Reports claim talks have been held between Hamilton and former team
Friday 19 September 2014 11:22, UK
McLaren believe they could re-sign Lewis Hamilton for next season due to the escalating acrimony and tension within the Mercedes camp.
Hamilton’s relationship with Silver Arrows team-mate Nico Rosberg has disintegrated under the pressure of their exclusive battle for the World Championship, plunging to a new low at Spa two weeks when their collision was followed by claims that the German had admitted he failed to avoid contact ‘on purpose’.
Although the Mercedes hierarchy have since sought to put a lid on the feud, fining Rosberg and reminding both drivers - who will share the front-row for today’s Italian GP - of their responsibilities for the team, McLaren are ready to pounce if the apparent incompatibility of the Rosberg-Hamilton partnership ends in a swift divorce at the end of the season.
“No-one could have predicted the tension inside Mercedes-Benz,” Ron Dennis, the McLaren chief executive, told reporters at Monza. “We can all imagine a range of scenarios that could see one of those drivers on the market by the end of the year.
"We always have the best available drivers. So the first thing you have to establish, before you have any process of selection – and is not derogatory, detrimental or negative to your existing drivers – is who is available. Availability in F1 isn’t as black and white as you would think."
McLaren have refused to confirm either Jenson Button, whose contract expires at the close of 2014, or Kevin Magnussen for next season, with the team openly flirting with Fernando Alonso and reputedly making a name-your-price approach to World Champion Sebastian Vettel as they seek a ‘marquee name’ to herald the start of their new partnership with Honda.
Hamilton, who drove for McLaren from boyhood until his unexpected transfer to Mercedes three years ago, would certainly fit that bill. Although it seems highly unlikely that he would walk away from Mercedes just when they have emerged as the sport’s leading force, the Mail on Sunday claims ‘putative talks between McLaren representatives and Hamilton’s people have taken place. Eric Boullier, McLaren’s racing director, is even keener on signing Hamilton than Dennis, who fell out with the driver towards the end of his spell with the team.’
If talks have taken place, they are more likely to have focused on the possibility Hamilton returning to McLaren once his existing deal with Mercedes expires in fifteen months’ time and the competitiveness – or otherwise - of the Honda-McLaren package has been realised.
Although Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was last week quoted as saying that Mercedes would consider breaking up the Rosberg and Hamilton partnership if relations worsened, he clarified on Thursday that such drastic action would only be contemplated in a worst-case scenario.
Alonso, meanwhile, has recommitted his future to Ferrari for at least another season, and with Vettel still under contract for one more year at Red Bull, it remains likely that both Button and Magnussen will continue to drive for McLaren next year with the current line-ups at Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull also maintained. Williams have already officially confirmed that Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa will be retained for 2015.
The composition of the 2016 grid is, however, anyone’s guess.
