Whereas it’s a forgone conclusion that Lewis Hamilton goes to agree a brand new cope with Mercedes, hypothesis over the size of the deal and the cash concerned has led to the standard media frenzy.
Although Toto Wolff claims the brand new contract with the seven-time champion will take only a “few hours” to agree, pending the (now) conventional “announce” tweet the media is having a area day and arising with some eye-watering figures within the course of.
British tabloid, the Every day Mirror claims {that a} £62m ($76m) a yr two-year deal is on the desk, whereas the ever ludicrous Every day Categorical says that the driving force needs a £350m ($432m) deal that lasts “till he is 50”, which, seeing as he has simply turned 38 would imply one other 12 seasons. In the meantime, Australia’s 9.com quotes French outlet 20 Minutes, which talks of a £387m ($478m) deal masking 13 seasons.
Whereas Max Noble, in his newest function, speculates whether or not the likes of Hamilton and Fernando Alonso may stay within the sport till the age of 53 – the age at which Luigi Fagioli received the French Grand Prix – completely no person expects Mercedes – or anybody else – to be contemplating contracts of greater than two or three seasons. Consequently, with 2023 already wrapped up we’re almost certainly taking a look at a two-year deal masking 2024 and 2025 after which the Briton will virtually actually say farewell.
French enterprise web site Sportune, echoes the Every day Mirror’s £62m a yr deal, which is a pleasant enchancment on his present (estimated) £40m ($49m) a yr. Nevertheless, the French web site claims that this might not embody the standard £22m ($27m) bonus for successful the title.
Nevertheless, to melt that exact blow – and hopefully enable Hamilton to not worry the present value of dwelling disaster – the brand new deal would come with an “ambassadorial” function value as much as £22m a yr.
Sportune claims that almost all of the charge could be paid by Ineos, whose founder and chairman, Jim Ratcliffe is part-owner of the Mercedes group together with Mercedes-Benz and Wolff.
Talking following final week’s information that strategist James Vowles was becoming a member of Williams, when requested about Hamilton’s future, Wolff was assured.
“We’re going to do one other deal,” he mentioned. “We’ll sit down and we will talk about it in these subsequent couple of months, I’d say.
“Now we have a full yr to go,” he added. “We’re so aligned. Within the final ten years our relationship has grown that it is only a matter of him bodily being again in Europe, sticking our heads collectively, wrestling a bit after which leaving the room with white smoke after a number of hours.”
