Wolff: 'In bigger gaps between GP's I talk to Hamilton about contract'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Lewis Hamilton still has no new contract with Mercedes, although the six-time world champion is expected to stay. We do not know when the outcome will be, but Toto Wolff has confirmed that talks are going on, mainly in the larger breaks between Grands Prix.
Conversations take place
"This is a work in progress, and I wouldn’t want to commit to a specific date," says Wolff to Motorsport.com. "We get on very well, but then when it comes down to the detail, you just need enough time to do that. With one race after the other, we don’t want to really be distracted by contract talks."
That is why Wolff and Hamilton do not talk about it during the triple-headers, but there are some bigger gaps between upcoming races and then the talks will be resumed. Wolff: "In between the larger gaps, like next week, we’re moving towards a satisfactory outcome. But I don’t know when it will announce."
Before the end of 2020
Although Wolff does not want to mention an end date, he does state that they have a definite date before the end of 2020. Mercedes wants to be sure who they are racing with next year. Given that Hamilton has been driving for the team for years, Wolff was rightly asked whether it is not just a formality, but that is not the case.
"We didn’t look at the contract for the last three years, and never took it out of the drawer. Sometimes situations change, and the environment changes, and therefore this is a time where it’s another stint, another part of the journey that we want to go together. We’re just debating,” Wolff said.