So ... this is my first blogging experience, so bear with me!
I will be blogging about a multitude of things; current affairs, book/film reviews, my writing, and sports.
A little late, but first I am going to talk about Lewis Hamilton's move from McLaren to Mercedes for 2013.
On the surface, it seems like a crazy idea; Mercedes have won only once this season, McLaren have won 5 times. The McLaren has been widely acknowledged (up until Japan) as the fastest car on the grid, whereas the Mercedes is struggling in the mid-field battle with Sauber and Force India. Hamilton himself has been the fastest driver all year, with the most pole positions.
However, if Hamilton can pull off winning a championship in the Mercedes, the move will further enhance his already impressive reputation; it would be almost Schumacher-esque (Schumacher presided over the resurgence of Ferrari beginning in the late 1990's, leading to a 5 year uninterrupted stint as the dominant team in Formula 1).
Mercedes have also offered Hamilton and his manager, Simon Fuller of XIX Management, freedom to control Hamilton's own image and branding; something McLaren have not concretely allowed. Recent media outbursts seem to have damaged Hamilton's relationship with the McLaren team, and with team-mate Jenson Button.
Mercedes are big winners here. Schumacher hasn't been able to recapture the dominant form of his first career, and Hamilton is widely acknowledged by many of his rivals (most notably Fernando Alonso) as one of the fastest drivers on the grid. Hamilton's hunger for wins will help drive a team that is still rebuilding its personnel after the cutbacks that had to be imposed in the Brawn era of 2009.
McLaren are also minor winners. Sergio Perez, the magnificent Mexican, has left Sauber to replace Hamilton for 2013. This means that McLaren now possess the two drivers most skilled at preserving Pirelli's fast degrading tyres. Perez, fresh from several podiums already this year, is perhaps the most exciting young talent to enter F1 since Sebastian Vettel.
So, Hamilton is ending his 14 year involvement with McLaren to join Mercedes. Only time will tell whether this will be a miserable mistake or a magnificent masterstroke...
