Interesting! http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/news/12479/7799786/No-hurry-for-Hamilton Not sure Mclaren would be prepared to wait until the end of the season?
Waiting until after the season would be unwise. You can't expect the big teams to delay signing a driver in the hope that they'll get Lewis. What's going to happen if Webber and Schumacher re-sign with Red Bull and Mercedes? Ferrari don't seem to be interested in Lewis, so that leaves McLaren - and apparently they aren't prepared to offer Hamilton what he wants.
I think Webber was signed up in August last year, so if he doesn't resign around about September, it will be painfully obvious who fills in the seat.
I'm not sure, but this Seb deal with Ferrari stinks more than Lewis to RBR. I reckon Lewis will now replace Seb at RBR next season IF! Seb believes Ferrari are capable of giving him the car in 2013 and beyond. Basically Lewis has been told to wait at the end of the season for Seb to make his mind up about his future with Ferrari *that's why he is waiting until the end*. RBR don't want to "replace" Lewis with Seb, but somebody is needed to fill his role when Seb leaves for Ferrari. RBR know only a driver of the top 3 could replace Seb, but as Lewis' contract runs out in 2013 they need assurance they can snatch him from McLaren to replace Seb for their future stability after 2014. So my theory is that Lewis has been told to wait for Seb to leave, if Ferrari are strong all year and Seb says he wants to go they will either allow him to break his contract early or ask Ferrari to take over the contract and wages etc... so he can replace Massa. If Seb doesn't leave, will Lewis have to sit out for a season or drive for somebody like Sauber, Lotus, Williams for a season? Or will McLaren allow him to extend by only a year? But the other issue I have is why would Seb leave unless he also knows something we and Lewis don't know... Is Newey going to retire or does he have the same clause in his contract like Seb? So does Lewis believe he will have Newey on his side or is this one of those honey bee traps and Lewis doesn't know what he is walking into.
Lewis says he does not dream of driving for ferari, but makes reference to Seb wanting to! http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/news/24181/7801787/Hamilton-No-dream-of-Ferrari
I reckon Whitmarsh is trying to out blink Lewis here. Seems he has given him an an ultimatum, extend for another 3 years at this "price" maybe slightly more than Jenson. Or don't get an extension and you don't have a top drive for next season as its clear your future is not with McLaren, so he might not even be driving next season or doing an Alonso 08-09. Lewis probably wants the wages and the direct control on who he wants gone and improvements on, with the outright number 1 driver and Jenson as number 2 by default no matter the points difference to help boost his title chances against Seb and Alonso. Jenson and Whitmarsh will likely refuse this "demand" by Lewis, though Ron might have a different say, he did put Whitmarsh in control of the team so he should respect his ability to look after it as he was the one who gave him the job. But yeah that reference with Seb just smells like a media loophole to RBR saying: "I'm not interested in history (like Seb) just give me a faster car than anybody else and I'm happy." Edit: Oh and looking into the interview with Brundle and Whitmarsh during FP2, you can see he is irritated with the subject as he was scratching his body and licking his lips during the interview. Looks like Whitmarsh is annoyed with the matter but he tries his best to put on a fake smile to hide the scent, something's going on me thinks!
lewis doesnt want number 1 status,he doesnt need,he enjoys the competition. i think he just wants them to give him the same backing they were giving jenson and to give him a car capable of competing for the championship. and whitmarsh is under pressure to make lewis stay,hence all of whitmarsh's recent nice words about lewis.whitmarsh is more eager to get things sorted. also if things continue to be so tight in quali and the races this season and next season etc,lewis will remain mclarens best best for the championship.
I'm not sure that Hamilton will get better treatment elsewhere than he receives at McLaren, OK they have cocked up a few pit stops etc, but he is very well looked after at McLaren in my opinion.
McLaren is a great fit for Hamilton, and I hope he choses to stay. But on the other hand, I could also see how he might want to go try his luck elsewhere and take on a new challenge. A change might be good.
Whether you love him or loathe him, when Ron Dennis talks people take note. Here are his views on the Lewis/Mclaren saga! http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/news/24181/7806389/McLaren-to-play-hardball-with-Hamilton The words "Hardball", "Economy", "Balance", "who's available" etc... are pointing to either a finacial stand off between both parties or that Mclaren have no other option than to try and fill the seat with the best driver that is available.
In my view, Hamilton ain't going anywhere other than McLaren, money is surely no longer the big issue, he's already a rich man and WDCs mean more to him than cash, simply because WDCs mean history and will remain long after he's hung up his helmet and spent all his millions. And at the moment there is no better team than McLaren for Lewis to achieve relative immortality. Who knows he could win more titles than you know who.
Money is no longer a big issue? Lest we forget, he previously hired Simon Fuller as his manager... I am tempted to agree though I think the key issue is one of parity within the team - perhaps if Lewis is hasty, we may see him make a Villeneuve-esque decision he will come to regret. At the moment he is well within his rights to demand that the team throw their support behind him instead of Button, which - without any major supporting evidence, merely a few years of watching him and getting an idea of his general persona - strikes me as being more important to Hamilton personally than anything else.
Whether that's true or not, it's his management negotiating the contract for him, and all they care about is the cash. If he hadn't split from his Dad he'd probably have extended his contract last year.
