Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he's close to signing a new deal with Mercedes amid increasing speculation over his future.
The legendary British driver, 38, is out of contract at the end of this season but is nearing a successful conclusion in negotiations after making it clear that he wanted to stay with his current team for years to come. Rumours swirled earlier this week that Hamilton had been offered a £40million per year package to join Ferrari, a claim which team principal Frederic Vasseur has now denied.
"You know that at this stage of the season you will have each week a different story [about driver changes] and we are not sending an offer to Lewis Hamilton," Vasseur stated. "We didn't do it."
Now, ahead of this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, Hamilton himself has quashed the speculation. "My personal team are working closely behind the scenes with Toto [Wolff] and we are almost at the end of having a contract ready," the seven-time championship winner, who joined Mercedes in 2013, confirmed.
"Having a team to focus on that job is a much better position than I was in before. I used to do it all on my own and it was very stressful and I don't have to do that anymore."
Hamilton added: "Whilst here is not the best platform to see those come to fruition we will hopefully experience that more next week. My team are having discussions with the team in the background, and we are almost there."
Asked if there'd been any contact with Ferrari, the 38-year-old replied: "No." Hamilton's fresh comments align with what Vasseur, who worked with the Briton during his junior career, had to say.
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"We didn't have discussions," the Ferrari chief reiterated. "I think every single team on the grid would like to have Hamilton at one stage -- it would be bull**** to not say something like this. If I have discussed with Hamilton, [it's because] I have had discussions with him for the last 20 years..
"I have discussed things almost every single weekend with Hamilton. I don't want to have to stop having discussions with him because you are chasing me [about a contract offer]."
Current Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who's under contract until the end of 2024, was quizzed on the reports by French outlet L'Equipe, but the Monaco-born ace wasn't keen to find his name in the headlines. "I'm not going to come into this field where you're looking to make titles," Leclerc declared.
The 25-year-old was then asked whether he'd be open to having Hamilton as a team-mate. "We'll see what happens in the future, but I don't want to comment because if I do, you will make a headline out of it," Leclerc responded in jovial fashion. "I'm starting to know the press!"
