Lewis Hamilton demanding £40MILLION-a-year to sign fresh terms with Mercedes
- The reigning champion’s current deal ends this year
- The six-time world champion is seeking an improvement on his £36m salary
- Both sides claim there is mutual trust and are relaxed about an agreement
- Mental Health and Psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19 pandemic
World Champion Lewis Hamilton is demanding £40MILLION-a-year to sign a new deal.
Hamilton’s current deal is set to expire at the end of the year.
The six-time champion is set to lay out his terms when he opens serious negotiations with team principal Toto Wolff over the next few weeks.
The 35-year old British is seeking an improvement on his current salary, from approximately $45m (£36m) to $50m (£40m).
Both Mercedes and Hamilton are said to be relaxed about reaching an agreement, saying they trust each other implicitly.
Discussions for a new deal were crippled with the coronavirus pandemic that caused a hiatus in the sport but Mercedes now expect progress while Hamilton and Wolff spend a long spell on the road together as Formula One journeys through the European season, starting with Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix.
The fact Ferrari have settled their driver line-up – bringing in Carlos Sainz to partner Charles Leclerc next season – reduces the options, and somewhat limits Hamilton’s bargaining power.
Of interest will be the length of any deal, with Hamilton torn between, on one hand, a desire to see out his career at Mercedes – with all the life-long, commercial ambassadorial opportunities that presents – and, on the other, scratching an itch to sign off with a final flourish at Ferrari.
