Formula 1: Why Lewis Hamilton is the huge winner of Max Verstappen’s deal
By Asher Fair
The biggest winner of Max Verstappen’s contract extension with Red Bull Racing was Lewis Hamilton, whose deal with Mercedes expires at the end of the 2020 Formula 1 season.
Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing came to an agreement on a three-year contract extension to stick together through at least the 2023 Formula 1 season, extending a three-year extension to which they agreed back in October of 2017.
The 22-year-old Dutchman was already under contract with the Milton Keynes-based team for the 2020 season, but he was considered the top pending free agent in what is slated to be a loaded free agent class with so few drivers currently having deals lined up for the 2021 season.
While it was initially believed that Verstappen needed to see the work of Red Bull Racing and Honda pay off in 2020 in the form of a championship-caliber car in order for him to sign a contract extension for beyond the second year of the partnership between the team and the Japanese engine manufacturer, that clearly wasn’t the case.
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He and the team feel that they are in a good position to compete for world championships over the next few years, and that led to a rather early contract extension that came as somewhat of a shock given the fact that the 2020 season is still more than two months away from beginning.
But neither one of them is the biggest winner in this deal. The biggest winner is Lewis Hamilton, whose contract with Mercedes is set to expire at the end of the 2020 season.
It was believed that had Verstappen decided to leave Red Bull Racing, he would have left for Mercedes. The only two logical options for him at that point would have been Mercedes and Ferrari, and he and Ferrari already burnt their bridges as far as making that happen over the last few months.
Additionally, Ferrari just signed Charles Leclerc through the 2024 season, so he is clearly the driver who they plan to build around. They don’t need two young alpha drivers competing for the same team because of the headache that may cause, and if there’s one team that can’t afford that particular headache, it’s the guys in red.
With Hamilton’s contract set to expire at the end of the 2020 season, the biggest rumor surrounding his future has been about him potentially leaving the Silver Arrows to replace Sebastian Vettel, whose contract is set to expire at the end of the 2020 season as well, at Ferrari.
Regardless of what he decides to do, his situation got a whole lot smoother from his point of view thanks to Red Bull Racing and Verstappen.
Had Verstappen stayed available for Mercedes, Mercedes would have had leverage if Hamilton decides to threaten to leave for Ferrari, which notably did recently confirm their interest in him.
Hamilton stated last month that he was preparing for “friendly yet intense” contract extension talks with Mercedes. Now with Verstappen no longer an option for Mercedes, the team are the ones that need to be extra prepared for the same.
If Hamilton leaves, who do Mercedes have as backup?
Valtteri Bottas, who has driven alongside Hamilton since the 2017 season, has not shown anything to demonstrate that he is capable of winning a world championship.
While Hamilton hasn’t won fewer than nine races in a season since 2013, Bottas has won just seven races during the pair’s three seasons as teammates. Hamilton has won 31 in that same span. Bottas’s contract, a fourth consecutive one-year deal, is also up after the 2020 season.
The team also have Mercedes junior driver George Russell waiting in the wings at Williams. Williams did state that the 21-year-old Briton is not going anywhere until at least after the 2021 season, but it is believed that Mercedes could pry him free of that contract to put him in one of the silver cars.
Other than that, their top option would probably be Daniel Ricciardo, who had been linked to a Mercedes seat a few years ago before shockingly giving up his ride at Red Bull Racing to drive for a mid-pack Renault team.
Ricciardo’s Renault contract expires at the end of the 2020 season, and managing director Cyril Abiteboul has already indicated that he probably won’t be back in 2021.
Now if Hamilton threatens to walk away, he can effectively name his price to Mercedes knowing that the guy they’ve had their eye on and probably the only guy on the grid who could do just as well as Hamilton if not better than Hamilton in Hamilton’s car is no longer available.
Let’s also not forget that Liberty Media’s new rules and regulations for Formula 1 are slated to go into effect ahead of the 2021 season with the intent of making the sport more competitive, and among these new rules and regulations is a $175 million budget cap.
Notably exempt from this budget cap? Driver salaries.
Could we end up seeing a bidding war between Mercedes and Ferrari for Hamilton, whose current contract is already worth roughly $57 million per year, comfortably the highest in Formula 1?
Perhaps, but Ferrari still have several other options to pair alongside Leclerc if Hamilton decides to stay with Mercedes, and Hamilton can now do whatever he wants and get paid top dollar to drive a championship-caliber race car regardless.
The pressure is now solely on the Silver Arrows.
With Max Verstappen officially no longer a threat to end up at Mercedes as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement for the 2021 Formula 1 season having just signed a new deal with Red Bull Racing, what does the future hold for Hamilton and Mercedes? Will he leave the team for Ferrari to replace Sebastian Vettel, or will he sign another contract extension, and when will his decision be made?