Rumor: Mercedes tipped to let Hamilton leave

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Former Williams manager Peter Windsor predicts that Mercedes will not stand in Lewis Hamilton’s way if he receives a ‘mega offer’ from Ferrari in advance of next season.

Windsor said on his YouTube channel: “If he [Hamilton] said to Toto Wolff: ‘Toto, I’ve given you everything. I’ve now had two years of a bad car. I’ve got a mega offer from Ferrari and I want to take it. Will you look into my eye and shake my hand and we’ll call it quits?’

“I think Toto would do that. I don’t think he would say: ‘No, you’ve got a contract. You must drive for us’.

“I think Lewis would just say: ‘OK, well, I’m stopping in that case. Ciao’.”

Meanwhile, whether Hamilton stays with Mercedes, moves to Ferrari or retires, Max Verstappen has admitted that trying to break the record held by Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher for the most world titles in F1 is not an ‘explicit goal’ of his.

“Honestly, that doesn’t appeal to me,” the Dutchman told Sport Bild. “It was my dream to become world champion.

“I always said that as a child. Not that I want to win eight titles. If I win eight titles, that would, of course, be nice, but it’s not my explicit goal.

“I just want to stay where I am, at the top.”