'No rush' on new Mercedes contract but the devil is in the detail says Hamilton

Hamilton

'No rush' on new Mercedes contract but the devil is in the detail says Hamilton

Hamilton expects to sit on his sofa with Toto Wolff soon enough

Sam Hall

Thursday 20 February 2020 15:48

Lewis Hamilton claims "the finer detail" of any new Formula 1 contract with Mercedes will be the most important when he finally sits down to discuss his latest deal.

Hamilton has revealed to thrashing out the terms of his current Mercedes agreement, that is in its final year, with team principal Toto Wolff over an eight-to-10-hour period on his sofa.

While discussions have yet to commence on a new deal, Hamilton can envisage a similar scenario with Wolff when he opts to focus on his needs beyond this season.

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"I don't know when we're going to sit down and talk, I don't see a particular rush," said Hamilton. "I think our goals are aligned. In the coming months, I'm sure we'll sit down.

"I know Toto is keen to, but right now the focus is ensuring you're fit and ready for the season, it ramps up and you just want to start on the right foot, so it's not something I really get bogged down with for a period of time.

"As a team, we're always very clear on our plans, we update each other quite often in terms of our thinking, so none of us gets crazy with thoughts of other conversations happening elsewhere."

Explaining the nuances of the talks, Hamilton added: "The last time we just sat on my couch and we just shoot the shit basically.

"He tries to ask for something and I combat it. It's back and forth. It was like eight or 10 hours the last time we sat down, and we got through it great.

"Then it goes back to kind of the bad cops, which are the lawyers, but we just don't seem to have any problems. I think we share the same values, our goals are the same, and respect is huge.

"Naturally, from a driver's perspective, you are always trying to maximise as many areas as possible whilst continuing to deliver. So it goes on. It's a good chat, that's for sure."

Wolff stated recently that money is unlikely to be a sticking point in any discussions.

Highlighting the situation from his perspective, Hamilton said: "It's the small detail that really matters.

"I've been really fortunate with this team. People always talk about freedom as if it's a bad thing, but it's not at all.

"Joining Mercedes, they've allowed me to be who I want to be, rather than keeping me constricted and asking me to be a certain way, speak a certain way, dress a certain way, which is often what you see in other places. It's been great.

"There were all these question marks about all the different things that I do. But everyone has seen the results I've had the last few years.

"It continues to prove that it's actually encouraging, it helps me be more engaged, to be an even better driver than I thought I could be.

"So in going into the finer detail, you're trying to figure out what the next five-to-10-year plan is, and how the decisions I make now impact the future, and does it allow me to put certain things in place so when I do stop and hang up my helmet I'm able to continue on to other things.

"That will be in the small print of what we talk about, but that's the one we will probably be talking mostly about."