Slightly OT, but the Humph has left the Beeb.

RIP F1 on the BBC.

RIP F1 on the BBC.

Havent watched any BBC coverage since SKY started showing it. Was only a matter of time TBH.

So Hamilton's decided money is more important than a world championship, think he may regret that and has gone down massively in my estimations. And to top it all off, Perez has signed with McLaren for Hamilton's seat!!!

And so it begins.

So eyes will now be on Ferrari and Massa....

Perez and Button will be a good pairing, when Button went to McLaren they said he would fail and Lewis would crush Jenson as it is his team. its Jensons now, they will both pull together . So it looks like Schumacher will retire after all , as he is out of contract and where would he go . .He should have been banned for the next race like Grosjean was not just a 10 place drop. Paul di Resta will fill Massas seat, he is getting closer to the podium race by race

I thought Paul Di Resta would have got the McLaren seat but, oh well..

Macca needs to sell their super ar now so going into Americas with Perez makes sense, doesn't it?

So it looks like Schumacher will retire after all , as he is out of contract and where would he go . .He should have been banned for the next race like Grosjean was not just a 10 place drop.

Really? Has Schumi punted 7 cars up the back in his entire career*, never mind in 14 races? Grosjean has been involved in 7 first lap shunts this year.

*I can think of 3; 2 at Singapore which makes me wonder if his low-light depth perception is going, and DC at Spa in the rain, when DC slowed on the racing line "to let someone lap me" which is not normal conduct, and IMO is not readily predicatable either.

So Hamilton's decided money is more important than a world championship, think he may regret that and has gone down massively in my estimations. And to top it all off, Perez has signed with McLaren for Hamilton's seat!!!

Agree that its seems the wrong descision to go leave mclaren. Saying that Brawn produced a championship winning car before so who knows what could happen. I thnk hes a bit of a spoilt kid to be honest. Mclaren have made him who he is, supported him since karting then he just ups and buggers off due to a run of bad luck.

Jenson is a far better team memeber and never greets like hamilton when things arent going his way he just gets on with it. For me though Perez and Button are too similar i.e conservative styles of racing like being easy on the tyres. Think its good having different types of driver in a team i.e one aggresive one conservative, this gives the team more options.

Would like to have seen Di resta at Mclaren as i liked the all british line up and Jenson coulds teach him a lot.

Agree that its seems the wrong descision to go leave mclaren. Saying that Brawn produced a championship winning car before so who knows what could happen. I thnk hes a bit of a spoilt kid to be honest. Mclaren have made him who he is, supported him since karting then he just ups and buggers off due to a run of bad luck.

Jenson is a far better team memeber and never greets like hamilton when things arent going his way he just gets on with it. For me though Perez and Button are too similar i.e conservative styles of racing like being easy on the tyres. Think its good having different types of driver in a team i.e one aggresive one conservative, this gives the team more options.

Would like to have seen Di resta at Mclaren as i liked the all british line up and Jenson coulds teach him a lot.

Beg to differ, with two totally different drivers. When you have two similar ones then you chanell development in one direction instead of trying to please two drivers with very different preferences on car's handling. And it is is a massive diffrence if one likes a "lively" car and tho other rather understeering one. Perez and JB would be a great pairing I can assure you . Not only from the financial and marketing points of view but also car development direction point of view.

As for LH his 5 year contract run out and he was looking for a new one. Don't forget that driving contract is only a small fraction of the money offered and Merc has no competition really in this department. And they will get more money from Lewis being the Merc face than paying him to do that:).

Macca is not exactly bookies favourite for winning the championships this season or the next for that matter. Mercedes offered more money and a very good chance for developing a stonker of a chariot for 2014, provided the whole idea of 1.6 charged four-pots is not going to be scrapped as reported earlier...

Lewis being a spoilt kid? If you knew him or his family you'd have forgiven him mate...

Also, Lewis was always saying that he wants to stay with Macca, loves them to bits but hey, those zeros count and it is an open market. He's been loya to them for his entire motorsport career and trust there is no bad blood there. I also cannot see how can his move be perceived as disloyal, back stabbing etc?

Beg to differ, with two totally different drivers. When you have two similar ones then you chanell development in one direction instead of trying to please two drivers with very different preferences on car's handling. And it is is a massive diffrence if one likes a "lively" car and tho other rather understeering one. Perez and JB would be a great pairing I can assure you . Not only from the financial and marketing points of view but also car development direction point of view.

As for LH his 5 year contract run out and he was looking for a new one. Don't forget that driving contract is only a small fraction of the money offered and Merc has no competition really in this department. And they will get more money from Lewis being the Merc face than paying him to do that:).

Macca is not exactly bookies favourite for winning the championships this season or the next for that matter. Mercedes offered more money and a very good chance for developing a stonker of a chariot for 2014, provided the whole idea of 1.6 charged four-pots is not going to be scrapped as reported earlier...

Lewis being a spoilt kid? If you knew him or his family you'd have forgiven him mate...

Also, Lewis was always saying that he wants to stay with Macca, loves them to bits but hey, those zeros count and it is an open market. He's been loya to them for his entire motorsport career and trust there is no bad blood there. I also cannot see how can his move be perceived as disloyal, back stabbing etc?

Fair point about focusing development with 2 similar drivers but thats also like having all your eggs in one basket. Sometimes an aggresive strategy wins sometimes it pays to be conservative i just think it makes it more interesting with two contrasting styles with the same technology. I still think Hamilton as a lot to learn especially with the way he handles himself in the limelight. If things are not going his way he is a miserable sod, should take a leaf out of Raikonens book, so chilled. I think Hamilton wants to be a no.1 driver and doesnt want a teammate on equal pegging as him. Not sure if they will favour him over rosberg at mercedes but in theory he would have seniority seeing as he is an ex champion.

Really? Has Schumi punted 7 cars up the back in his entire career*, never mind in 14 races? Grosjean has been involved in 7 first lap shunts this year.

*I can think of 3; 2 at Singapore which makes me wonder if his low-light depth perception is going, and DC at Spa in the rain, when DC slowed on the racing line "to let someone lap me" which is not normal conduct, and IMO is not readily predicatable either.

Stewards judge race by race not a career so this incident was just as bad, I like Schumacher these days as he seems more human now, but he did drive into both Damon and Jacques ( which is not normal conduct

^ Let's just face it, he's a cr*p driver. Never was any good imo, and I know he won 7 times on the trot. Boring it was too.

You're only as good as your last race. He's still got fight in him but there's way too much good talent to deserve to be in F1 now. Why doesn't he go to DTM or BTCC? Plenty of F1 drivers have done it in the past

His brother and DC are in DTM at the minute - although DC is usually near the back!

Stick him in an MG in the BTCC

Stewards judge race by race not a career so this incident was just as bad,

Er, they are entitled to take past incidents into account when deciding post-race punishments.

I like Schumacher these days as he seems more human now, but he did drive into both Damon and Jacques ( which is not normal conduct

Now how did I know you'd mention those incidents? Firstly, since they were "side to side", I'd sort of excluded those 2; secondly, you're still only at 5 in a career, rather than 7 in 14 races; thirdly, IMO Damon did the "I'm coming through a closing gap" thing and Jacquo (the slower Jacques Villeneuve) shouldn't have been allowed to start that race in 1997.

His brother and DC are in DTM at the minute - although DC is usually near the back!

Stick him in an MG in the BTCC

Why? Driving into people in the BTCC is JP's job!

^^ LOL

Shumi is still hungry for the win as he showed during his brilliant drive at Monza earlier this year - overtaking war with kimster was ace. Come to think about it Spa wasn't that bad either.

Problem is this is the pinnacle of motorsport and age does make a difference...

He is the greatest F1 driver in the history of the sport, a living legend and nobody will take it away from him. I wish he could win one last championship and then retire.

I still hate the ba$tard though!

I dont think he has a hope in hell of winning another championship, but if Sauber or someone will have him as a driver and he enjoys it let him do it. He still has enough in him to Qualify on pole in a under performing Merc, so his hardly "not good enough for F1".

I`v never been a schui fan, I grew up watching him vs Hill & the bore fest of him winning every year but, as for him being a "crap driver" & "never any good", I cant really take that seriously given his record. In the history of F1 I cant think of many that would match him in his peak.

^ Let's just face it, he's a cr*p driver. Never was any good imo, and I know he won 7 times on the trot. Boring it was too.

It was boring but hes not a crap driver. His teammates didnt beat him did they and they had same car. Hes too old now but general lack of points this year has mainly been down to a string of bad luck.

^ +1

I seem to remember the time he drove from the edge of the track to try and take Damon out - can't recall where it was but that's not someone who's good at driving. I'd like to see his book of excuses too - will have more chapters than a Harry Potter trilogy.

Paul the history speaks for itself , Schumacher was and still is the best driver F1 that ever was, no one will ever come close to 7 times world champion ever, yes I agree was a bit wild in his formative years but he's a racer it's what they do!, senna was the same him and the Frenchman were always bouncing of each other, micheal has had a dire return not all his fault, if Schumacher was in a competitive car he would have been at the podium no doubt, oh and I'm a schumi fan he deserves the respect of being 7 times champ

Remember when he wanted to kick DC's head in and mechanics have to restrain him after he stormed into Macca garage after an off with DC?