'Mercedes offer Hamilton £60m' | Sky Sports
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Speaking about the situation to Sky Sports News, Sky Sports F1's Ted Kravitz said that while Hamilton and his management team were likely using the spectre of a Mercedes switch to improve their bargaining hand in discussions with McLaren, the Woking team still had to be wary about losing the 2008 World Champion to a rival given the dearth of suitable replacements of similar proven calibre available for next season.
Nonetheless Ted added that he expected both parties to eventually agree on a renewal.
"McLaren have to tread quite a fine line because on the face of it there isn't really anyone else apart from Lewis Hamilton who can win multiple grands prix and World Championships out there who McLaren can just pop into their driver line-up alongside Jenson Button," Ted said.
"Jenson Button has of course proved that he can win races, as he did three days ago in Belgium, but he's not really had the staying power this season to win multiple races and challenge for the championship.
"So that's a problem for McLaren. They have to keep Lewis Hamilton because he's shown them that he's the best chance of winning a championship. So it's very finely balanced on both sides.
"I think we'll probably see this month, October maybe, as to whether Lewis Hamilton stays at McLaren which is I think is probably the most likely outcome."
Nonetheless, it would be seen as something of a bombshell if Hamilton were to depart McLaren for a team which has won just once since its return to the sport as a fully-fledged member three years ago.
A spokesman for Mercedes said on Wednesday night: "Until we are in a position to confirm our full driver lineup for next season, it is inevitable that there will be speculation around this topic. We would ask for your understanding, however, that we do not comment on speculation."