LEWIS HAMILTON appears to be standing at the crossroads of his F1 career – but haven’t we already been here once before?
The new £120million contract, which Mercedes had hoped to be a formality, now hangs in the balance and threatens to derail the world champion’s very own title defence.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff wanted the deal signed before the first race in Australia and Hamilton himself had admitted they were close to agreeing terms when he launched this season’s car in February.
Now, three months on, the subject has become the elephant in the room.
In Barcelona for the Spanish GP last week, he was coy to talk about why the deal was not signed.
He shuffled in his seat, looked awkward and hurried the conversation on to another topic.
The exact reason for his decision to stall on signing remains a mystery.
Some have speculated it is over the length of the contract that Hamilton wants.
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Former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan told SunSport last month that he believed it was due to money — a quarrel over a figure of around $20million (£14m).
Whatever the issue it, it is undoubtedly a growing concern for Mercedes’s bosses in Stuttgart.
Seeing their prized asset’s decision to delay signing a contract will hardly impress them.
He is handsomely rewarded and, after seeing Nico Rosberg pull the rug from underneath their feet by retiring at late notice, they are keen not to be caught out a second time.
If Hamilton was hoping to hold them to ransom too, that gamble can similarly back-fire, for there are other top drivers, such as Kimi Raikkonen and Daniel Ricciardo, who are also out of contract at the end of the year and Mercedes might move first.
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Ultimately though, the decision is currently in Hamilton’s hands.
Mercedes are keen for him to stay. All he has to do is sign the contract.
But he’s also been in this position before.
There are similarities to 2012 when he was driving for the McLaren team.
Hamilton was also offered a bumper new deal around the time of the Monaco GP.
Again, it looked like he was staying. The team were optimistic he would sign his deal.
But as time dragged on and the contract remained unsigned, it became a talking point and more of a distraction.
Then in September that year, he dropped the bombshell and chose to join Mercedes instead; a decision that was lampooned at the time but has since been proved to be a masterstroke.
Could Hamilton be doing the same again? Maybe he does want to bide his time before agreeing where he will drive next season. Or maybe he doesn’t.
F1 is changing, and with other interests in fashion and music, perhaps Hamilton is eyeing his exit strategy.
Whatever the news, it is a testing time for Mercedes, who eagerly wait for his signature, yet is it not yet a formality. Just ask McLaren.
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