Mercedes in solidarity with anti-racism movement will continue with the black livery that made its debut last season instead of silver.
The contract extension talks might have broken down, but Lewis Hamilton has made quite a mark on the Mercedes livery. After convincing the team to change the livery to black from the traditional silver, the hierarchy has decided to stick with black for the F1 2021 season.
The black livery is symbolic of the fight against racism, and for diversity, the reigning champion has taken up.
Will Lewis Hamilton race for Mercedes this 2021 season?
As widely known now, the contract talks between Mercedes and Hamilton has reached a dead end. More than the contract’s price, the main pain point seems to be the duration of the contract.
While Hamilton wants a longer deal, Mercedes are not ready to offer anything beyond this season, for now. His teammate Valtteri Bottas also got a contract extension just for the 2021 campaign.
Toto Wolff, the one and all of Mercedes F1, is a huge fan of Hamilton. He wants the Brit to stick around and wants the deal done and dusted before the pre-season testing at Bahrain.
“We have had such a successful run of championships for the past seven years, there is no reason why not to continue,” said Wolff on Hamilton’s future, as per the Independent.
“He is on the top of his game, and he will be for a while, so that is why continuing together is a no-brainer. We always prioritised the championship and not being distracted by sometimes difficult discussions, as is the negotiation nature. Then Covid struck with Lewis, which delayed us a bit, but we are not worried about eventually getting it done.
“We are not putting a special date on it. Sooner or later it needs to be done, and the latest is when we go testing (in March),” he concluded. It remains to be seen if Hamilton gets his wish of a longer contract fulfilled.
If not, it might be a sabbatical/retirement for the reigning champion. And this will incredibly allow Mercedes junior George Russell to make a full-time debut for the giants, after replacing Hamilton in a one-off at Sakhir last season.
