Credits: IMAGO / Action Plus
Recent reports suggest that in their pursuit to sign Max Verstappen, Mercedes have offered the three-time world champion an ambassadorial role at the team. Lewis Hamilton, who is set to leave Mercedes for Ferrari at the end of this season made a similar demand during his contract negotiations, which was rumored to be rejected by the Mercedes board.
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F1-Insider (as reported on X Junaid Samodien) claims that on average, about 90% of Mercedes employees are in favor of having Verstappen on-board. They want their team principal Toto Wolff to successfully poach the star driver from their arch rivals- Red Bull. To lure the Dutchman to Brackley, Wolff and Co. are even ready to make him an ambassador.
Hamilton, who won six world championships with Mercedes, has long been the face of the brand. Still, he was denied an opportunity to be ambassador, as per reports. Hence, the general consensus within the paddock, experts and the fans is that this snub in favor of Verstappen is somewhat disrespectful towards the seven-time world champion.
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The 39-year-old announced earlier this year that he will leave Mercedes, despite having an additional year left on his contract, to join Ferrari from the 2025 season onwards. With Mercedes’ dwindling form and inability to solve problems, many experts also believed that Hamilton being refused an ambassadorial role played a major role in him taking this decision.
While Hamilton felt let down by his team, Ferrari pounced on the opportunity to lure him away from Brackley. In a deal that would reportedly make Hamilton the highest-paid driver in the history of the sport, Ferrari also offered him things that Mercedes could not.
Where Mercedes failed, Ferrari succeeded
Ferrari have not made the details of Lewis Hamilton’s contract public. That being said, reputable paddock chatter has been able to single out some important incentives the Maranello-based team offered, to secure the Briton’s services.
One such prominent deal made between the duo of Hamilton and Ferrari is a 10-year ambassadorial role that would see the 103-time Grand Prix winner become the face of Ferrari once his career in F1 is over.
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In terms of a salary package, the Scuderia reportedly offered him a staggering $100 million-a-year. Beyond this, Ferrari chairman, John Elkann pledged a sum in the ‘hundreds of millions’ that will be invested in Hamilton’s off-track endeavors such as Mission44 – the Briton’s charity and philanthropic foundation.
Mercedes seem really eager to replace the Briton with Max Verstappen. However, if they really want to secure the services of the 26-year-old they might just have to go above-and-beyond what Ferrari did to steal Hamilton away from them in the first place.
