LEWIS HAMILTON left Monza following the Italian Grand Prix with a number of his McLaren team convinced he will walk away and join Mercedes next season.
Hamilton has upset some of his team with his increasingly idiosyncratic behaviour in recent weeks, in particular his decision to tweet confidential McLaren data before the Belgian Grand Prix – a race that was won by Jenson Button with Hamilton crashing out on the first corner.
The race in Spa was sandwiched between Hungary and Italy, both of which Hamilton won and it is those victories that the McLaren team are hoping will help persuade their prize asset to stay.
If he does remain the relationship will never be quite the same. He has badly scorched – if not burned – his bridges at McLaren, where team-mate Button’s easy-going style has made him the more popular driver with engineers and mechanics.
The body language between Hamilton and his employers was muted on Sunday evening despite a weekend which had shown him at his scintillating best. Neither were the noises coming from the executive chairman, Ron Dennis, and the team principal, Martin Whitmarsh, conducive to bending over backwards to accommodate the demands of the driver’s agents, XIX Entertainment.
So one of the most remarkable relationships in Formula One, which started with Dennis taking Hamilton under his Woking wing when he was 13, is in danger of breaking up, although Whitmarsh sounded hopeful of a deal when he said yesterday: “My feeling is that this is a great team for Lewis to stay in. He has got to want to stay here, and we will figure that one out when we’ve had some celebrations.
“I think we are working together well. We are a winning team, he is a winning driver and we are great together. There is a lot of sense in us working together. We have a finite amount of time and I haven’t, I hope, wasted any of that on matters other than on working together, having a quick car, winning races and winning championships.”
But McLaren admit they have no “Plan B” in place should Hamilton decide to leave the team at the end of the season.
Whitmarsh dismissed as “fantasy” speculation that the 2008 champion was close to agreeing a deal with Mercedes.
“I haven’t given Plan B any thought,” he said when asked about an alternative strategy should Hamilton decide to go. “We want Lewis to stay and we want him to stay if he wants to stay.”
Hamilton, who media reports say wants more money as well as control of his brand, showed on Sunday why he is one of the hottest properties in Formula One while McLaren made a compelling case for him remaining with them.
The victory at Ferrari’s home circuit was McLaren’s third in a row from pole position, something no other team has managed this season, and came after a record 62nd front row sweep in qualifying.
They are now 29 points adrift of champions Red Bull in the constructors’ standings with seven races remaining and Hamilton second in the drivers’ title race with 37 points between him and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.
Mercedes, McLaren’s engine suppliers and former co-owners, have won once since they took over the title-winning Brawn GP team at the end of 2009.
“I’m not really focusing on next year, I want to focus on this year. This is one race at a time and I’m trying to take this team to the top,” Hamilton said on Sunday.
“I’m trying to help them as they are trying to help me to win both championships. It is an incredible team and I have a great relationship with them so I’m really looking forward to the future,” added the 27-year-old.
Guardian Service
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