Toto Wolff confirms ‘first chat’ with Lewis Hamilton over new contract

Sam Cooper
Lewis Hamilton pointing next to Toto Wolff. Paul Ricard July 2022.

Lewis Hamilton pointing at a screen next to Toto Wolff in the Mercedes garage. Paul Ricard July 2022.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has confirmed he has had the “first chat” with Lewis Hamilton about a new deal but an announcement is still some way off.

The subject of Hamilton’s contract, which expires at the end of this season, has been an ongoing one with Wolff first suggesting that both parties would sit down over the winter break to thrash out a deal.

But despite seemingly both sides being in agreement for an extension, an official contract has yet to be announced.

Rumours circulated last month that Hamilton was seeking a £62 million per season deal with an additional ambassadorial role but Mercedes were quick to deny there was any truth behind that speculation.

Mercedes unveiled their 2023 challenger, the W14, on Wednesday and the subject of Hamilton’s contract extension was to Wolff.

“I think, as I said before, [with] Lewis we’ve done a few of these contracts in the past,” Wolff told media including PlanetF1.com.

“And they [have] changed little from iteration to iteration. So it’s not usually complex, apart from the obvious terms.

“But no, we’ve had a first chat but I don’t want to commit to any timeline, because it’s not important for him nor for us at that stage. It [the contract] runs a full year, and we’re going to try to find the right time.”

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Wolff was also asked if, having had a year such as they did in 2022, Mercedes needed to prove they were capable of challenging for the sport’s biggest honours once again for Hamilton to agree to a new deal but said that they had enough credit in the bank for that not to be a factor in the seven-time World Champion’s mind.

“He appears to me in great form, very positive, motivated, energised. Maybe the best so far I’ve seen in those 10 years after the winter and he knows what he has with the team,” the Austrian said.

“We won eight Constructors’ titles in a row, I’m not saying anything that you don’t know, and we got it wrong last year.

“So the results, the capabilities are there and we just need to continue to develop like we started last season, so I don’t think it plays in Lewis’ mind [that he has] any doubt that the team can perform. We will, eventually.”