Damon Hill sheds light on “board meetings” to decide on Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes contract
Hamilton again insisted prior to this weekend’s F1 British Grand Prix at Silverstꦺone that the delay to signing a new contract is nothing to do with money disputes.
Yet, with his deal expiring at the end of thiꦗs season, there is still nothing in writing to tie Hamilton to Mercedes for the long-term.
“As I understand it, the contract won’t just be a racing contract – it will be a 🥂full Mercedes ambassadorial contract,” ex-F1 champion Hill to👍ld .
“That requires a different board to sign off on it, can’t just be signed off 🔯by Toto. There’ll be some board meetings in Geꦍrmany.”
Mercedes F1 is owned by three parties - Toto Wolff owns a third, Sir Jim Ratclifꦦfe’s INEOS own a third, and Daimler (wꦓho also own Mercedes-Benz) own a third.
The de🌸lay in Hamilton’s contract renewal has heightened speculation that he could jump ship.
“Any dri꧃ver who doesn’t know what the options are is missing an opportunity,” Hill🍌 said.
“But would he really go to Ferrari? From a strategic poin♐t of view, it would be a huge risk to go t🐲o Ferrari.
“Everyone would love to be in red and win, see what happened ⛦with Nigel [Mansell].
“I🌼t’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 beyond his F1 career - worth a to🐠tal of £200m is the reason that a deal hasn’t yet been struck.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a dec🤪ad𝄹e covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
