Sorry that’s not right imho (not your post) . give him what he wants for next year , with option for 2022 . Or drop hints about GR. I am sure they have done that already .
I cant see Hamilton wanting a 4 year contract, in fact it seems more likely that it would be the other way around. Down to ineos now I suppose!
Get the feeling that one year contracts might be the way to go for him. He's been hinting that he's not a million miles away from retirement.
From his point of view at least a 2 year deal would be best option. He must be thinking of getting an eighth championship to gain the record. 2021 cars are very similar so he has a good chance. If not then 2022 will see a major change and I can't see Merc being left behind, so that would probably give him a backup chance in case Red Bull pull everything together in 21. That said it's a negotiation so you go in asking for more than you would accept
I wonder if Mercedes want a long contract to get around the upcoming 2023 driver salary restrictions. I don't think they've been signed off yet, and until then any contracts signed are exempt. The rules look like being a $30m budget to cover both drivers, with any excess salary reducing what the team are allowed to spend on operations. A 4 year deal would almost certainly be Hamilton's last, and circumvent that rule, whilst a shorter deal could really restrict future negotiations. From Hamilton's side, I guess it's whether the length suits his plans, but I suspect he also wants to reduce his flying, sponsor commitments, etc, and also secure support from Mercedes and sponsors for his social justice causes.
Is that $30mill including bonuses? Normally drivers get bonuses for top 3 or even just points scored. I have a feeling that the £30mill will have lots of holes in, like say Merc employ a marketing company who pay Lewis to promote Merc. Is that part of driver salary? I doubt it?
I agree , there will be lots of loop holes and I still am not sure if they can legally do it . I think Horner questioned if it could be pushed through or not .
This is my first thought. If a driver brings his own sponsor and takes the sponsorship money and perhaps pay to drive even. It is like the current team budget, there are plenty of ways to circumvent legally as I see it. But perhaps the teams themselves will be the ones to want to adhere to it, I think they want the controls on spending to work, they are after all businesses. To be a sustanable forrmula it is quite important to make it work.
You are quite correct in that it's business and winning leads to more money and profit, now budget caps are in. There lies the problem. A team that has access to more money will want to use it to their advantage to gain places. In years to come when the drivers salary budget caps are well and truly in how are the teams going to attract the top drivers? i.e. if salary is same then what can teams offer???? I wonder about shares, share options, actually I think it's harder to police drivers remunerations as they will be using any and all tax avoidance methods they can. It is slightly easier with a team as they make components and there are raw materials, manpower (employed so easier to trace), then there is outsourcing so maybe not as traceable.... It will take a few years but it could become very interesting.......
I initially thought a driver could promote his own sponsors but that itself would be easy to police. But Lewis is a good example to use. He has his own businesses so Merc could invest in his businesses as part of his remuneration, that is not paying a driver but investing in a business that happens to be owned by a driver. Then is the business almost a SPV and sorts of thoughts about class of shares etc. A bit like the BBC wage bill for someone like Graham Norton, it is not his main remuneration.
here's the thing, how many of Mercedes sponsors would be interested if Hamilton wasn't driving the car? Hamilton probably brings in more sponsor money to Mercedes than they pay him.
Seems to be some talk of first 2021 race in Australia being postponed!!!! I think we may be in for another strange calendar in 2021.
2020 was one of my favourite calendars in a long while so bring it on! Minus the whole world destroying pandemic.
Bahrain set to be the season opener but also talk of pre season testing moving there too to save on travel and get everyone there with plenty of time.
Makes sense to move it all to Bahrain in the same week, testing is just 3 days now I think anyway. Test Mon-Wed, start the GP weekend Friday. They could even test on the endurance circuit to give them a bit of all sorts and make the race weekend a bit less practiced.