Lewis Hamilton has shot down recent rumours that he is demanding £40 million per season to extend his contract with Mercedes beyond 2020.
Earlier today rumours came out that Lewis Hamilton was demanding an increase of around £5m per year from his current deal, if he was to extend his contract with Mercedes. The story went even further with reports that Mercedes was unwilling to pay the Briton more than £20m per season. We decided not to run the rumour, because it seemed completely unsubstantiated, and instead just mentioned it in passing in an article we published earlier.
Turns out we were right to be apprehensive about it, as Lewis himself shot down the rumour on his Instagram.
“So the media keep writing about [a new] contract and me making demands, but I haven’t even spoken with Toto [Wolff] about it yet,” wrote the six-time champion.
“No demands, the conversation hasn’t even begun. So please stop making shit up.”
In the Austrian Grand Prix press conference Toto Wolff also confirmed that there is “no urgency” with contract negotiations.
“We are in a position of trust with both of the drivers,” said Wolff.
“You could say that in Formula 1 it doesn’t mean a lot – but it does in our team.
“I guess that we will do the next steps soon but I don’t want to commit to any timing because I don’t want to answer questions every single race weekend about why the contracts are not done. There is no urgency in the matter.
“All of us want to do it and when the time is right, we will announce it,” concluded the Austrian.