Mercedes Reportedly ‘Cooling Down’ Contract Talks Following Hamilton’s Blame Game at Monaco GP

Monaco Grand Prix, a race weekend that has usually treated Mercedes quite well, turned into a weekend of chaos this time around.

Of course, it was yet again Valtteri Bottas, who suffered the biggest blow, with a pit-stop error causing his second DNF of the season. However, Lewis Hamilton wasn’t having a great time either.

Not only was the 7-time world champion far off from the top 5, a very straightforward strategical call from Mercedes cost him a couple more track positions as well. And what followed was a string of criticisms from Hamilton on the team.

What’s more, he denied taking the blame upon himself and rather threw the Stuttgart outfit under the bus. Hence, after such a heated end to the Monaco GP, there seems to be a bit of stalling in talks of extending Hamilton’s contract beyond 2021.

What is going on at the Stuttgart outfit?

According to Motorsport, Mercedes have opted for a cooldown phase for the time being with Hamilton. Hence, this has left the contract talks hanging, and it is now up to Toto Wolff to revive the talks by as early as mid-June.

This comes after rumors claiming that Mercedes have been rushing to close down a deal with the 7-time world champion before the summer break. Both Hamilton and his team have already arrived at an economic agreement, agreeing upon a salary of $30M a year.

Now, all that’s left to discuss is the Brit’s role in the team after he announces his retirement as a racing driver. But, Mercedes will be hoping that the contract talks don’t escalate any further like last season.

Hence, Wolff has less than a month to unravel the problem that has been haunting the team since Monaco. So, will the conditions cool down at Mercedes following the intervention of Wolff?

Lewis Hamilton leaves Mercedes helpless at Monaco

It is quite understandable that emotions were running high at Monaco, and Hamilton could see his championship lead slipping away, with Max Verstappen flying for the race victory.

And Hamilton’s post-race reaction said it all. He wasted no time in blaming the team for the poor result at Monte Carlo. This comes only a week after the Briton hailed Mercedes for their brilliant strategy, appreciating their efforts weekend-in weekend-out.

What’s more, Hamilton has always claimed that “We win and we lose together“. Hence, with such statements in the backdrop, it was shocking to see how he reacted during and after the race in Monaco, which may have potentially left a split on the trust between himself and the team.

As of now, Hamilton and Mercedes are still very much in the game over the championship battle against Red Bull. Hence, the Stuttgart outfit will be hoping to leave the awful weekend behind and start looking ahead.

But, how far will it work out? Can they pull things back together ahead of the weekend in Baku? Only time will tell.

Read More: Monaco GP “Sucked B*lls” – Lewis Hamilton

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