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Some more salary numbers. Might as well start writing up my own salary numbers as it seems nobody really knows anything about what F1 drivers make.
Hamilton is currently being paid around £13m and he reportedly has two contracts on the table. One is thought to be for £15m a year with Mercedes and another is said to be two-thirds of that to stay at McLaren (10m). The team has been nurturing Hamilton since he was aged 13 and he has been racing with it since 2007 winning the world championship the following year. In contrast, since taking over its outfit over from team principal Ross Brawn, Mercedes has only won one race when Nico Rosberg claimed victory in this year's Chinese Grand Prix.
My bet is that the discussions at McLaren went somewhere along the lines of...
Whitmarsh: "We can't pay you as much, we're tight on cash, you'll have to accept 10 mil"
Hamilton: "--- that!"
Hamilton's Management: "Now Now, hold your horses, if you throw a big bone in, like being No 1 driver or getting to keep trophies, we might just go for that, but paying him less than Button isn't on"
Whitmarsh: "No, No, No, and No"
Hamilton: ":o ..."
Sky: About the driver keeping those trophies, how do you stand on that?
Dennis: Ehh...well... i´m sure we can compromise in that area ehh...
Takes pole in Singapore
Martin: Lewis....let´s be friends eh? we like you, you like us.
Hamilton: Sure, just give me X millions and the trophies we got a deal. I won´t go down in salary, look at Nando!
Martin: I´m sorry but we can´t do that...
Hamilton: *calls Schumacher* Consider yourself retired.
Martin: okokokokokok! hang up now Hamilton, let´s not take drastic measurements here now...
"Il Phenomeno" - The one they fear the most!
"2% of the world's population own 50% of the world's wealth."
Are we supposed to believe that McLaren can't come up with five million pounds? Off the top of my head I would say Lewis for fifteen is a much better deal than Di Resta or Perez for three.
Having Button as the undisputed number one ought to keep the McLaren guys up at night.
I can't see Hamilton signing for the same money, or less than Button. He brings the extra 1/10ths Mclaren need.
If he left, I would rather see Sutil at Mclaren than DiResta as he's proved himself much quicker in the same car, and hsi race craft, imo, is much better.
If Mercedes do bring their board meeting forward, and do commit to the new CA, isn't this another piece in the puzzle for Hamilton i.e. they are committing to the sport.
At the end of the day, I think Hamilton will simply stand his ground, and put a date on the table to the Mclaren management saying I want this, by then, or I'll call Ross. I can't see Mclaren turning him down. All of the noises being made a few weeks ago by RD and MW along the lines of, we're a big team, we don't need LH, he needs us, etc, etc, seem to have died down of late, to be replaced by the cars being designed around him, we have no plan b, we're flexible in this and that.
This from Autosport today:
"McLaren is believed to be offering at least, if not more, than the approximate £11.5 million per season deal that it is understood Mercedes has put on the table."
I think he'll be signing to McLaren. IMO he'd be stupid not to for the same or better basic wage. Stick with what he knows for a bit and see what happens in 2014. Does anyone know the length of contract he's looking for with McLaren?
If Mercedes do bring their board meeting forward, and do commit to the new CA, isn't this another piece in the puzzle for Hamilton i.e. they are committing to the sport.
Interesting to note that the article mentions the completed CA and Merc's future till 2020.
raymondu999 wrote:Here's what (IMO) is a very well-written piece by Will Buxton, which I think filters the paddock noise out beautifully and summarises the silly season: http://willthef1journo.wordpress.com/20 ... lly-season
However, in a post prior to that, it was all about Coca-Cola joining F1 and Mclaren.
Confused. I am also slightly confused as to the numbers being mooted. Some sources indicate Mclaren have offered 10m, the same as Button, and Merc 11.5m, now I read Mclaren offered 15m, then 13m, and merc 20m.
It would be a real laughter if everybody -massa, hamilton and schumacher- just stay at their team.
-psychologe to Massa: So massa, now that you have secured your contract, We are getting to the conclusion of your post-30s burn out depression. Feel that the circle is back complete!
-Brawn to Schumacher: so you old chap, which parts of rosberg his car you want to make inferior to get you back to the days we were at Ferrari's?
-Whitmarsh to Hamilton: They actually believed all the crap we spread! When we air your contract to the outworld, just say that the guys back home did an incredible job turning the media into a joke.
Last edited by turbof1 on 25 Sep 2012, 15:59, edited 1 time in total.
the whole coca cola -> monster -> merc -> lewis makes sense. But.
Coca Cola have been looking in for a while. They could also go about it another way (as previously rumored) and take up interest in Mclaren when there Vodafone sponsorship finishes at the end of 2013 and then make Hamilton there poster boy there. If that is there wish.
I can see Heikki moving teams (it hasn't panned out for him like it was sold) but I can't see him going to Ferrari for one year. Force India or Sauber? Maybe. Mclaren if Hamilton goes? Maybe.
