Sir Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have failed to agree terms of a contract extension because the seven-time World Champion is pushing for a pay rise, according to reports.
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Daimler, in particular, is opposed to yielding on this point despite Ineos reportedly offering to intervene to ensure the Hamilton-Mercedes partnership continues into 2021.
Furthermore, the Silver Arrows and Sir Hamilton are also reportedly at odds with regards to the length of his new contract.
Specifically, the Brit is believed to be pushing for another multi-year deal while Mercedes just want to offer him a single-year extension to keep their options open for the following season.
Formula1News.co.uk approached the Mercedes F1 Team for comment on these reports last week, but the Silver Arrows said they “don’t comment on speculation and rumours, and there are a lot of them about right now.”
Sir Hamilton previously attracted criticism from some F1 fans on social media for reportedly demanding a pay rise as many companies are making cutbacks and millions of people have lost their jobs.
More recently, ex-F1 driver Christijan Albers has lambasted the seven-time World Champion, insisting he is arguing over a pay rise which ultimately won’t make any difference to him.
”If he had signed four months ago, he would not be in this situation now. He took that risk himself to wait for an even higher salary, and now he is in a bad position,” Albers said.
”When you see how he presents himself with the environment and everything, then you have to behave accordingly.
“Then you can’t fly around the world in your private jet, because then you get hit. People are going to resist.
“He is supposedly going to fight for the world, but it is better for him to be the underdog for a while, because now it comes from all sides with the environmental issues and his salary. That is not good for his image.
”What does ten or twenty million matter? Whether he gets 30 or 50 million a year. It is a lot of money, but he just has bad luck. The world is on fire and you have to take into account that your business model might have to change,” Albers added.
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