{"id":1085,"date":"2020-12-19T17:45:26","date_gmt":"2020-12-19T17:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/south-africa\/?p=1085"},"modified":"2020-12-19T17:45:26","modified_gmt":"2020-12-19T17:45:26","slug":"lewis-hamilton-has-until-pre-season-testing-to-sign-new-mercedes-deal-says-toto-wolff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lewis-hamilton-has-until-pre-season-testing-to-sign-new-mercedes-deal-says-toto-wolff","title":{"rendered":"Lewis Hamilton has until pre-season testing to sign new Mercedes deal, says Toto Wolff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – South-Africa<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>By Abhishek Takle<\/p>\n

LONDON – Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has no doubt Lewis Hamilton will sign a contract extension keeping him at Formula One champions Mercedes, saying the two parties had until the start of testing next year to get the deal done.<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old Hamilton, who wrapped up a record-equalling seventh world championship title this season and became the most successful driver in F1 history, is out of contract at the end of this year.<\/p>\n

Questions about a contract extension have dogged Wolff and Hamilton all season, with the Mercedes seat the only one on the F1 grid yet to be officially filled.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you refer to why haven\u2019t we got a signed contract, the reason is simple – we always prioritised about getting this championship done and not being distracted by sometimes difficult discussions…” Wolff, who led Mercedes to a record seventh straight title double this year, said on Friday.<\/p>\n

? “It\u2019s beyond my wildest dreams, to think I now stand here as a seven-time World Champion. I couldn\u2019t have done it without such an incredible group of people behind me.” – @LewisHamilton ?![CDATA[]]>? pic.twitter.com\/4SSwxwQvYb<\/p>\n

\u201cBut then Covid struck. It has delayed us a little bit but we are not worried in eventually getting it done. Sooner or later it needs to be done, the latest before we go testing.”<\/p>\n

Wolff was speaking after Mercedes earlier on Friday announced plans for petrochemical giant Ineos to acquire one-third of its Formula One team, sharing equal ownership with parent company Daimler AG and the Austrian.<\/p>\n

As part of the deal, it was announced the 48-year-old Wolff, who has also faced questions about his future, will stay on in his role as chief executive and team principal for another three years.<\/p>\n

Hamilton, who enjoys a close rapport with Wolff, hailed the development and said he would open talks with him over the next few days.<\/p>\n

The Briton, who earns an estimated 40 million pounds ($54.02 million) a year, had planned to step up talks concerning his new deal over F1\u2019s Middle Eastern triple header, but tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced to miss a race.<\/p>\n

“We haven\u2019t started a conversation,” Hamilton, who returned for the Abu Dhabi season finale last Sunday, said in a virtual media conference ahead of the governing FIA\u2019s annual prize giving ceremony. \u201cToto and I plan to do that over the coming days.\u201d<\/p>\n

F1 testing is set to take place at the beginning of March next year, with the season-opening Australian Grand Prix scheduled for later the same month.<\/p>\n

($1 = 0.7405 pounds) (Reporting by Abhishek Takle; editing by Ken Ferris)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. By Abhishek Takle LONDON – Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has no doubt Lewis Hamilton will sign a contract extension keeping him at Formula One champions Mercedes, saying the two parties had until the start of testing next year to get the deal done. The 35-year-old Hamilton, who wrapped up a record-equalling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":1084,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17],"tags":[274,275],"class_list":["post-1085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nLewis Hamilton has until pre-season testing to sign new Mercedes deal, says Toto Wolff - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lewis-hamilton-has-until-pre-season-testing-to-sign-new-mercedes-deal-says-toto-wolff\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lewis Hamilton has until pre-season testing to sign new Mercedes deal, says Toto Wolff\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press – South-Africa. 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