Hamilton extension no guarantee; Mercedes only wants to pay 22 million euros

Lewis Hamilton's contract expires after this season and there is still no agreement with Mercedes on a new contract. However, at the moment both parties seem to be far apart. The six-time world champion would like to start earning 44 million euros a year, but Mercedes does not intend to go along with that.

The Brackley-based race team doesn't seem to want to pay Hamilton more than half of that amount. That's what The Daily Mail writes Saturday morning. "Toto has told people around him that he doesn't want to go beyond 22 million a season."

Hamilton must make a sacrifice

Hamilton is now earning around 40 million euros, which means that the British driver would have to make a substantial loss. Mercedes gives the reason that the situation has changed a lot because of the coronavirus. A budget ceiling has been created by Formula 1 and hundreds of jobs have been lost as a result. A salary increase for Hamilton would raise eyebrows.

According to the British medium, it could be that Wolff has also tried to push a driver's salary ceiling through in the discussions in recent months. That amount would then have been 22 million euros. So far, driver's salary costs do not fall under the budget ceiling of £145 million from 2021 onwards.

Will Vettel play a role?

Possibly Mercedes can still use the German Sebastian Vettel as an asset. The four-time world champion does not yet have a seat for next season and he would have ears for a switch to Mercedes. If Hamilton doesn't want to give up, it might be possible that Vettel will ride with the world champion next year. However, these are only speculations.