The drivers' market shouldn't generate any particular twists this season. Most of these have a contract that expires in 2024 or so thanks to clauses. The names in the balance are those of the two Mercedes drivers, as well as Magnussen and Zhou. But if there are few doubts about Russell, the same cannot be said of Lewis Hamilton. The 7-times world champion has a contract until 2023 and is in full negotiation for renewal. With a competitive Mercedes there wouldn't have been much discussion about Lewis' future. However, the star's team fell short of everyone's expectations, insisting on a bad project two years in a row. This has fueled rumors of a possible kit change for Hamilton. Needless to say, the rumors have focused on Ferrari and the possibility of seeing a duo formed by Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. Indiscretions that this time have taken on a different weight, because they are based on an agreement that would not have immediately found the consent of both parties.
The size of these rumors has caused a return to talk about this topic in press conference and in race weekend interviews. Precisely on this occasion Lewis wanted to clarify the situation, explaining the reason for all this media attention.
Lewis: “the contract is almost ready”
The media reaction according to Lewis is justified. The pilot is still in full negotiation, and all this attention is also justified by the fact that he is one of the few without a guaranteed seat for 2024. "I think it's normal, I'm not surprised by certain voices - Lewis says. When you're negotiating for a new contract, there's always speculation. Unless you hear it from me. My team is working closely behind the scenes, with the team. We are almost at the end of the negotiation, the contract is almost ready. But I have a team that takes care of this, so I can continue to do my job. Compared to the past I am in a better position because I remember that in the past I was negotiating alone and it was very stressful. As for the disappointing performance well, aWe've just made some bad decisions over the last few years that have resulted in the car being in less than ideal shape. But we are working to change this direction and a lot of our energy is going towards this goal.”
Hamilton also denied any contact with the Classic Ferrari for sale. "You don't, Ferrari did not contact me".
About updates
Last week Emilia-Romagna had to deal with a flood that brought the entire region to its knees, causing landslides, flooding, deaths and displaced people. A truly tragic situation, in which Formula 1 also found itself in the middle. "I was there, we were getting ready for the weekend. And of course the news about the cancellation of the Grand Prix arrived. I thought about what happened in the Emilia Romagna region and I think it was really the right decision, but I am grateful that we are here Lewis commented.
The Grand Prix was inevitably canceled and this also had repercussions on the update program for teams such as Mercedes and Ferrari. But if the Maranello team has decided to bring everything to Barcelona for Mercedes, the recovery will already start from Monte-Carlo. The "zero pod" concept, which requires a lot of effort to work, was rejected due to the problems encountered, and the team also brought several innovations to the front suspension. The “version B” of the W14 that we will see in Monte-Carlo will only be the basis for a series of changes that will arrive during the next races.
Monte-Carlo is an atypical circuit, where it will be difficult to evaluate the efficiency of the upgrades. “It will be difficult to evaluate the updates. We are doing well on this type of track but I hope we can get a little closer to the leaders though I don't think we will be fighting for a win. We bring a new update that the team is working on incredibly already from Bahrain. When the last race in Imola was cancelled, I was also disappointed because I wanted to try this new package and this track (Monte-Carlo) is not the best to be able to make the most of this update. "
