£60M PAYDAY
Mercedes boss is confident Hamilton will sign new deal
MERCEDES boss Toto Wolff will today meet Lewis Hamilton for the first time this year, confident he can negotiate a deal — which could be worth £60million a year — to keep the six-time world champion driver at the team.
The pair have not spoken since Mercedes’ Christmas party in the second week of December, but have kept in contact by text message during the break.
They will come face to face when Hamilton, whose contract is due for renewal at the end of the upcoming season, returns to work at the Silver Arrows’ Northamptonshire factory this morning.
Hamilton, 35, earns £40m annually — possibly more when bonuses are added in — and a senior figure in the sport has estimated that he will command about £60m this time around. But in the back of Wolff’s mind is the possibility that the Briton could yet take a seat at Ferrari if Sebastian Vettel walks away, or is moved on, at the end of the year.
Asked if his pockets were deep enough, Wolff said: ‘You need to respect that a sporting superstar at the peak of his ability has a limited period to earn this kind of super money.
‘We do respect that and the contribution he brings to Mercedes on and off the track. Equally, Lewis has always respected that we are Mercedes and there are certain financial realities important to us. The current environment in the automotive industry is about efficiency and cost-cutting.
‘But money has never been a sticking point with Lewis.
‘The last contract negotiation was more about giving him the freedom to pursue his own projects.
‘With him getting older, maybe the freedoms need to change or grow. We want the best guy in qualifying on Saturday and in the race on Sunday, and that is my main focus. I am not in any way stressed that we don’t have a signature on the dotted line. I’m pretty optimistic that we will.’ There are also question marks over whether Mercedes will remain in the sport beyond this season and about Wolff’s own desire to continue in his current role. He is a 30-per-cent shareholder in the team.
At the unveiling of Mercedes’ 2020 livery yesterday, Wolff struck reasonably upbeat notes about the team and himself rolling on, but could offer no firm guarantees.
This coming season’s car will carry the branding of Ineos, the chemicals company owned by Britain’s richest man, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, after he and Wolff shared a stage in a private London club to announce their new five-year partnership.
This surely signalled that Mercedes are not preparing to cut and run, and that Wolff has a rich backer who could potentially step in if they ever did.