Lewis Hamilton seeking chunk of Mercedes’ TV money in £40m-a-year negotiations

Lewis Hamilton is looking to secure a chunk of Mercedes’ TV money in negotiations over his £40m-a-year deal.

That’s according to former F1 team chief Eddie Jordan as the Brit continues to stall over signing a three-year deal with the racing team worth £120m.

It has led to speculation that the 36-year-old, who won a record-equalling seven Drivers’ Championship last season with Mercedes, is looking for extras from the deal.

The two main conditions were reportedly a share of the team’s prize money and a Mercedes One hypercar, which Hamilton was involved in the development of.

But Jordan believes that a big point of difference is the Brit’s value to the German manufacturers in terms of broadcasting fees.

Speaking to PA Agency, the 72-year-old said: “If I was his manager, I would be saying to Mercedes, 'look, we add a lot of value to Mercedes' overall income over the year. It is positively wrong to ignore that'.

“I believe Lewis is looking for 10 per-cent of the team's television money and it is hard to understand why he would not be worth that.

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“We are in the media and the amount of opportunities we have to interview Lewis are very slim. We stand in line like everybody else.

“But he is the first one we all want. We are at the press conferences because we need Lewis as he is a value to me and you and everybody else.

“It is like what is happening now in golf and basketball in America and the major stars are taking a piece off the top.

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“The world of economics is changing but one thing that is for sure is the value of Lewis Hamilton has increased, that's a fact.”

Mercedes have since denied that Hamilton is making demands for prize money and the hypercar.

And Jordan believes that that contract will get signed “this week” because of a fear Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has.

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