'Ferrari does not go along with Hamilton's demands and seems to be abandoning'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
A longer stay of Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari is no longer so certain, now that there are more and more rumors that the four-time world champion is not happy for the time being with the offer that is there. A possible replacement is Lewis Hamilton, but if we are to believe Corriere dello Sport, Ferrari can also not meet the conditions set by the current Mercedes driver.
The 35-year Formula 1 driver would like to sign somewhere for four or five years, according to the aforementioned medium. That would mean that he would be 39 or 40 years old at the end of the contract. For Ferrari, that's too big a risk, because maybe Hamilton (physically) wouldn't be competitive anymore. On top of that, the Brit would want to get a sky-high salary.
"Hamilton would want to earn even more than the current fifty million dollars that he sees transferred annually by Mercedes", writes the Italian medium. If Ferrari would want to fulfill this wish, the current economic conditions due to the coronavirus will stop it.
Trade with McLaren or Renault?
In that case Ferrari will opt for another replacement for Vettel. This would be an exchange with McLaren or Renault. The race stable from Maranello would exchange Vettel for Carlos Sainz or Daniel Ricciardo. In its own ranks it also has Antonio Giovinazzi who is now racing for Alfa Romeo Racing.
This automatically increases the chance that Hamilton stays on board with Mercedes. However, that may or may not depend on whether or not Toto Wolff stays, who will be linked to a transfer to Racing Point, which will act as the Aston Martin F1 Team in Formula 1 next year.