Fernando Alonso couldn’t resist making a joke at Lewis Hamilton’s expense about the speculation surrounding the Briton and a rumoured move to Ferrari.
Hamilton’s Mercedes contract ends at the conclusion of the 2023 season and, as yet, no fresh terms have been agreed to extend.
Of course, it has been voiced regularly by the likes of Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, and Hamilton himself, that a deal being agreed is only a matter of time but, until that actually happens, speculation will swirl.
Indeed, earlier this week it was claimed that Ferrari are lining up an offer to try and prise Hamilton away to join them for 2024, though many key players at both Mercedes and the Scuderia have been quick to play down such reports.
Even so, it’s made for a topic of discussion heading into the Monaco Grand Prix and Alonso gave his view on it, with him cheekily suggesting that Hamilton should stay at Mercedes given the Briton has said in the past that he and the team win and lose together:
“He always says that he wins together and loses together with the team. So now that he doesn’t win, he just has to stay.”
Both Alonso and Hamilton are chasing the Red Bulls at the moment, with them proving very dominant thus far this season.
Both drivers want to win, and want to be with the best team possible in order to achieve that.
It is widely expected that Hamilton will indeed stay with Mercedes past the end of this season but, until a new deal is confirmed, we will continue to see rumours written around his future.
On Thursday ahead of the Monaco GP, he said that Mercedes and his team were close to reaching an agreement which would put all the speculation to bed for at least the immediate future, whilst both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz also sounded quite unfussed about the stories doing the rounds, despite the fact that one of them would have to make way for Hamilton if he did decide to join Ferrari.
All involved will be looking forward to this one being resolved in the coming weeks.
