October 4, 2024

Celebrity Gambler: Betting on the Top Contenders for Mercedes F1’s Next Driver

By Cobus van Wyk

Many F1 fans love to place a wide variety of bets at minimum bet sportsbooks on their favourite motorsport drivers and teams. Decades before the first-ever F1 race, Mercedes had already racked up a vast amount of world speed and distance records, establishing a reputation for success in motorsport. After a nearly 40-year abstinence from F1, the famous brand name finally reappeared on the grid in 1994 as an engine supplier.

Mercedes won a record breaking eight back-to-back Constructors Championships from 2014 to 2021. The complete and utter dominance of Mercedes over these years in speed and reliability contributed majorly to Lewis Hamilton matching the legendary Michael Schumacher’s tally of seven F1 Drivers Championship titles.

A small but significant factor that no one mentions, Hamilton, a deeply religious vocal Christian, has always denied any attraction to gambling and advocates responsible gambling. But with the new Stake deal on the cards, he would have contractual obligations and duties such as public sponsorship appearances, and his name becoming associated with gambling as a celebrity gambler.

This instantly created a hotbed of speculation. Who could possibly replace Hamilton? Who is talented enough to trust with filling the prestigious second hotseat at Mercedes. The choice is especially troubling considering the extremely fast and consistent George Russell will be the yardstick he’ll directly be measured against.

Lewis Hamilton’s Legacy and Stats

During Mercedes’ 2014 – 2021 dominance, the manufacturer won an unequalled eight Constructors Championship titles. Remarkably in that period Lewis Hamilton single-handedly contributed Seven Drivers Championships.

Money is key to success in F1 with vast amounts spent in development costs to create the perfect engine, suspension, chassis, and aerodynamic package. Combining this with the equally high annual cost to transport the F1 circus to compete at various circuits around the world demands a staggering investment. Needless to say, F1 (in its entirety) depends majorly on sponsorship to finance its operations.

Currently, F1’s main sponsors cover a wide swath of fields – from Oracle in software technology to petrochemical giants Petronas and Aramco, and cryptocurrency by Bybit. Online gambling is represented by Aristocrat & PokerStars. Crypto online casinos giant, Stake, has made a significant entry into F1 by securing naming rights for the Sauber team, rebranding it as Stake F1 Team for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, ahead of Audi’s takeover in 2026. This partnership is reported to be a lucrative deal for Sauber, supposedly netting them $100 million over three years. However, the brand’s prominent presence is set to face regulatory hurdles in various countries due to strict gambling advertisement laws. Crypto low deposit casinos like Stake have become highly popular with large fan bases across the globe.

The number of sponsors from gambling related fields are a natural offshoot reflecting the popularity of F1 in the gambling community. Many F1 fans place a wide variety of bets at minimum bet sportsbooks on their favourite drivers and teams for places, qualifying position, pole positions, podium placings, fastest lap, race and championship wins.

Name Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton 
Titles MBE HonFREng 
Birthplace Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England 
Birthday 07 January 1985 
Citizenship United Kingdom 
Father Anthony Hamilton – Grenadian 
Mother Carmen Larbalestier – British 
Half-brother Nicolas 
Marital Status Single 
Occupations Race car driver 
Career Statistics  
Series Competed 2001 – British Formula Renault 
 2002 – Formula Renault Eurocup 
 2003 – British Formula 3 
 2002-2003 – Formula Renault UK 
 2004-2005 – Formula 3 euro Series 
 2006 – GP2 Series 
 2007–Current – FIA Formula One World Championship 
  
Championship Titles 2003 Formula Renault UK 
 2005 Formula 3 Euro Series 
 2006 GP2 Series 
 2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2020 FIA F1 Drivers Champion 
  
First F1 Race 2007 Australian Grand Prix 
First F1 Win 2007 Canadian Grand Prix 
Total F1 Race Starts 332 
Total Pole Positions 104 
Total F1 Podiums 197 
Total F1 Wins 103 
F1 Fastest Laps 65 
F1 Career Points 4639.5 
Car Number 44 – from carting 

Potential Contenders for the Mercedes Seat

As the oldest driver on the grid Fernando Alonso’s age, at 42, counts majorly against him. However, with two Drivers Championships behind his name, he certainly has the required pedigree. Plus, since joining Aston Martin at the start of the 2023 season, his electrifying performance has proven that he still has what it takes to win convincingly with consistency. Although, given his demanding personality he could also be divisive.

Mercedes may also consider leaving the highly capable George Russell in the role of lead driver. Measuring his 11 v 11 qualifying performance over the 22 race 2023 season against a near legendary 7-time F1DC teammate means he already has proven himself more than capable of taking the lead. Signing a fast younger driver as his wingman, Carlos Sainz would be the perfect candidate for 2025.

Another mightily attractive candidate is the highly talented Lando Norris. Who, since his rookie days, has proven himself as an upbeat, fast-thinking strategist. His natural charisma and easy-going personality made him a darling with audiences. He’s well-liked by teammates and has built a massive fan base as well over the last few seasons.

Daniel Riccardo’s name has also been mentioned and Mercedes may likely already have looked at him. However, despite his undoubted talent for speed, his lack of true commitment to any single F1 team saw him swapping teams unexpectedly and too often.

But, given the limited number of available seats in F1 today, even the most die-hard fan would admit the introduction of a completely new talent to the grid would probably be the most exciting news. Especially considering the driver/team stalemate that brought no chances the F1 grid for 2024.

What This Means for Mercedes F1 and the Racing World

If Alonso signs with Mercedes and quickly settles into an amicable relationship with key team members it will allow the team to quickly benefit from his years of experience. Having battled and often beaten the likes of Kimi Raikkonen, Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, and the illustrious Michael Schumacher, he offers extensive experience unmatched by anyone on the current F1 grid.

Knowing instantly what works and what doesn’t during both races and qualifying, his feedback will give Mercedes the opportunity to refine the new W15E chassis. Making quick, effective small improvements across the season yield even better performance gains than found in new chassis designs. It may allow them to significantly close that final performance gap to Red Bull.

Any time saved developing the car will prove invaluable to a team suffering from a two-year winless drought. Especially so in a formula where speed is of the essence in all facets of competition and finance.

The question is how will the team settle on a working dynamic between Russell and Alonso? Russell, used to fighting Hamilton, is impatient to win his first F1 Drivers Championship and Alonso has on multiple occasions expressed the desire to capture a final F1 Drivers Championship crown.

After four seasons performing slightly below the level of Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerck, Carlos Sainz, left without an F1 seat for 2025, will undoubtedly have to face settling into the position of wingman to Russell.

That is unless Mercedes instead decides to settle for Daniel Riccardo as the clearcut second fiddle to Russell undoubtedly making life easier for the ambitious young Brit.

Fan and Expert Opinions on Mercedes F1 Driver for 2026

Some F1 pundits speculate Mercedes will sign Antonelli fearing another team may steal the Italian youngster. Mercedes have been quoted as saying they believe him to be the next Verstappen! On the other side of the coin, Wolff asked the media to give Antonelli a break and not fill the youngster’s head with unrealistic dreams of F1 since he’s hardly left carting behind and has not even had his first start in an F2 race.

Most team managers are in agreement that Alonso, based on his performance in 2023, given a capable car is ready and able to win another F1DWC despite his age.

But, the brand naming deal that will see Sauber operate under an Audi banner for the 2026 F1 season going into the future may just prove highly fortuitous for Carlos Sainz Jr. In light of the extremely strong relationship between Audi and Carlos Sainz senior who won the 2024 Dalar Rallye in an Audi. The choice may just come down to a straight trading of drivers between Audi – Sauber and Ferrari, Hamilton for Carlos Jr!

Albon became a major hit with his team after having scored all but one point for the Mercedes powered Williams this past season. Albon may just be the dark horse in this race since the Williams team principal, James Vowles, is a known former close confidant of Mercedes team principal Toto Wolf and Vowles has stated that he is highly impressed with his current lead driver!

Final Thoughts: The Race for Hamilton’s Legacy Begins

If the Mercedes chassis for 2025 is capable Alonso is ready to win another championship, so is Russell. Both are highly competitive, if put together will they destroy the team from within. Moreover, if they can keep the ambitions and egos in check, Russell can still learn so much race-craft refinement from Alonso. He has raced, lost, but more importantly beaten four of the most successful champions in the history of F1.

Hamilton’s confirmation of his move to Ferrari is the most controversial news to hit F1 in over a decade.

Clearly F1 fans around the world are as eager to discover the next driving phenomenon as they are to see Mercedes come back into the fray at the top of the grid. Knowledgeable fans also realise this Hamilton shakeup opens new avenues that could possibly make that all happen, but only if the grid gets lit-up by a bright new talent.

If you love F1 and want to see it return to the glory days of Senna v Prost, Schumacher v Hakkinen we recommend you follow this story closely. The best places with the latest news and gossip as it develops would be F1 forums and social media, it is certain to bring a few surprises.

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