Lewis Hamilton hints at Mercedes contract delay

  • Published on 19 Mar 2018 08:52
  • comments 2
  • By: Rob Veenstra

A new deal between Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes could be delayed.Earlier, team boss Toto Wolff said he hoped a contract to keep the quadruple wor ld champion at Mercedes beyond 2018 would be agreed by Melbourne.

"We started talking about it but it's not really my priority at the moment," Hamilton said at a sponsor event, according to Spain's Diario Sport."I want to kee p racing, so I have to renew it at some point, but I will not do it when others want me to. I'll do it when everything is ready," Hamilton added.

In the past couple of days, Wolff said Hamilton may be tempted by a move to Ferrari. But Hamil ton said "loyalty" is important to him. "Red is my favourite colour," he is quoted by Italy's La Repubblica. "But I'm fine where I am. Loyalty is a value my father taught me. I've changed teams only twice in my career so I'm not the type that jumps from here to there."

However, Hamilton admits he has received offers from Maranello. "Yes, but they cannot have all the drivers they want," he said. "And I say that as a great Ferrari fan. It's a fantastic team and I love racing against them."

It is likely that Hamilton and Wolff are merely debating the details of his new contract, including the retainer and the duration. Hamilton said: "I do not want to retire soon or prematurely. I could race up to 40 if I wanted, but I don't think I'm going to do that. I could stay another year or two, but if I'm going to be as excited as I am for a new season in two years time, I cannot really guess now," he added. (GMM)

Replies (2)

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  • I supoose he want to check out the competition first. Not that he will need to check for long, there is little doubt that Mercedes will be strong yet again. Maybe stronger than ever before in terms of car performance. Red Bull need to break their 'weak season start' habit, and Ferrari need to break their 'good every other season' habit, if any of them are to seriously challenge Merc'.

    • + 0
    • Mar 19 2018 - 10:34
  • Kean

    Posts: 692

    It's highly likely that Merc will be fastest again this year, but why sign before you have 100% confirmation. In the unlikely scenario that Red Bull or Ferrari are faster than Merc, I would love it if Lewis teamed up with either Verstappen or Vettel, but I guess that is even more unlikely than RBR or Ferrari being faster than Mercedes.

    • + 0
    • Mar 20 2018 - 11:15

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