Quote Originally Posted by truefan72 View Post
I believe Planet F1 is the originator of this rumor which cast everything in doubt.
There are plenty of sites discussing the "rumors". Some are now characterizing the discussions as "sources" are saying.

I think Hamilton was be asking for a 2-year contract not a 4 year, but with an option for the next 2 years after that.
that $40m per year is not unreasonable given his contributions to the team and the currency value.
Let's not forget that in 1996 MSC signed a 2 year Ferrari contract for $60m which is about $100.4million inflation adjusted today.
MSC salary peaked at $38M per year back then.
When Mercedes is being projected to have reduce their headcounts by 10,000 and facing angry investors, it is not going to go over well if they are paying a record salary to a driver. Regardless who it is.

Ola Kallenius, Chairman of Daimler's Board of Directors, is not served by that attitude. He has had to cut many jobs as a result of the crisis caused by the coronavirus and would not understand why the Formula 1 driver should still have the same budget as in 2020.
https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/76191...-in-money.html

I think Hamilton over values his worth. I think Russell help show that his value is not as high as he thinks - that is why Hamilton came back so quick after covid even though he wasn't fully recovered - he wanted to minimize the loss to his value.

It will be interesting to see who blinks.