Mercedes F1 Exec Dir Toto Wolff is to offer driver Lewis Hamilton "a new contract at the end of the year in a bid to keep him at the team beyond 2015," according to the PA. Hamilton’s current three-year deal expires after next season, with recent speculation suggesting Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso "is attempting to engineer his way into Mercedes as a replacement." Wolff, though, "has made it clear he has no intention of looking at any driver other than Hamilton as partner to Nico Rosberg for 2016 and beyond." Addressing the future, and the possibility of recruiting Alonso, Wolff said, "We have a contract with both our drivers for 2015, and we want to continue with the current line-up. That is because these two boys are part of the success of the team, they know each other so well and they respect each other. The moment you get somebody else in that fight could be detrimental to the team’s performance. So our main priority is to continue with Lewis and Nico beyond 2015" (PA, 10/13).
BONUS BABIES: In London, Paul Weaver wrote Mercedes will pay their F1 staff "a bumper bonus" of £7M ($11.25M) after the team locked up the constructors’ world championship in Sochi. Wolff will make the announcement to the 700-strong work force on Tuesday morning during a breakfast at the team's Brackley headquarters. Every employee, "from the highest-paid engineer down to the catering staff and cleaners," will receive at least £10,000 ($16,000). Some of the team's top members "could receive considerably more than that" (GUARDIAN, 10/13).
