earning power, and that is maybe 10 to 15 years. They’ve got to do it and take that limited amount of time where you want to win as many races and as much as possible.
“And that’s why I understand that he says ‘I gotta go a different path, I need to reinvent myself.’
^^^ This is what Chuck needs to understand. LH can't wait until he's 50 for Merc to get it together. He's already won 7 WDC, he's not interested working until he's 50 to get #8 (again). George or Antonelli, they can wait, they can grind for years to get their WDC. This is the whole reason why drivers move around WAY more than any other profession in F1.
Besides, no one respectable or reasonable would turn down an offer to drive for Ferrari when their own team is struggling. Max would jump in an instant if he were in LH's shoes.
“I see the positives because our years were so great and we really have a strong bond. And in the same way, we are able to separate in wishing each other really all the best."
Let's get the timeline straight, Hamilton left and only after did Verstappen become a legitimate option post Horner drama. That being said, Toto would be absolutely foolish not to offer Verstappen the world with a cherry on top. This is a no-brainer for Mercedes.