New Lewis Hamilton contract update issued as talks rumble on

The Mercedes F1 driver’s deal expires at the end of this season leading to Ferrari reportedly trying to lure him.

But Hamilton and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff have never wavered in their claims that a deal would be struck to extend their alliance - even if it remains unsigned.

“The best seat still technically available for 2024 sits at Mercedes alongside George Russell – but in reality it’s a matter of when, rather than if, Lewis Hamilton finally puts pen to paper to keep it in his possession and extend his stay at the Silver Arrows,” Lawrence Barretto reported on the Formula 1 website.

“Neither Mercedes boss Toto Wolff nor Hamilton appear stressed by the amount of time it is taking to get a new deal over the line. They’ve both said that the key terms – including money and length of the arrangement – have been agreed.

“It’s just, as Wolff puts it, ‘trivial things that need to be cleaned up’ in the contract before it all gets signed off.

“Hamilton has left it late to sign a new deal in the past. It wasn’t until the eve of pre-season in 2021 that he inked a one-year extension to race in that upcoming campaign. Just six months later, he penned a new two-year deal, taking him up to the end of 2023.

“The 38-year-old reckons he can race on for at least another five years, the Briton believing he still has what it takes to win a record eighth World Championship.

“And having spent his whole career with the Mercedes family, from backing in karting to making his F1 debut with the Mercedes-powered McLaren team to spending the last decade with the works outfit, it’s more than likely he’ll continue with the Silver Arrows for the foreseeable.”

Hamilton is 38 and knows that time is running out to claim his all-time record eighth F1 championship.

Red Bull’s domination, heading towards a third title in a row for Max Verstappen, means Hamilton faces the monumental task of wrestling back control of the championship.

And it means Mercedes must end their two-year nightmare to deliver him a car capable of competing.