Damon Hill sheds light on “board meetings” to decide on Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes contract
Hamilton again insisted prior to this weekenཧd’s F1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone that the delay to signing a new contract is nothing to do wi𝔍th money disputes.
Yet, with hi🐈s deal expiring at the end of this season, there is still nothing in writing toᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ tie Hamilton to Mercedes for the long-term.
“As𒉰 I understand it, the contract won’t just be a racing contract – it will be a full Mercedes ambassadorial contract,” ex-F1 champion Hill told .
“Th♛at requires a different board to si🍷gn off on it, can’t just be signed off by Toto. There’ll be some board meetings in Germany.”
Mercedes F1 is owned by three parties - Toto Wolff𒅌 owns a third, Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS own a third, and Daimler (who also own Mercedes-Benz) own a third.
The delay in H💮amilton’s contract renewal ♎has heightened speculation that he could jump ship.
“Any dꦦriver who doesn’t know what the options are is missing an opportunity,” 🌃Hill said.
“But would he really go to Ferrari? From a sওtrategic point of view, it would be a hu🍸ge risk to go to Ferrari.
“Everyone wouꦏld love to be in red and ♈win, see what happened with Nigel [Mansell].
“It’s a romance really but you’ve got to be cold﷽-blooded about it.
“He’s not going to go to Red Bull either.”
The previously reported that Hamilton’s wish for a 10-year deal - that went beyond๊ his F1 career - worth a total of £200m is the reason thatꦡ a deal hasn’t yet been struck.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from𒁃 American sports, to football, to F1.
