Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff announced on Saturday that he and Lewis Hamilton had “emotionally” agreed on a new contract to keep him in the Formula 1 team beyond this season.
After the end of the third free practice session at the Hungarian Grand Prix, which was dominated by Hamilton, Wolff assured that the seven-time world champion’s contract extension was not yet signed, but “completed”.
“We didn’t sign him, but emotionally we signed him,” he told Sky Sports.
His response should end months of speculation about Hamilton’s future, which was rumored to go to Ferrari in 2024. The Austrian did not specify the length of the contract with the 38-year-old British driver, who has won six of his seven titles with Mercedes, a team he joined in 2013.
With 121 points, Hamilton currently sits fourth in the World Championship standings, with two second-place finishes in Australia and Spain being this season’s best results, a far cry from Red Bull’s Dutchman Max Verstappen (255 points), who is on course to capture a third consecutive title.