Toto Wolff denies that Lewis Hamilton is ‘begging’ for new Mercedes contract
Mercedes' Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton.
Toto Wolff has shut down any thought that Lewis Hamilton is ‘begging’ for a new contract, given his openness about wanting to sign a new Mercedes deal.
Both the Mercedes team principal and seven-time World Champion confirmed their intention to sit down for talks over extending his decade-long stay with the team, with his current deal set to expire at the end of 2023.
A previous report from France had claimed a new multi-year deal for Hamilton would be worth up to £120million and include an ambassadorial role, but Mercedes denied this rumour, saying no talks have yet taken place between the Briton and the team as they look to agree fresh terms beyond the end of this year.
As for the team boss, he said the 103-time grand prix winner will always have first call over a Mercedes drive.
“I don’t see it that way at all,” Wolff responded when it was put to him by Auto Motor und Sport that it appeared Hamilton was almost ‘begging’ for a new deal, with him not hiding his intentions to stay in Formula 1.
“I made it clear very early on that Lewis will always have a seat with us.
“A decision is always discussed between us. Lewis would be the first to say if he doesn’t enjoy it any more or if he thinks he has deficits.
“In that respect, we want to continue. We will certainly negotiate as we have done in previous years.
“I don’t see any indication that we would have to change anything.”
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A new deal makes sense for both Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes
Wolff has spoken before about his and Hamilton’s simplistic way of thrashing out new deals, which has previously been spending a day in a room together negotiating until they come to an agreement – and not leaving nutil they do so.
And with Hamilton not wanting to call it quits in Formula 1 just yet and Mercedes in need of getting back to the top, it seems to make perfect sense for both team and driver to carry on together.
It is now 10 years since Hamilton made the move from McLaren and he and the team have gone on to achieve a multitude of Formula 1 records together – and the only one left to break is the outright World title record, which he jointly holds with Michael Schumacher.
If does end up with that elusive eighth title, only then would we find out if he calls it quits as Formula 1’s all-time most successful driver on his own.
