Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have both spoken out against recent reporting about their respective futures in Formula 1.
On Hamilton, following the confirmation of long-term extensions for Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen at their respective teams, options have become more limited both for the Briton and the German manufacturer for 2021.
Initially, reports of a new two-year deal being agreed emerged but then Corriere dello Sport threw everything in the air by claiming that, in his position of strength in negotiations, Hamilton was demanding a four-year contract worth 55m Euros a year.
“Lewis is a six-time world champion and very important for Mercedes in terms of both sport and marketing,” Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko said of those reports via Auto Bild.
“I think he is aware of his value and therefore expects such fees.
“With his numbers for Grand Prix victories and World Championship titles, he can certainly ask for a big sum.”
However, stirring the pot as he’s known to do, Marko teased: “I believe that no team, not even Mercedes, will be willing to spend such sums on a driver.
“Except, Ferrari.”
Now though, Hamilton has publicly moved to squash all the speculation in an Instagram story on Wednesday.
“FYI [for your information] Toto [Wolff] and I have not even spoken about [the] contract yet,” he said.
“Nothing is being negotiated currently, papers [are] making up stories.”
Perhaps backing up his claim is the ongoing uncertainty over whether Mercedes will continue to have a works team in F1 post-2020.
After all, it wouldn’t make sense to negotiate a new deal only for the company to then pull out later on.
Also Read:
- Mercedes would see ‘opportunity’ if Hamilton left, Wolff claims
- Report: Mercedes will commit to F1 ‘for a long time’ in coming months
This week, RaceFans, in coordination with AutoCar, also revealed findings of an investigation which suggested Mercedes would be meeting on February 12 to make that decision.
Speaking to Reuters, however, Ola Kaellenius, CEO of parent company Daimler, had a short but simple response on whether there were plans to sell the Mercedes team.
“Not true,” he said.
Of course, this comes after it was reported Racing Point owner Lawrence Stroll and Toto Wolff were considering teaming up to take over the Brackley-based team and rebrand it as Aston Martin, with Stroll set to buy a 20 per cent stake.
Fun times ahead for sure.