Mercedes baulk at Lewis Hamilton’s 10-year £200MILLION ambassadorial deal as negotiations rumble on

With the Formula One season unfolding as a procession, one narrative looks like going to the wire — the issue of where Lewis Hamilton will be driving next season.

On the track, Red Bull have won all eight races so far this season, with Max Verstappen taking six of those, leaving him as the 1-100 favourite for the drivers’ championship.

If you bet £1 on him taking the title, and he wins, then you would make a 1p profit.

Much less certain is Hamilton’s future, with the possibility that the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in a fortnight could be his last British GP as a Mercedes driver.

The 38-year-old seven-time champion’s Mercedes contract expires at the end of the year, and sources say he and his team have widely contrasting views about what happens next.

Negotiations have continued for seven months, despite team boss Toto Wolff suggesting in January that an extension would be a formality, and then a few weeks ago that it could be done in days.

Hamilton’s current deal is worth £27.5m a year, plus a £15m bonus for winning the title — the second-highest salary behind Verstappen’s £43m-a-year basic guaranteed sum. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc has the third highest contract, worth £19m a year.

Sources have revealed Hamilton would like a new long-term contract to include the bonus as guaranteed income.

Mercedes are understood to be willing to offer the former champion a one-year contract with the option for a second.

Another stumbling block is Hamilton’s desire for a 10-year Mercedes brand ambassador role worth £20m a year. Team officials are not prepared to agree to Hamilton’s ambassador demands.

Neither party wants the relationship to end, but Hamilton is under pressure to lower his demands to get a deal signed.

Both Mercedes and Hamilton declined to comment.

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