Lewis Hamilton has signed a new contract with Mercedes, committing to race on in Formula One for a further two years. The new deal, which was announced before qualifying for today’s Austrian Grand Prix, is a remarkable statement of intent from the Briton, whose future had been the subject of intense speculation.
The 36-year-old, who has won seven world championships, will remain in the sport until at least 2023, having made his F1 debut in 2007. He joined Mercedes in 2013 and has won six of his seven titles with them. His last contract negotiations went on through the winter of 2020 and 2021 and he and the team were eager to avoid another long period of uncertainty in order to focus on the challenge they face from Red Bull this season.
With the new contract he has committed to race on through the major regulation changes set to be brought in next season. It is viewed as a complete reboot for the sport and the start of a brand new challenge for Hamilton, with a wave of younger drivers also coming through.
He said he had considered his position and decided he had lost none of his motivation. “It’s important we take time to evaluate, that we do what’s right for us in terms of health and mental wellbeing,” he said. “It’s always a good time to try and reflect and see what is next. I found myself waking up and thinking about racing and I wanted to continue to race.”
He also noted the role Mercedes’s backing of his push for equality and diversity had played. “The support they have given me during this period with Black Lives Matter, turning our car black for the second year in a row, for really pushing for a more diverse and equitable environment, it’s just amazing,” he said.
Hamilton has interests in fashion and music outside the sport and has been clear that he wants to pursue them when he retires. Equally, however, he is in the form of his life and has repeatedly stated how much he still enjoys racing. This season he is in a proper title race with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who is only 23 and leads by 18 points. Hamilton clearly relishes the challenge of continuing to vie with F1’s younger generation. He said: “Now we are having this tight battle it has brought me closer to the team, it’s making me dig deeper and I love that, it has reinvigorated the love that I have for the sport.”
The Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, who also joined the team in 2013, welcomed finalising the new contract so his driver and team can focus on racing, and in Austria revealed they had discussed his retirement when working through the contract negotiations.
“He knows pretty well how he feels about racing,” said Wolff. “That passion burns strongly. In a way the tough championship has ignited even more fun with us to fight and next year looks really exciting. We talked about retirement and it’s always really important to have that flirt with retirement but equally be in control of your own destiny. I think at this stage there is so much passion for the sport that I can see him going for a while.”
Wolff, who is now a close friend of Hamilton, believed he was spurred on to continue by a burning desire to improve. “His motivation to continue is just the will to win and succeed,” he said. “Especially in times when new regulations come and to be the best himself. Not necessarily looking at the other drivers or the next generation, just about meeting his own expectations in the same way we want to meet our own expectations.”
Hamilton’s decision is also of major import for F1 with the world champion being by far its most globally recognised star. Hamilton has 22.8m followers on Instagram and 6.4m on Twitter. He has been publicly outspoken on equality and diversity in recent years and has been key in encouraging F1’s effort to improve in both areas.
“I am delighted that Lewis will stay In F1 for at least another two years,” said the sport’s chief executive, Stefano Domenicali. “What he has achieved in this sport is incredible and I know he has more to come. He is a global superstar on and off the race track and his positive impact on Formula One is huge.”
Speculation remains over who will partner Hamilton at Mercedes next year. His current teammate, Valtteri Bottas, is on a one-year contract and is having a disappointing season. Williams’s George Russell, the British driver who is a Mercedes junior, is the prime candidate to replace the Finn. Wolff confirmed it was between the two drivers, with a decision expected over the summer.
