By Daily Sports on September 1, 2017

Lewis Hamilton says he expects to sign a new contract at Mercedes to keep him at the Formula 1 team beyond 2018.

Title rival Sebastian Vettel signed a new three-year deal this month to keep him at Ferrari until the end of 2020.

"I don't know if everyone expected him [Vettel] to sign a three-year deal but it doesn't change much for me," Hamilton said.

"I planned to extend with the team in the second half of the season or towards the end of the year."

Any new contract with Mercedes is likely to be for the same sort of period as Vettel's. Each of Hamilton's contracts with Mercedes so far have been for three years - from 2013 to 2015; and 2016 to 2018.

Last weekend, Mercedes F1 team boss Toto Wolff said they would hold off on contract talks with Hamilton until the end of the season so the 32-year-old could concentrate on the title battle, in which he is seven points behind Vettel heading into this weekend's Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

But Hamilton said: "Toto has said we will wait until the end of the season; that's because that's generally what I like to do."

There is no rush. I still have another year so we have a lot of time. The last contract went all the way into the mid-part of the season.

•Photo shows Lewis Hamilton.

Source Daily Sports

Posted September 1, 2017

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