Hamilton’s out to stop Mercedes pulling plug
LEWIS HAMILTON plans to sign off 2019 with a flourish, not least because the board of MercedesBenz is watching from the Abu Dhabi pits and a decision needs to be made on the future of the modern era’s most successful team.
Hamilton has one year left to run on his contract before the technical regulations are being upended, which will see very different-looking machines and restricted budgets.
Having triumphed every year since 2014, when hybrid power units were introduced, Mercedes are counting the cost versus reward of committing in the sport beyond 2020.
Meanwhile, last weekend in Riyadh we saw the debut of Mercedes in Formula E, a championship that is much less expensive and more in tune with corporate social responsibility.
Miraculously, after two races Mercedes lead the constructors’ championship and driver Stoffel Vandoorne’s two third-places put him second in the driver’s championship, behind Alexander Sims.
A change in focus could see Lewis’ current F1 ride disappear in 2021. If he wants to break Michael Schumacher’s record of eight titles, he and Ferrari need to talk. Lewis has already gone on the record to say electric racing doesn’t interest him.
‘I’m pretty sure Mercedes is here to stay,’ said Hamilton. ‘But the board members are here this weekend, so I’ll double check with them. I mean, they’re all hardcore racers and I’m pretty sure they want to stay. Things may have changed, they can do.’
Mercedes are said to be unhappy with the new technical direction proposed by Formula One Management and the FIA. Toto Wolff has successfully lobbied to ensure the engines remain the same so that Mercedes can continue as an engine supplier, but senior sources tell me Mercedes is preparing to stand down as a works team, and that Renault will follow.
Wolff, who oversees Mercedes’ global motorsport activities, attended the Formula E season opener in Saudi Arabia. ‘I think we’re far away from Formula E taking over from Formula One,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme yesterday.
‘[But] in the third generation of cars – two or three years down the line – with even more power, more efficiency, these cars will become very exciting to race.’
As for Hamilton’s tenure at Mercedes, he said: ‘Lewis is committed to Mercedes, and Mercedes is committed to Lewis,’ but that more titles are not guaranteed.
‘One of the ingredients of success for him and the team is to not have any sense of entitlement. All points go back to zero, and it will be the same uphill struggle we have had every year. For that reason, it is not a given he can win a seventh championship.’ While Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas have already been confirmed as champion and runner-up this year, the positions further back are still up for grabs in Abu Dhabi. Max Verstappen’s victory in Brazil and Ferrari’s double DNF put the Dutchman in line for the endof-season podium, with Charles Leclerc 11 points adrift.
‘Eleven points are quite a bit to recover in one race,’ admitted the Monegasque. ‘But we’ll give it all.’
Sebastian Vettel could still overtake his team-mate, but it’s unlikely. Nineteen points behind Leclerc, he would need to win the race or come second and score fastest lap, all the while depending on Leclerc getting nil points. It is far more likely Vettel will be left defeated in the final scores by a team-mate for the first time since he joined Ferrari in 2015.
You sense he will just be happy to finish on Sunday, after what’s been an annus horribilis. Following the events of Interlagos, where he and Charles took each other out, the pair were read the riot act in a series of meetings on two continents.
‘Seb shouldn’t have gone to the left and he knows it,’ said Leclerc. ‘And I probably could have done a better job of avoiding him. So yeah, both of us have a bit of responsibility. We need to be less aggressive towards each other.’