Mercedes Reportedly Offering 35 Million Euros as Part of Lewis Hamilton’s New F1 Contract

Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes are hogging the F1 headlines in recent times. The seven-time world champion is still without a contract, as the Silver Arrows believe his demands to be too excessive. Thus, the two entities who have formed quite the legacy in the last seven years are currently not on even ground.

According to a report by Gazzetta dello Sport (translated via Google), “The Mercedes offer at the moment would be around 35 million euros, far below Lewis’ claims.

“Therefore it will take an effort from both sides to reach an agreement. Logic says they will meet halfway, because Hamilton wants to keep racing and has no alternative to Ferrari or Red Bull, while Mercedes is not guaranteed to win again without him.”

With all the other F1 teams having confirmed their driver lineups, Hamilton can’t leave the team to race for anyone else in F1 this year.

Moreover, the Briton will have his sights set on breaking a few more records, most notably winning his eighth world title. This will not be possible at any team other than the Brackley-based outfit. These facts would suggest that Mercedes have leverage in the matter.

What are the contract demands that Lewis Hamilton is seeking?

The monetary value is not the only obstacle in inking a new deal. There are other demands that Hamilton wants to see in his contract.

The report states, “To renew, he would have asked for around 40 million dollars (33 million euros at current exchange rates) plus 10% of the cash prizes that Mercedes will receive from the Formula One Group.

“It would mean collecting in proportion to how the turnover generated by the GPs will go, after a very difficult 2020 due to the Covid emergency that has drastically reduced the revenues of the teams.

“If revenues return to the levels of 2018, when Mercedes received around $ 177 million (€ 150 million) in premiums, then Hamilton would be eligible for a bonus of around $ 15 million.”

It’ll be interesting to see if Hamilton takes up Mercedes’ offer. However, it looks as though this saga has still to play out fully. So, keep an eye out for more information about the same.