Silly Season 2020/2021 (starting with silliness in 2019)

[Phil]

Maybe the problem is not the money but the length of the desired contract? I could see Mercedes not wanting to lock thenselves in such a long and expensive contract with a huge prospect in Russel in the waiting. Then again, they could just put him alongside if they wanted to.

I hope they find common ground. I’d be gutted if he walks out.

[raymondu999]

Hamilton definitely wants toooo much cash for what Daimler willing to pay him. Yes hes an asset but 4 years and 50Million a year is a big big paycheck specially with the buget limits and salary caps.

driver salary does not fall under the budget limit.

Actually yes it does. There is a 30 million euro driver cap and if a team wants to pay a driver more then that comes out of the regular budget cap to be introduced in 2021.

Iirc this comes in at a later year?

[aMessageToCharlie]

Hope Hamilton doesnt overdo it in this contract negotiation as it would be a shame losing him. It's understandable that he wants to get the best out of it and he might be one of the best drivers ever, but this is a buyers market.

The Mercedes team is operating at a never seen before level of dominance and I see no indication that this will suddenly change, even with the budget cap coming. Russell proved that they can easily get the job done for a fraction of the costs at the moment and I bet that there's an abundance of skilled drivers at hand to do it for "free". This is not the time to get greedy in whatever way (if the whole story is even true).

Ola Källenius doesnt strike me as a "soft" negotiator as well from what I read about him, so I dont think it would be completely impossible that they let Lewis go, but still highly unlikely. I'm sure they'll come to an agreement.

[Big Tea]

Hope Hamilton doesnt overdo it in this contract negotiation as it would be a shame losing him. It's understandable that he wants to get the best out of it and he might be one of the best drivers ever, but this is a buyers market.

The Mercedes team is operating at a never seen before level of dominance and I see no indication that this will suddenly change, even with the budget cap coming. Russell proved that they can easily get the job done for a fraction of the costs at the moment and I bet that there's an abundance of skilled drivers at hand to do it for "free". This is not the time to get greedy in whatever way (if the whole story is even true).

Ola Källenius doesnt strike me as a "soft" negotiator as well from what I read about him, so I dont think it would be completely impossible that they let Lewis go, but still highly unlikely. I'm sure they'll come to an agreement.

I am undecided about this I obviously would like to see him cement his place in history, but also, we so often hear its all about the car etc, it would be so interesting to see a swap around.

I don't know where he would go, as it would mean someone losing a contract, maybe we should discus it?

[El Scorchio]

Hope Hamilton doesnt overdo it in this contract negotiation as it would be a shame losing him. It's understandable that he wants to get the best out of it and he might be one of the best drivers ever, but this is a buyers market.

The Mercedes team is operating at a never seen before level of dominance and I see no indication that this will suddenly change, even with the budget cap coming. Russell proved that they can easily get the job done for a fraction of the costs at the moment and I bet that there's an abundance of skilled drivers at hand to do it for "free". This is not the time to get greedy in whatever way (if the whole story is even true).

Ola Källenius doesnt strike me as a "soft" negotiator as well from what I read about him, so I dont think it would be completely impossible that they let Lewis go, but still highly unlikely. I'm sure they'll come to an agreement.

You have to factor in what his marketing value is worth to the team as well though, and all the money him being there can bring in through brands wanting to be associated with him, and therefore the team etc. etc. You won't get that from Russell or anyone else. His campaigning for several causes also paints the team in a very positive light.

He is on another planet in terms of global fame and public recognition to even the second most well known driver, who I am going to presume was Vettel until Alonso's return. They pay a premium for that on top of his outstanding ability behind the wheel.

[Jolle]

If Hamilton and Wolff don’t come to a agreement, Liberty will step in (just like they arranged Alonso’s return) and force a deal. Hamilton adds a lot of value to their investments to sit by and let it happen.

[El Scorchio]

If Hamilton and Wolff don’t come to a agreement, Liberty will step in (just like they arranged Alonso’s return) and force a deal. Hamilton adds a lot of value to their investments to sit by and let it happen.

That's true, I hadn't considered his positive value to the sport as a whole, as well as just the Mercedes team individually.

[Just_a_fan]

Russell proved that they can easily get the job done for a fraction of the costs at the moment

Big difference between almost doing it once and actually doing it for a whole season with barely a mistake along the way. Even Bottas - who some here think is the worst driver in history - gets it right now and then. Doesn't win many titles though...

Add in the possibility that Mercedes will be caught at some point and then "it's all the car" stops working and the driver needs to deliver. Then you need the real deal in one car, even if you have the trainee in the other.

[PlatinumZealot]

Rumours are the 50 mil deal was getting approved but with a few caveats... And this is why Hamilton is fighting for more personal time... He has to run his X44 team and he want to do more with BLM and expand his vegan franchise... He also wants more family time.

[notsofast]

Well, that would be easy. Just offer him the rest of the season off as soon as he has the WDC wrapped up.

[Big Tea]

Well, just thinking to my self, have not seen anything, but a possible scenario is he wants to display something on himself or the car that Merc is not keen on.
Just advertising his own brand would not be a problem, but something political or marginal would be

[aMessageToCharlie]

Hope Hamilton doesnt overdo it in this contract negotiation as it would be a shame losing him. It's understandable that he wants to get the best out of it and he might be one of the best drivers ever, but this is a buyers market.

The Mercedes team is operating at a never seen before level of dominance and I see no indication that this will suddenly change, even with the budget cap coming. Russell proved that they can easily get the job done for a fraction of the costs at the moment and I bet that there's an abundance of skilled drivers at hand to do it for "free". This is not the time to get greedy in whatever way (if the whole story is even true).

Ola Källenius doesnt strike me as a "soft" negotiator as well from what I read about him, so I dont think it would be completely impossible that they let Lewis go, but still highly unlikely. I'm sure they'll come to an agreement.

You have to factor in what his marketing value is worth to the team as well though, and all the money him being there can bring in through brands wanting to be associated with him, and therefore the team etc. etc. You won't get that from Russell or anyone else. His campaigning for several causes also paints the team in a very positive light.

He is on another planet in terms of global fame and public recognition to even the second most well known driver, who I am going to presume was Vettel until Alonso's return. They pay a premium for that on top of his outstanding ability behind the wheel.

I agree with you that Hamilton is probably the most marketable driver right now, but with a salery of $44-50 million USD there's gotta be a break even point somewhere.

From this forbes article:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/csylt/2019 ... f1c3f82416

"the average price of a team sponsorship deal came to an eye-watering $3.3 million last year." (2018)

"That title went to Ferrari as its total sponsorship budget is calculated at $176.6 million with its biggest sponsor being tobacco manufacturer Philip Morris International which pays an estimated $50 million annually."

I find it hard to believe that Lewis' marketing value alone would come anywhere close to Ferrari's Philip Morris sponsorship.

What the value of his political activism or campaigning is to Merc, I dont know but I'd think that they are first and foremost looking to hire a driver, not an activist or potential future team manager/advisor.

Arguably it might be even better marketing for the team to prove that it's their superior machinery and technical dominance that's won them all these championships, rather than a driver they hired. They're in it to sell their cars after all.

[Jolle]

Hope Hamilton doesnt overdo it in this contract negotiation as it would be a shame losing him. It's understandable that he wants to get the best out of it and he might be one of the best drivers ever, but this is a buyers market.

The Mercedes team is operating at a never seen before level of dominance and I see no indication that this will suddenly change, even with the budget cap coming. Russell proved that they can easily get the job done for a fraction of the costs at the moment and I bet that there's an abundance of skilled drivers at hand to do it for "free". This is not the time to get greedy in whatever way (if the whole story is even true).

Ola Källenius doesnt strike me as a "soft" negotiator as well from what I read about him, so I dont think it would be completely impossible that they let Lewis go, but still highly unlikely. I'm sure they'll come to an agreement.

You have to factor in what his marketing value is worth to the team as well though, and all the money him being there can bring in through brands wanting to be associated with him, and therefore the team etc. etc. You won't get that from Russell or anyone else. His campaigning for several causes also paints the team in a very positive light.

He is on another planet in terms of global fame and public recognition to even the second most well known driver, who I am going to presume was Vettel until Alonso's return. They pay a premium for that on top of his outstanding ability behind the wheel.

I agree with you that Hamilton is probably the most marketable driver right now, but with a salery of $44-50 million USD there's gotta be a break even point somewhere.

From this forbes article:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/csylt/2019 ... f1c3f82416

"the average price of a team sponsorship deal came to an eye-watering $3.3 million last year." (2018)

"That title went to Ferrari as its total sponsorship budget is calculated at $176.6 million with its biggest sponsor being tobacco manufacturer Philip Morris International which pays an estimated $50 million annually."

I find it hard to believe that Lewis' marketing value alone would come anywhere close to Ferrari's Philip Morris sponsorship.

What the value of his political activism or campaigning is to Merc, I dont know but I'd think that they are first and foremost looking to hire a driver, not an activist or potential future team manager/advisor.

Arguably it might be even better marketing for the team to prove that it's their superior machinery and technical dominance that's won them all these championships, rather than a driver they hired. They're in it to sell their cars after all.

This is a bit one sided. Philip Morris pays more then 200 million euro's to Ferrari, they (PMI) sell the space on the side of the car, run the whole marketing operation and have the rights (and income) from every Ferrari F1 shirt, image, toy, etc what you buy. This company (PMI) is one of the best in marketing and have no problem to hire (which they do instead of Ferrari directly) drivers that are almost as or even more expensive then Hamilton for Daimler (Senna, Schumacher, Alonso, Raikkonen and Vettel).

As for Daimler, someone like Hamilton is a marketing blessing. Their customer base is getting older. The last decade they made big steps to make their products more exciting and all they need is a superstar who gets invited to all the big talkshows and be more then just a F1 driver. Like Michael Jordan boosted Nike into a whole new customer group.

[Just_a_fan]

Arguably it might be even better marketing for the team to prove that it's their superior machinery and technical dominance that's won them all these championships, rather than a driver they hired. They're in it to sell their cars after all.

An excellent plan. Unless it turns out that the driver is actually making the difference between a winning car and a championship winning car. Then they'd look a bit silly.

[ringo]

Hamilton brings a lot of attention to the sport and celebrity. The other drivers are just ordinary blokes. Mercedes image has also changed drastically since having Hamilton.
I think Lewis should just bite his lip and compromise a little. Then bide his time and go to Ferrari in 2023. Just give mercedes 2 more years. Him being knighted played into his hands more than russell's driver or the fact that there are no more seats on the grid.
You have 7xWDC black knight in your car.. and you want to give him a pay cut? lol