Lewis Hamilton's Money Demands Possible Contract Delay Reason, Horner Says

Lewis Hamilton’s lack of a contract for 2019 is a constant topic of discussion in the Formula 1 paddock and Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner is the latest to speculate regarding the delay in the Briton committing his future to Mercedes.

The four-time F1 Drivers’ world champion will be out of contract at the end of the current campaign and is yet to agree to a new deal with Mercedes despite both the parties continually stating their long-term commitment to each other.

The delay in reaching an agreement has given rise to questions regarding a potential move to another team or that Hamilton is possibly waiting to see in what direction the sport moves before putting pen-to-paper on a new long-term deal.

Red Bull boss has given another possibility for the deal to be delayed and has suggested it could do with the salary Hamilton is demanding from the reigning champions. Horner speculates his high wage demand could be making Toto Wolff, the team principal and Niki Lauda’s “eye water.”

It is no secret that Hamilton leads a lavish jet setting lifestyle and Horner is of the view he will need a hefty package in order to sustain it. Reports suggested his new deal will make him the joint-highest paid driver on the grid alongside Sebastian Vettel with wages of around £40m-per-season ($53m).

“I should think it’s such a grotesque amount of money that Toto (Wolff, Mercedes team chief) is talking about, it probably is what’s making his and Niki’s (Lauda, team director) eyes water at the moment,” Horner said Thursday during the pre-race press conference in Monaco, as quoted on news.com.au. “He (Hamilton) has an expensive lifestyle. He’s a four-time world champion and I doubt he’s cheap. I can only envisage that that’s probably got something to do with the delay.”

Wolff, who was sitting next to the Red Bull chief at the presser, confirmed talks were still ongoing despite recently suggesting the ink was almost dry. He also refused to provide a tentative date as to when the talks will be concluded.

“There is a bit of email ping-pong on details,” Wolff said. “And I don’t want to set a date because then you will be asking me why, why hasn’t it been done, but maybe we choose one of the nice grands prix in the future, in the next couple of months.”

Hamilton on his part confirmed Thursday during the drivers’ press conference there was no "sticking point" but also suggested he was in no rush to sign the new contract.

The Briton’s focus is likely to be on the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, a race that was not too kind to Mercedes in 2017 when they were outpaced by Ferrari and Red Bull.