Zak Brown has ruled out the possibility of offering Lewis Hamilton a seat at McLaren should he leave Mercedes at the end of 2021. Hamilton started his career with the Woking-based squad and won his first title with the team back in 2008. The idea of him returning for a swansong might be a romantic one, but Brown says he wouldn't have a vacancy for the champion given his commitment to current drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo. "Where we are today, no, because we are really happy with Daniel and Lando and have them under long-term contracts," Brown told the Daily Mail when asked if he would offer Hamilton a return to McLaren. "If I had an opening, would I put Lewis in the car? Of course, but we are trying to build for the future, hence this kind of youth-and-experience combination. "You feel if you brought Lewis back now it would be for a one or two-year journey and we know we are not ready to compete for championships, so we need to set up a driver line-up that gets us to that position and that when we reach it they are ready. Daniel is ready now, of course. I don't think the timing is right for Lewis." Hamilton has a one-year contract with Mercedes in 2021, who he has driven for since making the switch from McLaren in 2013. The Briton has won six of his seven world titles with the Silver Arrows and Brown doesn't foresee him changing to another team in the future. "Lewis has spent his entire career with Mercedes" Brown explained, "either through the works team or with McLaren and I think as Michael Schumacher was fundamentally a Ferrari man - though he ended up with Mercedes - Lewis has this opportunity to be a career Mercedes man so I don't know why he would move."
Most read
