Lewis Hamilton 'set for move to Mercedes from McLaren'

[4me2]

Lewis Hamilton 'set for move to Mercedes from McLaren'

Lewis Hamilton is on the verge of leaving McLaren to drive for Mercedes next season, according to BBC F1 chief analyst Eddie Jordan.
The former team boss says Hamilton will replace Michael Schumacher, who will retire from driving for a second time at the end of the year.
"I believe Hamilton and Mercedes have already agreed personal terms and a deal could be imminent," Jordan said.
Mercedes and a representative for Hamilton have refused to comment.
However, a McLaren spokesman said: "We have been told by Lewis Hamilton's management team that the story is untrue."
He added: "Negotiations between Lewis Hamilton and McLaren continue."


F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone hinted last Sunday that Schumacher was retiring.
Ecclestone told Jordan on BBC One: "I'm sorry that he's leaving us not being a winner, because he is a winner."
Asked if knew whether Schumacher was retiring, Ecclestone added: "I don't know, I don't know."
Confronted with Ecclestone's comments, Schumacher insisted after Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix that he had not yet decided on his future.
"As I told [Ecclestone] yesterday I had not made a decision," said the German.
Jordan said he had since been investigating the situation and believed Hamilton, who has yet to agree a new deal to remain with McLaren, was on his way to Mercedes to replace Schumacher.
"Some weeks ago I said on TV that I felt Lewis was on the move and I had an idea at the time he had been speaking to Ferrari, which we now know is true," Jordan said.
"But I can now confirm his people have had meetings with Mercedes.
"Bernie Ecclestone made it clear to me live on television on Sunday that Schumacher was leaving, although Schumacher later played it down.
"So it would appear Michael is leaving and Lewis is arriving at Mercedes.
"Hamilton has not agreed terms with McLaren yet.


"In fact the team have made it clear they cannot offer him as big a salary as his current $15m (£9.42m) deal, which was negotiated before the global financial crisis.
"On top of that, McLaren have to pay for their Mercedes engines for the first time next year.
"Hamilton moving to Mercedes would also make a lot of sense in the context of his manager Simon Fuller, the man behind the Spice Girls and now David Beckham.
"Fuller is trying to position Hamilton as a major global star, like Beckham, and Mercedes is a much bigger global brand than McLaren.
"There has been some uncertainty over Mercedes' position in F1. The board is unhappy at the current performance of the team, but getting Hamilton would undoubtedly be a massive coup and it could give the F1 team some breathing space."
Hamilton's representative at Simon Fuller's XIX Management, Simon Oliveira, and Mercedes GP chief executive officer Nick Fry refused to comment.
If Hamilton left McLaren, it would leave the team with a huge hole to fill.
Among the candidates for the vacancy alongside Jenson Button would be Scot Paul di Resta, currently at Force India, and Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen.


Di Resta, who has the same management team as Button after splitting with Hamilton's father Anthony, has continued to impress this season, his second in F1 with Force India.
Raikkonen, who drove for McLaren from 2002-05, was a candidate at the team for 2010 before negotiations broke down over money and team boss Martin Whitmarsh turned to Button.
Raikkonen returned to F1 this season with Lotus after two unsuccessful years in world rallying and although he has had some unconvincing weekends, his performances have been increasingly impressive.
BBC Sport understands Raikkonen is on course to satisfy performance clauses in his contract that would commit him to Lotus in 2013, which would mean any team that wanted him would have to pay Lotus compensation.
The 32-year-old Finn currently lies fourth in the championship heading into this weekend's Italian Grand Prix, one place ahead of Hamilton.
The Englishman's season has been hampered by early-season operational errors by McLaren which cost him about 40 points, and on Sunday in Belgium he was taken out in a start-line collision caused by Lotus's Romain Grosjean.
Hamilton is now 47 points behind world championship leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari with 200 available in the remaining eight races.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/19489930

[pratman]

shocking!! lol, now that makes it interesting for who will be mclarens next driver because i would assume jenson will becomes number one, maybe hekki will go back or kimi might get a number 1 seat back there. let the rumour mill begin!!

just as a side note, just wondering if anyone knows if there is any truth in the reports that vettel has an agreement to be joining ferrari in 2014, which is why ferrari are struggling to get a driver in on a 1 year contract as they do wanna get rid of massa after this season.

[tips]

Personally, I would take it with a pinch of salt looking at the source of the "Rumour".

[blaggard]

After all the time and money they spent bringing him up from the junior ranks. .. . . . . . mind you I just don't like the c**t.

[Tim.Lad]

shocking!! lol, now that makes it interesting for who will be mclarens next driver because i would assume jenson will becomes number one, maybe hekki will go back or kimi might get a number 1 seat back there. let the rumour mill begin!!

just as a side note, just wondering if anyone knows if there is any truth in the reports that vettel has an agreement to be joining ferrari in 2014, which is why ferrari are struggling to get a driver in on a 1 year contract as they do wanna get rid of massa after this season.

Hes been right before was it not Eddie Jordan that first reviled Michael Schumacher was coming back with Mercedes

[pratman]

Hes been right before was it not Eddie Jordan that first reviled Michael Schumacher was coming back with Mercedes

probably, EJ is normally the man in the know and he doesnt keep his gob shut about anything, which is great for us so we know as much as possible as fans. i really hope schuey doesnt retire, i can believe he wont have a drive with merc next year, i just hope he goes to another team and still show some of htese younger drivers he still has the ability to battle

[tips]

Personally, I would take it with a pinch of salt looking at the source of the "Rumour".

Even though I would take anything EJ said with a pinch of salt (as I implied above). I am beginning to think he could very well leave McLaren, especially if it doesn't get resolved relatively quickly.

[Russ]

No longer a rumour :-

Just been on BBC tv news :-

Lewis Hamilton is to leave McLaren and sign to race for Mercedes from next season.

The move, predicted by BBC Sport earlier this month, is expected to be announced on Friday and will have huge repercussions throughout Formula 1.

It has forced Michael Schumacher out of Mercedes but it it is not clear whether the German legend will go back into retirement or look for another team.

Sauber driver Sergio Perez is expected to be Hamilton's McLaren replacement.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/19755236

[Tim.Lad]

Cant say i`m surprised he has a management team that are looking out for his celebrity image and money rather than potential championship winning car potential, I hope im wrong but i can see this being a downward spiral for Hamilton..

On a side note I don't want to see Schumacher out of F1 I hope he lands a competitive drive next year..

[blaggard]

Hamilton has been believing his own hype for a while now, it makes him an arrogant little prick, Button has managed to keep his feet on the ground as has Vettel. I won't miss him, it'll be interesting to see the battles to come as he is undoubtedly fast but will now have to work a lot harder.

[tronads]

Shame Mclaren havent opted for Di Resta...still he might get Perez's drive, or maybe even Massa's.

[tips]

I was stunned by this news. Though the knock on effect it will have within the "Driver Market" should make for some interest in the closed season.

The only way I can make any sense of it (if it's not about the money and more commercial freedom) is that he thinks the big changes in 2014 will play to the strengths of Mercedes. I think he will enjoy working alongside Nico Rosberg also.

[Goldberg]

I think Di Resta is on Ferrari's cards. Massa has stepped up his game recently because he knows he is pretty much out.
Button signed a 10 year contract with McLaren a while back (I am sure) so he was always going to stay.

Ross Brawn knows his stuff. He managed to win Button the championship with a car made out of selotape and cardboard when they brought the rule changes in a few years back and he will now build the car around Lewis to suit him. Something McLaren have seemed to get very wrong this season.

Hamilton and Rosberg have a little history on the track remember.. But then again I am sure it cannot be as bad as his relationship with Big Head Alonso back in the day.

[tips]

Hamilton and Rosberg have a little history on the track remember.. But then again I am sure it cannot be as bad as his relationship with Big Head Alonso back in the day.

They are considered best of friends having been Team-Mates in some of the junior categories / Karting

[Goldberg]

Fair enough. Let's hope we have a two way battle next season - Hamilton v Button for the championship.

[blaggard]

I doubt that any friendship will last under the weight of Hamilton's ever expanding ego. . . . .

[Tim.Lad]

I think Di Resta is on Ferrari's cards. Massa has stepped up his game recently because he knows he is pretty much out.
Button signed a 10 year contract with McLaren a while back (I am sure) so he was always going to stay.

Ross Brawn knows his stuff. He managed to win Button the championship with a car made out of selotape and cardboard when they brought the rule changes in a few years back and he will now build the car around Lewis to suit him. Something McLaren have seemed to get very wrong this season.

Hamilton and Rosberg have a little history on the track remember.. But then again I am sure it cannot be as bad as his relationship with Big Head Alonso back in the day.

Agreed Ross brawn knows his stuff but the reason they won that year was Honda pumped in a ton of money into the team and started developing the car nearly a year before everyone else that with the genius double defuser, they allso had lots of funding for the year

[evilsatan]

I'm not surprised he has left tbh, his ego is too big to share with Button and pair that with a car which seems to fail him quite often he was always going to be tempted.

[Goldberg]

they also had lots of funding for the year

I know you say they had lots of funding, but the car was practically clean of any endorsement! (They might have had some extra throughout the season, but it was minimal compared to McLaren/Redbull/Ferarri this season)

[Tim.Lad]

The fact they had no sponsorship made no difference, Ross Brawn bought the team for £1. and Honda gave him $70 million to run the team for a year because that's how much it would cost to wind the company up, he all ready knew he had a good car before this all happened