2021 AMG Mercedes F1 Team

[El Scorchio]

Lewis Hamilton's contract still in limbo with the 2021 F1 season set to start March 28. I think Mercedes is probably forcing the Englishman to sign for just one year so he can beat Michael Schumacher's record. Mercedes clearly doesnt want Hamilton to sign a long term contract. With the recent sale of 30% of AMG-Mercedes to Ineos , many are speculating the three pointed star team wont be around in a few years. What do you Hamster fans think?

You floated the idea of Daimler being in trouble as a reason why to sell a share of the racing team. Do you have any reason behind this except speculation? The racing team, especially with the new budget rules is a profitable unit within the Daimler group. Besides that, INEOS would never invest if there wasn’t a commitment from Daimler to keep HPP running as a high level.
Selling a part of the racing team opens up a lot of doors for Daimler as their racing activities are pure marketing. INEOS is not only investing directly into the team but will also be expanding their name in connection with the AMG Mercedes racing team/brand. Bit like how Repsol and Honda have a deal in MotoGP. They don’t exchange that much money but reward their partnership in shared exposure.

I think it's just stirring the pot for personal amusement, really.

[fritticaldi]

Lewis Hamilton's contract still in limbo with the 2021 F1 season set to start March 28. I think Mercedes is probably forcing the Englishman to sign for just one year so he can beat Michael Schumacher's record. Mercedes clearly doesnt want Hamilton to sign a long term contract. With the recent sale of 30% of AMG-Mercedes to Ineos , many are speculating the three pointed star team wont be around in a few years. What do you Hamster fans think?

You floated the idea of Daimler being in trouble as a reason why to sell a share of the racing team. Do you have any reason behind this except speculation? The racing team, especially with the new budget rules is a profitable unit within the Daimler group. Besides that, INEOS would never invest if there wasn’t a commitment from Daimler to keep HPP running as a high level.
Selling a part of the racing team opens up a lot of doors for Daimler as their racing activities are pure marketing. INEOS is not only investing directly into the team but will also be expanding their name in connection with the AMG Mercedes racing team/brand. Bit like how Repsol and Honda have a deal in MotoGP. They don’t exchange that much money but reward their partnership in shared exposure.

I think every car manufacturer is in financial difficulty because of this global pandemic. Example : Renault has asked the French govt for 8 billion to stay afloat. McLaren also applied for financial aid, but the British govt refused . Toto Wolff has stated they would listen to Hamilton's wishes but they have done nothing about it. Its a financial issue and a length of time issue. Obviously Mercedes dont want Hamilton for 4 years.

[Jolle]

Lewis Hamilton's contract still in limbo with the 2021 F1 season set to start March 28. I think Mercedes is probably forcing the Englishman to sign for just one year so he can beat Michael Schumacher's record. Mercedes clearly doesnt want Hamilton to sign a long term contract. With the recent sale of 30% of AMG-Mercedes to Ineos , many are speculating the three pointed star team wont be around in a few years. What do you Hamster fans think?

You floated the idea of Daimler being in trouble as a reason why to sell a share of the racing team. Do you have any reason behind this except speculation? The racing team, especially with the new budget rules is a profitable unit within the Daimler group. Besides that, INEOS would never invest if there wasn’t a commitment from Daimler to keep HPP running as a high level.
Selling a part of the racing team opens up a lot of doors for Daimler as their racing activities are pure marketing. INEOS is not only investing directly into the team but will also be expanding their name in connection with the AMG Mercedes racing team/brand. Bit like how Repsol and Honda have a deal in MotoGP. They don’t exchange that much money but reward their partnership in shared exposure.

I think every car manufacturer is in financial difficulty because of this global pandemic. Example : Renault has asked the French govt for 8 billion to stay afloat. McLaren also applied for financial aid, but the British govt refused . Toto Wolff has stated they would listen to Hamilton's wishes but they have done nothing about it. Its a financial issue and a length of time issue. Obviously Mercedes dont want Hamilton for 4 years.

And why wouldn’t they? Don’t forget, they still payed Schumacher in 2013 for instance for his services outside the car (to perform in commercials and for their sponsors). Of course it was also quite obvious they didn’t do that with Rosberg .

[NathanOlder]

If I were Mercedes/Toto/INEOS , I'd be happy to sign a 4yr deal with Lewis with a few performance clauses. For example, he needs to be beating his team mate more often than not, if he fails this, then pay cuts kick in. So Lewis wont want to just cruise around for a few years. If age does catch up with his, Merc get to cut his pay ect.
If Lewis believes in himself, he wont have a problem with this surely ?

[Big Tea]

If I were Mercedes/Toto/INEOS , I'd be happy to sign a 4yr deal with Lewis with a few performance clauses. For example, he needs to be beating his team mate more often than not, if he fails this, then pay cuts kick in. So Lewis wont want to just cruise around for a few years. If age does catch up with his, Merc get to cut his pay ect.
If Lewis believes in himself, he wont have a problem with this surely ?

Even without driving there would be plenty of events Merc would like him to do, the question is, would he do them or just want to drive

[Morteza]

[jumpingfish]

Hamilton: training in the mountains, enjoying life before the start of the new season.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal: isolated for 10 days due to covid.
Media at this time: contract debate is getting hotter and hotter: Hamilton demands £ trillions, 10% of the team's income, also AMG Project One, freedom to make any decisions, saving old partner.

[adrianjordan]

Hamilton: training in the mountains, enjoying life before the start of the new season.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal: isolated for 10 days due to covid.
Media at this time: contract debate is getting hotter and hotter: Hamilton demands £ trillions, 10% of the team's income, also AMG Project One, freedom to make any decisions, saving old partner.

Mercedes F1 Insta: Posting photos of "where it all began" reminiscing about when Lewis joined the team.

I think the contract has been signed, done and dusted and they're just enjoying the PR now. At least that's what the latest Insta posted have be thinking. You wouldn't be posting those sorts of things if he wasn't going to stay.

[adrianjordan]

Lewis Hamilton's contract still in limbo with the 2021 F1 season set to start March 28. I think Mercedes is probably forcing the Englishman to sign for just one year so he can beat Michael Schumacher's record. Mercedes clearly doesnt want Hamilton to sign a long term contract. With the recent sale of 30% of AMG-Mercedes to Ineos , many are speculating the three pointed star team wont be around in a few years. What do you Hamster fans think?

The only people speculating that Mercedes might leave F1 are Internet trolls, journalists with headlines to make up and people who, for some reason, just don't understand that companies rarely turn away from profitable activities. F1 as a marketing platform has always been a good investment for Mercedes, the F1 budget gives way, way, WAY more exposure than spending the same amount on traditional marketing would. With the new rules coming in that only improves the return on investment even more.

As for Hamster fans. I just don't see Richard Hammond cutting it in F1. He has too many crashes.....

[astracrazy]

Lewis Hamilton's contract still in limbo with the 2021 F1 season set to start March 28. I think Mercedes is probably forcing the Englishman to sign for just one year so he can beat Michael Schumacher's record. Mercedes clearly doesnt want Hamilton to sign a long term contract. With the recent sale of 30% of AMG-Mercedes to Ineos , many are speculating the three pointed star team wont be around in a few years. What do you Hamster fans think?

The only people speculating that Mercedes might leave F1 are Internet trolls, journalists with headlines to make up and people who, for some reason, just don't understand that companies rarely turn away from profitable activities. F1 as a marketing platform has always been a good investment for Mercedes, the F1 budget gives way, way, WAY more exposure than spending the same amount on traditional marketing would. With the new rules coming in that only improves the return on investment even more.

As for Hamster fans. I just don't see Richard Hammond cutting it in F1. He has too many crashes.....

It's not internet trolls, its people who can see the writing on the wall vs Mercedes F1 fans who think this will never end.

It is a good ROI for Daimler whilst they are winning and Lewis is around (not just for what he brings on track, but off as well), there is no guarantee this will continue to be the case. Manufactures come and go, we have seen this time and time again and there is nothing to show this is any different with Daimler.

If you don't think that Daimler reducing their ownership in the most successful F1 team of all time is a signal that they are looking to step aside sometime in the future - then I don't know what you think it is. You say that it is people who "just don't understand that companies rarely turn away from profitable activities" yet this is exactly what it is. They sold 30% of this profitable activity. If the ROI was going to increase as much as you predict, then it would make even less sense to sell. When in reality, it will never be better than the last few years.

I personally see a slow transition, or setting one up, of the team which allows Daimler to pull out without jeopardising the actual F1 team itself.

[SiLo]

I think they probably wanted to get to a percentage where they are involved, and it's still the Daimler brand, but they can pull out without too much effort or impact on the teams budgets. Let's not forget, they don't actually put that much money into it.

[El Scorchio]

Hamilton: training in the mountains, enjoying life before the start of the new season.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal: isolated for 10 days due to covid.
Media at this time: contract debate is getting hotter and hotter: Hamilton demands £ trillions, 10% of the team's income, also AMG Project One, freedom to make any decisions, saving old partner.

Mercedes F1 Insta: Posting photos of "where it all began" reminiscing about when Lewis joined the team.

I think the contract has been signed, done and dusted and they're just enjoying the PR now. At least that's what the latest Insta posted have be thinking. You wouldn't be posting those sorts of things if he wasn't going to stay.

Agree, and evidently so does this bloke.

[tangodjango]

If I were Mercedes/Toto/INEOS , I'd be happy to sign a 4yr deal with Lewis with a few performance clauses. For example, he needs to be beating his team mate more often than not, if he fails this, then pay cuts kick in. So Lewis wont want to just cruise around for a few years. If age does catch up with his, Merc get to cut his pay ect.
If Lewis believes in himself, he wont have a problem with this surely ?

I wouldn't be surprised if it's a 2+2 deal. With the +2 being options.
I also foresee Russel coming in for 2022 or latest 2023. Given that they know what Lewis/Bottas can contribute on car development direction they might feel comfortable dropping Bottas since the next generation of cars will be so vastly different as they long as they have Lewis, Bottas's influence might not even be required. Also say they sign Russell in 2022 for around 5 million € they will be effectively be saving 5 against paying Bottas 10.

[Big Tea]

If I were Mercedes/Toto/INEOS , I'd be happy to sign a 4yr deal with Lewis with a few performance clauses. For example, he needs to be beating his team mate more often than not, if he fails this, then pay cuts kick in. So Lewis wont want to just cruise around for a few years. If age does catch up with his, Merc get to cut his pay ect.
If Lewis believes in himself, he wont have a problem with this surely ?

I wouldn't be surprised if it's a 2+2 deal. With the +2 being options.
I also foresee Russel coming in for 2022 or latest 2023. Given that they know what Lewis/Bottas can contribute on car development direction they might feel comfortable dropping Bottas since the next generation of cars will be so vastly different as they long as they have Lewis, Bottas's influence might not even be required. Also say they sign Russell in 2022 for around 5 million € they will be effectively be saving 5 against paying Bottas 10.

If Russell is not at Merc for 2022 I would imagine he will have been fishing up and down the paddock this year and will use his trap door.

[fritticaldi]

Today Toto Wolff said AMG Mercedes is not playing the George Russell card in the ongoing negotiations with Lewis Hamilton. One of the factors in the delay of the contract extension with Hamilton is getting the lawyers together. So we should all calm down because everything will be fine.