Lewis Hamilton’s future at Mercedes could be sown up by the time the all-time great takes to the track at the Canadian Grand Prix.
With his current deal set to expire at the end of 2023, Hamilton has been widely touted to leave the Silver Arrows amid their struggles of the last two seasons. Toto Wolff's team have undoubtedly struggled to get to grips with F1's new era, and their problems have been exacerbated by Red Bull's current dominance.
With Hamilton still needing one more world title to rise above Michael Schumacher and claim an eighth World Championship win, the notion is growing that time is running out for the 38-year-old. And speculation has been rife of interest from Ferrari, despite both parties denying that any talks have taken place.
Now Wolff has insisted that the saga could be ended this week. The Team Principle remains hell bent on keeping the star, despite his mammoth £40 million-a-year contract.
Asked about negotiations, Wolff told told CNBC’s Squawk on the Street : “It is going to happen soon, and we are talking more days than weeks. We are trying hard. I will see him today and maybe we will talk about it."
Adding there was a possibility everything could be signed and sealed before Montreal, the Austrian outlined why he was so keen to keep the man who has won six of his seven world titles at Mercedes: "“Lewis is the most important personality in the sport,” he said.
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“He is so multi-faceted, not only with the racing, but also off track, so we need to keep him in the sport for as long as possible. From a team’s perspective, Lewis and Mercedes have gone back a long time. He has never raced for any other brand than Mercedes. We both joined the team in 2013 together, and from a professional relationship, we now have a friendship. It has been a wonderful time.”
Hamilton is currently on his longest barren run in F1. For the first time in his career, he failed to take the chequered flag in a season during 2022, and yet is to win in any of the seven Grand Prix races so far this time around.
But there have been signs of promise since his team installed new upgrades last month. Hamilton was second at the recent Spanish Grand Prix, with teammate George Russell third.
