So what is Lewis Hamilton salary for 2018? According to Germany’s Sport Bild, Mercedes is about to sign a new three-year deal with Lewis Hamilton for a reputed €150 million. Old news? Maybe; but according to Bild, the delay may have been due to Mercedes looking beyond their 4 time Champion.
When discussing the delay, Wolff reveals that there has been a lot of ongoing discussions, but both parties are ‘on the same wavelength’.
“Lewis and we are absolutely on the same wavelength. But such a contract includes over 100 pages with a corresponding number of points. And all that has to be done first. ” admits the Mercedes boss.
Should the deal go through, Lewis Hamilton salary will be a reputed €45 million per year for 3 years. Once other endorsement deals are bundled in, the total will be worth €150 million to Hamilton.
Rumours back in February pointed to this deal going ahead with Hamilton himself revealing that “we’ve been talking for a while”:
“I have spoken with Toto Wolff, and we spoke about how we are committed to each other”
“I know there’s no one else better and Toto knows there’s no one else better than me, so he is not looking anywhere else.”
“I am not feeling pressure from other drivers and Toto has no reason to believe I am speaking to anyone else. In the six years I have been here, I have not spoken to another team and that shows how committed I am.”
According to Sport Bild, the reason why it’s taking so long can be explained by Red Bull’s Helmut Marko.
“Toto tried to get Vettel and Max, but both declined him”
“Of course, Lewis heard about this so he put up his price”
If true, the big question is why would Wolff be looking at Vettel or Verstappen? An unstable, but fast champion in Hamilton is perhaps not a long term solution to Mercedes, and certainly points a damning finger at team mate Bottas.
Let the speculation begin.
MORE NEWS – Toto Wolff admits ‘painful mistake’
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff expects that the Bahrain Grand Prix will again be a challenging weekend, “but the challenges there will be completely different” when compared to Australia, admits Wolff.
“The desert race is tricky because the conditions between the sessions change considerably. The first and second practice sessions take place during the heat of the day, but qualifying and the race are held after sunset when it is much cooler. This makes it extremely difficult to find the right car setup. ”
It seems that Mercedes are reeling still from an Australian Grand Prix that they really should’ve won had it not been for mistakes. Wolff admits that the team made errors with timing delta given to Lewis Hamilton, what isn’t reported in the media is a………..
the funny thing is – they MERC look from the existing stagnant platform and therefore can’t or EVEN DON’T LOOK at to see the new things – i mean they look – well, we have HAM, we did have ROS, MSC, and paid them so and so much, so they are looking from here. But the truth is that they could get half a grid for 1 or no million to drive for them and still win both championships. . . They just aren’t looking to it this way
Correct your text, it should say “Let the speculation continue”.