Damon Hill Speaks on Lewis Hamilton and his 2019 Plans

1996 F1 Drivers’ champion Damon Hill believes that Lewis Hamilton is making his Mercedes team “sweat a bit”. To be precise, this is in terms of signing a new contract to remain with the team beyond 2018.

The 4-time world champion has seven months left in his contract with the Silver Arrows team. Talks have been on-going since last season between the 2 parties. Reports suggest that he will agree a new deal very soon. This deal will make him the joint-highest earner in the sport alongside Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton was a similar position in 2012 when he waited until late in the season to reject an offer from McLaren and to join Mercedes in 2013.

Hill believes that Hamilton is aware of his power in the sport. As a result, he is trying to get the best deal possible while making Mercedes sweat. The German team was reeling when they lost 2016 champion Nico Rosberg.

“Lewis does a very good job of appearing innocent and not understanding but I think he has a very astute mind when it comes to what his power is in the sport,” Hill said, “He is powerful enough and a precious commodity in the sport and maybe just making them wait and sweat a bit. Mercedes might be sweating.”

Rosberg left at the end of the 2016 after making a shock decision to retire from the sport.  Hill feels Hamilton could be influenced by Rosberg’s move. Additionally, Hamilton is also keen to pursue a career away from motorsport at some point in his life.

The Briton will only sign a new deal if he is certain of wanting to remain in F1 in the long-term. Hamilton seemed happy and motivated as Mercedes dominated last week’s Spanish Grand Prix. He insisted that he wishes to stay with the Brackley-based team.

Hill continued, “He has to really want to race and carry on. He does have another life he wants to pursue elsewhere. Although he did not look like that in Barcelona last week, he looked as though he was really hooked up and enjoys what he is doing and can become champion again. … But I wonder if Nico Rosberg’s retirement weighed on his mind a little bit. When you are an F 1 driver, you hanker for the days when you can escape from it. It is a very tough life for a driver. You start thinking, especially in the mid-30s, about having a weekend off.”