Lewis Hamilton made a return to the grid this weekend even though he wasn’t feeling 100% and that’s been met with some reactions from fans who really felt he should have stayed home and focused on his health. There’s surely some motivation behind that sentiment in that many wanted to see young George Russell have another go in Lewis’s car.
Regardless, Lewis returned and finished third place after testing negative for COVID-19 but saying he could still feel its affects.
Lewis has yet to sign a new contract and this weekend he said:
“Hopefully over the next couple of weeks,” Hamilton said.
“We would love to get it done before Christmas, I think. I plan to be here next year. I want to be here next year. I think us, as a team, have more to do together and more to achieve both in the sport but even more outside the sport.
“I hope we can begin this week, discussions, and hopefully get it tied up before Christmas.”
Yet again, Lewis is dog-whistling about being much more interested in a long term post-racing contract involving activities outside the sport and it will eb interesting to see if Mercedes take the bait.
Is Mercedes a car manufacturer or would they like to spend a large portion of their marketing budget on Lewis and his efforts with social justice and equity causes. Would Lewis do more with the tens of millions in marketing money to promote causes Mercedes and Hamilton are aligned with or could they do that without spending a large portion of the marketing budget on Lewis’s salary? A pragmatic question but surely one the board will be asking.
Lewis knows his racing career is coming to an end and he would like to continue to make the kind of salary he is used to. He would like to continue being a social media platform user globetrotting and sharing his thoughts on issues with the millions who follow him.
At some level, a marketing department would assign a value to the millions who follow Lewis but have they done so and how many of them are potential Mercedes buyers? To be fair, that may not even be a relevant issue for them as the may be less concerned about selling cars to the Team LH and more interested in championiongdng causes Lewis is highly motivated by?
Time will tell.
