\n
MONACO \u2014 Seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton says talks over a new contract with Mercedes are advancing and he is hopeful it will be sorted out \u201cin the coming weeks.\u201d
\nThe F1 great is out of contract at the end of the year. Hamilton has been linked by some media reports with a potential move to Ferrari should be decide not to re-sign with Mercedes.
\nBut the 38-year-old British driver said on Thursday at the Monaco Grand Prix that there has been no approach from Ferrari, and his personal team is working things out with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.
\n\u201cNaturally, in contract negotiations there\u2019s always going to be speculation,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cMy team\u2019s working closely behind the scenes with Toto. We\u2019re almost at the end of having a contract ready.\u201d
\nHamilton, the F1 record-holder with 103 grand prix wins and 103 pole positions, was pressed further as to when the contract might be signed.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re working towards, so hopefully in the coming weeks,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve got a great team in the background doing all the work.
\nHamilton was relieved he no longer does his own negotiating.
\n\u201cHaving the team focus on that so I can just do my job, that\u2019s a much better position that I was in before,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause I remember I used to do my negotiations on my own, and it was very stressful.\u201d
\nHamilton did not win a race last year for the first time in his career, dating to 2007. He has not won yet this season, either. But he still believes Mercedes can turn things around and insists the barren run isn\u2019t weighing on his decision whether to stay.
\n\u201cIt doesn\u2019t have a bearing, I think, because we\u2019re still a championship-winning team,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just, we\u2019ve had the wrong car. There have been some decisions that have been made over the past two years that have not been ideal, and we\u2019re working our way through that.\u201d
\nMeanwhile, Ferrari team principal Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Vasseur dismissed rumors of having approached Hamilton regarding a potential move to his team next year.
\n\u201cYou know perfectly that, at this stage of the season, you will have each week a different story. And we are not sending an offer to Lewis Hamilton. We didn\u2019t do it,\u201d the Frenchman said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have discussions.\u201d
\nFerrari driver Charles Leclerc, whose is teammates with Carlos Sainz Jr. was put on the spot during Thursday\u2019s news conference when asked if he\u2019d like Hamilton as a teammate.
\n\u201cIf I say, \u2018Yes,\u2019 I imagine it will be the title of every newspaper,\u201d Leclerc said.
\n\u201cLewis is such an incredible driver, has achieved so much in the sport, so I think anybody on the grid would love to have Lewis as a teammate, as everybody would learn a lot from him. (But) I\u2019m happy where I am and (with) Carlos it\u2019s a great relationship.\u201d
\nLeclerc, who is tied to Ferrari until the end of next year, has not started talks on a new deal yet.
\n\u201cNo talks on renewal now,\u201d he said. \u201cStill a lot of time.\u201d (AP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MONACO \u2014 Seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton says talks over a new contract with Mercedes are advancing and he is hopeful it will be sorted out \u201cin the coming weeks.\u201d The F1 great is out of contract at the end of the year. Hamilton has been linked by some media reports with a potential […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-216986","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216986\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}