The plot thickens:
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I’ve matured, says Hamilton as he uses Ferrari as a negotiating chip.......Mercedes has a strong hand as it is currently providing him with
the best car in F1. As with his negotiations three years ago, which took him away from McLaren, it is always vital to have an alternative team to go to, a bargaining chip. In this case, there has been some messaging from Hamilton’s side recently that Ferrari is a possibility. This was
the only obvious possibility all along.
In
the Gazzetta dello Sport’s weekend glossy magazine SportWeek, Hamilton said that
he has always had a love affair with Italy and
the Italians and enjoyed great support from
fans who recently have been saying to him, ‘Come to Ferrari, come to Ferrari’.
It is well known that Kimi Raikkonen may leave
the team at
the end of
the season, unless things change dramatically and
the most famous team in F1 might well suit a two, possibly three times world champion as
he may be at
the end of this season when his Mercedes contract expires.
It is well known that Kimi Raikkonen may leave
the team at
the end of
the season, unless things change dramatically and
the most famous team in F1 might well suit a two, possibly three times world champion as
he may be at
the end of this season when his Mercedes contract expires.
He is known to be asking for a huge retainer from Mercedes, part of
thereason why
the negotiations have been going on for so long. Using Ferrari as a bargaining chip makes perfect sense and Hamilton partnering Sebastian Vettel in a Ferrari super team would certainly be a box office smash for
the sport.
Mercedes’s strategy has been to try at almost all costs to retain Hamilton, but Fernando Alonso was in
the background as a back up, if
the team were to lose him. Alonso committed himself to Honda and McLaren, with McLaren boss Ron Dennis saying that
the Spaniard was tied in for
the long term, but there are likely to be performance clauses in
the deal which McLaren could struggle to meet this season if things don’t improve........
