Mercedes boss confident Hamilton will stay with team

STUTTGART, Germany (CMC):

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said he was confident that Lewis Hamilton would sign a new deal with the team.

Hamilton, the British race car driver with Grenadian heritage, is out of contract with Mercedes at the end of the current Formula 1 season, and speculation is rife that he may strongly consider leaving because of the struggles the team has endured over the past two seasons in which he has been winless.

Ferrari has been mooted as a potential destination with the appeal of racing for the Scuderia tempting for any driver, but they, too, have had their struggles, and the SF-19 is arguably slower than the W14 in race trim.

Wolff remained resolute that Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, will continue his journey in F1 with Mercedes.

“It’s been 11 years that we’ve been together,” he said. “Every single time when we talk about Lewis’ contract, it’s six months of ‘where are we and what is happening’?

“And we keep seeing the same thing: that we’re just rolling on. It’s not any difficult contract negotiations, it’s just putting a different timeline and a few different numbers in there.

“And that’s what we do. And we’re, we’re working on this. It’s a work in progress, bouncing emails back and forth. And eventually, we’re going to sign it.”

The Silver Arrows have struggled in the past two races after it looked like they were emerging from a barren period for the team at the Australian Grand Prix on April 2.

Hamilton finished sixth in both the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on April 30 and Miami GP last Sunday in the United States.

He said after the race in Miami that new upgrades were coming at the right time in the season for Mercedes, and he was looking forward to challenging the front-running teams such as Red Bull once they were installed.

Hamilton is fourth in the drivers’ standings on 56 points – 63 behind defending champion and Red Bull ace Max Verstappen of the Netherlands – and Mercedes remain third in the constructors’ championship, behind Red Bull, on 224, and Aston Martin, on 102.