F1 Insider: Mercedes Looking To Reduce Lewis Hamilton's Salary After Poor Performance
It's the soap opera that keeps on giving: Lewis Hamilton's contract negotiations with Mercedes. Will he stay? Will he go? Who knows. Well, maybe Lewis and his team do, but they're not revealing much. Martin Brundle, the legendary Sky F1 pundit, has had his say admitting that Mercedes could be looking to reduce Lewis Hamilton's income.
Despite both parties confirming their commitment to each other, Hamilton has yet to sign on the dotted line for the 2023 season. And with Mercedes struggling to keep up with Red Bull and Ferrari this year, Hamilton has been vocal about his frustrations with the team's decisions.
In fact, he's gone as far as to suggest that Mercedes owes him an apology. Ouch.
But is this all part of Hamilton's negotiation tactics? Sky Sports' Martin Brundle seems to think so. According to him, Hamilton is playing a bit of a game to ensure that he gets the best deal possible.
And who can blame him? The man has seven world championships under his belt and is one of the most successful drivers in F1 history. He has the experience and wheel time to yield such high incomes.
“We have to remember Lewis is in the middle of a negotiation as well," Brundle says.
“I’m 100 percent certain Lewis would always follow the performance and not the money, but you aren’t going to turn down a big pay cheque if you can get it as well.
“There might be some pressure at Mercedes-Benz to reduce his pay, as it were. So there’s a bit of negotiation and a bit of game-play in this as well.”
But with rumors swirling about a potential move to Ferrari next season, it's anyone's guess as to where Hamilton will end up. One thing is for sure, though: he's not going to turn down a big paycheque if he can get it, but the performance has to be there because, above anything, the British driver is looking for his 8th world championship win.
“I don’t think Lewis is in any different position to say Lando or Charles at Ferrari of stamping their feet a little bit and saying: ‘hang on, what are you doing about this?” Brundle continues.
“Tell me what we’re going in terms of updates, in terms of personnel, in terms of moving this game forward because it looks an awful lot like last year at the moment.”
Hamilton has a lot of buying power over the Brackley team, so we'll see how things turn out for next year. But one thing's for certain, Lewis has options.