Mercedes boss Toto Wolff insists he is “not worried” despite admitting Lewis Hamilton might not sign a new deal until February.
After the confirmation of Sergio Perez at Red Bull last week, the seven-time world champion’s seat is now the only one still TBC in Formula 1 for 2021.
Previously, the hectic 2020 schedule was touted for talks being pushed back until after the world championships had been decided, and then Hamilton testing positive for Covid-19 at the end of last month had led the Briton to target a new deal before Christmas.
But speaking last week, Wolff, easing any concerns about Hamilton possibly not continuing, set a new deadline.
“From my point of view we’ve had such a successful run of championships in the past seven years that there is no reason not to continue,” said the Mercedes boss.
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“He’s on the top of his game and he will be for a while, that’s why continuing together is a no-brainer.
“We are not worried about eventually getting it done. We are not putting a special date to it because we don’t want to be under pressure.
“Sooner or later it needs to be done and at the latest before we go testing [ahead of the 2021 season].”
That would mean a new contract might not be signed before February and it did lead Wolff’s co-owners of the Mercedes team to put a little pressure on the Austrian to make sure a deal was done.
“I think Lewis Hamilton is the greatest, one of the greatest race drivers of all time,” Daimler CEO Ola Kallenius commented.
“I’ve known him since he was a teenager. I was a Mercedes guy at McLaren in 2002, 2003, I went to HPP and I could see Lewis move up the ranks in the different categories.
“I met him when he was 15 years old. We kind of back then used to joke here was the next Formula 1 world champion, and he didn’t know what was to come.
“So I’ve known him for a very long time. I think his dedication and professionalism, when it comes to how he has dedicated his life to being the greatest, is remarkable and applaudable, and he’s a nice guy too.
“We would like to continue this partnership, so it’s up to Toto in his role to get that done.”
Ineos chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who has upped his stake in the Brackley-based team to 30 percent it was confirmed last week, also made it clear he wanted Hamilton to stay.
“I’m very clear in my mind that Lewis is either the greatest or one of the two or three greatest ever racing drivers. There’s absolutely no question of that. He’s just got immense talent,” he said.
“And he’s a very likeable chap because I’ve got to know him a little bit, but at the end of the day, these decisions, for me, predominantly sit with Toto. Toto has to run that team.
“The one thing I would say about Lewis is that there has been no diminution of his skills. He clearly is at the top of his game. The fact he’s 35, there’s absolutely no sign of any change.”