Lewis Hamilton is seemingly getting increasingly closer to signing his new multi-year Mercedes contract, with the seven-time World Champion having revealed at the Spanish Grand Prix that he has a meeting with Toto Wolff on Monday.
Hamilton enjoyed an excellent weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and claimed his second podium of the 2023 Formula 1 season, thanks to finishing second behind Max Verstappen.
He matched his result from the Australian Grand Prix to move him onto 87 points in the Drivers’ Championship, 22 ahead of George Russell.
Hamilton is now only 12 points behind third-placed Fernando Alonso, ahead of next weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.
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His and Wolff’s attention though, has seemingly switched to getting a new deal signed, with the team principal having revealed that there are “no stumbling blocks”.
The duo are meeting on Monday to finalise any remaining details, meaning an announcement could be imminent.
Hamilton is expected to sign a multi-year deal keeping him at the Silver Arrows until the end of 2025, when he’ll be 40 years old.
The 38-year-old is hopeful that himself and Wolff can “get something done” on Monday during their meeting, securing the continuation of their long-term partnership.
“Well, I haven’t signed anything yet but I think we’re meeting with Toto tomorrow, so hopefully we can get something done,” Hamilton said after the race.
Despite revealing that a contract negotiation was taking place on Monday, Hamilton admitted that it “wasn’t a subtle hint” to expect an announcement this week, with the pair having held “many meetings”.
“Yeah, it wasn’t a subtle hint,” Hamilton insisted. “We’ve had so many meetings. It’s just another one of the meetings that we’re having.
“And you can see from my result today that my performance is not affected by that.”
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Reportedly, it’s not just Hamilton who’s about to sign a new deal, with Mercedes having supposedly taken up the option to extend Russell’s contract until the end of 2025, rather than 2024.
Russell finished third on Sunday having recovered from 12th on the grid, to secure his first rostrum of the season.
It somewhat made up for his error in Monaco which cost him a podium, something he was furious about at the Circuit de Monaco.