No mistake, McLaren must get it right in Monaco or risk driving unhappy Hamilton away

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UPDATED:

21:11 GMT, 19 May 2012

Unhappy: Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton has delivered the finest performances of his career during what has already been a Formula One season of high drama.

But as he prepares for the unique challenge of next weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, his McLaren team know they cannot afford to make any more blunders.

Hamilton, whose career has been inextricably linked with McLaren, adores the racing on the unforgiving streets of the world's most glamorous, yet treacherous, circuit and will be focused solely on winning.

But his contract expires at the end of this year – and McLaren cannot assume he will remain with the team.

While his loyalty to McLaren has been paramount, his career is nearing a crossroads. His team are aware of what is at stake – beginning with the need to provide unblemished support for Hamilton and his team-mate, Jenson Button, in Monaco where McLaren have won on 15 occasions, more than any other team.

After being static in recent years, the driver market at the front of the grid could be busy this summer.

At Ferrari, Felipe Massa is destined to be released at the end of the season, if not before. The 31- year-old Brazilian has scored just two points in five races and the Ferrari team have warned: 'Everyone, he more than anyone, is expecting a change of gear starting right away with the Monaco Grand Prix.'

And it is understood that Hamilton's previously strained relationship with Ferrari's superstar No 1, Fernando Alonso, has thawed beyond imagination in recent months.

Frustrated: Hamilton was left to count the cost of Barcelona blunder

In Barcelona last weekend, a reliable paddock source said: 'Lewis and Fernando have been swapping race helmets and regularly speak to one another on the parade laps before races.'

After an acrimonious year together at McLaren in 2007, when Alonso was disparaging towards Hamilton's dazzling arrival in Formula One with a team where he had been embedded since he was 13, the two drivers seemed to have irreconcilable differences. However, nothing heals wounds faster in Formula One than the need to assume a bargaining position.

HOW IT'S ALL GONE WRONG IN 2012

Spanish GP, May 13

Ran out of fuel in qualifying and demoted from pole to the back of the grid as a
penalty.

Started 24th Finished 8th

Points lost 21

Bahrain GP, April 22

Two different wheel nut problems at separate pit stops.

Started 2nd Finished 8th

Points lost 21

Malaysian GP, March 25

Called in for first pit-stop at a bad time and delayed by other cars, then problems in successive stops.

Started 1st Finished 3rd

Points lost 10

Chinese GP, April 15

A change of gearbox in qualifying brought a fiveplace grid penalty.

Started 7th Finished 3rd

Points lost 10

Hamilton would never accept being No 2 to Alonso – or anyone else. But the sport's history is littered with deals being brokered to keep all parties happy: Alain Prost, a double world champion, welcomed a young Ayrton Senna to McLaren as an equal only to be pushed into the margins in their second season together; then, Nigel Mansell surrendered No 1 status at Ferrari to accommodate Prost in return for the promise of a Ferrari, complete with engine, only to complain later that the Frenchman had turned the Scuderia against him.

Another option open to Hamilton could be a seat at Mercedes. For it is unclear if Michael Schumacher will be re-signed beyond this season even if he shows a willingness to continue.

Senior management figures at Mercedes would relish an opportunity to attract Hamilton, having worked closely with the 27-year-old British star during their years in partnership with McLaren. They would not shudder at having to improve Hamilton's current 15million-a-year salary. Even Red Bull could have a vacancy alongside double world champion Sebastian Vettel as Australian veteran Mark Webber, linked to Ferrari, has yet to be offered a new deal.

Intriguingly, Hamilton's management, headed by Simon Fuller, an expert in brinkmanship who has won enviable contracts for clients like David Beckham, Andy Murray and the Spice Girls, has yet to open negotiations with McLaren. Time is on Fuller's side.

Ultimately, Hamilton yearns only for a fast, reliable car. He cannot countenance the prospect of leaving Formula One with just one world championship, earned in his second year in the sport after missing out on the title in his rookie season by one point.

His incredible, forceful, yet measured drive in Barcelona showed him how competitive his McLaren is despite the unpredictability of this season's Pirelli tyres.

Under pressure: McLaren Mercedes Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh

Had he not been penalised for a basic mistake by the McLaren mechanic in charge of refuelling his car – an error compounded by two calamitous pit-stops at the previous race in Bahrain – Hamilton would be arriving in Monaco with a handsome lead in the championship.

Instead, he is eight points behind Vettel and Alonso, despite having eradicated his erratic driving errors of last season, to win admiration for his maturity and measured performances.

Hamilton, who won the Monaco Grand Prix in his championship season in 2008, said on Friday evening: 'I'm coming off the back of two relatively disappointing results and there would be no better place for the cards to fall in my favour than at Monaco.'

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh, under pressure to oversee a trouble-free race, insisted: 'We feel determined to string together a faul t less weekend and to demonstrate our full potential.'

The jury is still out, however. It is McLaren, not Hamilton, on trial on the streets of Monaco next weekend.