Lauda: "Hamilton will stay at Mercedes"

Formula One legend and Mercedes chairman Niki Lauda has said that Lewis Hamilton will extend his contract at Mercedes and it's "just about the details," even though the Brit has still not signed any paperwork and will head into free agency after this year as it stands

Lauda admits that the talks haven't been as fruitful as he'd hoped so far, but the Austrian remains confident Hamilton will re-up his deal at the Silver Arrows.

"Lewis will continue to drive for us," he said, "it's just about the details."

He does admit that negotiations have been a bit of a rollercoaster, as the talks have spanned from the days where he dominated the F1 until his current slump.

“Depending on the mood, it is sometimes more or less expensive,” Lauda explained.

“It always depends on how the last race went.

“But the money is not a problem, we agree in principle.”

The talks are coming at a bad time for both Mercedes and Hamilton, as they've both shown a bad run of form that we haven't seen before from their side. This is the first time in the hybrid era that Mercedes haven't won a race for three straight races. However, Mercedes insists that the fact that both of their drivers are on expiring deals has nothing to do with their form.