“Mercedes were trying to plan a glide path where Lewis Hamilton glides out and Kimi Antonelli glides in”, opines F1 pundit

F1 pundit Andrew Benson feels Mercedes trying to put together a succession plan in place for Lewis Hamilton led to the star driver's departure. It came as a shock to everyone when the Brit suddenly announced his departure from the team with which he had won multiple titles.

What made it even more strange was the fact that Hamilton had just recently signed an extension with Mercedes for a 1+1 contract, with the option to extend reportedly on his side. According to Benson, there was also a 'suspicion' that Toto Wolff was keeping an eye on young driver Kimi Antonelli.

Antonelli is the young sensation who has been picked by many as the driver for the future. He has made rapid strides in his career already and will be competing in F2 this season, having skipped F3 altogether.

Benson believes Hamilton not being offered a more long-term contract and Antonelli being lined up as his potential replacement led to the seven-time Driver's Champion announcing his departure. Talking about this on the Chequered Flag podcast (via PlanetF1), he said:

“He [Lewis Hamilton] wanted more time. He was given a one-plus-one deal. That’s one year plus one option. The option was on his side we’re led to believe. Ferrari offered him two, maybe three years, plus more money. And for a racing driver like Lewis Hamilton who doesn’t need the money, he’s got more money than God basically, he… it’s a question of status in how much do you want me."

The pundit added:

“I get there’s a young kid, a young Italian kid who’s coming up quickly through the junior formula called Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who everyone’s raving about. And the suspicion is that Mercedes were trying to plan a glide path where Hamilton glides out and this Antonelli kid glides in. Hamilton, you could understand, would think given his status ‘hang on a minute…'”

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Contract length messed up Lewis Hamilton's situation at Mercedes

According to Andrew Benson, it all came down to the fact that Lewis Hamilton was not on a long-term contract. He believes the manner of Hamilton's exit will also lead to a level of self-criticism at Mercedes as well. It was during this time that Ferrari swooped in with an offer that was believed to be far more enticing and much longer.

Benson said, via the aforementioned source:

“There’s going be some self-criticism at Mercedes as a result of this. There’s no question that this came about because obviously he got the offer from Ferrari but why was this tempting to him? One, maybe Ferrari was the better place to be competitive in the future. But two, Mercedes had messed him about on the length of the contract basically."

Hamilton, 39, is now in his last season at Mercedes as he calls time on a partnership that began in 2013.