Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton won’t sign a new contract before the season begins at the start of March, with the 38-year-old supposedly wanting to see how competitive the W14 is first.
That’s according to London Insider, who have cited sources as saying that Hamilton is not willing to extend his Mercedes deal before the 2023 season kicks off in Bahrain.
This goes completely against what Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said at the end of last season, when it was claimed by Wolff and Hamilton that a deal would be sorted during the winter.
It appears, though, that this hasn’t been possible yet due to the British driver having recently been on holiday in Antarctica, with a heap of his celebrity pals.
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His current deal expires at the end of this year so there is still plenty of time for a deal to be agreed, with Wolff having admitted that the pair will ‘stick’ their “heads together” once the Mercedes star is back in Europe.
“We have a full year to go,” Wolff said in January.
“We’re so aligned in the last 10 years, our relationship has grown that it’s just a matter of him physically being back in Europe, sticking our heads together, wrestling a bit and leaving the room with white smoke after a few hours.”
Mercedes recently denied a report by Sportune that Hamilton’s new deal was going to be worth £62 million per season, across 2024 and 2025.
Should Hamilton remain in the sport until the end of 2025 as expected, then he’ll be retiring at the age of at least 40, something he’s previously revealed to being against.
Hamilton’s view on racing into his 40s, though, changed last season, with it seemingly being something that the Stevenage-born driver is now open to.
It was also reported by Sportune that whilst Hamilton will receive a £22 million pay rise, his contract won’t include a bonus for winning the World Championship.
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Supposedly, Hamilton is also wanting a 10-year contract with the Daimler Group, the owners of Mercedes-Benz.
Hamilton is keen to remain with the team as an ambassador post-retirement, given that for the majority of his life he has been linked to the German manufacturer in some way.
Should the Daimler Group accept Hamilton’s demands, then the Brit will reportedly earn £22 million per year to be an ambassador.