Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time Formula One champion on Thursday, clarified that he has not yet received any proposals from Ferrari, expressing optimism that an agreement for a contract extension with Mercedes will be reached “in the upcoming weeks.”
The 38-year-old is in a contract year with Mercedes and recent reports have linked Hamilton to a move to Ferrari. But the British driver said at the Monaco Grand Prix that there have been no talks with Ferrari and his personal team is negotiating with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.
“Naturally, in contract negotiations, there’s always going to be speculation,” Hamilton said. “My team’s working closely behind the scenes with Toto. We’re almost at the end of having a contract ready.”
Hamilton, the F1 record-holder with 103 grand prix wins and 103 pole positions, was asked when he expected a contract to be signed.
“That’s what we’re working towards, so hopefully in the coming weeks,” he said. “I’ve got a great team in the background doing all the work.”
Hamilton added he’s relieved he no longer does his negotiating.
“Having the team focus on that so I can just do my job, that’s a much better position than I was in before,” he said. “Because I remember I used to do my negotiations on my own, which was very stressful.”
Hamilton did not win a race last year for the first time in his career, dating to 2007. He has not won yet this season, either. But he still believes Mercedes can turn things around and insists the recent performance isn’t weighing on his decision to stay with the team.
“It doesn’t have a bearing, I think, because we’re still a championship-winning team,” he said. “It’s just we’ve had the wrong car. There have been some decisions that have been made over the past two years that have not been ideal, and we’re working our way through that.”
Meanwhile, Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur dismissed rumors of having approached Hamilton regarding a potential move to his team next year.
“You know perfectly that, at this stage of the season, you will have each week a different story. And we are not sending an offer to Lewis Hamilton. So we didn’t do it,” the Frenchman said. “We didn’t have discussions.”
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who is teammates with Carlos Sainz Jr., was asked if he’d like Hamilton as a teammate.
“If I say, ‘Yes,’ I imagine it will be the title of every newspaper,” Leclerc said. “Lewis is such an incredible driver and has achieved so much in the sport, so I think anybody on the grid would love to have Lewis as a teammate, as everybody would learn a lot from him.
“I’m happy where I am and (with) Carlos; it’s a great relationship.”
Leclerc, who is signed with Ferrari through the end of this season, said he’s not started talks on a new deal yet.
“No talks on renewal now,” he said. “Still a lot of time.”
