Hamilton could be set for Mercedes drive next season

Lewis Hamilton is on the verge of leaving McLaren to drive for Mercedes next season, according to BBC F1 chief analyst Eddie Jordan.

The former team boss says Hamilton will replace Michael Schumacher, who will retire from driving for a second time at the end of the year.

"I believe Hamilton and Mercedes have already agreed personal terms and a deal could be imminent," Jordan said.

F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone hinted last Sunday that Schumacher was retiring.

Ecclestone told Jordan on BBC One: "I'm sorry that he's leaving us not being a winner, because he is a winner."

Asked if knew whether Schumacher was retiring, Ecclestone added: "I don't know, I don't know."

Confronted with Ecclestone's comments, Schumacher insisted after Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix that he had not yet decided on his future.

"As I told [Ecclestone] yesterday I had not made a decision," said the German.

Jordan said he had since been investigating the situation and believed Hamilton, who has yet to agree a new deal to remain with McLaren, was on his way to Mercedes to replace Schumacher.

"Some weeks ago I said on TV that I felt Lewis was on the move and I had an idea at the time he had been speaking to Ferrari, which we now know is true," Jordan said.

"But I can now confirm his people have had meetings with Mercedes.

"Bernie Ecclestone made it clear to me live on television on Sunday that Schumacher was leaving, although Schumacher later played it down.

"So it would appear Michael is leaving and Lewis is arriving at Mercedes.

"Hamilton has not agreed terms with McLaren yet.

"In fact the team have made it clear they cannot offer him as big a salary as his current $15m (£9.42m) deal, which was negotiated before the global financial crisis.

"On top of that, McLaren have to pay for their Mercedes engines for the first time next year.

"Hamilton moving to Mercedes would also make a lot of sense in the context of his manager Simon Fuller, the man behind the Spice Girls and now David Beckham.

"Fuller is trying to position Hamilton as a major global star, like Beckham, and Mercedes is a much bigger global brand than McLaren.

"There has been some uncertainty over Mercedes' position in F1. The board is unhappy at the current performance of the team, but getting Hamilton would undoubtedly be a massive coup and it could give the F1 team some breathing space."

Hamilton's representative at Simon Fuller's XIX Management, Simon Oliveira, and Mercedes GP chief executive officer Nick Fry refused to comment.

A McLaren spokesman said: "Negotiations between Lewis Hamilton and McLaren continue."

If Hamilton left McLaren, it would leave the team with a huge hole to fill.

Among the candidates for the vacancy alongside Jenson Button would be Scot Paul di Resta, currently at Force India, and Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen.

Di Resta, who has the same management team as Button after splitting with Hamilton's father Anthony, has continued to impress this season, his second in F1 with Force India.

Raikkonen, who drove for McLaren from 2002-05, was a candidate at the team for 2010 before negotiations broke down over money and team boss Martin Whitmarsh turned to Button.

Raikkonen returned to F1 this season with Lotus after two unsuccessful years in world rallying and although he has had some unconvincing weekends, his performances have been increasingly impressive.

The 32-year-old Finn currently lies fourth in the championship heading into this weekend's Italian Grand Prix, one place ahead of Hamilton.

The Englishman's season has been hampered by early-season operational errors by McLaren which cost him about 40 points, and on Sunday in Belgium he was taken out in a start-line collision caused by Lotus's Romain Grosjean.

Hamilton is now 47 points behind world championship leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari with 200 available in the remaining eight races.

Source:bbc Sport


Bad decision by Lewis for me

I still think when its all said and done Hamilton will remain at McLaren. Remains the best spot for him.

I think so too GSC - whether thats a good thing or not... you decide.

I will believe it when i see it to be honest.

TO be honest i stopped reading the article as soon as i read "BBC Chief analyst Eddie Jordan"

IMO Lewis needs to hold out at Mclaren until if and when a position at Lotus appears. If it doesnt then he's best to stay at Mclaren - this is as things stands. The situation could change in seasons to come.

Mclaren and Hamilton need each other and if this happens, it would hurt both parties

I agree thats why Mclaren and Lewis to an extent need to get their head from up their ass.

I thought it would be good for Jenson to join Mclaren, it would benefit all. But its not the case... things appear to have got worse.

It's a very bad move for Lewis and to be fair last time EJ came out with a driver rumor it was Schumi coming back

Its a load of posturing for me. Hamilton knows McLaren are one of the few teams that are competitive each year

Mclaren need to value Lewis and Lewis needs to value Mclaren.

For me Button is the difference between the relationship working and not. Because MW prefer Button. Take either MW or Button - or preferably both out of the equation. The Mclaren Lewis relationship works and you see that in the results.

What i want to know is, lets assume that MW does prefer Button and is actively giving him preferential treatment, why isnt Ron stepping in. This makes me think it isnt happening.

However, something isnt right. As i say, things havent been the same since Button joined. Instead of having a go at Lewis openly, Button needs to back Lewis up. But he hasnt which just strengthens that belief.

Im sure if it was the other way round Lewis would back button up and support him.

Would be pretty poor choice by Hamilton if he goes to Mercedes.

They are hardly setting world alight and it would be a backward step in his career.

When Heiki was at Mclaren and Lewis was receiving number 1 treatment all was well. Button joining the team upset the apple cart big time. Mclarens insistance of equal treatment just doesnt work and has seriously curtailed Hamiltons ability to take the fight to Alonso and Vettel on an equal footing - this seaon being a prime example. And if MW thinks Button will lead the team to glory post Hamilton then he is sadly mistaken because race in and race out Buttons not good enough. As someone has already said - where's Ron in all this - well at the end of the day he's corporate Mclaren thru and thru and will tow the party line - evem if reluctantly. I don't believe this is all about money(ok some of it is) but more about winning titles and trust. Trust that the team is 110% behind YOU because you're the best in the business and sod whoever else happens to be across the garage.

Steve i couldnt agree more they are my sentiments exactly.

We knock Ferrari, but imo the way to go is ot have one #1 and a #2 driver - they've proven it works. Button doesnt work like that. It was all going well with Heikki.

But unless Ron comes back into play it will only continue to get worse before a climax, which could be lewis leaving Mclaren.

Critical I've a feeling that that is what will happen. I hope I'm wrong but when negotiations drag on and on that always tends to be the outcome - same as in football. As things stand I would rather he went to Lotus if at all possible but we have 2014 on the horizon and that changes everything. Red Bull and Lotus could be at the back. Nobody knows and thats the real problem. One thing though is Ross Brawn is no mug and has had a lean spell in recent years so just like the stock exchange - he's due a (red) bull run !!

Six months ago if you made this suggestion I would have wet myself laughing and said Hamilton would never leave McLaren especially not for Mercedes. However, in the last few weeks there have been clear signs of discontent by Hamilton. He has moaned about the car's lack of pace, dragged his heels about signing a new deal, been asking for more money and doing really unfathomable things like posting secret information about the McLaren up on Twitter. Those are clear signs for me he is pressing for confrontation - perhaps he hasn't the heart to walk out on the team and wants them to sack him?

Yes yes yes ^^^

Id also love to seem him at Lotus. I too am not convinced he'll leave yet and will believe it when it happens. However, he could be an asset to Merc in developing the car and he'd make a good pairing with his mate Rosberg.

Was on the radio this morning, which doesnt normally happen if these F1 rumours.

Shocked when I first heard about Hamilton going to Mercedes last night but then as soon as I saw the source being named as Eddie Jordan, I knew that the percentage truth of the story was probably 0%.

I know people are saying it would be a bad move for Lewis because of the current situation at Mercedes, however what positives are there being at a McLaren where he's clearly in an unhappy environment and currently 5th in the WDC? If he and the team wanted to sign a deal, then it would have already been signed. I agree on everything regarding the Button/MW issue and the closeness of the their relationship has unsettled Lewis. Button really ticks me off, one win and he thinks he's the big shot again and a genuine title contender. He's even claiming he's the one who's going to quieten the tifosi this weekend. It's like he's the no.1 again and he gets that belief because of the strength and love he gets from MW, irrelevant of bad results previously and that's why Lewis will never be given the full support unlike Fernando at Ferrari.

As for the move, you can't just state it's a 'bad move' for Lewis because that would be incredibly insulting to the Mercedes team and the extremely intelligent and historically successful team members that currently work there. Everyone knows F1 is about cycles and timing, there is no doubting the quality of the Mercedes team and in 2013 they may create a championship winning car because they certainly have the financial power and workforce to achieve it.

V true John. Also Mclaren could create a poor car next year like in 2009. Its all unknown at the moment.

If im honest, i'd just like him to get the hell out of the lions den.

Assuming it does happen and Lewis leaves Mclaren. I wonder what a) Ron's view on the situation will be and b) how Mclaren do with Button as their no 2.

Also who will Mclaren bring in to replace Lewis.

The most annoying thing about all of this is if Lewis leaves then Button will undoubtedly become no 1 - he will inherit the very status Hamilton had, craved, and lost to Button in the first place.

As the 2009 season drew to a close with the reigning world champion outperforming a very poor car it seemed a one off and Hami had a golden career ahead with multiple titles for both him and Mclaren on the horizon.
Then along came Button the newly crowned ahem champion demanding equal status and Hamiltons troubles began as over the next few years he found himself bogged down fighting inter-team battles instead of concentrating fully on Vettel and Alonso.

After the Alonso debarcle I think he over-tried to get along with Button but soon sussed it was a smiling assassin staring back and with hindsight should have told Button to go forth long ago - he'd have felt a hell of alot better.

If he stays its all just going to carry on regardless - hence the reason there is probably some truth in this story. Mclaren could groom a thousand wannabes and they would never come as good as Hamilton. So I will never understand them. Never.

Indeed, it will just continue. Mclaren are stunting Lewis' career and Lewis needs to make a decision.

Goodness knows what's going on inside Lewis Hamilton head right now, talk about this being a huge distraction not only during the season but now ahead of Monza. He's posted on his twitter a picture of himself in a field and stated, 'best place to think'.

Apparently during the driver press conference just now Lewis Hamilton has stated that he does not know whether he will be racing at McLaren next season.......

I think he's off

hmmmm i kind of hope he does even if it means having a season next year where he's not in contention. So what, get out of Mclaren and build a new relationship with another team.

The "best place to think" really does imply he's going.

Just because he may leave McLaren does not neccessarily mean he won't be in contention next season. I mean he's hardly been in a great position for McLaren in recent years has he, yes they have cars capable of winning races but there is alot more to being successful in F1 than that.

If he goes, he goes. I will be happy that he's removed himself out of a negative and unhappy environment and moved somewhere he can start afresh and be given the support he needs. The only issue I would have is that the media would probably write that he lost the 'Battle of Britain' at McLaren and that he failed to outperform JB in 2011 and just could not accept a competitive teammate taking away his status and the team's love and support. JB is the smiling assassin and he's enjoying this moment, he will seize any chance possible to become the no.1 within McLaren and openly stating his unhappiness with Lewis over his telemetry tweets just emphasises this point and is a move to say to McLaren that you cannot trust him and to back him instead.

I would like him to fight his corner at McLaren and not make a weak decision of just jumping ship when times got difficult. He's clearly the faster, superior driver and the realistic challenger for McLaren, so I just hope if Lewis signs an extension they give him that support to flourish instead of stunting his career and holding him back. Can't see it happening though.

"battle of britain" i can actually see that headline.

He wouldnt have lost anything to Jenson, more being unable to work effectively in a situation where the boss is biased towards one driver. Its not like jensons out driven him

I'm surprised McLaren haven't booted him out. The last 2 seasons he's been a shadow of himself. Ok, the car hasn't been great, but last year he was crashing into near enough everything that moved. And this season when we think everything's going back to "normal" he posts team data on Twitter. I don't care how useful it was to the other teams or not, the fact is he broke team rules. He's behaving like a real brat these days, I wonder if McLaren would be secretly glad to see the back of him.

The problem he has is he announces his going that immediately drops him to no.2 at Mclaren for rest of season he won't get any help at all Jenson will start getting new upgrades/Prefential pit stops etc

Critical_mass wrote:He wouldnt have lost anything to Jenson, more being unable to work effectively in a situation where the boss is biased towards one driver. Its not like jensons out driven him

Of course Lewis has out-driven JB, it's a given. The media though will always twist and turn a story into something else and that's why the 'Battle of Britain' headline would be used.

I do think that's an important point that announcing to leave now could be catastrophic for Lewis in terms of how the team play him for the rest of the season.

why do people keep referring to F1 drivers as kids, children, need to grow up or throwing toys out of the pram - see it alot on Planet F1. Its all so Cliche

Anyway...

He's damned if does and damned if he doesnt but he has to make a choice.

Lewis cant please people.

John - Whats he got to lose though. Either he leaves and gets treated unfairly for the rest of the season. Or stays and this continues...

Critical_mass wrote:John - Whats he got to lose though. Either he leaves and gets treated unfairly for the rest of the season. Or stays and this continues...

Yer I agree. Even if he finally decides to leave, which I still have my doubts about, life can't get much worse for him after all those botched amateurish pitstops, embarrasing strategy foul-ups and clumsy error-prone mechanics who can't fill the cars up correctly in qualifying.

Seriously why doesn't Ron just get some balls and get rid of Whitmarsh? Not won a constructors championship since 1998 and nowhere near to ending that drought, says it all.......

Must admit the Hamilton situation is intriguing for the driver market. I'm sure Perez & Di Resta are following events very closely.

Yes does make me wonder why Ron hasnt been more involved.

Hasnt Perez openly said he's staying with Sauber, even over Ferrari?

Di Resta isnt ready for a Mclaren seat imo. Hey maybe Heikki would be interested to go back to Mclaren given the option. Button would make a good no 2 to him

Fernando wrote:Jenson will start getting new upgrades/Prefential pit stops etc

Nothing changed there then !!

John wrote:Seriously why doesn't Ron just get some balls and get rid of Whitmarsh?

Yes that would certainly go some way to solving the problem - but wishful thinking I'm afraid.

Interesting Drivers conference on now!!!

Asking Lewis and Rosberg THE question/s..

The drivers conference was pretty funny with Lewis & Nico in particular.

According to Sky he's in advanced talks with McLaren and some of the interviews today seem pretty relaxed and chilled out about the whole contract situation. I think he'll re-sign, would be a monumental decision to leave and would shift alot of things around in F1. Be next week before anything is announced

I thought Lewis looked edgy when asked the question. But that could be just due to recent events... His and Lewis' responses were...erm short haha.

I dunno to be honest, im not sure what to think. Part of me is saying he's leaving the other half is that he'll re-sign but i just cant make my mind up.

If he does re-sign, how long will the contract be and i really want to know what the terms and condition would be in the contract.

I hope he signs with what ever team for the right reasons though, sure you want to get paid x amount, but i hope he does it for the racing rather than the money.

So it will definately be officially announced next week?

Hope he gets a win this weekend, he needs it and it'll help him negotiate...maybe.

Quite interesting to listening to Crofty, Davidson and Kravitz discussing the driver market and the implications to Hamilton moving. Davidson thinks this driver 'merry-go-round' frenzy whipped up by the media almost 99% of the time ends in a status Quo and nothing exciting ends up happening, which a part of me thinks will eventually happen again.

They were really going to town on the 2014 engine shakeup and all of them agreed that a move to Mercedes could really be advantageous for Lewis, especially as the engine regulations change and McLaren will be buying engines off Mercedes and having less information about the engine prior to 2014 compared to Mercedes. Also rumours going around that Schumacher could end up replacing Massa at Ferrari if Hamilton joins Mercedes but I'm not entirely sure that will happen.

There pro's and con's to moving to Mercedes or staying at McLaren, that's why this is a huge decision. The thing which does annoy me is people tweeting into SkySports stating that moving to Mercedes would be a 'come down' for Lewis and that he wouldnt be able to challenge at that team for the title. Ridiculous.

I would presume an announcement will be made next week after the weekend events are complete. Status Quo or shockwaves throughout F1........waiting game!

Id sooner see him at a "lesser" team than staying being treated unfairly at Mclaren. I hope Lewis realises that the merc move could be good, i mean 2013 may be a slump but 2014 could pick back up.

All unknown at hte mo though.

It appears Valteri Bottas is in the running to take Hamilton's drive if he leaves.The 23-year-old Finn is backed by Williams executive director Christian 'Toto' Wolff, who is part of his management group and has an investment stake in his F1 career.

Bottas has impressed Williams with his Friday morning FP1 performances alongside Pastor Maldonado this year (in which he participate in all but four of the season's GPs) and earned solid endorsement from Williams chief operations engineer Mark Gillan for his handling of the FW34 in the Silverstone Young Driver Test immediately folowing the British GP.

"He was very quick and didn't put a foot wrong," Gillan said, while adding that he considered Bottas's potential in similar vein to Mika Hakkinen's, whom he worked with at McLaren in the late nineties, when Hakkinen won back-to-back world titles at Woking.

Gillan was at that point McLaren's principal operational aerodynamicist, as well as a man who had won Northern Ireland's Employers Federation Trophy for inventing a haemodynamic control device to prolong heart bypass patients' life expectancy. The point being that if Gillan, an experienced, grounded engineer not prone to hyperbole, holds Bottas in such high regard, his opinions may well be given currency by Whitmarsh, his former boss.

It is worth mentioning at this juncture that Bottas's day-to-day management is conducted by Hakkinen and Didier Coton, who has a long relationship with McLaren dating back to the racing days of business partner Keke Rosberg and then Hakkinen himself. On the one hand, rather awkward, perhaps, is that Coton was also brought in to oversee Hamilton in 2012!

With that in mind, if there is a man in the paddock who will know the exact status of Hamilton's 2013 negotiations, it's Coton.

So, we asked Toto Wolff in the Monza paddock if he had been talking to Whitmarsh about Bottas?

"Not seriously," he smiled.

But you have spoken?

Another coy smile...

Wearing a Williams hat, Wolff admits that he would love to keep Bottas at the team. That, however, may not be practical. Pastor Maldonado's financial input through PDVSA is vital to Williams and, for a variety of reasons, the team may not be keen to displace Bruno Senna. Bottas, on the other hand, is ready for a full race seat.

The potential may be there for a deal similar (but probably not quite so luctrative!) as that concluded by Peter Sauber when he sold Kimi Raikkonen to McLaren just over a decade ago.

From Hakkinen through Raikkonen, McLaren did very nicely with its quick Finns for a decade and a half. As someone commented in Italy, "with Valterri they'd be getting a very quick, highly focused, extremely fit individual who lives with a disciplined Olympic swimmer (Emilia Pikkarainen) and whose head would not be turned by showbiz..."

One possible stumbling block is that, traditionally, McLaren has not taken on a Formula 1 rookie, although that particular mould was broken in spectacular fashion by Hamilton himself in 2007. Back then, however, Lewis was able to come into the season with around 10,000 miles of testing under his belt. Today, of course, there are three pre-season tests, and that's it.

Bottas, however, is not a total rookie on the back of his Williams test driving, which has have given him prior experience of 80% of the circuits on the calendar.

And, if there is one team with which Frank Williams, as well as Wolff, would have few qualms about conducting a spot of business, it's probably McLaren.


Ive seen a lot of him driving through various series if he has the car and the time to get used to it he can easily be a world champion

Erk.

While Bottas may have done a lot of test driving, you can't compare it with competitive racing. Giving him a race seat would be a massive mistake IMO. If I were McLaren I'd want to see how he gets on in one of the smaller teams first, to see if he can cut it in race conditions.

McLaren would be much better off getting Raikkonen back, or Di Resta. Heck, even Kovaleinen would be preferable. Always better to have 2 competitive drivers, rather than pinning your hopes on one guy.

Personally, I'd like to see Lewis stay at McLaren. By all accounts he and Jenson get on well and have a healthy rivalry and mutual respect. Whatever the problems are, they are between Lewis and McLaren's management.

I hope it isn't just that he's holding out for a bigger (or the same) salary. I'd hope he'd be intelligent enough to understand the team need to trim their budget and will have to pay for their engines from next season.

If its a clash of personalities then it may well be that Lewis has to move on for the sake of his career. If thats the case, he could do worse than go to Mercedes. They are a team on the up, with some great technical staff, including the legendary Ross Brawn. I understand he also gets on well with Rosberg.

I'd really love to know whats behind all the unrest at McLaren. Lewis is obviously unhappy about something. I can't see how it could be that Button is getting preferential treatment. Everything I've seen during races and read in the media points to the team giving their drivers equal support, as far as possible. Both drivers' results have been similar enough to suggest they are being given equal equipment and opportunity to win.

DW you may have answered your own question. It could well be equal status that is the problem. I personally don't subscribe to the theory that Button gets any king of preferential treatment and I don't think Hamilton does either BUT when the team were throwing away points early in the season due to botched pitstops and strategy it was Hamilton who suffered most. He probably looks at Alonso and Vettel - his two biggest obstacles to multiple WDCs and sees the harmony they share with Horner and Domenicali and the benefits of having the best of everything from strategists to gunmen on their side of the garage. Hamilton had that bind with RD but not MW. As I've already said when Heiki was at Mclaren Hami was the man but since Buttons arrival its all been too up and down. Maybe he feels he can recreate a whole new environment with Ross Brawn.

Also, some interesting comments form the sidelines:- Button - along with much of the media has commented that Hami should stay as its all about having the car, Shumi on the other hand says that first and formost its about having the right relationship and chemistry. Lookng at Alonso and Vettel today and his own domination in the 90s Shumi has a point. And that won't go unnoticed by Hamilton.

What did everyone think about Ron Dennis' comments after the race? I've got the sense he's incredibly unhappy with Hamilton and his management currently. Anyone who saw the photos of the British team’s traditional victory would of seen that Hamilton was the the only McLaren member without his fist aloft in triumph. Ron Dennis was then asked if it would be a shame if McLaren did not have two Britons at the wheel next year in 2013, Dennis answered: “It is not essential, we will try and always have the two best available drivers.”

This contract situation is ridiculous. Surely after this result Hamilton would realise this is the place to win. Or has he decided to leave, knowing he has a great chance of winning this year's title for McLaren, a kind of leaving present and beginning afresh at Mercedes next year where the team are tipped to become strong in line with the engine regulation changes for 2014.

What I gathered from listening to both RD and MW over the weekend is that Mclaren have laid out their best offer and are not going to budge and have left it to Lewis to make his mind up by a certain deadline. The offer from Mercedes is genuine but instead of being able to use it as a barganing chip Lewis found himself in a corner and probably can't believe it.

Whats not clear is the sticking point - it can't be just money - unless the deal on the table is even less than Buttons, and it can't be just about keeping trophies.

Either way each side seems to smell a whiff of disloyalty from the other and that would explain the stoney faces all round.

The financial issue, apparently, according to Sky, is McLaren are offering £16.5m a season, whereas Mercedes are offering £20m over three seasons which equates to £60m. Hamilton's management are negotiating a better deal because Hamilton stands to lose upto £10m over three years if he stays with McLaren, however his team are more competitive and offer him the realisation of his multiple world title dreams. That's how I read it.

I think the trophies story is quite clearly rubbish. I think the sticking points are the financial side of the contract and possibly a get-out clause after one year ahead of the possible Red Bull seat being available and the engine regulation change where situations can change very quickly.

Interesting to see McLaren revealing they have no 'plan b'. Quite frankly I don't believe it and also worth taking a note of Di Resta signing for the same management company that takes care of Jenson Button who's contract situation was nicely sorted with McLaren in a much more professional way which suited both parties.

Wish Lewis would go back to his dad managing him. His dad would talk sense into him.

a get out clause could well be THE issue with 2014 and would explain MW comments about Lewis having to show that he wants to be with the team.

Buttons contract probably went smoother because in contrast to Hami who is younger and is determined to win multiple titles Button was probably still pinching himself that he'd even landed at Mclaren with every day like xmas.

Critical_mass wrote:Wish Lewis would go back to his dad managing him. His dad would talk sense into him.

His current management won't give a damn where he drives - so long as they get a pay day. It does make you wonder why he used them - unless he really does want to become the David Beckham of F1.

Thats exactly my point Steve. Worse thing he did was letting his dad go imo. His dad will care who he drives for and wont put money at the top of the priority list.

Lewis needs to sort it out. Does he want the money or multiple WDC.

There is 0% chance that Mclaren will let him have a get out clause

Its this week we should here so keep an eye out.

To be fair it would be quite exciting for Hamilton to move to Mercedes. Would it give them the boost to win? how good really is Rosberg? Di Resta going to Mclaren to me makes complete sense to partner Button, he's served his two years in the midfield, done very well if a bit up and down in fortune. Also Massa will be gone, i think Perez is a ferrari driver for certain. Those two might just be a straight swap.

Perez has said he is staying at Sauber and if he had any sense he'd follow it through. Di Resta would make a good number 2 driver for Button.

Considerable amount of media sources today claiming Hamilton is close to signing for Mercedes.

Yeah seen them. Still i'll believe it when it happens.