© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says Lewis Hamilton‘s contract negotiations are now “beyond the exploratory talks” and “in the hot phase”.
One of the questions that the F1 media is most interested in this year, is the status of Lewis Hamilton’s contract negotiations with Mercedes.
The Briton signed a one-year deal with the German team, but both him and Toto Wolff said they want to continue their relationship beyond 2021. Now, the Austrian confirms the new deal will not be for just one year.
“We will no longer do one year contracts – or contracts that we only sign a month before the start of a season,” Wolff told the Austrian news agency APA.
Mercedes’ team boss also explained what led to Lewis signing his 2021 contract extension with Mercedes so late.
“We both had COVID, then it was Christmas, then it just slipped into January. We have a good enough relationship that we can do that, but this time we’ve started earlier.”
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The Austrian was then asked if the new multi-year deal might be Hamilton’s last contract in Formula 1.
“No, that’s too far away. We are talking about racing now. And it’s about the next few years – not one year, not five years. Somewhere in between.”
Wolff also confirmed Bild am Sonntag newspaper that the contract talks are now in an advanced stage.
“We are beyond the exploratory talks already, now we’re in the hot phase,” explained Mercedes’ team boss.
