McLaren: A new contract of 25 million per year for Hamilton?

Lewis Hamilton could become the highest-paid driver in Formula 1 according to the British press. The contract binding the 2008 world champion to the McLaren team ends at the end of 2012, but the team led by Martin Whitmarsh could offer a golden contract to its driver.

According to several newspapers, Hamilton could receive 100 million pounds for a five-year contract, or 20 million pounds per year, which is equivalent to 25 million euros. According to *The Guardian*, this amount could even reach 150 million pounds over five years, depending on various bonuses, amounting to 187 million euros over five years and thus over 37 million euros per season, which would allow Hamilton to replace Fernando Alonso as the highest-paid F1 driver. The Spanish driver is currently earning 30 million euros per season at Ferrari.

With this five-season contract, three guaranteed plus two options apparently, Hamilton – turning 27 this year – could therefore be tied to McLaren until he is 33. This possibility of an extension is something that Hamilton should accept according to some observers.

Jackie Stewart thus confided to the Daily Mail that Lewis Hamilton should stay with McLaren because it is this team that has allowed him to get to where he is today: « Without McLaren, Lewis Hamilton would not exist, certainly not in terms of where he is currently in his career. And McLaren is one of the great teams in Formula 1 – not of the past, but of the present. They employ great engineers. They invest in winning. »

The former Scottish driver believes that the McLaren team is currently the most stable team and thus the best option for Hamilton: « Red Bull has a brilliant designer, Adrian Newey, but can they be sure to fight for the championship every year like McLaren does? They are the only alternative to McLaren, and I say this because you cannot be certain that Ferrari will always be competitive. Even if they can build a car capable of winning, he would have Fernando Alonso as a teammate – and he has already experienced that. »

All the details of the contract are not known because it would not have been formally written at the moment, but it could include a lower salary than Hamilton’s current one – 16 million euros – but with more room to negotiate with personal sponsors.

Simon Fuller, his manager, is expected to be in London this summer, probably to negotiate the terms of the new contract. Indeed, according to the British press, nothing should be signed right away, given the upcoming negotiations and Hamilton’s potential desire to explore other options, as explained by The Daily Telegraph: « It is unlikely that a contract will be signed before the end of the summer, or even autumn, as some points need to be discussed and Hamilton continues to evaluate his options. »

The Stevenage native would theoretically not lack options, as he could indeed join another top team on the grid, with Ferrari, Red Bull, and Mercedes all having a driver whose contract expires at the end of the current season—Massa, Webber, and Schumacher.

The future of the three men is the subject of various rumors, like Hamilton’s, the latest being the possibility of seeing Webber then Vettel join Ferrari in the coming years. Another option, that of Red Bull, might not be more concrete because, at the beginning of the season, Christian Horner considered it unlikely for Hamilton to join Red Bull.

This leaves Mercedes and McLaren as potential choices for Hamilton, with a Mercedes team that has not managed to be consistently competitive this season so far. Jackie Stewart might therefore be right in advising Hamilton to stay with the team that has been following and supporting him since he was 13 years old.