The McLaren F1 Team has no "Plan B" in case LEWIS HAMILTON decides to leave the team at the end of the season and will "speed up contract negotiations in the next few days" to try to make sure he stays, according to Alan Baldwin of REUTERS. McLaren Team Principal MARTIN WHITMARSH spoke with reporters after Hamilton won Sunday's Italian Grand Prix and dismissed as "fantasy" speculation that the '08 champion was close to agreeing to a deal with Mercedes. He was asked about an alternative strategy should Hamilton leave and said, "I haven't given Plan B any thought. We want Lewis to stay and we want him to stay if he wants to stay." Media reports have indicated that Hamilton "wants more money as well as control of his brand." The Briton, who has been backed by McLaren since he was a teenage go-karter said, "I'm not really focusing on next year, I want to focus on this year. This is one race at a time and I'm trying to take this team to the top." Hamilton is represented by XIX Entertainment and Whitmarsh expected a "new impetus to talks" now that the last European race of the season was out of the way. XIX Entertainment also look over the affairs of former England captain DAVID BECKHAM and tennis player ANDY MURRAY (REUTERS, 9/10).
