Lewis Hamilton has indicated talks over a new Mercedes deal will only take place once the Formula 1 season is over.
The Briton could be mere days away from being confirmed as a seven-time world champion, but he is still not officially on the grid for 2021, with his current contract set to expire.
Theories for the delay have ranged from those given by Hamilton and Mercedes, mainly the hectic calendar since F1 returned to the track in July, to rumours that perhaps Lewis is waiting for team boss Toto Wolff to confirm his own future at the team.
However, commenting to Sky Sports in Portugal last week, the 35-year-old pointed to the impact of Covid-19 as his reason for putting off talks.
“Naturally I think already last year, in Hungary last year I think Toto was talking about signing a contract,” Hamilton said.
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“Of course the pandemic wasn’t then and you look back and you’re like maybe I should have signed it then, but the thing is I just think things happen at the right time and I definitely wasn’t ready mentally at the time.
“I wanted to give myself the space mentally to really think about what I want to do.
“I definitely don’t think it’s over. I want to continue,” he insisted.
“I think once we get the job done and the stress of the bubble and everything passes on, we can get to whatever comfortable or uncomfortable position we need to be in and we’ll get it done so we can continue.”
Commenting on Hamilton’s new deal, Mercedes boss Wolff admits he is keen to put in place a long-term plan given the current situation.
“We are in a new world and COVID really has changed the way we do business and the environment,” he said via The Race.
“[But] I think everything should be done this year. I don’t want to go into any other negotiation mid-year next year and drag it on again.
“We all need to be concentrated on our job, Lewis driving, me running this team and Ola [Kallenius, Daimler boss] turning the big wheel.”
The one potential hurdle though remains salary, particularly after this week a new cap of $30m per year was agreed by F1 team bosses from 2023.
“It’s huge,” Wolff jokingly told Sky Sports of the amount Hamilton would get. “We will have to sell plenty of inventory and sell the leaseback of the buildings, just to come up with the money.”