Formula 1: Major deal still not announced for 2021

Six-time and soon-to-be seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton still doesn’t have a deal announced for the 2021 season.

The 2021 Formula 1 driver lineup has been coming together for several months, and 13 races have now been contested throughout the revised 17-race 2020 season, with the season finale scheduled to take place in just under six weeks.

But despite the slew of driver confirmations that have already taken place for next year, several seats still don’t have confirmed drivers for 2021.

In fact, just over two-thirds of the field has been confirmed. Only 14 of 20 seats within nine of the sport’s 10 teams have confirmed drivers next year, and one team, Haas, have not confirmed any drivers for next year.

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Four other teams have only confirmed half of their driver lineups for next year, and one of them is quite surprising, because the absence of a complete driver lineup with this particular team means that arguably the biggest deal of 2021 has not yet been confirmed.

Red Bull need to make a decision regarding the future of Alexander Albon. Will they replace him alongside Max Verstappen? Aston Martin haven’t confirmed Lance Stroll alongside Sebastian Vettel, but that is effectively a foregone conclusion given the fact that his father owns the team. AlphaTauri have confirmed that Pierre Gasly is set to return.

The surprising team here is Mercedes.

The newly crowned seven-time constructor and driver champions have yet to sign six-time and soon-to-be seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

This is despite the fact that they have already re-signed Bottas, who has earned nine wins compared to Hamilton’s 39 since joining the Silver Arrows in 2017, and they did that all the way back in early August, nearly three months ago.

Compare that to 2018, when Hamilton signed a two-year contract extension and Bottas signed a one-year extension within one day of one another — and in the summer month of July.

It has seemed like a foregone conclusion that Hamilton will re-sign with Mercedes for next year, despite rumors earlier in the year, rumors that emerged even before the season was originally scheduled to begin in March, over contract disputes, rumors which Hamilton shot down as “people making up stories”.

Hamilton, who recently broke Michael Schumacher’s all-time wins record and now sits at 93 career victories, wrote off recent rumors of a potential departure as well, noting that it “just doesn’t feel like the right time” with everything else going on in the world.

He noted that he wants to continue with the team, that he believes a deal will get done and that he doesn’t believe that 2020 is the end of the road, but he did not provide a timetable for any sort of confirmation.

But could there be more to the story here, especially considering the fact that Bottas has been under contract for 2021 for almost three months already?

Hamilton also recently admitted that continuing with the team in 2021 is not a guarantee. Could his future with the team — and the fact that we are now in early November and he doesn’t have a deal for 2021 yet — hinge on the future plans of team boss Toto Wolff, who has been rumored to leave the team, or at least his current role within the team?

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The most likely scenario is still that Hamilton re-signs with Mercedes, as it has been all year. But keep an eye on this situation, as late into the season, the most successful driver in the sport is still without a deal to compete next year, and what could become the most coveted seat on the grid is without a confirmed driver with things beginning to trend differently than they have been.

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