Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he is currently in contract talks with Mercedes, meaning we could see him with the German team beyond 2021.
Back in February, Hamilton extended his contract with them to cover the whole of 2021. Last year, it was unsure whether Hamilton would want to continue with the team but he has now expressed that he would like to continue with them. Speaking at the Styrian Grand Prix press conference there in Austria, Hamilton said that there was “not a lot to say too much on it, just that we have started discussions and things are positive.”
Hamilton joined Mercedes in 2013 from McLaren and has gone on to with six World Championship titles with the team, allowing him to equal the record set by Michael Schumacher with seven World Championships. He currently has won more races than any driver in Formula One and is on the chase for an eighth World Championship, although the struggle has not been easy this year, due to the rivalry with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Speaking further on his current contract talks, Hamilton revealed that the talks are holding mid-season, which is not something both sides were eager for, as they have always had such talks at the start of the season. But he said, “We are always talking about not wanting to do it mid-season because it can be a distraction, but we’ve started it in a way that it’s light-hearted, it’s not intense, it’s not causing trouble.” He also said that they were hoping to get done with the contract talks as fast as possible.
On the question of his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton said that he hopes they can continue to stay as teammates; Bottas’ contract with Mercedes would come to an end at the end of this season and it is expected that they might sign Williams driver George Russel instead.
Hamilton said, “Valtteri is my team-mate now and both of us have had ups and downs in our careers but he is a fantastic team-mate and I don’t necessarily see that it needs to change. We have worked well for many years. Valtteri has been my best team-mate overall and when I say team-mate it’s not just driver performance, it’s about team morale and how you work in the team-mate environment.”
Written by: Leon Osamor
