LEWIS HAMILTON will earn an impressive £164,835 every DAY once he puts pen to paper on a mega £60million contract with Mercedes.
Rumours the six-time world champion could be heading to Ferrari have calmed down in recent weeks but that is unlikely to reduce his new Merc deal.
Hamilton’s new contract is set to earn the racer a pretty penny
Currently earning £40m-a-season, Hamilton’s contract expires at the end of the 2020 campaign and talks are ongoing over the three-year extension.
The German marque is once again expected to be a serious title contender this year with the top step of the podium Hamilton’s priority.
As such, he admitted in December to weighing up his options before turning 35.
He remarked: “I love where I am so it is definitely not a quick decision to do something else but it is only smart and wise for me to sit and think of what I want if it is the last stage of my career.”
However Mercedes are reportedly prepared to pay a whopping £60m annual salary with few drivers available who could realistically replace Hamilton.
Charles Leclerc is booked in with Ferrari until 2024 and Max Verstappen signed a new Red Bull deal to 2023 ahead of the new season.
That situation will help Hamilton’s hand in negotiating a pay cheque that boils down to £5m-a-month and £1.15m-a-week.
Furthermore, the new contract is worth £114 for every minute the racing star agrees to stick around for.
Speaking in pre-season testing, Hamilton insisted that he is in no rush to sit down and thrash out a deal with Mercedes chief Toto Wolff.
He noted: “It is crazy because there is all this talk, but I have a certain approach in that I don’t stress. I trust Toto and we have that trust between us.
“We have told each other what our goals are, what our aims are and our commitments, so I don’t ever feel like there is necessarily any rush.
“But then sometimes Toto is like ‘is everything OK?’, so we keep the channel open and I am sure in the near future we will start to sit down.”
Wolff meanwhile believes it is only a matter of time before the final talks can take place after joking of a ten-hour marathon session to sort the previous deal.
The 48-year-old Austrian told reporters: “I said maybe we should sit down and have the chat but I think I know so well where he is going to go, and he knows where I am.
“It is about finding a day where we spend a few hours together and that is what we have done in the past.
“We have that respect I know the contribution Lewis brings to the team as a driver and as a brand and you always need to respect that.”
Lewis Hamilton test drives the new Mercedes F1 car in Barcelona
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
