03 February 2023
Lewis Hamilton’s contract with Mercedes finishes at the end of the 2023 F1 race season.
All the rumblings indicate that Lewis and his boss, Toto Wolff are ‘confident’ of moving ahead together, even though the goalposts have been dramatically widened.
Fernando Alonso, who is 41 and 42 in July, has signed a two-year contract with Aston Martin, but Lewis, 38, is trying to go one better; he wants a £350m deal, contracting him to Mercedes until he is 50.
In the past, there have been GP drivers over 50; Louis Chiron was 55 and 9 months when he raced at Monaco in 1958, and Phillippe Ètancelin was 55 and 6 months when he raced in the 1952 French Grand Prix; just saying….
Anyhow, back to Mr Hamilton, my understanding is that Lewis’s advisers want to secure a two-year deal for £125m whilst Lewis still drives for the Silver Arrows and then continues for ten years as an ambassador for Mercedes, netting him a further £222m.
Putting the last season behind them and sharing their newfound enthusiasm for the 2023 season, the timing is spot on for negotiating.
Even with this bubbling zeal, I would still like to be a fly on the wall when Toto and the Hamilton brigade start their parleying.
