http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/news/12433/8055402/-Mercedes-offer-Hamilton-60m- 3 Year deal worth 60 million - Far more than Mclaren can probably justify paying!
Schumacher or Rosberg is an interesting thing to come out with. Can't see Michael wanting to be paired with Lewis. My personal contribution to speculation is that there has been an offer (hence hamiltons tweet about "a good place to think"), and Eddie has found out, but the rest is EJ guess work combined with Bernie's slip of the tongue in Spa. To leave would just be such a mad decision i can't see him doing it.
I think it's a ploy by fuller and co. to get Hamilton more dosh at McLaren. He will be a McLaren driver next year, the team wouldn't let him go, Button isn't consistent enough to pose a serious title challenge, and as Ted stated, there aren't really any other driver out there who could challenge for a title.
£60m for three years. That'd do it I reckon. Not the money per se but the valuation of his abilities. I think that would be important to Hamilton, as would being in a works team in 2014, not to mention Ross Brawn's knack of finding highly effective loopholes in the technical regs. It's a Daily Mail story though (i.e. unaccountable), coming the day after Eddie Jordan's conjecture.
Everybody else seemed to think it was funny, and he certainly didnt reafirm Mclarens thoughts that they are at the latter satges of negotiations.
If Rosberg has a clause in his contract about his teammate not being paid more, could Mercedes replace both him and Schumacher? Maybe have a Hamilton + Hulk/Di Resta line-up for next year?
Yes, I think it would be a mistake to think this was just about money. Lewis believes he's special and I think he wants recognition of that. Moreover he wants more WDCs, which must be the ultimate complication in deciding where to go from what's available.
Well Mercedes do openly speak out that they always go for the best 2 drivers available. Schumacher and Rosberg were good choices in 2010, but now we are talking about 2013 and many good drivers have come in that time and some able to sign the contract. Interesting times for Mercedes, feels like Man City or something!
I would of loved to see Lewis and Sutil at my dear beloved Silverarrows, but since their spat Hulk, Perez or Kamui would do just fine!
On a serious note and as a Lewis fan, I'd be disappointed if the/a move away from McLaren was based soley on money, its not as if the deal he may get from McLaren will have him shopping in Aldi instead of Waitrose! He's said the motivating factor is winning races and in turn WDC, is that gonna happen more often at Mercedes than McLaren? Or, unknown to even Eddie Jordan have Mercedes lined up Adrian Newey as well!
It will also be interesting if some of the McLaren crew go with Lewis to Mercedes if this did happen.
My dream scenario! As I said earlier, I think kudos is more important than cash for Lewis. I can see him going if there's a realistic chance that Merc, Haug and Brawn will push all the resources to 'do a Schumi at Ferrari' with him but we're in different times now...
If this comes about, it's down to taking #1 status in a team in the same way Alonso and Vettel have IMO. With Lewis and Jenson in the team, McLaren will struggle to get a drivers champion. I'm really hoping this happens now... This could be a fantastic challenge for Hamilton and could see him blossom as a driver. I'd say take the risk and mix things up rather than stagnate in the current McLaren setup.
