Despite Not Approving Lewis Hamilton’s $25,000,000 Demand, Toto Wolff Says It’s “Not About the Money” Amid Contract Uncertainty

The most prolonged saga in the current season and in the career of Lewis Hamilton is his current contract extension talks. After a decade-long and extremely successful partnership with Mercedes, the Brit is out of contract at the end of the 2024 season. We are all up to date with the back and forth and all the speculations surrounding Hamilton’s signature. However, it wasn’t until recently that we came received some insight into the contract situation. The world of F1 came across the news, which revealed Hamilton was demanding $25 million as an ambassador for Mercedes for the next ten years. However, despite such revelations, Toto Wolff has admitted it’s not about money.

According to reports, the Brit was denied his request for the $25 million request and the contract has stalled again. In fact, Hamilton himself revealed there are no new updates surrounding his contract extension. Despite all the money talk, as quoted by Motorsport, the Mercedes boss has revealed it’s not about the massive numbers recently coming to light.

“We want to do it super, to every detail, and sometimes you can have a situation where everything is carved out,” he explained. “But this is not a money discussion at all. It is about the future, it is: what is it that we want to do right and optimise. We’re not talking anything anymore about duration, money all of that. It is just other topics.” 

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Going through the deal with a fine toothcomb is what Wolff is claiming. Although, we can’t be certain of any news until Hamilton puts pen to paper.

However, there is one thing for certain: we will keep reading speculations around the saga until there is an official confirmation because as little as a radio message can break the deal according to most.

Toto Wolff reveals his true intentions behind the radio message to Lewis Hamilton and shuts down rumors surrounding it

Wolff infamously instructed Hamilton to focus on driving during the Austrian GP race. Wolff’s comments might’ve come off rude to many and Hamilton’s silence after the radio message added to the drama. In fact, some fans even urged the Brit to not extend his contract based on this incident alone. However, addressing the elephant in the room, Wolff dismissed any hint of tensions between him and his star driver.

“You should hear us talking on the phone and meeting each other,” he said. “That is nothing!” He then added to explain his motivation behind the comment. “We had a lot of discussion about track limits and whether they were enforced or not,” he said about Hamilton’s radio traffic. “I felt that I wanted to just make sure that we were getting the best out of a package that didn’t perform, and just give it the best shot that we have.”

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A difficult conversation with the boss seems to have become a common occurrence in the Mercedes garage, especially with their prolonged misery. Let’s hope the conversations aren’t as heated during the contract negotiations.