'Mercedes may threaten Hamilton with Vettel in negotiations'

After the silly season started earlier this month the big question now is if and where Sebastian Vettel will ride in 2021. The possibilities for the four-time world champion seem limited, but according to David Coulthard his availability alone could play a role in negotiations with other drivers.

Similarly, Lewis Hamilton has still not signed a contract for next season. Financially, he did not made a deal with Mercedes at the moment. The Brit is already by far the best paid driver on the grid at the moment, but allegedly he wants more. However, especially in these times there is a limit to what he can ask, and the fact that Vettel is now available will not help him in the negotiations, according to Coulthard.

As much as they love Lewis, Mercedes and Toto [Wolff], they’re business people, they’re not charities,” said Coulthard to Formula1.com. “It’s not, ‘Oh Lewis, we love you so much, here’s a blank cheque, write the number in and we’ll work out how we manage to pay you that.’ They’ll want to pay him the minimum they can to allow more money to be invested in the business, and [Hamilton will] of course want the maximum.

Although a switch from Vettel to Mercedes seems unlikely at the moment, Coulthard thinks that the German has changed his demands due to the events at Ferrari. Especially if he wants to be in a competitive car in the coming years. Earlier the Scotsman suggested that he might have to offer his services to Mercedes for free. Something Ayrton Senna also did in a long time ago when Williams had a dominant car.