Lewis Hamilton 'not comfortable' discussing new Mercedes deal during Covid crisis

Lewis Hamilton says he does “not feel comfortable” sitting down and discussing a new Mercedes deal at the moment, given the ongoing Covid crisis.

The six-times world champion is out of contract at the end of this year, but says he is in no rush to agree an extension. “It will get done at some stage so I am not stressed,” Hamilton said.

Mercedes confirmed on Thursday that Hamilton’s team mate Valtteri Bottas would be staying with the team for 2021. 

The announcement was widely expected, and makes complete sense from the team’s point of view. Bottas joined Mercedes in 2017 and has since registered eight race wins, helping the Brackley-based team to win the last three constructors' titles  while never once rocking the boat.

There will, however, be those who feel Mercedes might have been a bit more adventurous in their driver selection. Their car is vastly superior to those of their rivals at the moment, meaning the only real threat to Hamilton’s hegemony comes from his team mate.

That intra-team battle was fascinating while Nico Rosberg was behind the wheel of the second Mercedes, the German even beating Hamilton to the 2016 title. Bottas, though, seems incapable of mounting a sustained challenge to Hamilton’s supremacy.

Mercedes might have brought in Ferrari’s four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel, for instance, who is out of contract at the end of the year and would appeal to their German market. Vettel looks instead highly likely to wind up at Racing Point. It emerged on Thursday that he hitched a lift in a Ferrari belonging to Racing Point chief executive Otmar Szafnauer following the race last Sunday.

Mercedes have opted for a safety-first approach. “I think consistency is always a good thing for a team,” Hamilton said of his team mate’s extension. “And Valtteri has been such a positive influence on the team. He's trustworthy.”

As for his own contract, Hamilton said he felt it was inappropriate to be negotiating at the moment. “When you think about so many people in the world who have lost their jobs, people unemployed, and to sit down and negotiate a big contract, it doesn’t feel like the most important thing that I need to apply time to at this second,” he said.

“I do want to continue with the team and it is not a big effort for us to sit down and get it done. It is just right now I don’t feel comfortable about it so I am going to wait a little bit longer."

He added: “I am not talking to anyone else and I am looking forward to continuing [with Mercedes], particularly as we have just started a new chapter as a team in terms of how we educate ourselves, how we understand what we are going to do to help be more diverse, and more inclusive.”

On the subject of inclusivity, Hamilton - who is seeking an eighth F1 win at Silverstone at this weekend’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix - added that he felt this was the most important year of his life, given the Black Lives Matter movement and his role in pushing for greater equality.

“It is the most important year of my life to date with everything that is going on,” he said. “I don’t take that lightly. People often ask where we get our motivation from and there are so many things to take inspiration from, and to be fighting for a championship in a time like this is empowering and exciting with the thought that there could be change to follow.”