F1

yeah alonso is picking up the slack at the minute.

hamilton & button are in danger of being replaced at this rate.

Huge crash at the start of the race:

Pretty lucky there, tbf

grosjean 1 race ban.

good to see button get a win.

i've criticised him an awful lot, but gotta admit vettel was great last race as well. gutted that alonso and hamilton got taken out though, grosjean is a liability.

BREAKING: Button severely injured in F1 accident. Horrific picture of the event

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all looking good for hamilton and his gearbox goes.

Recon he'll stay or go Eddie?

Gone

So Checo to McLaren replacing Hamilton. Risky move by Lewis, great chance for the Mexican.

I didn't think Lewis had the balls to move tbh.

Unfortunately the move is all about 'Brand Lewis', exposure and money and little do with motor racing.

greed

money is clearly a big factor here yeah but there are some very sound motor racing reasons for this move as well.

firstly, as of next year mclaren stop getting free engines from mercedes and have to start paying. they're not the most cash-rich team in the sport, so don't underestimate the impact this might have.

second, there's a massive rule change on the horizon related directly to engines on the way in 2014. it seems reasonable to assume that works teams like ferrari and mercedes will be in an advantageous position when this comes around.

thirdly, from hamilton's perspective he's got to be frustrated with the team this year. early in the season he was cost valuable points because his pit crew couldn't fit a tyre to save their lives and he was just denied an almost certain win in singapore with a gearbox failure. the upshot of this is that he's had the quickest car for most of the season but only has an outside chance at picking up the title. of course from an outsider's perspective hamilton has made mistakes as well, but from his point of view it's easy to see why he might be annoyed with the team.

finally, it seems to me that hamilton's relationship with mclaren was also largely built around a relationship with ron dennis. i don't think he has gelled as well with martin whitmarsh. this is just speculation but i wouldn't be surprised if this influenced his decision as well.

add to this the presence of brawn at mercedes. whatever you think of him personally, brawn is still one of the men most directly responsible for the most dominant force f1 has ever seen (ferrari 2000-2005) and also won back to back titles with benetton as well as his own team's win. it's a massively impressive cv and in hamilton he's now working with arguably the most talented driver since schumacher. if it works out it could really work out.

obviously as things stand right now mclaren have the quickest car and mercedes are off the pace. but things can change quickly in f1 and taking everything into consideration there are definitely many legitimate racing reasons behind this move. it's a gamble, definitely, but one that could pay off hugely.

perez to mclaren as well. potentially great replacement signing, obviously he's a very very quick driver. thought he'd be replacing massa at ferrari tbh, so a bit of a surprise as i thought di resta might end up at mclaren if hamilton left.

Sound points Andy, especially agree with the Ron Dennis bit.

I can't help but think Simon Fuller's involvement isn't always going to be in the best interest of Lewis's racing career.

Ferrari not signing Perez and Massa staying one more season smells of a big signing for 2014. And there's only one big name that fits...

Kimi!

absolutely sadly i guess that sort of thing is a necessary evil especially when you're as marketable as lewis. fuller's been managing andy murray for a few years now though and it hasn't hurt his career, so there is hope.

it's a bit more of a worry for someone like hamilton though, who as you already said definitely seems actively interested in turning himself into a brand, rather than say murray who probably just wanted someone to take care of that side of things so he didn't need to bother about it.

jkr, you reckon vettel will end up at ferrari?