Lewis Hamilton signing £250m new Mercedes contract would be bad news for Norris

Lewis Hamilton shows off his impressive surfing skills

Lewis Hamilton securing a new deal at Mercedes could be awful news for Lando Norris who has been tipped as the seven-time champion’s possible replacement. Norris has struggled at McLaren this season with the manufacturer falling down the midfield.

The 23-year-old has cut a frustrated figure at the team and had been tipped to move to a leading team. Earlier this year, he stressed he was not a “patient man” when asked about McLaren’s chances for the future.

However, Hamilton possibly staying at Mercedes could dent his chances after Norris was considered first in line to replace the star. A recent Express Sport poll found that 48 per cent of readers would place Norris at Mercedes if Hamilton walked away.

Earlier this year, Sky Sports F1 host Karun Chandhok also claimed he’d love to see Norris line up alongside George Russell. He told Autosport: “The reality is I can’t see him going to Red Bull to be a number two to Max, Ferrari have their two drivers locked out.

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“So his options are to go to Mercedes when Lewis Hamilton stops because George [Russell] isn’t going anywhere. He can stay at McLaren I think until that happens basically. I think McLaren can safely hold onto him until that happens.

“But, let’s say we get to the end of this year and Lewis suddenly decides ‘I’ve had enough, I’m gone’. Then I feel like it’s going to be quite a complicated process because no doubt about it Lando has got to the number one pick, he’s got to Mercedes’ number one pick to replace Lewis.”

Reports from The Mail have suggested Hamilton wants a five-year £250million deal to stay at the Silver Arrows. This would dent Norris’ chances of securing a drive at a top team for the foreseeable future.

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Sergio Perez’s seat at Red Bull is available after 2024 but the team is likely to look internally for a replacement from their junior programme. Carlos Sainz could also be under pressure at Ferrari at the end of 2024 but Norris’ existing contract could be an issue.

His deal runs until the end of 2025 after some shrewd negotiating from Zak Brown to ensure the British star was kept in-house. However, Chandhok feels that hope isn’t lost if a top team comes with money to secure Norris’ services.

He explained: “Brilliant negotiation by Zak and the team to lock him in. We all know that people can be bought out of contracts and they get bought out all the time. Look at Gasly. It happens all the time but it’s going to cost more. It’s going to be tricky.” In reality, though, Hamilton being signed up for the long term at Mercedes would make things a lot harder for Norris in the future.

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