'Contract negotiations between Mercedes and Hamilton are not complicated'

Rencken writes on RaceFans.net that this is most likely a simple money issue and that the amounts Hamilton and Mercedes have in mind are simply too far apart. He cites earlier reports that Ola Kallenius (the CEO of Daimler) would not pay more than 20 million dollars, while Hamilton would demand 60 million.

Mercedes is not prepared to pay more, according to him, because they want the F1 project to make money instead of lose it. Especially since Mercedes expects to sell 20 per cent fewer cars due to the coronavirus crisis and a round of redundancies of around 10,000 jobs is imminent.

Mercedes and Hamilton in a 'stare down'

The fact that George Russell showed in his only appearance that he can also win in that car, will not have strengthened Hamilton's position. According to Rencken, the fact that negotiations are taking so long has therefore nothing to do with complicated constructions, but is purely because both parties are sticking to their guns until the last moment.

As soon as they agree on the amounts, even a 100-page contract is signed within two days, the journalist says. He bases this assumption on more than 25 years of experience in the sport, in which he has seen numerous driver contracts. They all looked the same, only the numbers were different.