After months of speculation, it is understood Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have finally agreed to a new contract for 2021 and beyond.
According to reports, which were cited by 1996 world champion and current Sky Sports pundit Damon Hill in a tweet, the seven-time world champion is set to stay at the Brackley-based team for another two years at least.
But the detail most are focused on is the prospect of Hamilton having the ability to veto any potential new teammate for 2022.
This means should Mercedes want to replace Valtteri Bottas with George Russell, who impressed when he stood in for Lewis at last year’s Sakhir Grand Prix, the Briton may be able to prevent that from happening.
It also should be noted that, even though he’s signed at Red Bull until 2023, Max Verstappen may have a release clause in that contract after this year, and no doubt Mercedes would be the Dutchman’s instant focus if that clause could be triggered.
But naturally, given Hamilton’s polarising nature, the reaction to his possible veto has suggested he feels threatened by Russell or another driver stepping into the team.
To understand Hamilton’s position, however, you only need to see what happened when other young drivers stepped up into top teams, whether it be Verstappen overwhelming Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull or Charles Leclerc establishing himself ahead of Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari.
So it makes absolute sense for Lewis to try and maintain the status quo for as long as possible, given its pretty clear Bottas isn’t going to be beating him to a championship any time soon.
Rumours of a driver having such power aren’t exactly new either, although whether it was written into their contract might be another matter.
Anyway, the reality is that, if true, it should be Mercedes who are blamed for caving in to such a demand given the team had all the cards in negotiations.
After all, it is they who have the car that can take Lewis to an eighth world title and, as much as some hate to admit it, the team don’t necessarily need Hamilton to continue winning championships.
This was something David Coulthard recently alluded to speaking to the Express…
“There are lots of games that go on,” the former F1 driver said. “As to why there isn’t an announcement regarding Lewis, it could be a number of reasons.
“It could be that Mercedes feel they have gotten all of the value they are going to get out of Lewis Hamilton.
“Lewis Hamilton breaking the Championship record this year, does that serve Lewis or does it serve Mercedes more?
“If it serves Lewis more being an eight-time World Champion then there’s nothing really in it for Mercedes.
“If it serves Mercedes more then it doesn’t really bother Lewis because he still gets an eighth title.
“Business is business. Nobody just gives money away because somebody is nice or somebody is good at what they’re doing. There has to be an agreement on what the perceived value is.”
Of course, team boss Toto Wolff has often touted the level of respect between himself and Hamilton that has built up since 2013, and that shouldn’t be ignored completely in negotiations.
But there comes a point when the focus has to turn to the future and if the plan is to promote Russell in 2022, giving Hamilton the option to block that is quite foolish.
Whether Hamilton actually would go ahead and use that veto is also another matter. He understands he won’t be in F1 forever and, if the respect Wolff talks about really is mutual, he will want to leave Mercedes in as strong a position as he can.
So if he does win that historic eighth title this year, it might actually boost his legacy to do what Michael Schumacher did for Felipe Massa at Ferrari, and take Russell under his wing next year and prepare him to take over the reins.
As it is, all this is purely speculative with nothing yet being confirmed, but one thing that does seem to be certain is Hamilton will be a Mercedes driver this year.
“The plan is for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes to continue to work together,” Sky Sports reported on Wednesday. “That’s still the plan; that’s what they’ve said all along.”
