Image damage for Hamilton: "Then you have to behave accordingly"

Still no contract extension

While everyone expected Lewis to renew his contract with Mercedes, the start of the season is getting closer and there is still no news. In the De Telegraaf podcast Albers already announced that it is because both parties are diametrically opposed to each other, but this is also largely due to Hamilton's own choices, according to Albers.

''If he had signed four months ago, he would not be in this situation now. He took that risk himself to wait for an even higher salary, and now he is in a bad position,'' says Albers about the crisis caused by the coronavirus and also the fact that George Russell performed particularly well in Lewis' car. The Brit also gets a lot of criticism in other areas.

Criticism of Hamilton

''When you see how he presents himself with the environment and everything, then you have to behave accordingly. Then you can't fly around the world in your private jet, because then you get hit. People are going to resist. He is supposedly going to fight for the world, but it is better for him to be the underdog for a while, because now it comes from all sides with the environmental issues and his salary, that is not good for his image,'' says the Dutchman in the podcast of De Telegraaf.

''What does ten or twenty million matter. Whether he gets 30 or 50 million a year. It is a lot of money, but he just has bad luck. The world is on fire and you have to take into account that your business model might have to change,'' concludes the former F1 driver.