Lewis Hamilton Mercedes future contract talks hopefully less complex - Toto Wolff

Formula 1

Hamilton Mercedes future contract talks hopefully less complex - Wolff

Hamilton only recently signed a new deal

Ewan Gale

Wednesday 17 February 2021 05:30

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is hoping future contract negotiations with Lewis Hamilton will be more straightforward compared to the complications faced by the duo recently.

The British driver finally signed his new one-year deal a little over a month before pre-season testing, with much of the delay due to the current circumstances surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic.

Whilst Wolff acknowledges obstacles will present themselves during the next contract renewal talks, he is hoping there will be more time and opportunity later this year to finalise matters.

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"There are uncertainties in the world that affect the way the sport can operate that have an influence on our revenue, on TV monies, on sponsorship income," said Wolff.

“Daimler and Mercedes are in a huge transformation towards electric mobility and that means investments, so we are living in a financial reality that is very different to what it was a few years ago.

“But having said that we are totally in line, Lewis and me and the wider group in Mercedes, about this situation. So there was never any discrepancy in opinion.

"It was just that we felt we’ve got to put a signature on the 2021 contract because we need to get going and then find some time during 2021, earlier than this time around, to discuss the future.

“And it’s not only specifically to 2022 but also beyond, and that is not something that we wanted to carve out via videoconferencing between Christmas and the end of January.”

Explaining how difficult not being able to meet face-to-face had made the contract negotiations, Wolff said: "This time it was more complex because we couldn't see each other.

"There were not huge gaps or discrepancies as to how we would see this new contract.

"So overall I think it was a few weeks that we spent on video conferencing every couple of days, and then the lawyers need to put that into a contract."