Bouyant Hamilton keen to sign Merc contract

MONTMELO, Spain — After finishing second at the Spanish Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton said he will meet with Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff on Monday in the hope of advancing his contract talks for next year.

Hamilton matched his best result of the season by finishing second in Spain, but was still 24 seconds behind race winner Max Verstappen.

The seven-time champion, who is out of contract at the end of the year but has remained adamant he will stay at Mercedes beyond 2023, said the performance at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was encouraging and only made him more excited about his future.

“I haven’t signed anything yet,” he said. “But I think we’re meeting with Toto tomorrow, so hopefully we can get something done.”

Asked if he wanted to get the deal done to focus fully on racing, he added: “We’ve had so many meetings. It’s just another one of the meetings we’ve been having. But you can see today my result, my performance isn’t affected by that.

“I think it’s always something that’s at the back of your mind, so once that’s done you are able to focus more and think about the future.”

In an interview with Sky Sports post-race, Wolff indicated the deal was nearly done.

“I think we just need time and to sit over coffee,” the Mercedes boss said. “That’s going to take half an hour.”

Mercedes brought a major upgrade to last weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix and appeared to experience the benefit in Spain, where Hamilton was joined on the podium by teammate George Russell in third. Hamilton said the upgraded version of this year’s car was the best overall package he has raced since F1 overhauled the sports regulations at the start of 2022.

“For me, definitely the best the car has been for the last year and a half,” he added. “That’s kudos to the amazing group of people we have at the factory continuing to work hard and push the car forward.

“It felt the best this weekend, it felt the best yesterday and today than it’s felt for the past 14, 15 months, whatever it is. That’s super encouraging.

“I think not only for me, but for everybody in the team. This will be a big boost for everybody’s morale. We’re going to take that energy on to develop the car.”