Lewis Hamilton and his contract negotiations with Mercedes gave us plenty to discuss during the off season. Eventually, the two parties agreed on a one-year extension which will see Hamilton at the Silver Arrows for the upcoming season.
Former F1 driver and Sky Sports pundit Martin Brundle believes Hamilton is not happy with how talks progressed.
Brundle believes that the deal with Mercedes did not satisfy Hamilton and the departure of Marc Hynes has left him feeling a “bit grumpy”.
“A qualifying masterclass I wanted to do with him. He was very generous but a bit grumpy, actually,” Brundle said.
“It’s interesting his right-hand man, Marc Hynes, is no longer working with him. And I sensed he possibly wasn’t super happy with the way the negotiations have worked out at Mercedes Benz.”
Brundle went on to tell his co-hosts about how Hamilton responded to talk of him nearing in on 100 poles.
Hamilton chose to play the modesty card, claiming that it was not a foregone conclusion that he would get to the landmark, especially given how much more competitive other teams will be this season.
“I did say to him, ‘look you know you are going to burst through 100 poles at some point this year most likely’. He goes, ‘Why? McLaren were a quarter of a second behind us in Abu Dhabi, now they have got our engine.
“What about Red Bull, maybe the high rate works? Don’t count out Ferrari and Aston Martin will be sort of strong’. So, he really challenged me quite hard.”
Many have been questioning Hamilton’s ability, given the fact that George Russell put in a commendable performance while deputising for him at the Bahrain Grand Prix last season.
It will be interesting to see whether Mercedes will be as dominant as they have been in recent years.