James Gordon
Lewis Hamilton celebrated his seventh World Championship title with Toto Wolf in Turkey on Sunday.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says he plans to negotiate a new contract with Lewis Hamilton in a few days’ time.
Hamilton was the most successful Formula 1 driver in history on Sunday when he won his seventh World Championship title.
His contract expires this year, but he said he wanted to stay in the Mercedes.
You can’t talk about a contract when you’re out of the seventh driver’s championship. It wouldn’t be fair for the performance, Wolf told the sport.
We’ll give it a few days, then we’ll talk about it.
Our relationship goes beyond business, it’s a friendship, a trust.
We don’t like this day of negotiations because it’s the only time we don’t have common goals. The best deal is one in which both parties are not completely satisfied.
Hamilton and Wolf postponed the contract negotiations because they wanted to be the first to offer the racing drivers and builders championship.
The situation was complicated by the pandemic because Hamilton did not want to increase the risk of a coronavirus that could disrupt the season. So they’ve restricted personal contact.
It’s a strange situation because we’ve been talking about it for a while, we really need to find a day to sit down, said Wolf in a 5 Live special on Monday in Hamilton.
Hamilton’s seventh title, which he won on his 94th birthday. Sunday’s career victory in Turkey is similar to that of Michael Schumacher, but the Briton is the most successful Formula 1 driver in the world because he broke the German record of 91 last month. He also has more pole positions than anyone else.
We all think very highly of Michael and his accomplishments, Wolf said. Very few great riders – [Juan Manuel] Fangio in the fifties, then [Ayrton] Senna and then apparently Michael Schumacher, who set a record, and now Lewis.
It’s very difficult to compare them, but I think that’s the story with Lewis, and sometimes it’s hard to really admit it. Not until the career is over, people say we’re part of history, and I think that’s the case.
Former F1 driver Mark Webber, a former Hamilton rival, said the Mercedes driver was untouchable in the sport.
It’s been an extraordinary career, especially at the end of his career, Webber said. He is nearing the end of his career, but he is young, healthy and determined, and he is still doing his job. For the opposition, this is really average news, because he has a trophy cabinet with which no one can compare, and he always keeps lists of winners.
The Australian also praised the consistency of Hamilton and the Mercedes team, which has dominated Formula 1 since 2014.
Everyone wants to work with Lewis, Webber says. Keeping employees in the Mercedes is phenomenal because they want to share in the success and number of victories it continues to accumulate.
It is not easy to have that kind of continuity in our sport, because there are many headhunting events and people move as a team, but Mercedes’ dominance is also unprecedented, the number of master builder championships they have won as a team in the jump.
But with Lewis he is the absolute top in terms of his driving style, his consistency, he is fearless on the track, that’s great for me, the style he has on the track in all circumstances.
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