Replacement for Hamilton this season

There are five drivers who could replace Hamilton if he retires from F1 – Lewis Hamilton’s future in Formula One is still uncertain, even as the 2022 pre-season test approaches.

It is just over a month since Lewis Hamilton dramatically lost the Formula 1 championship and it is still unclear whether he will return to the Formula 1 championship. The British driver has not given any interviews and has not posted a single update on his social networks. The retirement scenario is therefore gaining momentum, and Mercedes may be looking for a replacement.

If Sir Lewis decides to retire at the age of 37, the Silver Arrows have several internal options to replace him. If they need someone already under contract, they will have to be more aggressive, but almost any driver would want to take the coveted seat.

According to sources close to him, the British driver wished to decide his future when the FIA made its final decision on the Abu Dhabi GP, but sadly for Hamilton the FIA has called that bluff and won’t be publishing any decisions until the Friday of the first Grand Prix of this season. So now he only has a period of time fast running out before the start of pre-season testing in Barcelona on February 23th.

If Hamilton refuses to return to competition, all indications are that Mercedes’ main option is Nyck De Vries.

The Dutchman is the team’s reserve driver and even took part in the year-end tests with the W12. He has a successful track record, was Formula 2 champion in 2019 and is the reigning Formula E champion. Despite this, he has not yet been given a chance in the Formula 1 championship.

As he is the leading contender, he was asked what he thought, but his comments were cautious, he made it clear that he was focusing on the electric category for now.

If Toto Wolff was looking for experience, the answer would also be in-house. Stoffel Vandoorne has already spent two seasons in F1 with McLaren. The Belgian completes the Mercedes team in Formula E with De Vries, in which he finished second two seasons ago.

The downside is that in his two years in F1 (2017-18) he only scored 25 points, not McLaren’s best years, but he also showed no promising signs. He also has a place as a reserve driver.

If De Vries or Vandoorne were to make the jump, they would have stability for the foreseeable future, as 2022 will be the last year Mercedes will compete in the electric category.

When it comes to being more aggressive, the options that are already in Formula 1 and could move to the German team could be Sebastian Vettel, Esteban Ocon and Mick Schumacher.

Vettel already knows what it’s like to be a champion, he has won four consecutive titles (2010-13) with Red Bull and is also one of the most respected drivers. However, his first year at Aston Martin has been different to what he is used to, he has gone from fighting for podiums and wins to the middle of the grid.

Having the option to join Mercedes would bring him back to the top and give him the chance to fight for the championship again.

Ralf Schumacher, Michael’s younger brother, endorsed it as an option: “If (Vettel) had the opportunity to join this team, of course he would take it because it is the best chance to win again. That’s what Sebastian wants, to win races.”

For his part, Ocon grew up in the German team’s academy, tried his luck unsuccessfully at Force India, then Renault, now Alpine, gave him his chance. He may have a three-year contract, but he remains in contact with the Silver Arrows.

 

“Of course there are still connections with Mercedes, but the job I do is to be with Alpine,” he said after signing his extension.

Finally, Mick Schumacher has a winner’s tag, he has been a winner with his Formula 2 and 3 championships, but unfortunately he has arrived in the Formula 1 championship with the worst team in 2021. Haas didn’t even score any points.

In his rookie year he sparkled and Toto Wolff sees him as a potential champion. “He has the talent and intelligence to get to the top, win some races and even fight for the title one day, but he needs time,” he said.

The mystery surrounding Lewis Hamilton seems endless, but Mercedes has options at hand to start a new era if the seven-time world champion decides to end his career.

 

 

 

44 responses to “Replacement for Hamilton this season

      • Of course what Looey wants is continued speculation. So we are giving him that, keeping him centre stage. If we ignore him, he will go away. Goodbye Loo

      • Here we go again, yes leave Lewis. Like Mayweather in boxing robbed Olympic glory but went on to achieve greater things and silenced his critics. Sir Lewis has got nothing to lose or prove by going back into that cockpit but alot to gain by staying away. Already with 7 titles well 8 plus the one robbed from his waist thanks to FIA and their underhand methods, he has silenced his critics left them with no options but to move the goal post. Believe me or not thats a nice send off for the GOAT F1’s greatest 7 plus 1 titles. As for FIA, everyone who played their part in the driver championship swindle will one day be alone somewhere in their old age wrestling with the conscious if they have any hoping to take back the clock and do what is right. I guess now it’s all history, so yes retreat Lewis go out enjoy yourself forget F1 take time off soon you will find where to channel your energy for greater good. What is important now is your personal safety not your funs or glory of a 9th title. Yes it should have been a 9th title. Max can keep that one title coz his innocent he did nothing wrong but his just a racer like Lewis and wants to win. Am sure he never wanted to win with a ‘an unfair advantage’ handled over to him by race fixers.

        • Retirement isn’t the real issue and the writers know it. FIA is doubling down on their treachery that was so obvious when they allow a team capitalize on “reckless” not aggressive driving! When not even that advantage didn’t work for MV they simply gave Max the championship with the help of others team that didn’t care about their own teams only their endeavor to bring down a “True” Champion! How is it a driver can take a route that will obviously take him from the track and the driver in front of him has to let him through? How can a driver park a car in place where a safety car has to come out and not reconcile other teams are helping another team? How is it a 8 times champion causes a wreck that eventually lead to another 8 times Champion being denied the 9th championship through a series of rules manipulations? Finally how do you take a 12 second lead from a driver and not give him fresh tires so the spirit of finishing the race racing is an honorable one???

          • I agree, Max is a hard person to like as he comes across as a whiny spoilt brat who isn’t just reckless but dangerous at times. Have you ever seen a professional driver try to overtake in a chicane with the other driver on the driving line which will always end up with a collision, yet no one will tell him how dangerous he is. Schumacher got away with murder for years because the FIA were terrified of losing Ferrari and he drove just like Max who funnily enough grew up with his family. I’ve loved racing for years and when I raced I was taught to trust what the stewards said how can Lewis ever do that again! Max carries on like nothing ever happened and claims he won it fair and square, what a sad deluded child he is. It is sad that the only real loser in this is F1, Masi is a disgrace and even before Abu Dhabi showed he was hopeless in a position that needed sound reliable thinking and worse he is definitely not a fan of Lewis. While the Dutch and Lewis haters rejoice totally oblivious to the damage this has done to a sport I really care about, they seem not to care about things like rules and facts just as long as Max is champion and what a rubbish champion he is. Contrast Jeddah where Max tried to take out Lewis three times and despite lying his arse off about his brake testing stunt got caught with telemetry bang to rights he still whined and sulked like a baby. He was so lucky that the FIA wanted a showcase final as normally dangerous driving is followed with a disqualification but he just got a slap on the wrist but didn’t he show off about it. Contrast that to Lewis who was robbed blind and was stoic and gracious in defeat as a true champion should be, if that had been Max he would have stamped his feet and held his breath unless they changed the result! The fact is Lewis was robbed blind by politics as much as Red Bull and Max try to carry on like nothing happened. Lewis unlike Max has been very mature and professional in his response. The media is dying for him to say something but whatever he says will damn him so staying quiet is the best thing he can do. The Lewis haters claim he is a cry baby but that is so far from the truth he is just considering his options. Who would want to do another season when the stewards can just take the prize away from you again, Masi clearly can’t be trusted and needs to go and the FIA needs to clean house. My friends close to the ground tell me that all the FIA are doing is damage limitation trying to create a united front and get everyone to back the decision where most drivers consider it a farce and they still wont admit they did anything wrong. I love this sport but right now we have a paper champion with the maturity of a teenager and a governing body that cares more about covering up their mistakes than making things better. Why the hell would Lewis want to come back to that!!

    • Tj13 is a cuck looser coze a pure blackbreed man fucks his wife/gf and he vents his anger here coze he know he is not man enough and is a sissie no one could replace great sir lewis he will make record till 10 championships while crashtappen will have nothing to do but wash dishes when radbull exits

      • I see you are indeed a Thespian and congratulations for what is possibly the worst combination of racist and disturbing notions

        • Carl’s reply is shocking. I have literally just signed up to this page and I am confronted by this comment. I don’t complain about anything normally but seriously this is out of order and he should be ashamed of himself for making the remarks.

    • MERCEDES & HAMILTON should both tell F1 where to stick this corrupt body as like football money,greed has destroyed the sport + the fair play status is no longer a art of drivers skills just bending the rules

    • How about a one year deal for one of the greatest driver’s of all time, albeit in a rally car Sebastian Loeb. His drive in the rally this past week was one of the best of his career. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Imagine if he could win just one GP

  1. Michael Schumacher in place of lewis in Mercedes what is this author smoking lol lol stop watching dts you pathetic bozo lewis will only come back stronger and fight harder

      • What did you think mick was short for? Mickey mouse? He doesn’t want people confusing his dad and him so he calls himself mick.

      • I read the article and I hate the term lose when it comes to Abu Dhabi, stolen would be more appropriate. Lewis had the race won and rightly stayed out during the SC to protect his position with two laps to go I would have done the same. Max in desperation played the do the opposite of Lewis card with nothing to lose but then no one knew Masi would break his own rules twice to apparently provide a race!!! We had 53 laps of a 55 lap race which Lewis had won so making Lewis a sitting duck on the last lap was racing, it wasn’t it was Politics and disgraced F1 and still stinks to high heaven now. Max may be the champion but anyone that isn’t Dutch or a Lewis hater knows who the real champion is and by the way I’m not a Lewis fan I’m a racing fan and hate the fact that Masi has turned the sport I love into WWE.

  2. Great piece and happy news if it happens would make this year more interested the best thing would be the hordes of woke lulu cult fans disappearing and making the place more better for us real fans anyways lulu has his balls cut off now so even if he by chance comes back he would be easily shown his real place and kicked out soon

    • Sorry to burst your bubble but Lewis will not be retiring as he’s given zero indication of this himself. Unfortunately for max this coupled with the fact that he won’t be able to rely on masi making up the rules as he goes along again and Horner having to rein in the whinging constantly to get his way will mean Lewis I predict easily winning this season.

  3. Lewis is and will forever be the best driver…He needs time to work out what you morons are saying about him…✌🏻

  4. If hamilton does not return to F1 and race i will never warch another race agaian and never witness another farce like the last race and good luck to paper champions
    Lewis Hammertime Hamilton you are the best there is and my heart felt thanks goes out to yo The ultimate champion of all time
    Sean wright Australia

  5. Let’s get on with the sport.
    If little Lulu can’t or won’t make up his mind why should we not carry on with business of racking without his carping and whinging
    We need proper sportsmen who abide by the rules and accept decisions made by the administrators and/or referees of the sport even if the individual does not agree with the decision..
    That is a sign of a true sportsman

    • Dear Vernon, you are a moron. Yes I agree that sport needs sportsman to abide by decisions but when those decisions are corrupt and make no sense then something needs to be done. Imagine Man Utd 5-0 up with two minutes to go and then the ref says last goal wins and then awards the other side a penalty. Can you imagine what the world would make of that the uproar, well that’s what happened in Abu Dhabii and that’s why F1 is now considered like WWE.
      Firstly, Lewis (Lulu really! that’s just sad) hasn’t done any carping or whinging he has left that to the Lewis haters like yourself. He has wisely chose to say nothing as whatever he says people like yourself will turn it against him, it’s called being professional. Something the current paper champion walking in shoes far too big for him could learn a lot from. If it had been Max in this position he would have stamped his feet and held his breath until the race had been re run the child that he is, you only need to look at his childish antics in Jeddah where he was caught lying his arse off for his brake testing stunt by telemetry. You wouldn’t know a true sportsman if they kicked you up the arse such is your unpleasant bias. I’m not a Lewis fan I’m a racing fan and was appalled by what happened in Abu Dhabi like any true racing fan. Racing should be decided on the track by the drivers not in the stewards office, when the SC was brought out Lewis was 12 seconds ahead and Max was nowhere, Horner was desperate and heard saying we need a miracle. As any experienced driver would do, Lewis stayed out to preserve his position whereas Max was desperate and played the ‘do the opposite of Lewis’ card. Then Masi decided to break his own rules not once but twice to apparently provide a race when we had already had 53 of a 55 lap race which Lewis had won fair and square only for Masi to make Lewis a sitting duck. That wasn’t racing that was politics and it still stinks now. Masi needs to go as he isn’t just corrupt but useless at his job but still the FIA continue to say they did nothing wrong and defend him which says a lot about what could happen next year. If I was Lewis I wouldn’t come back until FIA clean house but I wont hold my breath. Until then if I want to watch a sport where the officials decide the result I recommend female WWE it does make me smile.

  6. LULU is not even in the picture now bit the biased British media keeps harping in him and keeps promoting with many speculation. This is a mind game being played by the media and LULU is also very good at mind games, like ” BONO MY TURES ARE GONE” and the next lap is the fastest. Fake LULU and fake MEDIA!!

    • What a moron, I’ve seen more intelligent halibut and Lulu really that’s just sad 😂😂

  7. Let’s see who will be in-charge, this year! Then put your money, where mouth is, blood. Nuff respect, one love evertime 🙏🇯🇲👍

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  13. I hate the term ‘lose’ when it comes to Abu Dhabi, stolen would be more appropriate. Lewis had the race won and rightly stayed out during the SC to protect his position with two laps to go I would have done the same. Max in desperation played the do the opposite of Lewis card with nothing to lose but then no one knew Masi would break his own rules twice to apparently provide a race!!! We had 53 laps of a 55 lap race which Lewis had won so making Lewis a sitting duck on the last lap was racing, it wasn’t it was Politics and disgraced F1 and still stinks to high heaven now. Max may be the champion but anyone that isn’t Dutch or a Lewis hater knows who the real champion is and by the way I’m not a Lewis fan I’m a racing fan and hate the fact that Masi has turned the sport I love into WWE.

  14. I am sure Hamilton is ok. He will be doing healing things like mindfulness, yoga, meditation and eating healthy vegan meals. He accepted the championship result. He is a good human. He will be doing this to come back stronger in 2022. It is good he has cut off toxic pointless social media posting. He will aim for number 8 in 2022 and these clickbait articles (Shame on you judge, you are usually good, I came to this article from another page drumming up this Hamilton rumours)

  15. Who would walk away from the opportunity to have been the winningest competitor in their chosen sport ? To go down in history as the GOAT ? Nobody that’s who, now if chose to jump ship and do it in a Ferrari would be the chefs kiss !

  16. I won’t be watching anymore. Sickened by the corruption. Masi should be ashamed. F1 is damaged in the eyes of the public.As for Max V, he will recognise in time what a hollow victory is.

  17. Lewis is, no doubt, the best the sport has produced. I was always impressed with his exploits, but, and I mean this, for reasons arrived at in over 50 years of watching Formula One; I would always have told you that, well, forget “greatest”, or “GOAT”, or whatever term they use at your pub on Friday night, that the Quintessential Grand Prix Driver would forever be John Young Stewart, but Lewis, and I’ve got to hand it to him, in the last 8-9 years since he left McLaren, has continued to develop, has learned to summon the brain power it takes to already have an edge on the field well before the lights go out, and in every way, has gone from a super-talented kid to the man who holds all the cards on a Sunday, and the fact that Mercedes has given him the best car, if anything, has probably shaded the fact that Lewis, by sheer dint of mental discipline, has become the Grand Prix driver of all time, and Fangio, Clark, Stewart, Senna, Prost, and Schumacher are all in his shadow.
    Now, the OTHER fact is, that young Max is ANOTHER preternaturally talented young man, what? a dozen years Lewis’ junior, and one who will also continue to develop, and the two of them, well clear of the rest of today’s talent, will probably labor for years to come, to beat each other, and no one can say how it will turn out.
    A few years back, Nico Rosberg, knowing that a championship winning car comes around maybe once or twice per twenty careers, dug deep, and found what he needed to beat Lewis ONCE, and promptly retired, knowing that the opportunity of a lifetime had come, and that he had made the best of it when it did. ALL THE LEWIS fans said he “had a lucky break”; some point in the season, a car had broken down, and it wasn’t his. Well, let me tell you, NO ONE WILL EVER WIN A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP and afterwards, his fans will say “Well, he had bad luck, but he still won” IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN. Think about it, if you haven’t had too many pints tonight: no one, nobody, of the, what, 35 is it?, drivers who have a World Championship to their name, will ever tell you that Lady Luck was on someone else’s side.
    2022 is shaping up to be another cracker. enjoy it.

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