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

[Fulcrum]

This isn't about the money.

Hamilton is angling for an influential life outside of F1, and greater control of his image, while he is on top of the world. It's smart, albeit a game of brinkmanship.

If his relationship with Toto and Co. were entirely limited to driving the car, I think he'd be overplaying his hand. As that is not the case, he has the high ground.

Mercedes would want Hamilton in the car for 2022, but I don't think they have him penciled in until 2024.

I think some form of compromise contract will be reached, with a 2 or 3-year deal at 40-50M per year.

That said, stranger things have happened.

[NathanOlder]

50 million a year.. Is there another sportsperson on the planet with a better basic wage?!?

[Jolle]

50 million a year.. Is there another sportsperson on the planet with a better basic wage?!?

Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar to name a few.

[NathanOlder]

50 million a year.. Is there another sportsperson on the planet with a better basic wage?!?

Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar to name a few.

Thats not basic wage though is it? 50mill a year is obviously pretty mucy a million pound a week. When you look at the wages for those players through google, they say numbers like 400k a week or 500k a week. I know Ronaldo is reported to be earning upwards of 100mill a year, but thats not their basic standard wage.

[aMessageToCharlie]

Him being knighted played into his hands more than russell's driver or the fact that there are no more seats on the grid.

I dont know and it's impossible to measure, but I doubt Mercedes is selling more cars because their driver has been honored by brittish royalty.

What's evident though, is that the team can win races and most likely championships with other drivers, who would be content with a much lower compensation. Everybody is replaceable.

You have 7xWDC black knight in your car.. and you want to give him a pay cut? lol

What does his skin colour have to do with his salery?

[adrianjordan]

F1 drivers should be paid more than footballers. When was the last time a footballer faced the prospect of a fire??

[adrianjordan]

Him being knighted played into his hands more than russell's driver or the fact that there are no more seats on the grid.

I dont know and it's impossible to measure, but I doubt Mercedes is selling more cars because their driver has been honored by brittish royalty.

What's evident though, is that the team can win races and most likely championships with other drivers, who would be content with a much lower compensation. Everybody is replaceable.

You have 7xWDC black knight in your car.. and you want to give him a pay cut? lol

What does his skin colour have to do with his salery?

It shows Merc is brand that supports diversity.

[adrianjordan]

What if it's something we haven't considered, such as Lewis wanting Merc to commit to stopping the use of animal products across their range??

[aMessageToCharlie]

You have 7xWDC black knight in your car.. and you want to give him a pay cut? lol

What does his skin colour have to do with his salery?

It shows Merc is brand that supports diversity.

I dont think Mercedes would/should promote racial discrimination by making decisions based on skin colour in the current polical climate.

[dans79]

What's evident though, is that the team can win races and most likely championships with other drivers, who would be content with a much lower compensation. Everybody is replaceable.

Thought processes like that are how you end up not winning.

Just because they could win easily over the last two seasons doesn't mean they'll be able to win easily over the next one,two, or three.

Neither Bottas, Russell, or a lot of other drivers for that matter have proven they can handle a closely fought championship let alone take it.

[hUirEYExbN]

Are the Hamilton/Merc delays confirmed to be about money or is that just speculation?

[Jolle]

50 million a year.. Is there another sportsperson on the planet with a better basic wage?!?

Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar to name a few.

Thats not basic wage though is it? 50mill a year is obviously pretty mucy a million pound a week. When you look at the wages for those players through google, they say numbers like 400k a week or 500k a week. I know Ronaldo is reported to be earning upwards of 100mill a year, but thats not their basic standard wage.

That’s their standard wage. On top of that they have their deals with shoe factories and stuff. Hamilton is the only F1 driver by the way who has any big income apart form his team salary (around 12 M, most other drivers are well under a million), what also shows his marketability.

[Jolle]

Are the Hamilton/Merc delays confirmed to be about money or is that just speculation?

Pure speculation. There are two big rumours going round. One is that people think that he wants to much money, the other one is that he wants more saying about his portret right and image.

Knowing that his alleged demand of 50m a year (which isn’t confirmed anywhere) isn’t a strange number for F1, I think it’s more to do with the image rights and more saying in when he’s available for Daimler and their sponsors.

[notsofast]

Since no one has any real information, I'll add my own speculation to this silly season thread.

A lot of Hamilton's activism in 2020 has been focused on the US. Perhaps he is negotiating with Mercedes to start an Indy Car team from 2022 onward.

[prince]

Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar to name a few.

Thats not basic wage though is it? 50mill a year is obviously pretty mucy a million pound a week. When you look at the wages for those players through google, they say numbers like 400k a week or 500k a week. I know Ronaldo is reported to be earning upwards of 100mill a year, but thats not their basic standard wage.

That’s their standard wage. On top of that they have their deals with shoe factories and stuff. Hamilton is the only F1 driver by the way who has any big income apart form his team salary (around 12 M, most other drivers are well under a million), what also shows his marketability.

The difference in football and F1 is that a driver is nothing without the equipment. He cannot have the same impact when moves to other teams that has slightly inferior equipment. Whereas a footballer has almost same impact in most teams. Besides, F1 teams have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build the equipment that the driver drives. Hence, an F1 driver's skills from a remuneration perspective cannot be compared to that of footballers. A footballer is a star attraction in football. In F1, it's the car + driver.