Toto Wolffe has joked that Mercedes will even consider selling inventory and leasing it back to afford Lewis Hamilton whose contract is up after the 2020 season. Hamilton who became the most successful F1 driver of all time at the race in Portimao is yet to re-sign with the Mercedes team. Despite this, he continues to dominate the field and is enroute to winning his seventh championship equally Michael Schumacher's all-time record.
Lewis Hamilton has finally broken Michael Schumacher's record of most race wins in F1
Wolfe had earlier indicated that Hamilton is closing in on a deal that could be as much as $156.6 million for three years which would be a record deal. “It's “huge. We will have to sell plenty of inventory and sell the leaseback of the buildings, just to come up with the money,” the Austrian team principal joked in an interview with SkySports.
Wolffe has repeatedly said that Hamilton and he have not found the time to close the deal thanks to the unique nature of the season. Reportedly, even though the deal has been agreed to in principle - initially Hamilton's demands were baulked at by the senior management at Daimler.
Mercedes F1 Boss Wolff believes Hamilton is going to be expensive
In the last race, Hamilton defeated his teammate by a massive margin of 25 seconds after losing the lead on the first lap and dropping as low as third. Hamilton displayed an uncanny ability to manage the tyres through the changing weather which handed him the pivotal pace advantage over Bottas.
