Despite $50,000,000 on Table, Ferrari Can Still Poach Lewis Hamilton as Toto Wolff Not Agreeing to a Key Demand

Lewis Hamilton has his contract with Mercedes expiring at the end of the 2023 season but the Briton is yet to pen down a new deal that confirms his stay. Amidst speculations that Ferrari might have an interest in recruiting Hamilton, BusinessF1 has revealed the one key factor that is stopping Mercedes from renewing Hamilton’s contract.

In late May this year, Daily Mail broke the news that Ferrari reportedly wants to sign Lewis Hamilton and is ready to offer the Mercedes star $50,000,000. Even though the claims of Ferrari being in contact with Hamilton were officially denied by the Maranello-based outfit, BusinessF1 believes that ‘nothing is certain.’

Hamilton had quite a bit of tension with his team at the start of the season, because of the underwhelming mechanical package. The 38-year-old even went to the lengths of admitting that he had not been happy at Mercedes since the start of the 2022 season. However, the recent resurgence in form seems to have satisfied Hamilton him and he wants to commit his future to the Silver Arrows.

Likewise, Mercedes also want to retain the seven-time world champion. So much so, that the team is apparently ready to pay Hamilton a yearly fee close to $50,000,000. But the contract is still not being finalized because the team has a huge issue with one particular demand from Hamilton.

Mercedes is not ready to make a long-term deal with Lewis Hamilton

As per BusinessF1, Lewis Hamilton has demanded a five-year-long contract worth $250,000,000, which means that he would receive $50,000,000 a year from this prosper new deal. Even though Mercedes have agreed on the monetary aspect of the deal, Toto Wolff is reluctant to sign Hamilton for five years, at the end of which, the Stevenage-born driver would be 43 years old.

BusinessF1 understands that Hamilton might have a very similar offer from Ferrari, which is giving him the upper hand in the contract negotiations. This is the only reason why Mercedes has apparently agreed to pay him twice of what he is earning currently. But even all of this is not enough to convince the Brackley-based outfit to give him a deal that lasts half a decade.

On the other hand, Hamilton has constantly been speaking to the media about how committed he is to the Mercedes project and how much he believes in them. This could just be mind games being played by the Mercedes star to force his team into offering him what he wants.

When will Hamilton confirm his decision?

BusinessF1 believes that Hamilton is making crazy demands to Mercedes because he has no intentions of re-signing with the Silver Arrows and is just biding his time. It is understood that a driver like Hamilton has no intentions of spilling the beans any time soon and he will wait until the end of the season to announce if he is moving somewhere else.

In contrast, Rosanna Tennant from BBC claimed on the Chequered Flag podcast that Hamilton will announce his decision as early as the end of this week. This information was apparently sourced from Hamilton’s father Anthony Hamilton.

However, BusinessF1 claims that news from Hamilton Sr. might not be credible. This is because Anthony Hamilton apparently has nothing to do with his son’s finances after he messed up a land deal in Grenada that cost Lewis Hamilton $20 million back in 2010.