Hamilton stalling on £40m-a-year Mercedes contract

FORMER motorsport team Eddie Jordan believes Lewis Hamilton is digging in his heels over a new Mercedes contract in a wrangle over money.

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton has yet to sign a new contract with the team despite insisting he was happy to commit to them. Merc boss Toto Wolff said the two were in discussions over Zoom but admitted their talks had caused a few “curveballs” for the lawyers overseeing the deal.

But former team boss Jordan believes the sticking points are over Hamilton’s worth to Mercedes, who recently announced petrochemical company, Ineos, had become a three-way owner alongside Mercedes Benz and Wolff.

Jordan also says he understands the 36-year-old is pushing for a 10 percent share of the team’s TV revenue.

He said: “There are a number of things that could be causing a hold up and there have been some changes with the team.

“There are some things that are relevant at the moment in that Toto has been in isolation due to COVID and Lewis is in America, so these negotiations are being done on Zoom.

“And number two, it is kind of complicated because Ineos, I believe, have bought into Mercedes because of the wealth of value that Lewis brings to that.

“I am not saying they did that exclusively because of Lewis because he is not going to be there forever.

“But the reality is it was a very important factor and you also have to factor in that people like Tommy Hilfiger, and sponsors like that, are only there because of Lewis.,” he said – thesun.co.uk