Lewis Hamilton future 360: Amid links with Ferrari, what’s going on with his Mercedes contract extension?

Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes future remains unclear with his contract expiring at the end of the season and an extension yet to be agreed.

While the 38-year-old and team boss Toto Wolff suggested during the off-season that a new contract would be somewhat of a formality, the seven-time world champion currently remains set to be a free agent for 2024.

And Ferrari are now reportedly preparing a sensational offer to try and lure Hamilton from Mercedes to their famous red car.

So what does the future hold for Hamilton?

‘Ferrari prepping £40m contract offer’

Ferrari are readying a £40m offer for Hamilton, according to the Daily Mail, to try and persuade him to continue his pursuit of a record eighth world title with the Italian team.

The report says conversations are “advancing at the highest level” within Ferrari and also claims company president John Elkann is already in talks with Hamilton himself.

Hamilton has been frequently linked with a move to Ferrari throughout his F1 career. Back in 2019 when approaching the final year of his previous multi-year Mercedes deal, the Briton refused to confirm or deny reports that he had met with Elkann and Ferrari’s CEO Louis Camilleri later confirmed a ‘social’ conversation had taken place between Hamilton and Elkann.

The Scuderia have both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz under contract for 2024. The Daily Mail suggests Ferrari would like Hamilton to partner Leclerc next season with Sainz moving on but are also considering something of a swap deal whereby Leclerc would leave to partner George Russell at Mercedes.

In April Leclerc was heavily linked in the Italian media with a move to Mercedes as Hamilton’s replacement, although the Ferrari driver insisted no talks over a move had taken place “yet”.

Both Ferrari and Mercedes did not wish to comment when approached by Sky Sports News about the Daily Mail’s report.

Meanwhile, sources in Italy believe Ferrari’s immediate focus is on improving the inconsistency of their car as they seek to return to championship contention again rather than changing their driver line-up.

Hamilton: Mercedes my home

At least publicly, Hamilton has remained keen to play down suggestions he could bring his long-standing association with the Silver Arrows to an end.

Hamilton has been affiliated to Mercedes since he was 13, they were his engine providers during his six seasons at McLaren and he is now in his 11th season racing for the works team.

At the Saudi Arabian GP Hamilton said he had “no plan” to leave and ahead of claiming his first podium of the season at the Australian GP, the Briton said he wanted to stay with the team for “as long as he can contribute”.

While Hamilton has admitted the thought of finishing his career at Ferrari has crossed his mind, he regards Mercedes as his “home”.

“I’d be lying if I said I’d never thought about ending my career anywhere else,” Hamilton told ESPN earlier in May. “I started at McLaren, I’d like to think I’ll always be a part of the McLaren family, I started there when I was 13 years old, so I thought about what it would look like if I was at McLaren one day.

“I thought about and watched the Ferrari drivers on the screens at the track and of course you wonder what it would be like to be in red… But then I go to my team, to Mercedes, and this is my home. I’m happy where I am. I haven’t signed a contract yet, but we are working on one.”

Indeed, the 38-year-old has said he wants to remain linked with Mercedes for the rest of his life.

“I continue to feel very much at home. It’s family. I see myself being with Mercedes till my last days, to be honest,” he said.

“If you look at the legends, Sir Stirling Moss was with Mercedes till the end of days.

“So, that’s been the dream for me to one day have that… well I have that, so I mean just continue on with that and continue to build with the brand.”

Wolff: No Plan B on Hamilton

Mercedes boss Wolff also remains confident Hamilton will still be with the team for at least 2024.

The Austrian conceded in the wake of Mercedes’ poor opening race in Bahrain that Hamilton might have to look at joining another team “in a year or two” if they could not reverse their fortunes and produce a car the Briton could fight for an eighth world championship with.

Wolff is not yet considering alternative drivers to replace Hamilton and does not expect him to make a late decision on his F1 future.

“I don’t want to engage in discussions with other drivers, because I’m happy with the ones that are in the team, that’s for sure. At the moment, there is no Plan B. It’s Lewis,” he told Motorsport.com.

“I think that he would tell us early enough. I don’t think that Lewis would say: ‘I can’t do this any more. I’m out of here tomorrow’.

“He would always feel the responsibility for the team. He wouldn’t leave the team alone. Drivers can always take decisions [like that], but he wouldn’t let us down.”

When has Hamilton signed previous extensions?

Hamilton’s current Mercedes contract is his fifth with the team since joining in 2013 and previous extension talks have dragged on until midway through the season – and even at one point left him out of contract.

During the 2020 season, Hamilton failed to agree a new deal before his contract expired that year, though he went on to sign a one-year deal in February 2021. That evolved into his present contract in July 2021 when Hamilton signed a two-year deal.

With the exception of his February 2021 deal, all of Hamilton’s previous contract extensions with Mercedes have been announced at Grand Prix weekends – in Monaco, Hockenheim and Austria.

Does Hamilton have other options elsewhere?

In short, not really – and certainly not at a team that could offer him a car in 2024 to deliver the eighth world championship he craves.

Red Bull are once again proving to be the team to beat in F1’s new regulations, but Verstappen is contracted until at least 2028 while Sergio Perez signed a contract last year through to the end of next season.

Team principal Christian Horner told Sky News in March he “can’t see where we would be able to accommodate Lewis” when asked about the proposition of Hamilton making a shock move to the reigning constructors’ champions.

While Aston Martin have joined the battle at the front and are also an engine customer of Mercedes, Fernando Alonso is signed until the end of next year and the possibility of Lance Stroll being dropped to make way for Hamilton is surely non-existent.

“Lewis has got one more roll of the dice to join a team and make them world champions and get all the accolades that he wants, so I think that’s where he’s at, at the moment,” Martin Brundle said on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast in March.

“‘If in doubt, stay put’, I would have thought would be what he’s thinking. ‘If I can make this work, that’s my best solution, if not I may have to look elsewhere.'”

As it stands, the only openings on the grid for 2024 are at AlphaTauri, Alfa Romeo, Williams and Haas.

Mercedes’ focus on improving W14?

While Hamilton’s new deal may have appeared a formality during the winter when Mercedes were full of optimism for what 2023 held, their poor start to the season has forced their focus onto radically improving their car.

After their disastrous season-opener which Wolff described as one of his worst days in racing, the Austrian said it was “too early” to discuss Mercedes’ 2024 driver line-up while everyone at the team looked for solutions to close the gap to Red Bull.

Hamilton’s criticism this season, suggesting Mercedes “hadn’t listened” to him over the design of the W14 and most revealing his struggles with the car’s seating position, has added to the uncertainty over his future.

Significant changes have already taken place at the top of Mercedes’ technical team, with James Allison returning to the role of technical director in a job swap with Mike Elliott, who has taken up the position of chief technical officer.

Major upgrades – new bodywork, a new floor and new front suspension – will be on the W14 from this weekend’s Monaco GP.

Should those updated provide the new solid baseline Wolff hopes the team can build from as they seek to close the gap to Red Bull again, then Mercedes may be able to give more attention to Hamilton’s future again.

Russell evolving into Mercedes’ leader?

The subplot to Hamilton’s next deal with Mercedes is that, should he re-sign, his next contract will likely coincide with the growth of George Russell into the team’s leader.

In his debut campaign with Mercedes last year, Russell became only the third team-mate to beat Hamilton over the course of a season after Jenson Button in 2011 and Nico Rosberg in 2016. Russell also claimed Mercedes’ only win and pole positions of the season as Hamilton endured a winless season for the first time in his F1 career.

Hamilton, and Wolff, repeatedly suggested throughout 2022 his willingness to experiment with alternate setups on their troublesome W13 car was the reason he lost ground to Russell.

Russell leads Hamilton 4-1 in qualifying head-to-head so far in 2023, prompting 1996 world champion Damon Hill to ponder if Hamilton is beginning to lose his raw speed with age. Hamilton holds a 3-2 advantage in race results.

“George is super quick and is revelling in the early part of his career,” Hill told the F1 Nation Podcast.

“I don’t know if Lewis has acknowledged that he can’t match that. I’m sure he will do, eventually. It’s possible that that instinctive, unconscious speed is starting to leave him.”

There have also been the first murmurings of disagreement between the pair, with Russell rejecting Hamilton’s assertions that the 25-year-old’s performance in Saudi Arabia was down to luck.

That relationship will be fascinating to watch over the remainder of the season, and could possibly play a part in Hamilton’s final decision.

Formula 1 now heads to the streets of Monaco for the sixth Grand Prix of the 2023 season – watch all the action on Sky Sports F1 from May 26-28. Get Sky Sports