Lewis Hamilton is reportedly close to agreeing a new deal with the Silver Arrows which would see him earn around £40 million per year and potentially continue to dominate Formula One for the coming seasons.
Following last weekend’s season finale in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton said his contract extension talks with the team will “hopefully” begin over the coming weeks, adding, “we’d love to get it done before Christmas I think.”
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Continuing, the seven-time World Champion said: “I plan to be here next year, I want to be here next year. I think us as a team have more to do together, more to achieve both in the sport and even more outside the sport.
“So yeah, I hope we can begin this week discussions and hopefully get it tied up before Christmas.”
With Lewis Hamilton reportedly set to ink a new deal in the coming weeks, F1 fans have been reacting to the prospect of yet more Hamilton-Mercedes dominance.
Some have suggested that Mercedes would be better off dropping Hamilton and replacing him with George Russell, as they could save tens of millions of pounds per year and are likely to still be able to win the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships.
Others urged the Silver Arrows to instead replace Valtteri Bottas with Russell, after the young Brit outperformed him on his debut race weekend with Mercedes in Bahrain earlier this month.
And there were plenty of Hamilton fans who were simply happy that the seven-time World Champion looks set to stay in Formula One for at least a few more years.
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