Toto Wolff: Lewis Hamilton ‘has many years to go as a driver’ with Mercedes

Toto Wolff speaks out about Lewis Hamiltons future with Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton has spent the last decade with Mercedes. Both parties have enjoyed continous success throughout their years together breaking and making records as they go along. Hamilton signed a new contract with Mercedes back in 2021 after he was crowned his fourth consecutive World Championship in a row. The Britons contract is set to expire at the end of 2023 season.

Speculation and rumours

There has been speculation for the last couple months about the future of seven-time World Champion. With no Mercedes announcement about the renewal, rumours started to spiral around about if Hamilton would be moving teams or retiring.

However, at the start of June, Team Principal Toto Wolff eased the worries of fans and confirmed that a contract has been discussed and is just ‘days away.’

The statement seemed to drag a lot longer than a couple of days and heading into Silverstone fans were hoping the announcement would be made. Although nothing was concrete, Hamilton himself confirmed how there has been a contract put down to him and wasn’t far away from being official. The Mercedes driver also brought some hope to the British crowd and spoke about how he has at least ‘another five years’ in him to perform in Formula 1.

With still no updates about the contract renewal yet, there was speculation about the terms of the contract and why it was being held up.

In a report published by the DailyMail, they claimed that Hamilton’s new contract would include an ambassador role starting after he retires from F1. The role would be working with the team as the main brand ambassador for the next ten years, it was estimated to be costing 20 million.

Toto Wolff provides some clarity

Just a few days ago this claim got debunked by Toto Wolff who spoke to Autosport and said:

‘“We’re not talking about an ambassadorial role post his retirement, nor is that part of the contract negotiations,”

“I think he has many years to go as a driver within this team, and therefore it’s only about cleaning things up in the contract.

“I know it looks a little bit [uncertain] and this not being done and dusted. But it’s simply down to trivial things that just need to be cleaned up in contracts.”

“I’ve not been a part of it the whole time,

“I’ve been removed from it from the beginning. I wanted to be as focused on all the other things that I have going on, so the team is working on it in the background.

“There is no negotiation left. It is all just small bits. I don’t want to give you a date, because it’s lawyers speaking to lawyers, It’s not material things anymore, but you’ve got to give it time and I don’t want to commit to a date.”

Even though there is still no announcement, Wolff has made it clear that Hamilton will be staying in F1 for the next couple of years and the Brit has no desire to leave the sport just yet.

Featured image credits: Qian Jun via Getty Images