Mercedes Boss Addresses Lewis Hamilton Contract Talks

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief

The cloudy future of Lewis Hamilton became has become slightly clearer.

The 33-year-old Brit is in the final year of his contract with Mercedes, but after being crowned champion three of the past four seasons some doubt has crept in about his career beyond 2018.

During an FIA press conference on Friday ahead of this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, Toto Wolff, Team Principal of Mercedes, candidly addressed the situation.

“The contract we have been discussing before going into the winter holiday and then we kind of left it there to get away from Formula 1 and picked it up again in January,” said Wolff.

“These discussions are going in the right way and we finalizing the last topics and there is no reason to not think that is not going to happen soon. He is in a good frame of mind. I’ve seen him coming back strong from the winter.

Remarkably, with four championships to his credit, Hamilton sits third on the all-time list and tied with the likes of the legendary Alain Prost and current rival at Ferrai, Sebastian Vettel. However, scoring another title would put him tied with Juan Manuel Fangio for second all-time. Michael Schumacher sits alone at the top with seven championships.

For his part, Wolff denied any certainty on it playing a role on Hamilton’s current state of mind moving forward.

“In terms of the record, I think whether it plays a role I don’t know, but clearly with the four championships he is within a very good group of drivers,” said Wolff.

“Obviously, the next one is to be achieved, but I don’t think it’s a good omen to discuss it or think too much about it.

“It’s better to look at those records afterwards.”

About Joey Barnes 611 Articles
Joey Barnes is the Founder of Motorsports Tribune, an outlet that began with the goal of helping aspiring journalists break into and grow the industry. A regular on the racing scene since 2013, the journey for Joey started by covering a Grand-Am event at Circuit of The Americas in his home state of Texas. He has since primarily focused on the IndyCar Series, with appearances in the garages of NASCAR, paddocks of Formula 1, IMSA and World Endurance Championship, while also occasionally engulfing clouds of dust at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals and select Supercross rounds. With previous stops at Autoweek, IndyCar.com, Motorsport.com and RACER, among others, Joey evolved from the singular task as a freelance writer to advanced roles behind the copy desk and alongside some of the best editorial teams in the business. Recognized as a multi-time award winner by the National Motorsports Press Association, Joey currently resides in Dallas-Fort Worth with his trusty four-legged canine companion, Rocket.