Contract negotiations with Lewis Hamilton weren't smooth sailing for Mercedes and the two parties just scrambled to a 1-year deal just before the start of pre-season testing in 2021. One of the big points of contention was the fact that Hamilton wanted an increase in his salary considering his clockwork-like peerless performances which makes him the most successful driver in the history of the sport statistically. Mercedes on the other side, citing the pandemic and many jobs cuts through the group couldn't justify the bulbous $40 million-plus a year figure Hamilton was commanding; it wanted him to take a pay cut like almost everyone on the F1 grid.
Now, it seems like Hamilton is finally more accepting of taking a pay cut, but that comes with caveats if a report by the Spanish arm of motorsport.com is to believed. Hamilton reportedly is looking for a doubling of his bonuses if he wins the world championship and the contract would be only till 2022 with a one-year extension as an option. He also wants a future role in the Daimler fold, the parent company of Mercedes, where he can further his plans for more diversity in F1.
Together Lewis Hamilton & Toto Wolff have formed the most successful partnership in the history of the sport
Photo Credit: AFP
Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton have been negotiating the contract for the last couple of months and the plan is to close the deal by the end of summer. Hamilton who joined Mercedes from McLaren in 2013, has won a world title every year apart from his first year at the team when it didn't have a competitive car and in 2016 when his long time rival and teammate Nico Rosberg beat him to the punch.
Despite not having the fastest car on the grid for the first time in the hybrid era, Hamilton still finds himself P2 in the world championship and had it not been for his accidental brake magic gaffe at Baku, he would've been leading Max Verstappen. Mercedes is expected to be more competitive in the coming weeks with tracks suiting the nature of the W12 more inherently.
