Money could be at the heart of the delay in Lewis Hamilton’s re-signing with the McLaren team.

Until now, the British team has indicated it wants the 2008 world champion to stay on board, while 27-year-old Hamilton insists he has no plans to leave and will turn his attention to the 2013 contract soon.

But according to Blick newspaper, McLaren is pushing to cut Hamilton’s existing contract retainer “in half” to “about EUR 10 million”.

The Swiss report said the driver is unimpressed with the negotiations so far, but at least Hamilton’s mood has improved tenfold compared with his calamitous 2011.

It is a full year since Hamilton raged about his “frickin ridiculous” track rivals in the 2011 Monaco grand prix, when he also half-seriously suggested that the stewards were targeting him “because I’m black”.

He is back on top form this season, but still yet to win a race, arguably mainly due to McLaren’s numerous team mistakes.

Reports have suggested boss Martin Whitmarsh, who insists Hamilton “deserves” to win this weekend in Monaco, is worried the mistakes might drive the highly rated racer away.

On Wednesday, however, Hamilton denied he is frustrated.

“I’m not, no. This is the way racing goes sometimes,” he insisted.

“I could easily get frustrated because I could have a healthy lead in the championship — but that’s not the case.

“I don’t want to speak too early but something has definitely changed. Whatever I’m doing is working,” he told British reporters.

“In life, things just seem a lot better and that’s enabling me to get on with my job without having any baggage.”

Red Bull is lamenting the limited role that can be played in 2012 by F1′s aerodynamic genius Adrian Newey.

For the past few years, the energy drink owned team has enjoyed its dominance largely because of the airflow magic wrought by Briton Newey.

But in 2012, with reigning back to back world champion Sebastian Vettel just one of the five different winners so far, Pirelli rubber is king.

“I doubt Williams really know why they were so strong,” team boss Christian Horner, referring to Pastor Maldonado’s shock Barcelona pole and win last weekend, is quoted by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

Horner insisted that, rather than the winner being the team with the best overall package at each race, success this season is about “understanding the characteristics of the tyre and the window in which they work”.

“It’s not that the midfield teams have made a quantum leap aerodynamically from last year to this year,” Horner insisted. “But from a performance point of view, this is what they have done.”

The logical conclusion is that aerodynamic cleverness has taken a back seat.

So will Red Bull knock a million or two off Newey’s huge annual retainer?

Horner laughed. “Adrian is not just an aerodynamicist, and aerodynamics are still important anyway. But now it’s about harmonising everything, and these tyres are simply remarkably complex.

“Two races ago Nico Rosberg dominated, but in Spain he was almost lapped. It is very difficult to predict what’s going to happen next — a nightmare for the bookmakers,” he smiled. “A lottery.”

The situation has split F1 into two camps: those who love it, and those who do not.

“It has become like a GP2 championship,” Maldonado, the junior category’s 2010 champion, is quoted by The National newspaper.

“The drivers can make the difference and the teams can still work on the strategy and the car.”

The bizarre situation has left everyone scratching their heads, like Jenson Button.

He can scarcely believe that what looked a championship car – his 2012 McLaren – was beaten in Spain by Shanghai winner Nico Rosberg, who was almost lapped.

“The Red Bulls did a better job at the weekend than us in terms of points, but still they weren’t quick when you compare them to Williams, Sauber, Lotus and Ferrari,” he told PA Sport.

“Five different teams winning five different races, we really don’t know what’s going on, and I think that’s the same up and down the pitlane.”

He may not have reprised his earlier successes since returning, but Michael Schumacher is still the highest-earning driver in formula one.

That is the finding of business magazine Forbes, according to its latest annual ranking of the world’s 50 highest paid athletes.

German Schumacher, 42, appears at number 9 on the list with a reported US $34 million in earnings.

The number takes into consideration not only his Mercedes retainer but, according to Forbes, an athletes’ “bonuses, prize money, appearance fees, licensing and endorsement income”.

Schumacher is therefore two places higher than Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, with $32 million.

Lewis Hamilton ranks 15th with his $30 million, two places behind MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi, with $31m.

NASCAR drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson also appear in the top 50, with Earnhardt ranked highest of the trio with his 17th.

Forbes said the world’s highest earning athlete is Tiger Woods ($75m), with the average earnings of the top 50 being $28m — 11 per cent down on 2010.

Mercedes is reportedly losing money in the area of trackside merchandise sales in 2010.

The Cologne tabloid Express reports that Red Bull is selling the most merchandise at grands prix this year, followed by Ferrari.

The report said Allsport charges teams more than EUR20,000 for merchandise booth rental at races, which in addition to hiring staff and buying the merchandise adds up to about a EUR50,000 spend per race for the top teams.

Mercedes is reporteding selling between EUR90-100,000 of merchandise per race, followed by 70-80,000 sold by Ferrari.

In addition to Michael Schumacher’s multi million euro retainer this year, it might be said that Mercedes should look again at its expenditures.

But competition director Norbert Haug is quoted as saying: “The media value is a hundred times the numbers you are talking about.

“But I generally don’t comment on figures,” added the German.

Fernando Alonso is by far the highest paid active grand prix driver, according to reports in the Spanish press.

The El Mundo report, citing information from Business Book GP, compiled a list showing that Alonso’s annual Ferrari retainer – excluding external endorsements – is EUR 30 million.

That is almost double the next largest retainer, owned by 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton, at 16 million, although it is believed Kimi Raikkonen is being paid a similar amount this year due to Ferrari’s breach of contract.

Felipe Massa comes in at third with 14m, meaning the Brazilian is paid less than half the income of his Ferrari teammate.

Reigning world champion Jenson Button is reportedly paid EUR 9 million; significantly less than his McLaren teammate, but more than seven time world champion Michael Schumacher (8m).

Mercedes also pays Nico Rosberg EUR 8 million, which is marginally more than Robert Kubica’s 7.5m.

Interestingly, Rubens Barrichello (5.5m) earns more than Mark Webber (4.2m), but Sebastian Vettel’s 2010 retainer is reportedly just 2 million.

According to the list, Red Bull’s Vettel is therefore paid less than Lotus driver Jarno Trulli (3m), and approximately the same as Trulli’s teammate Heikki Kovalainen.

Timo Glock earns 1 million by driving for Virgin; more than the EUR 700,000 reportedly paid to Williams rookie Nico Hulkenberg.

Also earning less than 1 million are the Sauber drivers (500,000 each), Vitaly Petrov, Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi (400,000), and the Force India drivers and Lucas di Grassi (200,000).

Bruno Senna is reportedly the lowest paid active driver, with a 150,000 retainer; 200 times less than Alonso.

Flavio Briatore stands to benefit financially if Mark Webber wins the 2010 world championship, according to a German report.
Italian Briatore, the crashgate conspirator and former Renault team boss, is still the Australian Red Bull driver’s manager.

And amid reports the 60-year-old is attending a string of grands prix ahead of possibly assuming a future role alongside Bernie Ecclestone, Germany’s Bild newspaper gives a different theory for Briatore’s presence.

Bild said Webber’s contract extension for 2011 is for just 8 million euros, but that as champion the 33-year-old will be in a position to negotiate a much higher retainer, with “a 20 per cent commission for his manager”.

After winning at Silverstone, and in the midst of the front wing saga, Webber revealed that he spoke to Briatore before the race “and he said ‘Mark, just make a good start’.”

Bild said it suspects Briatore was behind Webber’s public comments including “not bad for a number two driver”, and “I would never have signed a contract again for next year”.

“He knows that public pressure can bring his client a better deal,” said the newspaper.

Robert Kubica may be contractually free to leave the Renault team at the end of next year.

The French team announced on Wednesday that the Pole has extended his current deal to include the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

But although boss Eric Boullier indicated that the “multi-year deal” will stop the “many rumours” surrounding the 25-year-old’s future, speculation about Kubica’s services looks set to continue.

When Renault announced Kubica’s 2010 contract last October, the media statement said he will race for the Enstone based team “from the 2010 season onwards”.

But we reported in May that the 2010 contract included an option that would allow Kubica to leave if the team is not fourth in the constructors’ championship by July 15.

At the time of writing, Renault is currently fifth, 20 points behind Mercedes.

Finland’s Turun Sanomat reports that Kubica will be similarly free to leave Renault at the end of next season if Renault does not meet more contractual performance targets.

The report also said Kubica’s retainer will be higher in 2011, as will the jointly Genii Capital and Renault-owned team’s overall budget.

Jul.7 (GMM) Christian Horner wants to sit down with Sebastian Vettel at Silverstone this weekend and talk about the future.

23-year-old Vettel is already contracted to Red Bull Racing for 2011, but the Milton Keynes based team reportedly wants a much longer deal.

Germany’s Sport Bild said the team, owned by Austrian Dietrich Mateschitz but run by Briton Horner, is eyeing a deal through 2015.

But when asked precisely how long he would like Vettel to commit, Horner joked: “2028.

“Then he’d be 41, like Michael Schumacher.”

Vettel handles his own contractual negotiations, with only the assistance of his father Norbert.

Horner said: “I know that Mercedes would have Sebastian. Ferrari too, and even McLaren would not be averse. That’s why we want to have him for the long term.”

The media report said a new deal to 2015, with options through to 2018 with a ten per cent retainer increase per additional year, would boost Vettel’s retainer to about EUR 12 million per season.

Said Horner: “Sebastian is the future. He is going to be around, winning, for many years.”

And Vettel commented: “I already have a contract with Red Bull. What happens next, we will see.

“For me, it’s not about the money but about sitting in a competitive car with a team I feel comfortable with.”

Omnicorse.it claims that on Friday in the Valencia paddock, a member of the German team made an offer to accommodate Kubica, 25, in 2011.

Kubica currently drives for Renault, and it had been expected he would remain with the team after Ferrari re-signed Felipe Massa for next year.

But Omnicorse said it is possible Kubica will replace Michael Schumacher at Mercedes, even though the seven time world champion has a three year contract.

According to the rumour, Kubica is being offered a generous retainer for three years, including the option of a further two-year deal.

The report follows hot on the heels of stinging criticism of Schumacher’s lacklustre return to F1 this year after a three-year retirement.

“From inside the team we see things in a totally different perspective,” chief executive Nick Fry said in response to the criticism.

“We’re very comfortable with Michael’s performance and I can’t see any reason why he won’t come good.”

(GMM)

Adrian Newey has revealed he is unlikely to ever switch from Red Bull to another formula one team.

Red Bull’s highly paid and respected chief technical officer was recently reported to have removed a clause from his contract that set a definite end-date.

The 51-year-old contemplated retirement almost ten years ago, before recommitting to McLaren but then switching to Red Bull in 2006 on an estimated $10m per year retainer.

Newey admits to the Guardian that when he does leave F1, he is not sure what he will do.

“I’ve looked at (designing) yachts but that seems the only sport more anti-social than motor racing.  I don’t know.

“I can’t see myself staying in this in my 60s but I can’t see myself lying on a beach either.  At the same time I can’t see myself moving on to another formula one team,” he said.

When Newey initially joined Milton Keynes-based Red Bull, the infrastructure essentially put in place by Jaguar was not on the level of the top teams.

Now, Red Bull is F1′s pacesetter, and the Briton said: “We’ve managed to create a very good working environment here.  It’s a good, honest, engineering-based team that goes about its task.”

(GMM)