Lewis Hamilton is currently the highest-paid driver on the grid with a yearly salary of $35 million. However, no amount of money can convince Hamilton to stay with a team if he isn’t getting closer to his dream. So, speaking on the Pre-Baku live chat on his YouTube channel, a former team boss turned journalist answered a fan’s question about Hamilton’s future as a Ferrari driver.

For weeks now, the future of Lewis Hamilton has been a topic of discussion. The fact remains that the Brit is yet to renew his contract with Mercedes, which ends in 2023. It is also a general understanding that Hamilton is stalling the contract talks on account of the poor performance of the Mercedes car. This is exactly the reason why Peter Windsor also believes Hamilton will leave.

“My view is that if the Mercedes is not a great car. Say Lewis doesn’t win a race, maybe George doesn’t win a race. If he’s got another two years on his contract, if he said to Toto Wolff, ‘I’ve given you everything. I’ve now had two years of a bad car. I’ve got a mega offer from Ferrari and I want to take it. Will you look into my eye and shake my hand and we’ll call it quits?’ I think Toto would do that,” said Windsor.

He added, “I don’t think he would say, ‘No, you’ve got a contract, you must drive for us.’ because I think Lewis would just say, ‘Okay well I’m stopping in that case’. You know, he’d do a Mansell, I think.”

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Although, despite all the chatter about his future, Hamilton has himself made his stance clear about his loyalty towards the team.

Lewis Hamilton made his stance clear about his future amidst all the speculations

The speculations have been two-fold ever since the start of the 2022 season. One part of the speculations suggested Hamilton retire, which most F1 entities, including Hamilton himself, have ridiculed. The other, and more recent one has been his move away from Mercedes and not specifically Ferrari. However, Hamilton broke his silence to address these rumors.

Hamilton said, “Mercedes has supported me since I was 13 years old. We had a tough year in 2022 and I’m still here. Regardless of how we do this season, I’m going to stay with the team.”

“We have to look at all the weak points and huddle together as a team. Last year we didn’t do well, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have chances to improve from now on.”

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The Brit has made his stance clear. However, no one believes the Brit will willingly stick around a sinking ship. So it’s up to Mercedes to get their act together.