F1: Lewis Hamilton Signed Two Year Extension Because Of Red Bull Charge In 2021

If there was any doubt about Lewis Hamilton not remaining in Formula One after the 2021 season, all of that was put to bed by his extension last weekend. In the F1 Nation podcast, seasoned F1 journalist Tom Clarkson said that he feels that Hamilton extended quickly because he felt that he wouldn't win the 2021 title where now Red Bull has won 5 consecutive races in a row and Max Verstappen's lead in the driver's championship has exceeded 30 points. Never before in the turbo-hybrid era of Formula One Hamilton has faced such crushing pressure. Never before Mercedes have been so outgunned in terms of performance and never before that either Hamilton or his team have trailed another team by such a margin. 

''I thought he was pretty deflated after the race. Do you know what? I think one of the reasons he thinks he has signed for two years is that he can see the writing on the wall for this season. Somewhere in the back of his head, he thinks this is over, I need number eight," says Formula One journalist, Tom Clarkson, in the F1 Nation Podcast.

Hamilton of course is statistically the most successful driver of all time. He is tied with Michael Schumacher with both having 7 world titles each. Often, there are remarks about how good Hamilton is as often his greatness has been attributed to the greatness of the Mercedes package which even took his former teammate Nico Rosberg to a world title win. 

The Mercedes is being outgunned in the straight and in the corners 

Former greats like Jackie Stewart have been cagey in naming Hamilton the greatest of all time with names like Schumacher, Fangio, Senna and Jim Clark often named as the greatest of all time. Hamilton perhaps wants that one defining record of the most world titles for himself which is keeping him in the sport along with the fact that probably for the first time he's having a duel with a driver who is considered to be his equal in a car that's equally good if not better than the Mercedes. 

'He enjoyed the duel up to and including the Spanish Grand Prix," said Natalie Pinkham in the podcast. Former F1 world champion Damon Hill who is the son of the only holder of the triple crown, Graham Hill also pointed to the fact and said Hamilton will stay in F1 beyond his latest contact only if he's competitive and still enjoying the sport. 

In the 2020 season, Hamilton and Toto Wolff, the CEO and 33 per cent co-owner of the Mercedes F1 team couldn't close a deal for 2021 and beyond. In fact, the contract was closed only in February 2021 weeks before pre-season testing. Many expected the negotiations for the new contract to take longer. The fact that the deal has been closed so quickly and has been called a "copy and paste" of the 2021 agreement speaks a lot about what has happened in the background. 

George Russell is in the running for a Mercedes seat to replace Bottas, Hamilton's teammate. Russell has been coined a future world champion by many pundits, including Hamilton's former McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso who is arguably one of the greatest drivers of all time. Russell is being groomed to be the next Mercedes star and Hamilton perhaps wanted to close the contract and get back to focusing on racing so that he can quickly close his record-breaking 8th title, considering the Red Bull is much faster with Max Verstappen also proving why he is being touted as a once in a generation driver.