(Monaco) The seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton, whose contract with Mercedes ends at the end of the season, announced on Thursday that he was about to renew it with the German team, sweeping away rumors of discussions with Ferrari.
“My team is working closely behind the scenes with Toto (Wolff, Mercedes boss, editor’s note) […] we are about to have a loan contract,” said the Briton on the sidelines of the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend. -end.
“It’s the first time I haven’t negotiated myself and I have a great team behind me,” added the 38-year-old, who “hopes” for a decision “in the coming weeks.”
“We have not made an offer to Lewis Hamilton,” Scuderia boss Frédéric Vasseur, whose drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are engaged until the end of 2024, assured Thursday.
“We haven’t had any discussions” about that, he also said, while conceding that “every team on the grid would love to have Hamilton at some point, it would be a mistake not to recognize that.” “.
Arriving in F1 in 2007 with McLaren, Hamilton was world champion for the first time with the British team on his debut in 2008 at the age of 23. Since 2013 at Mercedes, he has pushed the limits of his discipline by winning six other world titles from 2014 to 2020.
But after the disappointment of the title lost at the last GP of 2021 against the Dutchman Max Verstappen, the Briton had the very first white season of his career last year since 2007. It is without pole position or victory, he who holds some the record with 103 units of each, that the Briton completed the 2022 vintage.
In question, a Mercedes which had difficulty adapting to the technical upheaval which came into force at the start of the 2022 season.
Hamilton has also seen his almost unchallenged dominance of recent years undermined by his young teammate George Russell, 24, who is very consistent.
Before the GP of Monaco, 6th round of the season, Hamilton occupies 4th place in the championship, 63 points behind the leader Max Verstappen (119 pts).
As for Mercedes, the eight-time constructors’ world champion team is currently the third force on the board, far behind Red Bull.
