Hamilton 'Looking Forward To Winning More' After New Mercedes Deal Announced

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport and Lewis Hamilton finally brought an end to the contract saga by announcing a new two-year deal until the end of the 2020 season on Thursday.

The four-time world champion was into the final months of his contract and was yet to sign a new deal despite being in talks since the end of last season. During the time, both the driver and the team had continually stated their commitment to each other, but it took longer than expected to reach an agreement.

Hamilton joined Mercedes in 2013 and has since gone on to win three F1 Drivers’ titles and 44 Grand Prix and by the end of 2020, he will have spent eight years with the Silver Arrows team – his longest stint with a single team since joining the sport in 2007.

Moreover, the British driver is ingrained into the Silver Arrows family having been powered by Mercedes Benz engines throughout his 11 years in the sport. The first six were spent with McLaren, who were then powered by the German car manufacturer and the next six has been with the works team based out of Brackley and Brixworth.

Despite the delay in signing the new deal, Hamilton maintained that it was just a formality and made it clear he did not have thoughts of joining any other team at any point. He was confident that Mercedes were the right place to be to continue challenging for wins and championships in the years to come.

"This contract extension has basically been a formality since Toto and I sat down during the winter, so it's good to put pen to paper, announce it and then get on with business as usual,” Hamilton was quoted as saying on the team’s official site. "I have been part of the Mercedes racing family for 20 years and I have never been happier inside a team than I am right now."

"We are on the same wavelength both on and off track - and I am looking forward to winning more in the future and shining even more light on the three-pointed star. I'm very confident that Mercedes is the right place to be over the coming years,” the four-time world champion explained.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport team principal Toto Wolff was delighted to put an end to all the speculation and finally conclude contract talks. He revealed that the final documents were signed this week and they did not want to delay the announcement any further.

Wolff praised Hamilton for his achievements with the team and is certain they have some more “incredible chapters” to write in the story. They have already won three titles together and are in the running for their fourth, but for the first time since they began dominating the sport in 2014, they are being challenged by Ferrari and Red Bull Racing.

"We have been aligned with Lewis ever since we first sat down to discuss the details of this contract after last season, but there has understandably been a lot of interest and speculation around the whole process, so it's good to put all of that to rest and get this thing announced,” Wolff said.

"We signed the final documents this week and didn't want to keep people waiting any longer! There is not much about Lewis as a Formula One driver that hasn't been said already - he is one of the all-time greats and his track record speaks for itself,” the Austrian added.