McLaren sure of Hamilton deal…’he should stay’

Every time the story of Lewis Hamilton and McLaren’s contract negotiation comes up, I ask myself, “where else would he go”? I can’t imagine Lewis going to Mercedes, Ferrari or Lotus. No offense to those teams but I still believe McLaren to possibly be the fastest car on the grid and while Lewis struggled in 2011, that was much of his own making. The struggles he’s facing this year are really the same issues all the teams are facing and he’s doing a stellar job of it too. Team boss Martin whitmarsh told AUTOSPORT that things are progressing nicely and that he doesn’t have worries about Lewis leaving. Here’s a snip from AS:

“I honestly don’t think it is an issue,” Whitmarsh said. “You get a few questions over a weekend about it, and it is clearly fascinating to some people, but I really don’t think it is an issue.

“Lewis and I have spoken two or three times at length. I think we are closer than we have ever been, and I have known him [Hamilton] since he was 11, and our conversations have been about how we are going to beat the other teams, and how we are going to try and win races. We don’t talk about these issues at race tracks because I don’t think it is the right environment.

“Ultimately it [the contract situation] is relatively straightforward. If Lewis wants to stay in the team, which he has told me he does, then he should do. And if we want to keep him, then we should do.

“If the answer to both those matters is yes, then I think it is eminently doable – so not something that has to have as much focus as turning up at races, trying to bring the quickest car you can and doing the best job possible.”

Martin says they talk about how they’ll beat the other teams and winning races and let’s face it, that’s about all that matter to Lewis except keeping the trophies he wins, money and maybe having all the brown M&M’s removed from the candy dish.

If you’ve got a compelling reason, really, of where Lewis would go and why, I am all ears folks. As for me, I can’t imagine that Lewis has the upper hand in this negotiation unless he’s willing to walk away for a year.