Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has revealed that talks with Lewis Hamilton regarding a contract extension are yet to begin, with the seven-time World Champion having been travelling across the globe since the conclusion of the 2022 season.
Since the final race of last season in Abu Dhabi, the seven-time World Champion has been spotted in Antarctica, New York and Egypt, making contract negotiations difficult.
Given that Hamilton is set to be offered £41 million per season, according to Sportune, the negotiations likely can’t take place over the telephone, given the huge figures involved.
Hamilton is very much set on signing a new deal, though, suggesting that he will put pen to paper as soon as himself and Wolff have the opportunity to sit down together.
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“I’m not putting a limit on it to be honest,” Hamilton said.
“I’m planning to do a multi-year deal with my team. I really, really don’t know what the next five years [hold]. I think we’re still trying to work on that.
“There are a lot of great things being put in place, like I just launched a production company this week, but I feel great in my mind and body. I want to continue, I think there’s more stuff for us to achieve together so I want to be here longer.
“If we’d have a year like last year and we were competing at the front all year, who knows where I would be? Each year you have to ask yourself if you’re willing to give as much if not more than you did when you first started.
“Are you willing to give up all your time to prepare and train and work with the team and deliver? If there’s ever a moment that I’m arriving and I’m just coasting along, then that’s when I don’t belong here, and don’t deserve the position here, and that’s when I should stop.
“I question myself as to whether I’m able to do that and whether I want to do that, and the answer is yes. We obviously have a championship that we need to get back, and I love the mission and that challenge with my team.”
Whilst Hamilton and Wolff have expressed their intent on getting the deal done before the start of the new season, the Mercedes chief is aware that the Brit is contracted until the end of 2023, meaning that a deal doesn’t necessarily have to be done before the Bahrain Grand Prix.
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Wolff is waiting for the 38-year-old to be “back in Europe” so talks can begin over a new deal, with the duo needing to “wrestle a bit”.
“We have a full year to go,” Wolff said.
“We have been so aligned. In the last 10 years, our relationship has grown. It is just a matter of him being back in Europe, [us] sticking our heads together, wrestling a bit and then leaving the room with white smoke after a few hours.”