F1: Mercedes Boss Toto Wolff Opens Up On Lewis Hamilton’s Contract Talks

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff offered an update on Lewis Hamilton’s contract talks with the team, saying he is confident a new deal will be struck before the pre-season testing in March.

Hamilton’s deal with Mercedes expired at the end of the F1 2020 season. With less than two months to go for the new edition, the seven-time champion is currently without a contract.

In a recent interview, Wolff has revealed that talks between Mercedes and Hamilton are continuing.

"We don't make life easy for them, of course, when we both argue over Zoom and keep sending curveballs to the lawyers. He's in America now and I'm here. At some point we will finalize it (the deal)," Sky Sports quoted Wolff, as saying, in an interview with Austrian broadcaster ORF.

It is understood that Hamilton, who has been associated with Mercedes since 2013, and the F1 team have been relaxed in regards to the contract talks. Meanwhile, Wolff also ruled out using George Russell's impressive performance during the Sakhir GP as leverage in negotiations.

"We have a really solid basis in our relationship. We have celebrated great successes together and want to continue doing so in the future. But sometimes you have to talk things out in detail, and that took or still takes us some time," added Wolff.

F1 2021’s pre-season testing is due to begin in Bahrain on March 12, with the season's first race at the same venue on March 28.

Speaking at the Kitzbuehel Alpine skiing World Cup downhill Wolff said he had shown no symptoms after testing positive for Covid-19 earlier in January.

"We had planned to be here for a few days and out of nowhere, I got a positive coronavirus test. But everything's fine...it could have gone badly, but we're out of quarantine," Wolff was quoted by Sky Sports, as saying.