Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is hopeful that Lewis Hamilton will remain at the Silver Arrows, and “be part of the resurrection” of the Brackley-based team.
However, Wolff suggested that the Briton could walk away from Mercedes this year.
Hamilton is still yet to sign a contract extension with Mercedes, despite the seven-time World Champion and Wolff having stressed that a deal will be completed.
As things stand, the 38-year-old will be a free agent in 2024; however, Wolff is doing “everything” in his power to convince the veteran to stay.
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“Well I very much hope so,” said Wolff when asked if Hamilton will stay at Mercedes, a per the official F1 website. “I’m doing everything I can to make him stay.”
It’s remarkable to think that Hamilton still hasn’t won a race since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
George Russell, meanwhile, won a race for Mercedes in late 2022 in Brazil.
Despite this, Wolff doesn’t think Hamilton needs to be convinced to stay, with the 103-time race winner knowing exactly what the Silver Arrows are doing.
“I think there is no need to persuade him,” Wolff added. “He knows about all the goodness and although we struggled with the car this year, and last year, he will be part of the resurrection of the team.”
Wolff and Hamilton have been through a lot over the past decade, with the duo having become very close.
Hamilton is viewed by the Austrian as a friend rather than a colleague, although they have had their fair share of disagreements.
Wolff revealed that the pair didn’t talk after the conclusion of the 2016 season, which saw Nico Rosberg beat Hamilton to the title.
Hamilton and Wolff ended up meeting at the Austrian’s home, where Wolff stressed that he didn’t want to “divorce” the driver.
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“I think we have learned,” Wolff explained. “A key moment was at the end of 2016 where we didn’t speak to each other for a while. So I invited him to come to my kitchen in Oxford and sit down and have a chat.
“The kind of analogy I gave to him is that also I have arguments with [my wife] Susie.
“Even if we shout at each other, which didn’t happen a lot, but even if we have this argument, there’s never a thought of divorcing, and that’s why I said to him, ‘I don’t want to divorce you and neither do you. Because I want the best racing driver in our cars and you want to have the best car.’
“So we came to the conclusion that we can have conflict, we can create an atmosphere where we’re able to be brutally honest with each other, and sometimes we agree to disagree, but we move on.”