Why Hamilton's Mercedes influence is at a new high

Lewis Hamilton was on buoyant form at last week's Silverstone unveiling of the Mercedes W09, the car that he hopes will carry him to his fifth Formula 1 title. He was in a relaxed mood thanks to an extended winter break and he had yet more reasons to be upbeat, for even standing still the new W09 looked mighty impressive.

As world champion Hamilton had some commitments in December, but thereafter Mercedes made few demands on his time. That wasn't coincidence - it reflects the improving relationship between Hamilton and his team boss Toto Wolff, who knows better than most what makes his superstar tick.

Wolff realised that if he left Hamilton to do his own thing for a few months, he would come back fresh. While the 2017 campaign didn't go down to the wire - unlike some of the preceding seasons - any extended period at the sort of competitive level Hamilton maintains is bound to be draining. Time off is welcome and creates space for Hamilton to rediscover his love of driving.

"For me, Lewis Hamilton is the personification of hunger," Wolff said last week. "All these years we've been together, he's extremely motivated coming back after the winter break. I don't think a lack of motivation or hunger, or any sort of complacency is an issue for him. On the contrary, he's eager to get back in the car."

Not that Hamilton was standing still while he was away. Among other places, he spent his break in Los Angeles, Colorado, Hawaii and Japan, having fun on snow and in the surf, then started focusing on getting into shape for the season.

"It was the longest break I've had in 10 years," he said. "Normally you have a bit of December and a bit of January and you're back. The team were great to enable me to really recharge, because it's been a long, hard slog last year, and so to recharge, have family around me, I feel great. If I'd come back a month earlier I probably wouldn't feel as well as I do now."

During that break he admits that his mind turned to the question of the year ahead, and the longer term. We tend to take for granted the sort of commitment that F1 drivers have to make to training when away from the track. In the winter, without the occasional buzz of actually driving, you have to motivate yourself - and it's tempting to get lost in contemplative introspection.

"You have the downtime and you've had a successful year," Hamilton said. "How can you get better and what's next? Are you still hungry? Do you still want to go back and do these interviews? Do you still want to win races, do you want to do qualifying, do you still enjoy driving the car, can you be better, in what areas can you be better?

"Or, are there other passions that I have that I'm as passionate about as I am about racing, for example? At what point do they take priority?

"I want to be better than I was, and last year I think was the best year I had, performance-wise. How can I top that? How can I improve? But there are lots of areas, actually, and even still my relationship with my team is constantly growing.

"There's new people that come in, but how do I utilise them, use their genius to help me achieve my goal? And how do I interact with them to help them get what they want? Ultimately, utilising them to get my goal helps them get theirs."

Hamilton's current deal with Mercedes runs to the end of 2018. Late last year both sides admitted that they were already talking about an extension, and so when he returned to public view last week there were questions about how far those conversations had progressed.

"Toto and I have been talking for a while," he said. "Obviously once I left in December I was away, and I didn't get back until February. But we spoke very often, about how we are committed to each other.

"Toto knows that, I know that there's nowhere else... No one better. So, he's not going to be looking anywhere else, and he knows that I know there's nowhere else better, so I'm not going to be looking anywhere else. So we're comfortable, and we're committed to each other. It's just about the details. Hopefully we'll have something done before the beginning of the season.

To make way for Tommy Hilfiger, Mercedes decided not to extend its deal with Hugo Boss. It reflects the influence that Hamilton now wields

"But again, there's no reason to rush anything, there's no panic. I'm not feeling under any pressure with any other drivers being there. And Mercedes have no reason to feel that I'm talking to anybody else. In the whole six years that I've been here I've not spoken to another team once, and I think that really shows my commitment.

"I know that the team have been contacted by other drivers in the past and probably still [are] today. And that's inevitable. We always made it clear at the beginning that if I was to engage and look at my options I was to inform them. I've not needed to, because I haven't."

Logic suggests that Hamilton will eventually sign up only for the 2019 and 2020 seasons, given that that is the life of the current regulations, and also the length of the contractual commitment of Mercedes to F1.

If finally confirmed, those two extra years with the best team in the business would open up the tantalising prospect that Hamilton could not just win a fifth world championship in 2018 - putting him on a par with Mercedes legend Juan Manuel Fangio - but potentially go on to earn a sixth or even seventh, matching Michael Schumacher.

It's a long shot, and it would require everything to fall into place - and for Mercedes to retain its current role as pacesetter until the end of the present formula. But it's a possibility. And for Mercedes, being part of Hamilton's progress to legendary status would be a PR dream - further encouraging the team to keep the relationship harmonious.

"I'm really excited about extending with the team and staying here," Hamilton continued. "I'll stay while I have the fire. I love this job.

"Even if I stop I may still be an integral part of the sport. I have exciting things in the pipeline that would carry on beyond my racing.

"We've got Tommy Hilfiger as our partner, that was through a lot of work for myself building that relationship, and the team was amazing allowing that to happen. That's new, exciting blood that's coming into the team. And some other really exciting things are happening throughout the year that I can't wait to come out."

That Hilfiger comment was intriguing. In effect, Hamilton has brought a new sponsor to Mercedes - not that anyone is about to suggest that he's a pay driver...

But it demonstrates that he has wider ranging interests, and is trying to do things in business that will keep him busy, and prove lucrative, when he stops driving. It allows him to bring together his day job in racing, and his interest in fashion. And it adds yet another dimension to his relationship with Mercedes.

In order to make way for Hilfiger, Mercedes decided not to extend its deal with Hugo Boss, a company whose image is arguably a better fit with a manufacturer of luxury cars. Instead it has hooked up with a brand that appeals to a more youthful demographic.

Once again, it reflects the influence that Hamilton now wields. That's not meant to be a criticism, or a suggestion that Mercedes bows to its star driver, simply a fact that he makes a huge contribution on and off track, in both performance and commercial terms.

You can see a similar scenario unfolding at McLaren, where Fernando Alonso was allowed to do the Indianapolis 500, and is about to contest the World Endurance Championship with Toyota. In addition, Alonso's Kimoa clothing brand is now visible on the MCL33. The team understands the benefits of keeping him happy and fully motivated, a task that was far from easy through those painful Honda years.

The increasing commercial complexity of F1 driver mega-deals also helps to explain why there has been no announcement on a new Hamilton contract. It's not just a matter of how long and how much, these days it goes way beyond that. In any case, there's no hurry.

"The minute you put the date out, you're going to be reminded about the date," said Wolff. "And it doesn't make any sense to put ourselves under pressure.

"It's important to cover every angle of the co-operation. He's been with the team for six years so we're talking about extending that, a very long time with the same driver, in the same team, and I guess a couple of weeks would be a realistic target. A couple, it means two, right? I mean 'a few' weeks..."