MANCHESTER UNITED minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe has joined the search for Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes replacement.
Seven-time Formula One world champion Hamilton is leaving the team to join Ferrari next season.
Mercedes have struggled to produce a car capable of winning races in the last two seasons, with their struggles this year making it look like it could be a third year on the bounce that Hamilton is unable to take a win.
However, the Silver Arrows are looking to take advantage of the chaos surrounding Red Bull by poaching star driver Max Verstappen.
SunSport reported earlier this week that the team were preparing to hold a meeting with Verstappen’s team; father Jos and manager Raymond Vermeulen after the Miami Grand Prix.
That meeting will include team boss Toto Wolff, Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kallenius, and Ineos and Man Utd shareholder, Ratcliffe.
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Ratcliffe’s Ineos became a one-third shareholder in the F1 team back in 2020 while retaining its position as the teams principal partner.
Verstappen’s camp are assessing their options following a fallout with Red Bull boss Christian Horner, with Jos warning Horner’s leadership was tearing the team apart.
Inside track on Hamilton’s life
LEWIS HAMILTON has driven his way into pole position as Formula One’s most prolific winner.
The three-time world champion has a contract until 2028 on £40million-a-year.
It means Mercedes could be forced to stump up compensation for Verstappen, who is on course to win his fourth straight title this season.
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Horner’s position at the team has grown more precarious after Ferrari-linked Adrian Newey announced he was leaving the team earlier this week.
Mercedes look set to offer the Dutchman a whopping £128MILLION-a-year deal to convince him of the switch.
At Man Utd, Ineos have a 27.7 per cent share of the club but have almost complete control over the sporting operations of the team.
This has led to some major changes already, with Omar Berrada starting as CEO in July, Dan Ashworth coming in as football director and Jason Wilcox already starting a role as technical director.
WHO COULD REPLACE HAMILTON AT MERCEDES?
Mercedes will have a vacant seat for 2025.
Here, SunSport’s F1 correspondent Ben Hunt looks at FIVE potential candidates who could replace him and partner George Russell in the Silver Arrows.
Oscar Piastri – McLaren have sewn up Lando Norris to a new long-term contract that should (in theory) put him out of Mercedes’ reach. However, they are yet to tie down his teammate Piastri, 22. The Aussie has an excellent record and won the Formula 3 and Formula 2 titles before spending a year on the sidelines with Alpine and getting his chance in F1 with McLaren. He impressed on his debut season last year and has the potential to be a world champion.
Daniel Ricciardo – The experienced driver’s future remains in doubt as he bides his time at Red Bull’s B-team. Ricciardo would be low-hassle and offer some stability but by that time he would be 35. It seems unlikely that they would opt for him at this point in his career, but if he has a good season this year, he could come into the reckoning.
Kimi Antonelli – You may not have heard of the Italian, but he is mustard. Still only 17, he has won at all the junior categories and has been part of the Mercedes young driver programme since 2019. This season he has been promoted from F4 to F2, where he has been tipped to shine. A good debut season in F2 could sway Mercedes into taking a risk on him for 2025. Antonelli and his family are close to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
Mick Schumacher – Wolff has always been so incredibly supportive of Schumacher and spoken highly of him, that you’d at least expect him to come into consideration. He knows the team from his role as reserve driver and consequently would get up to speed. But speed is also the problem. He was shocking at Haas and if he really was THAT good, he’d still be driving in F1.
Alex Albon – A more-sensible choice would be the London-born Albon. A great guy who is also very quick. He has a fantastic relationship with Russell and would be the low-maintenance quick partnership similar to Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas that swept to successive titles. Albon would take little convincing to join from Williams and Mercedes would not need to pay him half of the £50million they were dishing out to Hamilton.
Last November, Wolff revealed he had held talks with Ratcliffe about joining his bid investing into Man Utd.
The Hamilton replacement hunt comes with a huge summer ahead for Man Utd as well, with all-bar a few select players said to be up for sale.
A decision will also need to be made on Erik ten Hag’s future as manager of the men’s senior team.
But more recently he has made no secret of Mercedes’ desire to land Verstappen as their Hamilton replacement.
Verstappen won the weekend’s Sprint Race and is aiming for his fourth full race win of the season on Sunday.
Pundits verdict on Ten Hag’s future
Where do the pundits stand on Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United future
Jamie Carragher – Sacked
“I don’t see how Erik ten Hag stays. It’s just performance after performance.”
Gary Neville – Stay if he wins the FA Cup
“To sack a manager who’s won two trophies in his first two seasons at the club I think would be extreme.”
Louis Saha – On the fence
“I don’t see it as clearly but they need changes from the players but they need changes from him as well.”
Alan Shearer – Sacked
“I believe the future of the Man Utd manager is already determined. Even if they win the FA Cup I think he’s gone.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
