Who slept better last night: Lewis Hamilton

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Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff: Daimler totally dependent on them now? Focus

Dear readers,

Those of you who have been reading this column for a long time know that: The Monday after the World Cup decision, you will not sleep bad, but hey, of the new world champion. Even if it’s true, it is questionable whether Lewis Hamilton slept last night.

Toto Wolff has announced that he and the new champion will fly home together, and on the plane they will not only drink the Sprite that was sprayed on the podium in Istanbul, but real champagne.

It is true that I find it difficult to sing new hymns about Hamilton, because after seven titles all the songs of praise have been sung to him. I no longer have to deal with what kind of racing driver this is, because interested Formula 1 fans have been able to see for themselves how the vast majority of them move on this platform for many years at intervals (mainly) two weeks.

What was special about Istanbul was the way Hamilton won the Turkish Grand Prix. Because although the Racing Points rose and disappeared at the beginning, while Sebastian Vettel slowed everything behind them, I realized quite early that the driver six times was only planning to crown himself with a victory seven times.

At 11:49 am it was clear: Hamilton wins the thing!

When Hamilton had a short free run before catching up with Vettel again, he was two seconds per lap faster than the Ferrari driver. And at 11:49 am German time, when the race was on 19 of 58 laps and Hamilton was in fifth place, 24.5 seconds behind Lance Stroll, I dared to make the bold prediction in our editorial chat for the first time. that “Lewis is now clearly the favorite” to win.

Istanbul was a strange race to the extent that at the beginning those in absolutely unusual conditions were favored, since the best temperature for the tires occurs only in each holy time. Whoever did the best made everyone else go crazy. See the first round of Kimi Räkkönens in Portimao, see the initial phase of Stroll in Istanbul.

But the trained eye could already see after a few laps that Mercedes’ victorious beast was waiting to be released. With each lap that got a little drier, the tires improved the temperature, and when Hamilton broke loose in the sense that he had no opponent to stop him, no one stopped him.

It’s all said about his driving performance when you look at how worn out his intermediate was at the end of the race, after 50 laps. The tread rubber rubbed all over large parts, the middle one really just a smudge. Anyone who can drive that fast with him is a truly exceptional talent.

After lead change: 3.6 seconds in one lap

Hamilton got ahead of Sergio Pérez on lap 37. Pérez even had tires two laps cooler. But just one lap later the dough had already finished. Hamilton was 3.6 seconds behind his only remaining opponent for the win. In the end, after 58 laps, it was 31.6 seconds.

It would be interesting for Hamilton to compete against Max Verstappen or Charles Leclerc in the same car, something I am afraid we will sadly never experience.

But one thing is clear: even if Valtteri Bottas is sometimes on par or even faster on a qualifying lap, over the course of a race there is rarely someone who can match 2020’s Lewis Hamilton, and for an entire season. .

Now, after the seventh title, there is still one big cow to come off the ice before the winter break is over: the new contract.

Hamilton and Wolff popped champagne corks on the plane from Istanbul because of their sporting success. However, the truth is that the two are in an incredibly strong position in their negotiations with the Daimler Group.

Has the Daimler Group become dependent?

Because the contractual matters are still unresolved even in mid-November, after the World Cup decision, Daimler really can’t afford not to give their wishes to the successful duo Hamilton / Wolff (whatever they are). . comply.

The calculation is very simple: if Hamilton and Wolff leave, Mercedes will not be world champion in 2021.

Hamilton and Wolff delayed their commitment to Mercedes so much that there is no longer a Plan B for Daimler. If one had already concluded in the summer that there would be no more cooperation because the ideas are incompatible, Ola Källenius could have arranged a successor for Wolff and talked to Jos Verstappen.

It can be assumed that he would have found a way to get his son out of the Red Bull contract when Mercedes knocked on the door. There is now no alternative to a successful conclusion of the negotiations, at least from the point of view of the Daimler Group.

Daimler has no alternative, Hamilton and Wolff do

From a Hamilton / Wolff point of view, things look a bit different. If you have the feeling that your achievements in recent years have not been adequately recognized in contract negotiations, you can always launch a plan B.

Wolff could retire to his old job as a financial investor, or restart his activities as a manager of drivers that were never completely shut down, or when in doubt, his friend Lawrence Stroll would find him a job too.

And if he brings Hamilton with him as a driver, Stroll Sr. himself would. make up something for your child. Just imagine what a Hamilton / Vettel driver duo would do for the advertising value and share price of the Aston Martin brand!

These are, of course, impossible dreams. Everyone involved is smart enough and knows that the continuation of Mercedes’ golden age is a historic opportunity. If Hamilton is an eight-time world champion by the end of 2021 (I guess), he will not only surpass Michael Schumacher, but he will surpass him as well. This is a legacy that the Daimler Group has been able to market for decades.

Why is the contract signed anyway

And Hamilton could also secure his pension with a new signing under his likely last contract as a Formula 1 driver. As a lifetime brand ambassador. So one distant day you will thunder through the Eau Rouge in Spa in your vintage cars from the 2010s, which hopefully (unlike the steep curves of Monza) will not be just a monument.

With slightly gray hair and the aspiring Mercedes star in Formula 1 by his side. As he experienced himself once on the banked curves of Monza when allowed to spend a day with Mercedes icon Stirling Moss.

However, the conclusion is that the new contracts could be really expensive for the Daimler Group, and that in the middle of the crisis of the crown, in which it usually saves as much as possible.

But the market sets the price, and from this point of view the amount that is finally agreed will be justified. Because without Hamilton, the official Mercedes team would not only be at least a worse class in sports terms. It would also dramatically lose its advertising value.

And, with all due respect to Valtteri Bottas and possibly George Russell or Esteban Ocon: such a pair of drivers would be perhaps $ 40 million cheaper. But it would be worth a few hundred million less in my opinion …

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