“There’s still some life in this old dog!”
Lewis Hamilton has confirmed that he’s not going anywhere before the end of the 2022 season, despite agreeing a one-year contract with Mercedes back in February 2021 ahead of pre-season testing.
The seven-time world champion looks to be eyeing an early finalisation of next year’s contract, to avoid spending his winter break in tough negotiations once again.
Speaking after his victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, Hamilton said; “Contract-wise, we never want to be in the position that we were in in January, in February.
“It ruined my whole winter and I’m sure it wasn’t helpful for Toto’s in terms of being able to be off and relaxed, so it felt like we didn’t really have much of a break.”
The 36-year-old said he hopes to begin next year’s contract talks very soon so he will have “something in place” before the summer break comes around on August 1 – after the Hungarian Grand Prix.
“I think we have to be sensible. Naturally we don’t have to rush anything but I think we have to be sensible and start conversations. They’re very complex, it’s never a super-simple procedure and so hopefully soon we can start, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the actual job.
“We still have 19 races to do but it would be great to get something in place before the break, so then we could, again, be in that break and have a clear picture of the future.”
Hamilton took home a glorious win at the Circuit de Catalunya on Sunday last, putting him 14 points ahead of his closest rival – Max Verstappen.
The pair will be looking to battle it out once again when racing resumes on May 23 at the Circuit de Monaco.
