Hamilton 'put up his price' after Mercedes chased Vettel & Verstappen

Lewis Hamilton has raised his demands in contract discussions with Mercedes after the Silver Arrows chased deals for Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel, claims Red Bull motorsport director Dr Helmut Marko. The constructors' champions maintain that they expect the drivers' champion to pen fresh terms.

Hamilton will reportedly become the highest-paid British sportsman if he signs the new Mercedes deal on offer, estimated to be worth £40million a year.

However, the four-time champion's future with the Brackley-based squad might not have been so certain, with marko claiming that the Silver Arrows shopped around other top Formula 1 talents.

"Toto [Wolff, Mercedes team boss] tried to get Vettel and Max, but both declined him," Marko is quoted as telling Sport Bild.

"Of course, Lewis heard about this so he put up his price."

Mercedes have remained calm throughout the whole process and Wolff offered fans another positive update on how the talks are getting on, although a contract, which the team claimed would be signed in pre-season, is yet to be finalised.

"It is as good as done," Wolff told Sport Bild.

"We are absolutely on the same wavelength. But a contract like this is over 100 pages with a corresponding number of points to address. And all that has to be done first," he added.

Speaking at last month's launch of the 2018-model W09 Mercedes challenger, Hamilton said: "We've been talking for a while but I don't like to do it over the phone and I wasn't back here until February.

"I have spoken with Toto Wolff, and we spoke about how we are committed to each other.

"I know there's no one else better and Toto knows there's no one else better than me, so he is not looking anywhere else.

"It is just the details, so hopefully it's done before the start of the season, before the first race, but there's no rush, and no panic.

"I am not feeling pressure from other drivers and Toto has no reason to believe I am speaking to anyone else. In the six years I have been here, I have not spoken to another team and that shows how committed I am."