Lewis Hamilton will "cut ties" with McLaren at the end of this season with the announcement that he's off to Mercedes nothing more than a formality.
At least that's according to one report in Britain, the Daily Mail.
The newspaper is claiming that Mercedes will announce on Friday that Michael Schumacher is stepping down at the end of this season to make room at the Brackley-based squad for Hamilton.
'Sources in Germany indicated that the car giants will announce Schumacher's second retirement at their headquarters in Stuttgart on Friday morning, leaving the way clear for Hamilton to accept a deal worth up to £60million, including win bonuses, over three years,' the report said.
The article continued, citing the lure of working with Ross Brawn, who has secured eight Drivers' Championship titles with Schumacher and Hamilton's current team-mate Jenson Button, as well as the switch to smaller engines in 2014 as the driving forces behind Hamilton's decision to leave McLaren, who sponsored him from when he was a 13-year-old karter.
'The question is whether Mercedes, who have support at board level in Germany but are run from Brackley, Northamptonshire, are better equipped to deliver. They have only been back in the sport as manufacturers since 2010, though in their previous guise as Brawn won the title through Jenson Button,' claimed the Daily Mail.
'Ross Brawn, the engineering svengali behind all seven of Schumacher's titles, remains team principal and his presence is sure to have been a major lure for Hamilton with significant changes to the engine regulations due for the 2014 season.
'Brawn exploited a previous revamping of the technical blueprint in 2009, allowing Hamilton's McLaren team-mate Button to waltz to his championship success. With Mercedes as engine makers, Brawn is well placed to conjure another trick.'
The Mails 'exclusive' story was backed up by the Daily Telegraph who ran with 'Lewis Hamilton will on Friday bring to an end one of the most controversial and long-running transfer sagas in Formula One history by announcing that he is leaving McLaren, the team he has been with over half his life, for rivals Mercedes in a three-year deal which could be worth as much as $100million.'
The Telegraph says Mercedes were just waiting for the big boys in Stuttgart to sign the new Concorde Agreement before making the announcement and that it 'should arrive today.'
And now we wait...
