Lewis Hamilton finally ended speculation over his future when he finally signed a new two year contract with Mercedes as Formula One returned from its last summer break. Yet given the expectations set by both the British driver and his team boss, the terms of the new arrangement appeared strange.

Gone was the multi-year deal arrangement Hamilton had suggested he was prepared to commit to given in modern F1 the term implies something more in line wit the contracts signed by Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris for five years.

 

 

 

Mercedes yet to prove F1 challengers in ’24

The thought that Lewis Hamilton would retire appeared remote, given he stands on the cusp of claiming the record number of championship titles for himself. Hamilton stalled on seven championships along with Michael Schumacher after the controversial last lap shootout in Abu Dhabi 2021.

Lewis has suffered an unprecedented drought in his career since his last race win now over two seasons ago and Mercedes too racked up an unwanted record in 2023 being their first season for a decade without winning a single race.

The deckchairs were shuffled at Mercedes with Technical Director Mike Elliot being relieved of his duties and James Allison forced to return to the F1 team as Elliot’s replacement after time out on other projects.

Of course the big hope is all this will see the silver arrows return to winning ways this year as the concept behind both the W13 and W14 cars has been ditched and the tech team in Brackley start again with a blank sheet of paper.

Ford drag racing tech in Red Bull power unit

 

 

 

Not inevitable Mercedes return to winning ways

Yet with Red Bull so far ahead in the current car design regulations only set to change in 2026, big questions remain over whether Mercedes can again be competitive before the next F1 big rule shuffle. McLaren and Ferrari were quicker than Mercedes towards the end of last year and the Woking based outfit is building an evolution of their 2023 competitor.

Its not inevitable that Mercedes return to the top of the F1 pile merely because they dominated the sport for eight years, a quick glance across the grid reveals Ferrari remain ever hopeful of returning to their glory years when they ruled the F1 roost.

Further, much of the reason Mercedes remained unchallenged was because Red Bull lacked a serious power unit partner for much of that time, something which is not now true as their winning combination with Honda proves.

The big question is will Lewis Hamilton remain in the sport to the end of his two year contract if he believes Mercedes cannot help him achieve the dream eighth drivers championship?

McLaren boss says new 20234 car quicker than Red Bull

 

 

 

Wolff again addresses elusive 8th title

Clearly this is an issue even the frequency Toto Wolff addresses the topic most recently reported by The Telegraph. Asked by the British publication if Hamilton can add to his seven titles, the Austrian replied: “Always believe it’s possible. 

“You cannot start the season with an attitude of ‘This is not going to be possible.’ 

“We saw last year with McLaren, what a huge step they made with a single upgrade.

“We’ve signed a two-year deal with Lewis, and we owe it to him, to George and to all the team to give it our full attention in 2024 and 2025. I think it’s possible.”

Astonishing transfer fee attached to Lando Norris

 

 

 

Questions whether Hamilton beats Russell

Even were Mercedes to pull off the miracle of delivering their drivers with a car capable of competing with the latest Adrian Newey creation, it then begs the question can Hamilton beat his team mate?

The evidence of their two seasons together is that George is eminently capable of beating Lewis and a title charge for the veteran driver would require the team to issue preferential orders.

With the cost cap now beginning to bite – particularly in the area of capital spending – the likes off Aston Martin and McLaren have closed the gap to the big three and so Mercedes cannot simply throw money at the problem.

It appeared Wolff had realised this as talk of his retirement grew last season and the Austrian was eventually forced along with his drivers to pen a contract extension to quash the troublesome rumours.

Ecclestone says “Hamilton failed…”

 

 

 

Ex-Ferrari boss thinks Hamilton will retire

Yet Wolff’s commitment to the future of Mercedes has been questioned most recently when arch rival Christian Horner insisted it was the responsibility of an F1 team boss to attend all the races in a season. This was in response to Wolff’s previous suggestion he would be scaling back his Grand Prix attendance.

Ex Ferrari and McLaren boss now raises the spectre of Lewis Hamilton’s retirement should Mercedes fail to give him a car capable of claiming the elusive with championship.

In the latest of his YouTube channel interviews, Peter Windsor believes Charles Leclerc could well be the replacement Mercedes opt for if Hamilton quits this year after even more disappointment on track.

“I don’t think Lewis [Hamilton] will race too much longer if the Mercedes isn’t a great car this year.

Surprise return of ~Hamilton’s ex physio and mentor

 

 

 

Surprise replacement for Lewis mooted

“So, then you might see [Charles] Leclerc going to Mercedes and if Lewis announces his retirement early enough if he does, I’m not saying he does, but if the car’s not very good, Leclerc might go there.”

The problem with Windsor’s theory is Ferrari have made it clear they wish to build their medium term future around the Monogasque driver. Team boss Fred Vasseur stated explicitly to the Italian media he hoped contract extensions for both his drivers would be announced before Bahrain.

It was universally agreed amongst the Italian observers that Ferrari had already offered a new five year deal to Leclerc and to was the arrangements with Sainz that were yet to be finalised.

The Lewis Hamilton retirement topic is parked at present, but should Red Bull remain ahead of the pack with McLaren and Ferrari starting better than Mercedes, the matter will again become headline grabbing given Hamilton’s view he should not be racing for  merely points scoring positions.

Steiner slams Red Bull “forced out” theory

 

 

 

Ocon still managed by Mercedes

Mercedes do have young driver potential with Andrea Kimi Antonelli skipping F3 in his progression to join top team Prema in the F2 2024 world championship series. This radical promotion suggests Mercedes have high hopes for Antonelli and need him to make the F1 grade, sooner rather than later.

Frederick Vesti as also waiting in the wings alongside Mick Schumacher who would most likely be the immediate replacement should a shock Hamilton retirement announcement be made in the coming months.

One left field replacement for Hamilton could be Alpine’s Esteban Ocon given Gwen Lagrue who heads up the Mercedes junior driver programme recently re-iterated the French F1 driver was still managed by Mercedes.

“He’s still very linked to us,” Lagrue told The Race about Ocon.

“He’s an Alpine driver, and he’s fully committed to Alpine, but we’re still managing his career.”

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