In the meantime the new owner of F1 (Liberty Media) is trying to keep the excitement at fever pitch with release of such nail-biting information that the Sauber Team next year will be called Alfa Romeo. A neat Italian bit of badge engineering as the 2017 engines were out of date Ferrari ones that were past their use-by date anyway, so all that they have to do is grind off the Ferrari name from the rocker covers and stamp Alfa Romeo on them instead.
Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz will have to sell a few more Mercs to pay for Lewis Hamilton’s new contract – worth around $210 million.
Hamilton, 32, is expected to agree terms on the three-year package that will move him in line with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who has been the best-paid driver on the grid for the past two years.
Hamilton’s current deal expires at the end of 2018 but he wants to renegotiate terms while he is at the top of his game.
Mercedes are desperate to keep hold of their prized asset and do not want to risk losing him to rivals Ferrari or Red Bull.
The huge sum is expected to be worth almost $192,000 a day including bonuses to the Brit. Perhaps I should write to my racing colleague and mate Lewis to see if he could throw some small change my way. Some of the tax dollars he didn’t have to pay for the plane would be a good start!
