Lewis Hamilton Should Sign a New Mercedes Contract Sooner Than Later
Lewis Hamilton is relaxed about it. Mercedes are at ease, too.
And why not?
Both are newly crowned world champions. Both are at their top of their game. And both stand to dominate Formula One for at least the foreseeable future, if not the years to come.
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It is seemingly a match made in heaven—Hamilton has been connected to the company since joining McLaren-Mercedes as a boy—which no doubt explains why both driver and team have been so laid back when it comes to extending the three-year partnership they established at the beginning of 2013.
Like all great love stories, there is a sense that when it comes, it will come naturally.
When it feels right it will, you know, just happen.
That universal desire for an organic contract extension, though, has not prevented both parties from setting target dates to thrash out a new deal.
Toto Wolff, Mercedes' team principal, told Reuters (via Sky Sports) last November that team and driver had agreed to delay the renewal of their wedding vows to allow Hamilton to fight for the 2014 drivers' title with a clear mind.
The Austrian was quoted as stating: "On the Monday or Tuesday after Abu Dhabi we will sit down and discuss and hopefully find a solution quickly."
Hamilton echoed his boss' thoughts on the morning after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final race of last season, telling Sky Sports: "Toto was just saying in the coming weeks we'll sit down and hopefully it will be a simple process to go through—a formality."
"We made it. Thank you. #TeamLH pic.twitter.com/KDHnIxlDkm
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) November 23, 2014"
Curiously, however, it has now been over two months since Hamilton claimed his second drivers' title and there has still been no movement.
The 30-year-old admitted to Sky Sports' Pete Gill and James Galloway last week that there had been no serious discussions with Mercedes but again reiterated his commitment to the team, saying:
"As soon as I left the last race, I was at the factory for a couple of days, but I haven’t sat down with the team.
But, again, we said last year we’re not in a rush. We’re relaxed. The team have acknowledged they want to continue with me and vice versa, so there is no stress.
I’m comfortable and confident and trust that they’re not speaking to anyone else and they know that’s the case with me.
"
Although Hamilton and Mercedes' apparent commitment to each other is to be admired, the delay in contract negotiations is not only bizarre but at odds with the team's philosophy throughout last season.
The true appeal of Mercedes' title-winning campaign was the team's ability to remain grounded even at the height of their dominance.
Despite having a car that was much faster than any other on the grid, capable of pulling away from the rest of the field at a vast rate of knots, the Silver Arrows remained extremely mindful of the threats posed by the likes of Red Bull and Williams.
And most impressively, the team used that fear of failure and loss to guard against complacency and generate further success.
That was most evident following Hamilton's collision with team-mate Nico Rosberg in the Belgian Grand Prix, which cost the team a one-two finish and allowed Daniel Ricciardo, the closest rival to the Mercedes drivers, to claim his second successive win.
As reported by Autosport's Jonathan Noble, the reaction of Wolff and his fellow members of the Mercedes hierarchy was instantaneous, as both drivers were banned from contacting the team for a number of days.
A civil war that would arguably have resulted in the implosion of any other team was quickly diffused by Wolff and Co., and the outfit returned to action at Monza a fortnight later with a renewed sense of unity and focus, winning each of the remaining seven races of the year.
The fear of loss must still be there—if anything, it will have increased—but the intensity that defined the team's 2014, perhaps as a result of their elevation to title-winning status, seems to have diminished.
"Paris has been amazing. Loving my first fashion week experience! So much talent here. God bless! pic.twitter.com/tEsBSEHkKJ
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) January 23, 2015"
Hamilton's recent change of management—he swapped Simon Fuller's XIX Entertainment for Purple PR, according to the Daily Mail's Jonathan McEvoy—may herald an acceleration of contract negotiations.
But Wolff's recent admission to Gazetta dello Sport (h/t The Guardian) that Fernando Alonso, the two-time world champion, and Valtteri Bottas—who is a former Williams colleague and protege of the Mercedes boss—would be front-runners to replace Hamilton is a cause for concern.
While Mercedes' interest in Alonso and Bottas may well be genuine, Wolff's comments were more likely to be a mere ploy to give Hamilton the hurry-up. But even so, the British driver would be well advised to heed the warning.
Dithering, after all, is what led to Michael Schumacher losing his seat to Hamilton at the end of 2012.
According to Press Association Sport (via PlanetF1.com), Schumacher entered the 2012 mid-season break without giving Mercedes a firm indication of whether he wanted to remain at the team for 2013 or would prefer to retire from F1 for the second time.
The silence from the German's camp left the Silver Arrows with no option but to explore alternative options.
Schumacher, as per the source, was aware of the team's discussions with Hamilton, but—much like the rest of us at the time—was presumably skeptical of Mercedes' chances of luring the 2008 world champion from McLaren.
When the Silver Arrows did seal the signing of Hamilton, however, Schumacher was left in the cold.
As Hamilton's signing was hailed as a major coup, the seven-time world champion faced a humiliating seven days—Sauber, of all teams, confirmed their interest in signing Schumacher to Bild (via Sky Sports)—before announcing his retirement ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.
Mercedes, clearly, are no longer the team they were in 2012, and Hamilton is far from the declining force that Schumacher was either.
Yet the organisation's apparent lack of hesitation when it came to dumping the most successful driver the sport has ever seen should serve as a lesson as Hamilton continues to procrastinate.
As Wolff was at pains to prove after the Belgian GP, no man is bigger than the team. And no driver is irreplaceable when that team has the fastest car in F1.
You know where that dotted line is, Lewis.
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